Purdue University-Fort Wayne chancellor Ron Elsenbaumer met with Fort Wayne City Council Tuesday night to discuss local partnerships and the status of the university’s long-term strategic plan.
Elsenbaumer was appointed to be PFW’s chancellor by Purdue president Mitch Daniels in November 2017. Tuesday marked the first time he was able to meet with City Council following the school’s transition from its previous identity, Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
The strategic plan is not only meant to outline the university’s priorities, but to assist in PFW’s accreditation process; the school’s license is set to be reaffirmed in the 2020-21 school year, and it requires a detailed report from PFW of what its next ten years could look like.
Elsenbaumer says it’s a long-term process, but right now the university’s focus is to attract talent, which he says the school is trying to do through aggressive marketing and campus invitations.
“Whether or not that will result in students actually coming? Well, that’s our job, and we have to get them across the finish line and actually enroll in classes,” Elsenbaumer said.
“But the fact that they’re finding us in larger and larger numbers will obviously translate into a larger student population in the near future.”
PFW has also created a website dedicated to explaining the strategic planning process, as well as the university's goals.
