Create, share, and apply knowledge to make Iowa and the world a better place. Learn More >
Iowa State University will lead the world in advancing the land-grant ideals of putting science, technology, and human creativity to work. Learn More >
Ensure access to the ISU Experience. Learn More >
Enhance the university’s research profile. Learn More >
Improve the quality of life for all Iowans. Learn More >
Continue to enhance and cultivate the ISU Experience. Learn More >
The world will feel much smaller in 2050, when 9.6 billion people are sharing the planet. Resources will be more precious and balancing the needs of humankind and the health of our planet will become increasingly difficult. At the same time, people will use technology in new ways, and cultures will be interconnected like never before. Significant challenges lie ahead.
Iowa State University has been tackling problems and improving lives since it opened its doors a century and a half ago. Founded in 1858, Iowa State readily embraced the ideals of the land–grant university — open higher education to all, provide practical learning, and share knowledge and discoveries. ISU instructors soon gained a reputation for meeting Iowans where they lived, sharing university expertise in kitchens and farm fields. Today, faculty, staff, and students are continuing this tradition.
Iowa State’s focus has always been its students. The university emphasizes learning by doing. ISU students take advantage of many opportunities to engage in real–world class experiences and cutting–edge research, to study in other countries, and to test their leadership skills in 800–plus campus organizations. They are tomorrow’s leaders and problem solvers and they’re ready to get started. In addition to educating students, Iowa State faculty and staff are conducting basic and applied research to improve lives and sustain the planet. They are boosting crop production, protecting natural resources, perfecting biobased fuels, refining wind turbines, designing human and animal vaccines, improving firefighting gear, fighting Parkinson’s disease, fostering economic growth and development, strengthening forensic science techniques, assessing the effects of media violence, devising defenses against cyber attacks, enhancing the quality of life through the arts and humanities, and educating the leaders of tomorrow. As a member of the Association of American Universities and the Association of Public and Land–grant Universities, Iowa State is dedicated to conducting research and scholarship with local, national, and international impact.
As the land–grant institution in the very first state to adopt the Morrill Act, Iowa State University wholeheartedly supports the mission of sharing knowledge beyond the campus borders. It’s no surprise that Iowa State pioneered the first statewide Extension Service in 1906. The extension experiment – universities actively transferring their research and expertise to every corner of every state – was immensely successful across America and remains so today. More than a million Iowans annually benefit directly from ISU Extension and Outreach programs.
As the world has gotten smaller, the scope of Iowa State’s mission has increased. ISU faculty, staff, and students are dedicated to improving lives around the nation and the world. The Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence is helping to improve forensic evidence to create a more objective criminal justice system. The Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods helps support a long–standing program to help Ugandans improve farming, launch home businesses, keep children in school, and build food security. Through these activities and many others, Iowa State presses forward on a mission to help make the world safe and sustainable for generations to come.
Iowa State University of Science and Technology lives up to its name in many ways. Half of its undergraduates major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The campus is a hub of creative and entrepreneurial activity. ISU and the city of Ames are home to a national laboratory; five federal research labs; world–class programs in genomic–based agricultural breeding, health, and biotechnology; renowned institutes in virtual reality, plant sciences, and the bioeconomy; and the only university in Iowa with ROTC programs for all military services. The Iowa State University Research Park, which helps move discoveries to market, has launched numerous startup companies, including some that are recognized worldwide for ingenuity and major contributions.
Iowa State University has the talent and the facilities to lead the urgent, global quest for solutions. Providing these solutions and preparing the next generation of leaders and problem–solvers requires efforts from across campus. It is the combination of all of our academic colleges, units, and departments that creates the community of scholars necessary for this work. This university is and always has been a community of practical, hardworking problem–solvers. Major investments in new research and educational facilities and an outstanding tradition of cross–disciplinary research bring all of ISU’s colleges and departments together with global partners. Iowa State is dedicated to the belief that with hard work and innovation, future generations will have ample food and fuel, good health, and a safe, bountiful planet.
Improve the ISU Experience for underrepresented students by enhancing a transparent diversity and inclusion environment.
Continuously increase retention and graduation rates for all students while closing the gaps in student success (as measured by retention and graduation rates) between student subpopulations (e.g., race/ethnicity, income, first generation, nationality, ability, gender, and veterans).
Provide learning opportunities to prepare students for lives and careers in a dynamic, global community.
Continue efforts to provide an exceptionally high value educational experience.
Grow the impact and scope of our graduate programs.
Continue to invest in areas identified by the Student Experience Enhancement Council.
Support innovations and enhancement of high–impact educational activities across the university for undergraduate and graduate students.
Build upon current activities to increase external funding to provide financial aid to enhance graduation rates and reduce student debt upon graduation.
ISU will identify and invest in interdisciplinary priority areas as defined by President’s Interdisciplinary Research Initiative.
Improve key research metrics.
Continue to invest in areas that foster excellence in research and scholarly impact for all disciplines as identified in the President’s Enhancing Institutional Excellence Committee’s report.
Build upon current efforts to diversify research funding among competitive federal R&D sources and other major sources of research funding (including industry, foundations, and other public and private sources).
Build upon current efforts to attract and retain excellent faculty through the Presidential High Impact Hiring Initiative.
Continue to invest in enhancing and modernizing research infrastructure including instrumentation and staffing.
Increase the number of Iowa public, private, and non–profit sectors that receive direct assistance or benefit from engaging with the university’s programs, services, and initiatives.
Enhance and improve awareness of and access to research, technical, entrepreneurial, and professional development services for public, private, and non–profit sectors.
Increase awareness of, access to, and utilization of the university’s agricultural and natural resources, community, youth, family, and economic development programs and initiatives supporting diverse and underrepresented populations.
Develop and implement a comprehensive campus climate assessment system to regularly evaluate the climate at Iowa State University as experienced by all. Regularly evaluate, disseminate, and publicly report this data.
Enhance the safety, health, well–being, and security of faculty, staff, students, and visitors.
Create, expand, and invest in opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to connect and build meaningful relations with others while recognizing the multiple intersecting identities, perspectives, and developmental differences people hold (aligned with the ACPA NASPA standard for social justice and inclusion).
Enhance efforts to recruit, hire, train, and retain diverse employees.
Enhance efforts to recruit, retain, and graduate a diverse student body.
Establish and deploy a visitors code of conduct.
Supervisors will acknowledge and include employees’ efforts related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the annual performance evaluation process.