By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Nancy Zimpher, president of the University of Cincinnati, was inaugurated in a Friday ceremony before a crowd of 2,500. The Cincinnati Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher told her campus community Friday to make no small plans.

Before a crowd of 2,500 guests, Zimpher was officially installed as the 25th and first female president at a grand ceremony in Shoemaker Center. She outlined a series of 10 goals that she says will help the university break into the Top 50 public and private institutions on any list or by any criteria.

"Think of these as eminently plausible stretch goals," she told the crowd, "something big enough that if reached could truly redefine this institution as we know it, yet achievable enough to engage UC and its community in the challenge of a lifetime."

The details Zimpher outlined are part of an academic master plan called "UC|21: Defining the New Urban Research University," which was created by input from thousands of people both on campus and in the community. It's an effort to elevate UC's national prominence and recognition not only in research but also in community partnerships and student-centered learning.

David Ward, president of the American Council on Education, said there are many institutions nationally that have begun to use strategic planning as a way to move their universities up the ranking lists.

READ THE ADDRESS

• Read UC President Nancy Zimpher's entire inaugural address.

"The future of higher education is to have much more specific goals," he said, "instead of being all things to all people. The important thing is to be strategic in the location where you find yourself, and it seems like that's what she is doing."

In Cincinnati, Zimpher ticked off her own Top 10 list of ways to make the UC a premiere school, David Letterman-style:

• Change the mix of students to include more from outside Ohio. The university would ultimately like to move from 5 percent to 15 percent non-resident students, UC officials said. The change would bring in students from different cultures and points of view while at the same time allowing UC to continue its commitment to educate Ohioans, Zimpher said.

• Convert more than 80 percent of UC's classrooms to wireless technologies.

"We're at 30 percent today," Zimpher said. "But we recognize from living with the way-cool wired generation that we must go to that virtual place that students call home."

• Create a 24/7 campus with more evening and weekend classes and round-the-clock operations to make the campus more accessible to both students and the community.

• Increase the number and caliber of faculty distinctions such as Fulbright and Woodrow Wilson fellowships.

"Our goal might well be to triple the number of these peer distinctions over the next five years," Zimpher said.

•  Double the amount of research dollars UC receives to more than $600 million in five years to save lives and create jobs.

• Work to make more meaningful the criteria used in national rankings, and then strive to meet those measures.

• Double the number of National Merit Scholars in the freshman class and increase the number of freshmen who graduate in the top 10 percent of their classes. At the same time, UC will work with two- and four-year institutions to provide access to students who are not as prepared as their peers to enter college.

• Zimpher wants to increase UC's overall graduation rate to at least 75 percent. That rate now is about 48 percent.

"In other words, give us a graduation rate our football team - now graduating nearly 85 percent of its senior players - can be proud of," she said.

• Break into the ranks of the Top 50 public and private universities by whatever criteria.

• UC aims to increase its general fund budget of $380 million by more than 50 percent in the next five years. To do that, UC will push to have an enrollment close to 40,000 students. UC's current enrollment is 34,000.

Some faculty members said Zimpher's inauguration ushered in a new era for UC, one of openness and cooperation that will make a big difference for students.

"A financially responsible academic plan is way overdue at UC, to say the least," said Faculty Senate Chairman Richard Karp. "Down through the years, faculty have asked the administration to pay attention to priorities and allocate funds accordingly. Without a plan outlining such priorities, this could never happen. President Zimpher made it quite obvious on her arrival at UC that an academic plan would be her top priority.

"This has been a real boost to the morale of the faculty because we have someone at the top who is listening and who is known for following through on her pronouncements."

E-mail kgoetz@enquirer.com