University of Wisconsin officials announced Wednesday progress is being made after only the first year of a five-year initiative.

The report details five priorities for UW to focus on improving as part of the Campus Strategic Framework plan. These priorities include providing an exemplary undergraduate experience, reinvigorating the Wisconsin Idea, investing in research, employing the best faculty and staff while enhancing diversity and being more responsible with resources.

According to the report, the average time it takes students to earn a bachelor’s degree has steadily decreased since 1978, with the latest figures – from 2003 – showing students need about 4.1 years to earn a degree after entering UW as freshmen.

UW’s retention rate changed little from 1996 to 2008, hovering at or around 90 percent.

Maury Cotter, director of UW’s Office of Quality Improvement, said UW identified major initiatives to help ensure each priority is met.

For example, the Madison Initiative for Undergraduates targets areas where faculty and staff think improvements can be made in undergraduate programs, Cotter said.

The report showed an increase in staff involvement, with a total of 32,453 employees attending 2,130 events hosted by UW’s Office of Human Resource Development in the 2009-2010 academic year.

This figure increased dramatically, with the report demonstrating only 660 employees attending some 32 similar events in the 1998-1999 academic year.

Cotter attributed more staff involvement with such events to more events being offered.

One priority the report lists is UW being more responsible with its resources. Cotter said this coincides with Chancellor Biddy Martin’s proposal to hire an outside firm that would examine UW’s efficiency.

“The real aim is to be sure as many of our resources as possible are going to our mission – teaching, research and learning…not the processes needed to get there,” Cotter said.

In addition to potentially hiring a consulting firm, UW established the Administrative Process Redesign, which Cotter said is a campus-wide program with the goal of improving administrative resources.

According to the report, the APR reduced the average time to setup a research grant by 82 percent and improved response time for collaborative research proposals by 75 percent.

Maintaining UW’s status as a top research institution is also a top priority of the five-year plan, Cotter said.

Cotter said UW is the only institution – public or private – to remain a top-five research university over the past 20 years.