Jason Koski/University Photography

Edward Lawler answers a question at an April 1 public discussion about the latest draft of Cornell's strategic plan.

Jason Koski/University Photography

Anthony Bretscher asks a question about Cornell's strategic plan. He is professor of molecular biology and genetics and associate director of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology.

In the next decade, Cornell will target several departments to become world leaders, better connect its outreach to its research, and put more emphasis on hiring new faculty. These initiatives are shaping up to be among the university's top strategies, according to the latest draft of its strategic plan.

"This document is about what we're going to change. It's about what are we going to do differently in the next five to 10 years," said Provost Kent Fuchs April 1 at a public discussion on the strategic plan.

About 20 people attended the Warren Hall event, hosted by Fuchs and Edward Lawler, chair of the Strategic Planning Advisory Council (SPAC) and the Martin P. Catherwood Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations. The second, complete draft outline of the plan is online.

The next step is to draft the text based on this outline. The full text version will be available in May. Lawler and Fuchs encouraged members of the Cornell community to e-mail comments and suggestions to strategicplanning2010@cornell.edu.

Questions from the audience ranged from how the plan will affect next year's budget to how it will deal with the student experience in light of recent student suicides.

"I'd like to see that number of tragedies decrease," said Marrie Neumer, a public affairs officer in the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art's alumni affairs and development office. The SPAC has created a new objective in the education section to promote students' health and well-being, Lawler said. (The online version of the plan does not yet include that objective.)

Other revisions include a greater emphasis on Cornell's impact on societal and world problems. "What's important here is that the document says that outreach and public engagement are not just the role of a few units. They are a responsibility we all have, no matter what school or unit we're in," said Fuchs, responding to a question from Susanne Bruyère, the ILR School's associate dean of outreach, about what outreach might look like in the future.

The plan also says Cornell's long-term aspiration is to be "widely recognized as a top-10 research university in the nation and the world." Given that goal, why doesn't the plan call for more enrichment and funding of graduate programs, asked Anthony Bretscher, a professor of molecular biology and genetics and associate director of the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology. "It's wonderful to aim high to become a top-10 university. The currency of that is graduate students," he said.

The plan does call for several actions related to graduate students, Lawler responded, including more fellowships and reducing tuition disparity among colleges. Fuchs went on to say that the university must do more to support and recruit graduate students.

In the short term, the plan will not reduce the university's budget deficit, Fuchs said in response to a question from Betsy Collins, an administrative manager in the sociology department. The administration is dealing with budget challenges through administrative streamlining, whereas the strategic plan is more visionary and forward-looking, he said. "We want a document where we have aspirations and where our reach exceeds our grasp, so that it stretches us."