Serving students first to ensure their long-term success
The start of the fall semester at Indiana University clearly reflects IU's accelerated commitment to student success in pursuit of the goals of the IU 2030 strategic plan.
IU has welcomed nearly 22,000 beginner undergraduate and graduate students this fall. They help make up a total student body of nearly 90,000 hailing from every Indiana county, every state in the nation and 168 countries worldwide. IU's fall enrollment is also one of the most diverse in the university's history. Enrollment of students of color increased by more than 4 percent this year, and students of color now comprise almost 32 percent of IU's overall student body.
As IU President Pamela Whitten noted in her first blog of the new academic year, IU's newest class of students arrived at IU as the university centers its focus on "providing one of the nation’s most robust, vibrant and supportive student experiences with ever-expanding academic opportunities, strong career pathways, and strengthened advising and mentorship programs."
To this end, last month IU announced it will launch one of the nation’s most comprehensive online student success platforms in collaboration with technology partner Stellic. The personalized, mobile-friendly interface, which will debut next year, will streamline and consolidate existing technologies into a single online platform, making it easier and faster for IU's students to plan their classes, monitor their progress toward degree completion and stay on track to graduate on time.
Through individualized initiatives such as the "Design Your Life and Career" program at IU Bloomington and IU Kokomo's Academic Success Coach, IU is elevating efforts to help students, especially those who may be unsure about the direction of their college journey, understand and explore various academic pathways available to them. IU is also harnessing the power of student mentoring, which is at the heart of successful programs like Titans Mentoring Titans at IU South Bend and the Mentor Collective at IU's top-ranked O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
As IU Vice President for Student Success Julie Payne-Kirchmeier recently shared in a message to IU faculty and staff, all of IU's campuses across the state are embracing their responsibility to keep students at the center of all that they do and envisioning ways to create stronger, more meaningful student-focused environments.
"To truly cultivate a student-ready culture, we need to do more," she wrote. "As Indiana University, we must remain focused on intentional, holistic and student-centered efforts, and scale these across our campuses so all of our students will benefit. Boutique programs and isolated efforts help some students, but not all. This work will be hard, but it will be worth it."
Discover more about the student success pillar of IU 2030
Economic Engagement Update
Creating in-demand degree programs that fuel the state’s talent pipeline
The IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering will establish a new Department of Computer Science in Indianapolis, contributing to Indiana’s talent pipeline and providing students the opportunity to specialize in high-demand fields including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, ethics and social impact of technology, and entrepreneurship and innovation. The new courses and degrees are part of IU’s commitment to build one of the nation’s premier urban research universities in Indianapolis, which also includes doubling enrollment in the Luddy School, investing in new STEM faculty and contributing to the vitality of central Indiana
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Exchanging best practices in Switzerland to bolster Indiana’s workforce
Phil Powell, executive director of the Indiana Business Research Center at IU’s Kelley School of Business, was among a delegation of more than 100 business, government, nonprofit and education leaders who traveled to Switzerland to study the country’s work-based learning system. The delegation, which also included IU President Pamela Whitten and her peers at Butler University, the University of Indianapolis and Marian University, learned more about Switzerland’s apprenticeship system and how its best practices may be applicable to Ascend Indiana’s Modern Apprenticeship Program.
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Teaming up for southern Indiana
Two Southern Indiana entities are teaming up on education, training and regional development. Align Southern Indiana has moved its offices to the IU Southeast campus to build synergies between the university and the economic and educational development agency.
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IU in the news
Indiana University mourns passing of IUPUI Chancellor Emeritus Gerald Bepko
The longest-serving chancellor of IUPUI, Bepko held the position from 1986 to 2003. He also served as interim president of Indiana University from Jan. 1, 2003, to Aug. 31, 2003.
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Midwest Center for Biodiversity at IU launched at Kent Farm
In a rapidly changing climate, the newly launched Midwest Center for Biodiversity, within the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, will be the first center dedicated to studying why the Midwest is losing biodiversity. The center will recommend solutions in conservation practice and policy, and increase awareness of the urgent response needed to stop this loss.
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NIH grant funds research center to find new addiction therapies
A new research center at IU will support substance-use-disorder researchers across the nation in their efforts to find new therapies to treat addiction, thanks to a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, which is expected to provide approximately $7 million over five years.
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Lochmiller named to Indiana Commission for Higher Education
Chad Lochmiller, an associate professor and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies department chair at the IU School of Education, has been named to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education by Gov. Eric Holcomb.
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Ross appointed to Indiana State and Local Tax Review Task Force
Justin Ross, a professor at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, has been appointed to the Interim State and Local Tax Review Task Force by the Indiana General Assembly.
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