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News Release

Last modified: Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Corporate Partners Program at IU's School of Informatics and Computing continues growth in scholarship offers

Program offers $50,000 in scholarships to students in its third year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 14, 2011

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Three years ago the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing launched a Corporate Partners Program designed to give corporations unique access to students and faculty at the school. Today that program has grown to include nine local, national and international corporations that, through their participation in the program, have been able to offer over $50,000 in scholarship monies to about 50 students at the school this year.

The program, which has grown every year since its inception, offers two levels of annual investment -- gold and platinum -- and the fees for both levels of participation are used entirely to support student scholarships. Gold sponsors gain special recruiting access to students, including an annual recruitment strategy planning meeting; a continuous presence with students via a dedicated social networking site; a scholarship named after their company; and visibility in published lists and donor recognition displays. Platinum sponsors get all the benefits of a gold sponsor but are also entitled to receive feedback on their company's strategic ideas, as well as access to the expertise of SOIC faculty, administrative leadership and capstone course instructors.

"The School of Informatics and Computing is very fortunate to have outstanding relationships with so many companies, both local and national," said director of career services Jeremy Podany. "All of our current partners have participated in our career fairs and have hired our students as interns or full-time employees. The Corporate Partners Program has been instrumental in solidifying their role, and it's given them some additional benefits."

Employers feel the same way, as the list of partner companies continues to grow toward the program goal of maintaining 15 to 20 active companies. Currently, nine companies are participating in the program: Blue Horseshoe, Cerner Corporation, ChalkLabs, Crowe Horwath, DowAgro Sciences, ExactTarget, Interactive Intelligence, John Deere and OptumInsight.

"I'm repeatedly asked why a fast-growing high-tech firm like ours didn't relocate to Silicon Valley," said Don Brown, founder and CEO of Interactive Intelligence. "The fact is Indiana has been a major advantage for us largely because of the incredibly smart, hard-working and dedicated group of people being graduated by institutions like the School of Informatics and Computing at IU."

Todd Richardson, a senior vice president at ExactTarget, agreed: "We have had a deep relationship with the School of Informatics and Computing for many years, having hired a number of interns and full-time employees from the school. Graduates from the School of Informatics and Computing have joined our team and immediately contributed to our success. We look forward to partnering with the school for many years to come."

For more information about the Corporate Partners Program, visit here.

Founded in 2000 as the first school of its kind in the United States, the Indiana University School of Informatics is dedicated to research and teaching across a broad range of computing and information technology, with emphases on science, applications and societal implications. The school includes the Departments of Computer Science and Informatics on the Bloomington campus and Informatics on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus. The school administers a variety of bachelor's and master's degree programs in computer science and informatics, as well as Ph.D. programs in computer science and the first-ever Ph.D. in informatics. The school is dedicated to excellence in education and research, to partnerships that bolster economic development and entrepreneurship, and to increasing opportunities for women and underrepresented minorities in computing and technology. For more information, visit www.soic.indiana.edu.

For more information, please contact Lisa Herrmann, manager of communications, IU School of Informatics, at 812-855-4125 or ljherrma@indiana.edu.

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