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IU TAKING INITIAL STEPS TO CREATE
NEW SCHOOL OF INFORMATICS
NOTE: More information on the proposed School of Informatics is available on the Web at http://informatics.indiana.edu/
INDIANAPOLIS -- Two centuries ago, an industrial revolution transformed the world and all facets of life in fundamental ways. Likewise, the rise of an information-based society and economy in the 21st century will have no less profound an effect on humankind.
Recognizing this, Indiana University is taking initial steps toward creating its first entirely new school in more than a quarter century, the School of Informatics, which will leverage the strengths of more than a dozen well-regarded departments, programs and research centers involved with the study of information science and technology, and the role they play in society.
These steps will involve extensive consultation with various faculty groups and a formal recommendation to the Trustees of Indiana University requesting their approval of the new school. Lastly, the proposal would be presented to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for its approval. All of these steps will be taken during the next year.
The proposed new school, discussed at the Dec. 4 trustee meeting in Indianapolis, will capitalize on existing strengths in technology-related disciplines such as computer science, cognitive science, and library and information science at IU's Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses.
Informatics includes core aspects of these fields as well as applications to other fields, ranging from the health, biological, physical and social sciences to the arts, humanities and various professions. As one example, medical informatics is emerging as a critical tool for early diagnosis and prevention of health problems.
J. Michael Dunn, the Oscar Ewing professor of philosophy and a professor of computer science at IU, will serve as IU director of informatics and is expected to be appointed interim dean of the school when it is approved. Darrell Bailey, IU professor of music and director of the New Media Program at IUPUI, will serve as associate director and then as interim associate dean.
The New Media program at IUPUI will become a part of the School of Informatics. Though just recently established as a degree-granting program, New Media has already attracted an enrollment of nearly 100 undergraduate and 40 graduate students.
"With our plans to create the School of Informatics, Indiana University is responding to the revolutionary changes in information technology which have set the stage for vast social and economic transformations that affect our lives," said IU President Myles Brand. "In moving forward with this effort, IU will have created a unique synergy in technology-based academic degrees. As a result, the programs within the informatics-affiliated departments will be part of a larger infrastructure which will be attractive to a large group of students.
"IU is also fortunate to have superb faculty in information technology as expressed through a variety of disciplines on our campuses, and the outstanding leadership that Mike Dunn and Darrell Bailey will bring to this effort," Brand added.
The informatics program will not replace any existing undergraduate programs, but will complement and enhance them. It will allow IU students who have interests in a wide array of academic disciplines -- including those not traditionally affiliated with new technologies -- to pursue an innovative and interdisciplinary program of study that also will be attractive to employers.
"It is certainly one of the fastest growing, new areas of the curriculum in higher education," said Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, IU vice president for academic affairs and chancellor of the Bloomington campus.
"National studies show that several hundred thousand jobs in information technology went unfilled last year. These jobs are not only related to technology-based industries, but are in state and federal government, law firms and institutions associated with the arts and humanities," Gros Louis added. "Therefore, training in informatics relates not only to the technological aspects of society, but to the interface between technology and culture."
Gerald Bepko, vice president for long range planning and chancellor of the IUPUI campus, noted the potential impact of the new school and its graduates.
"Big cities across the country are examining their futures and discussing the advanced educational needs of their citizenry. With the recent call of Mayor Stephen Goldsmith's High Technology Task Force to make Indianapolis a regional hub for high-speed data services, IUPUI's New Media Program has already been cited as an 'early win' in being responsive to this opportunity," Bepko said. "As an IU Bloomington /IUPUI collaboration, the new School of Informatics will provide the option for students to acquire knowledge of emerging technologies as part of their college education in an even broader array of disciplines."
A one-time grant of approximately $1 million from round three of IU's Strategic Directions Initiatives funding will provide start-up funds for the new school. This is consistent with the initiative's purpose of advancing areas of academic and research excellence. Future funding will be sought from the Indiana State Legislature for the 2001-03 biennium, as well as from donors, foundations and grants.
Similar programs are being established around the globe, including at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, the University of Manchester in England and Nagoya University in Japan, as well as the University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley.
IU's informatics degree will emphasize a plan of study that combines a traditional academic discipline in the sciences, humanities, arts or the professions with a deep exploration of the associated information science and technology. As in a "double-major," students enrolled in the program will be required to master not only informatics courses, but also core classes in another discipline.
Dunn said the new academic unit is another excellent example of how IU's Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses are working together concerning technology issues, He noted that IU has established one of the strongest groups of network specialists in the world. This ability to collaborate was a key to IU's recent selection to operate the nation's most advanced network operations center as part of Internet2.
"None of that would have been achieved by either campus going it alone," Dunn said. "It was the strengths of the two campuses, and the School of Informatics has similar potential for success."
(DeAnna Hines, executive director of communications, 812-855-0850, djhines@indiana.edu)