Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
September 28, 2001

MGT completes campus visits, recommendations next

by Diana Pounds
Higher education consultants came to campus last week to glean ideas on how to make Iowa State more efficient and effective. The visit, by MGT of America consultants, marks the beginning of an organizational review of Iowa State and the other regents institutions in the state.

The MGT consultants' task was to meet with a variety of university groups and individuals to identify issues and areas that merit further study. The consultants' recommendations on areas to be studied will be submitted to the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, in mid- to late October.

The regents will determine which issues and areas will be studied in more detail. The detailed studies (to be done in the second and third phases of the organizational review) will be accomplished by teams of ISU faculty and staff, regents staff and yet-to-be-hired consultants.

The regents anticipate that some of the studies and recommendations could be completed by January 2002. They plan for longer-term studies and subsequent recommendations to be completed by the end of 2002.

MGT, hired by the regents, is doing similar work on organizational reviews at the other regents institutions Iowa, Northern Iowa, the Iowa School for the Deaf, and the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School.

MGT is a Tallahassee-based management research and consulting firm that has specialized in higher education for more than 25 years. Leading the MGT site visit team is Ken Boutwell, CEO and co-founder of MGT and former vice chancellor for the Florida State University System.

The organizational review of the regents institutions is a response to Gov. Tom Vilsack's call for a review of all state units to find ways to make Iowa government more efficient and effective.