Welcome!
Welcome to the Indiana University University Relations Report! As our team begins its work in 2023, we want to provide our colleagues, friends and partners across the state with information about the truly amazing work members of the IU community are doing to improve the health and well-being of Hoosiers. We hope this report can be informative, entertaining and useful to you. Our team is available as a resource to everyone, including state and federal policymakers, business leaders, and community and regional partners, interested in how IU can best leverage the university’s talent and resources to make our campuses, state and country a better place.
For this first edition of the 2023 report, we wanted to provide a quick primer on the Indiana General Assembly, which has begun its 2023budget session in earnest. The biennial budget is the most critical bill to be considered by the legislature during this session.
Our team has been diligently working on IU’s piece of the biennial budget process for months. The first four steps of the biennial budget process have been completed: Through last summer, IU filled out the various budget schedules the state requires us to submit. In August, the Board of Trustees approved the capital and line item portions of our budget request. President Whitten then presented to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) in September, which approved its higher ed funding recommendations in November. In December, universities and ICHE presented the requests to the State Budget Committee just ahead of the Governor’s recommendations and the state revenue forecast update. With the start of the legislative session, we now head into the final steps: Presenting to the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Appropriations Committee.
As the legislative session evolves, this weekly report will provide updates on the happenings at the Statehouse and information on bills the university is tracking. Next week, we will highlight specific bills as the bill filing deadline was yesterday in the House and today in the Senate. We hope each of you have a safe, healthy and happy 2023, and we look forward to communicating with all of you soon.
President Whitten presents IU's Budget Request
President Whitten presented her first IU biennial budget request presentation to the House Ways and Means Committee this past Wednesday, President Whitten started by highlighting IU’s three pillars: Students Success and Opportunity, Transformative Research and Creativity and Service to Our State and Beyond. She gave an update on IU Indianapolis and her vision to build a world class urban research university in our capitol city through the realignment of IUPUI by July 2024. Finally, she reaffirmed IU’s support of the work to transform the outcomes-based funding formula in this budget and talked about IU’s capital project requests.
Read the IU Biennial Budget Request
State of the State Address and Legislator Priorities
This past Tuesday, Jan. 10, Gov. Eric Holcomb presented his annual State of the State address. He spoke about securing Indiana’s place in the economy of the future, transforming the delivery of public health access across our state, and continuing to invest in Indiana classrooms – from pre-K through college and adult learning pathways.The Governor specifically mentioned he is asking, “the legislature to support a $184 million increase in higher education funding, and support the Commission for Higher Education’s proposal to reward our world-class universities for keeping their graduates in careers in our state. After all, Indiana’s college campuses need to be the epicenters of brain gain – not brain drain!” President Whitten attended the address again this year, which was her second as president.
The beginning of the legislative session presents an opportunity to hear about the legislative priorities of our state leaders. Gov. Holcomb introduced his priorities before the session began. His “Next Level Agenda” reflects many of the same topic areas covered in his State of the State address. Each of the four legislative caucuses have also introduced their legislative priorities, which can be reviewed here:
Senate Republicans
Senate Democrats
House Republicans
IU in the News
IU expanding Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering name to Indianapolis
The name expansion comes as IU is embarking on a bold new vision for its Indianapolis campus, including a new SciTech Corridor that will foster research and talent development in computer science, informatics, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.
Read the full story
New study: Cobots, cybersecurity, sensor technology and Internet of Things defining Indiana’s Factory of the Future
Conexus Indiana today announced results of its annual Industry 4.0 technology adoption survey that, for the first time, shows a continuous and measurable trend in the technologies that are defining Indiana’s Factory of the Future.
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IU Ventures invests in Indiana-based Adipo Therapeutics, founder of breakthrough technology to treat type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases
IU Ventures, Indiana University’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm, has invested $150,000 in Adipo Therapeutics, a pre-clinical stage company seeking to transform the treatment of metabolic diseases, including type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. IU Ventures is providing funding to Adipo to further develop the company’s breakthrough technology platform through the IU Philanthropic Venture Fund, which aims to bridge gaps in venture funding by making equity investments in high-potential early-stage companies with IU affiliations.
Read the full story
