The University of Iowa’s Strategic Plan 2016–2021 Progress Report for fall 2018 outlines campus efforts toward achieving goals set forth in the plan. Highlights include an increase in federal funding for research, the UI’s inaugural First-Generation Summit, and data indicating that nearly two-thirds of undergraduates engage two or more high impact practices before graduating.

The two-page progress report and its two-page appendix lists the strategic plan goals in the areas of student success, research and discovery, engagement, and cultural values, and provides highlights of efforts to achieve them.

The strategic plan and progress report are available online on the Office of the Provost website.

Some highlights from this past year include:

• The UI’s one-year retention rate (86 percent) and four- and six-year graduation rates (54.4 percent and 74.5 percent, respectively) remain at or close to record levels.
• About 62 percent of undergraduates participate in at least two high impact practices, according to the Senior Exit Survey, and nearly two-thirds say they completed an internship or field experience. (Read about how high impact practices can yield life-long rewards.)
• Office of Outreach and Engagement activities reached 42 Iowa counties in the past year.
• College of Law graduates again both passed the bar exam and secured employment above the national average. About 93 percent of last year’s UI law graduates secured employment within 10 months, and about 98 percent passed the bar, ranking the College of Law as 10th in the nation in this category.
• The UI hosted the inaugural First-Generation Summit and a week of first-generation-related events for the National First-Generation College Celebration.
• Grant support from the National Institutes of Health reached the highest level since 2012. The UI received an about $36 million increase in federal grant funding.
• About 80 percent of Iowa’s dentists graduated from the UI College of Dentistry, and provide an estimated $800 million in dental care to Iowans.
• The UI saved students money by launching ICON Direct, a new online platform for e-textbooks and digital course materials. About 160 courses used the platform during the fall 2018 semester, and an estimated 10,200 students saved an average of $50 per course by participating in ICON Direct.
• A record-setting number of six UI students won highly competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Read about the six grant recipients and what they study.