Last modified: Thursday, June 23, 2011
'Blueprint' will lead to improved success, excellence and efficiency at IU regional campuses
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2011
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A new Blueprint for Student Attainment charts a path to greater success for students at Indiana University regional campuses while addressing the evolving role and growing importance of the campuses to the state and the regions they serve.
John Applegate, IU executive vice president for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy, presented the Blueprint today (June 23) to the Academic Affairs and University Policies Committee of the IU Board of Trustees. The document was developed through a deeply collaborative strategic-planning process that brought together faculty and administrators from the six regional campuses: IU East, IU Kokomo, IU Northwest, IU Southeast, IU South Bend and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. It was adopted by a leadership committee of the chancellors of the IU regional campuses.
Photo by Susanna Tanner
The "Blueprint for Student Attainment" builds on priorities of collaboration, engagement and excellence to chart progress for IU regional campuses.
"The Blueprint for Student Attainment represents an impressive effort and a high level of collaboration among campuses and among faculty and administration," said IU President Michael A. McRobbie. "In order to prosper, the IU regional campuses must see themselves as part of a distinctive and collective enterprise, while maintaining individual identities and being responsive to state and regional needs. The Blueprint for Student Attainment leads the way into this new era in the history of the regional campuses."
The Blueprint builds on three related priorities:
- Collaboration, including collaborative and cross-campus programming, partnerships with other campuses and institutions, and the sharing of information and best practices
- Engagement of students in learning and of campuses with their communities and regions
- Excellence in faculty scholarship, student-focused education, and improving efficiency.
It reflects a vision of the regional campuses as providers of accessible, first-choice education for prepared students. The campuses offer bachelor's and selected master's degrees; provide rigorous, student-centered and flexible education; and maintain strong connections to local communities and regions. The Blueprint also advances the IU Principles of Excellence , including the commitment to academic excellence, responsible stewardship of resources and engagement with state needs.
While increasing collaboration, the plan also builds on the strengths of the regional campuses, which educate approximately one-third of Indiana University students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college. Eighty percent of regional campus graduates live and work in Indiana.
The plan includes strategic initiatives and actions that the campuses will undertake to achieve their goals, along with metrics for tracking success, such as student progress rates, degrees awarded and measures of student engagement in learning. McRobbie has charged Applegate to lead the plan's implementation, which will begin immediately. Regional campus chancellors will each be championing a specific set of implementation efforts across all regional campuses.
"Improvement in student success rates must receive priority both in implementation of the Blueprint and in individual campus decisions," McRobbie said. "Other key areas for implementation must include affordability and meeting state and regional needs in educational programming, research and engagement. I look forward to regular progress reports."
The strategic planning process for regional campuses began in July 2010, in response to a charge by McRobbie to the Office of the Executive Vice President for University Regional Affairs, Planning and Policy to develop a distinct mission for the regional campuses.
Ninety faculty members and administrators worked as six action teams to develop priorities, with input provided from members of the regional-campus and university communities. A steering committee, composed of co-chairs of the action teams, developed the plan from those reports. Finally a leadership committee, made up of the regional campus chancellors, Applegate and Associate Vice President Barbara Bichelmeyer, reviewed the document and made the final recommendation to McRobbie.
The regional campus Expenditure Review Committee, created by McRobbie in September 2010 and chaired by IU East Chancellor Nasser Paydar, worked in concert with the Blueprint team on affordability and efficiency. Its report is incorporated in the document, and its important recommendations will be implemented along with the Blueprint.
The complete Blueprint on Student Attainment and related reports used in developing the document can be seen at https://www.iu.edu/~uapp/blueprint/.
