Happy New Year from IU University Relations!
As our team begins its work in 2025, we want to provide our colleagues, friends and partners across the state with information about the truly amazing work members of the Indiana University 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 2025 report, we wanted to provide a quick primer on the Indiana General Assembly, which has begun its 2025 budget session in earnest. The biennial budget (HB 1001) 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 September, the Board of Trustees approved the capital and line-item portions of our budget request. President Pamela Whitten then presented to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) in October, which approved its higher ed funding recommendations in November. In mid-November, universities and ICHE presented the requests to the State Budget Committee ahead of the state revenue forecast update in late December and the governor’s recommendations after his inauguration. With the start of the legislative session, we now head into the final two 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 Tuesday in the House (the Senate’s deadline was January 9). We hope each of you have a safe, healthy and happy 2025, and we look forward to communicating with all of you soon.
Governor Braun’s inaugural address and legislator priorities
This past Monday, Jan. 13, Mike Braun was sworn in as Indiana’s 52nd governor and gave his inaugural address.
Braun said, “In Indiana, we have a strong foundation, built on the shoulders of the fearless, hard-working Hoosiers, small business owners, talented entrepreneurs, and persevering leaders who laid the foundation upon which we will build. That same entrepreneurial drive must live within each of us to face today's challenges.”
He later added, “We can settle for complacency in our education system, or empower parents and prepare our students for the jobs that will power the future.”
IU President Pamela Whitten attended the inauguration ceremony, along with other members of IU leadership.
The beginning of the legislative session presents an opportunity to hear about the legislative priorities of our state leaders. Gov. Braun introduced his priorities before the session began, which are reflected in his “Freedom and Opportunity Agenda.” Each of the four legislative caucuses have also introduced their legislative priorities, which can be reviewed here:
Senate Republicans
Senate Democrats
House Republicans
House Democrats
President Whitten presents IU's budget request to House Ways and Means Committee
President Whitten presented her second IU biennial budget request to the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 14.
Whitten started by highlighting the tremendous progress the university has made in the first year and a half of implementing the IU 2030 Strategic Plan, providing specific examples of achievements in IU’s three pillars: Student Success and Opportunity, Transformative Research and Creativity, and Service to Our State and Beyond. She then gave the committee a brief update on the IU Indianapolis campus, which is now in its first year of operation. Finally, she provided some context for IU’s FY 2025-2027 budget request, approved last fall by the IU Board of Trustees, and the critical role the state can play in helping the university achieve some ambitious goals.
IU’s request included:
- Updates to current line items, including inflationary adjustments
- Increased funding for the Indiana Geological and Water Survey to account for new legislative duties due to the creation of the Center for Water and the Center for Energy
- Increased funding for the Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute to support expanded cancer research
- Funding requests for two new special state line items
- The state’s matching investment of $1.3 million per year for IU Innovates
- The state’s matching investment for staffing needs for IU Public Safety
- Support for IU’s capital project requests
- President Whitten thanked the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for recommending the funding of IU’s Priority 1 capital project, the Science Learning Initiative Phase II: IU Bloomington Biology Building renovation and utility upgrades, using fee replacement
The Indiana House of Representatives will pass its version of the biennial budget at the end of February. The individual budget requests of Indiana’s seven public institutions will next be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee in March.
Read the IU biennial budget request
Watch the IU biennial budget request
Federal Update
This week the House considered seven bills under suspension of the rules, all out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, including the Federal Disaster Assistance Coordination Act, Post-Disaster Assistance Online Accountability Act and two bills on Amtrak. The Senate will be in session for the duration of the week. Confirmation hearings for President-elect Trump’s cabinet nominees have begun, including Pete Hegseth as nominee for secretary of defense, Pam Bondi for attorney general and Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of state.
Read the Federal Update
Economic Engagement Update
David Rosenberg to lead IU LAB, academic-industry initiative to drive advancements in biosciences
David Rosenberg, Indiana secretary of commerce and president and CEO of the Indiana Economic Development Corp., has been named the inaugural president and CEO of the Indiana University Launch Accelerator for Biosciences at 16 Tech. Known as IU LAB, the academic-industry initiative is supported by a $138 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. and will harness the state’s extensive resources to make Indiana a national leader in bioscience discovery, commercialization and talent development.
“We are thrilled to have David Rosenberg join the leadership team at Indiana University in his role as president and CEO of IU LAB,” IU President Pamela Whitten said. “Secretary Rosenberg brings a track record of successful partnerships and major investments into our state. His leadership will help unlock the massive potential of Indiana’s leadership in biosciences.”
Learn more about David Rosenberg and IU LAB
IU Kelley School of Business course introduces students to the life sciences industry, potential career opportunities
The IU Innovation and Commercialization Office is a sponsor of a course offered by the IU Kelley School of Business, “Life Sciences from Research to Patients.” The course provides students with opportunities to hear from industry professionals and participate in a real-world project focused on solving a market problem. During the course, the students engage with Relate XR, an IU faculty startup, headquartered in Indianapolis, that leverages virtual reality technology to address substance abuse disorders, to develop an innovative commercialization plan that addresses a market problem.
Discover more about the course
Education pathway programs at IU help alleviate state’s teacher shortage
Almost 75% of public schools nationwide have difficulty filling vacant teaching positions, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. In November, the Indiana Department of Education reported nearly 1,370 teacher vacancies. Indiana University, which confers nearly one-quarter of all education degrees awarded in the state, is closing that gap through innovative education career pathways that help high schoolers and aspiring educators become licensed teachers.
Read about the impact of IU’s education pathway programs
IU Ventures announces 2025 IU Venture Fellows cohort
IU Ventures, Indiana University’s early-stage venture and angel investment arm, recently welcomed their newest group of IU Venture Fellows. The IU Venture Fellows Program immerses students in the venture capital industry through National Venture Capital Association curriculum, real time projects, and deal exposure. The fourth cohort, the largest to date, includes 13 graduate and Ph.D. students, and for the first time, the program has expanded to include a student from the Indianapolis campus.
Meet the new IU Ventures Fellows
IU in the News
IU president honored with Sagamore of the Wabash
The award recognizes Indiana University President Pamela Whitten’s distinguished service and transformative leadership at IU, as well as her contributions to the state of Indiana.
Read the full story
IU South Bend names new chancellor
Brian Pappas has been named chancellor of the Indiana University South Bend campus effective July 1. He will replace former Chancellor Susan Elrod, who retired in December. A search committee was named in August to identify candidates for the campus role.
Read the full story
IU Northwest awarded $900K grant
The funding from the U.S. Department of Education aims to tackle students’ basic needs, ensuring access to food, housing, transportation and mental health services.
Read the full story
Seamless admissions initiative expanding to more Marion County schools
Indiana University Indianapolis’ seamless admissions initiative is now expanding to more schools across Marion County. The initiative streamlines the path to college for high school students, granting automatic admission to IU Indianapolis for those students who achieve a 3.0 GPA or higher.
Read the full story
Increasing access to care through community health outreach
Staffing rural health clinics in southern Indiana is one of the many ways that Indiana University students are tackling the challenge of increasing access to health care across the state.
Read the full story
Geologic researcher at IU mapping landslide hazards across state
The Indiana Geological and Water Survey at Indiana University has been publishing critical research that addresses landslide risks across the Hoosier state. New high-resolution imagery and digital elevation measurements being collected by the Indiana Geographic Information Office will aid this work.
Read the full story
Student public policy research advises state on alleviating homelessness, food insecurity
Student research assistants at the Indiana University Public Policy Institute have shared insights on how to tackle homelessness, address food insecurity and identify the barriers to student success for LGBTQ+ youth.
Read the full story
What. A. Season.
Indiana University President Pamela Whitten celebrated an unforgettable season, coach, team and Hoosier fans for showing the world what IU football can be!
Watch the video
