Season’s greetings from the Indiana University Office of the Vice President for University Relations!
With a few days remaining until the end of 2023, we have many reasons to be grateful and hopeful. This was a year filled with promising new partnerships, neweducational pathways, and new pipelines of talent and innovation, as we continued to work together to further IU’s mission to serve communities across our state and improve Indiana’s future economic prosperity.
And we have much to look forward to in 2024!
To all of our many colleagues, friends and supporters across the state, nation and world, thank you for your continued support of IU, and we wish you a joyful, restful and happy holiday season!
Angela Smith Jones to lead IU state relations
Angela Smith Jones, vice president of diversity and inclusion at the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County and former deputy mayor of economic development for the city of Indianapolis, has been appointed as Indiana University’s associate vice president for state relations.
“Angela is a highly respected leader, with a long track record of influencing economic development and public policy decisions that have advanced economic growth in Indianapolis and across central Indiana,” said IU Vice President for University Relations Michael Huber. “The expertise, experience and relationships she brings will further IU’s goals to drive economic prosperity in our state, engage key government and industry partners to address critical workforce needs, and improve the quality of life of all Hoosiers.”
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Statehouse Update
On November 21, the Indiana General Assembly reconvened for Organization Day to officially kick off the 2024 short session.
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Economic Engagement Update
Mapping out a vision for IU’s engagement with P-12 schools
Since 2020, only 53% of high school seniors have continued straight to college after graduation each year — down from 65% in 2015. Indiana University initiatives and a long-ranging, university-wide P-12 strategy aim to chip away at this issue.
“It is not a question of if we engage in this work, but how we do it in ways that really move the needle and leverage our strengths and connect our P-12 partners to the best resources we have across IU,” said Mike Beam, IU assistant vice president for school partnerships. “All of these components are in our DNA in some way or another. It’s not only in our best interest to be a leader in this work, but we are called to do so as the largest state institution.”
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IU Northwest, Ivy Tech Lake County come together to unveil collaborative STEM Center
Late last month, Indiana University Northwest and Ivy Tech Community College Lake County unveiled a new STEM Center, which is located on the IU Northwest campus, that will serve as a resource for students from both campuses to learn, grow and prepare for successful STEM careers. The STEM Center came to fruition thanks to a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and Articulation Program
“This is a co-branded space,” IU Northwest Chancellor Ken Iwama said. “That is remarkable because in higher education often we can become competitive with each other as leaders of institutions. IU Northwest has a tradition and history of really collaborating with Ivy Tech. I think in some ways we’re a model across the state of Indiana in terms of our collaboration.”
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IU South Bend to host 2024 UEDA Summit
Indiana University South Bend will welcome business and education leaders from around the country to South Bend in 2024 as hosts of the University Economic Development Association summit. UEDA works to connect higher education institutions, private sector businesses and economic development organizations to resources that lead to economic growth in their communities.
“We are pleased that UEDA has chosen our community for the 2024 summit. As an anchor institution in this community, IU South Bend plays a huge role in the community and economic development,” said Chancellor Susan Elrod. “The university provides much needed talent for industry, community organizations and government.”
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Spotlighting innovative IU-alumni led companies around the world
Earlier this fall, IU Ventures shared the successful culmination of the IU Global Startup Showcase, an online event that spotlighted the innovative international companies led by Indiana University alumni. The virtual event featured five exceptional startups, each with strong IU connections, showcasing their groundbreaking work and contributions to various industries.
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IU in the News
Latha Ramchand to lead IU Indianapolis campus as chancellor, executive vicepresident
Latha Ramchand will serve as the inaugural chancellor of Indiana University Indianapolis and lead the reimagined campus into a new era as one of the nation’s premier urban research universities. She will join IU’s Indianapolis campus from her current role as executive vice chancellor and provost at the University of Missouri.
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IU launches national searches for leaders of new Indianapolis research institutes
Indiana University has formally launched national searches for two innovative leaders to serve as executive directors of the recently announced Convergent Bioscience and Technology Institute and the Institute for Human Health and Wellbeing at IU Indianapolis.
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All IU campuses committed to College Cost Transparency Initiative
Indiana University has demonstrated its commitment to transparency, understanding and clarity with financial aid offers by joining the College Cost Transparency Initiative.
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Kelley Direct Online MBA Program ranks #1
For the second straight year, the Kelley Direct Online MBA program at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business is ranked No. 1 by Poets&Quants, a leading news site about business education. Earlier this year, Kelley Direct was ranked No.1 by U.S. News & World Report – for a second straight year – as well as No. 1 by the Princeton Review for the sixth consecutive year.
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Center for Rural Engagement hires state rural affairs leader as interim executive director
The Center for Rural Engagement at Indiana University Bloomington has hired Denny Spinner, an experienced local government and rural affairs leader, as its interim executive director for the next year. Spinner has served as executive director of the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs since December 2020. Before that, he was mayor of Huntingburg in Dubois County for nine years.
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