2:02 p.m., Sept. 19, 2007--The new Strategic Planning Committee, announced Sept. 10 by UD President Patrick Harker, is looking for ideas about the future of the University.

To help gather these ideas, a new web site, available at [www.udel.edu/strategicplanning], includes a form where individuals may submit their suggestions.

"Our charge is to hold an ongoing conversation with all the University's different stakeholders, including faculty, students, staff, alumni, community members and state leadership," said Debra Hess Norris, Henry Francis du Pont Chair in Fine Arts and co-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. "This web site is one way that we hope people will share their thoughts and ideas about where UD needs to be headed."

"The committee will be examining and evaluating all ideas that we receive," said Mark Barteau, Robert L. Pigford Chair of Chemical Engineering, "and it's important that we have the thoughts and insights of as many persons as possible."

The committee, which began meeting in July, has been asked to look at all recommendations in relation to the University's core mission areas: undergraduate education, graduate education, scholarship and research, and public, professional and community service.