Focus on Mission:

Excellence in Civic Engagement

Vision

The vision of Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus is to be the recognized source of Indiana University and Purdue University degrees and programs in southeastern Indiana.

Mission

The mission of IUPU Columbus is to identify and respond to post-secondary education needs and enhance the quality of life of the residents of our 10-county service area by providing Indiana University and Purdue University degrees, programs, courses, and faculty expertise.

 To achieve this mission, we deliver high quality courses and degree programs of IU and Purdue; encourage student achievement in a supportive and caring environment by providing small classes, academic advising, mentoring programs, preparatory courses, learning labs, student clubs, social activities, and service learning; provide university access in a cost-effective manner at Columbus and other commuter locations; provide support for research by faculty and students through release time, facilities, equipment, and travel assistance, opportunities for undergraduate research, presentations, and publications, and faculty development grants and interdisciplinary scholarship; work in partnership with community institutions, organizations, and businesses; and broaden the perceptions, knowledge base, and understanding of area residents by providing access to library and learning resources, presentations and public forums, international exchange programs, continuing education courses, in-house training, and speakers for outside groups.

Values

IUPU Columbus values honesty and integrity, achievement and excellence, collegiality and cooperation, creativity and innovation, entrepreneurship and community support, and inclusivity and diversity.  These values are expressed by the commitment of students to learning and academic integrity; faculty to the highest standards of teaching, scholarship, and service; staff to the highest standards of service; and the campus to provide access and appropriate assistance for all who demonstrate the ability to benefit from higher education; personalized attention; recognition of diversity in learning styles; faculty and staff development; continuous improvement of its programs and services; an environment conducive to learning; service to the community by students, faculty, and staff.

Campus Community Partnerships

IUPU Columbus has many partnerships in the community.  A brief description of several follows.

Community Education Coalition

The Community Education Coalition (CEC) is an umbrella organization working to create a "Community Learning System," a "seamless" system that supports learning from the beginning to the end of life.  It seeks to integrate and align existing educational systems so that students are able to move smoothly from one to the other without having to cross barriers that impede their educational progress.  Organizations involved include ArvinMeritor, the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (BCSC), City of Columbus, Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Columbus Aviation Commission, Columbus Economic Development Board, Cummins Inc., the Heritage Fund of Bartholomew County, Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus, Irwin Financial Corporation, Ivy Tech State College, the Purdue University School of Technology, and WorkOne.  Also lending guidance and support are State Senator Robert Garton and State Representative David Yount, a member of the Indiana Commission on Higher Education.  IUPU Columbus has played a very active part in this organization.

The Community Education Coalition has been recognized with a 2002 Distinguished Performance award from the National Alliance of Business. 

The Center for Teaching and Learning

The Center for Teaching and Learning, one of many initiatives of the Community Education Coalition, is a collaborative effort of community partners to support all learners and those who teach them. Programs supported by the Center for Teaching and Learning include Resources for Teaching, Student Programs and Resources, and Libraries and Information Services. The Center for Teaching and Learning is currently supported through funds from a Lilly CAPE Grant awarded to the Community Education Coalition in 2000. Descriptions of CTL programs supporting learners from birth through age 99 and beyond and those who teach them can be found here .

IUPUC is a major partner in the CEC and the CTL. Faculty have contributed to

· CTL vision, mission and goals

· Learning Center Design

· P-12 professional development programs

· Curriculum Resource Center for Teachers and Teacher Candidates

· Certification of the CTL as a Mentor Teacher Training Site granted by the Indiana Professional Standards Board

Columbus Learning Center (CLC)

The Columbus Learning Center is a community-driven initiative designed to provide a one-stop educational facility.  The building of approximately 124,000 square feet will facilitate the delivery of education to learners of all ages, utilize the most current and appropriate technology to enhance learning and expand career offerings, and facilitate the planning for and improvement of the Community Learning System by co-locating Columbus-area educational leaders. Included in the building will be 16 classrooms, 6 computer labs, 10 conference rooms and a 220-seat lecture hall, as well as other workstations and testing areas. The Center for Teaching and Learning that is described above will also be located in the CLC.

Careers in Indiana (CII)

Careers in Indiana was created to provide career planning and placement services for students, a job posting place for employers, and another opportunity for connecting the community with its educational institutions in ways that benefit all. A board of managing partners oversees the work of a small staff whose mission is to help people make connections for life planning and career transition. The CII is a service for both job seekers and employers. To enhance delivery of these services, seven neighborhood career access centers have been created where technology is available to facilitate skill assessments, career and job searches, as well as resume and interview coaching. Information on internships is also available through the CII.

Columbus Quality Improvement Center (CQIC)

The CQIC offers specialized programs to support continuous improvement initiatives of schools and two-year colleges throughout the Midwest. The mission of the CQIC is to support the creation of individual and organizational performance excellence by providing opportunities for learning, sharing knowledge and skills, and applying quality improvement principles and techniques.  To pursue this mission, the CQIC offers services based on the Baldrige system for school improvement.    In addition, the CQIC offers several products or tools, including some that will assist Indiana school corporations to meet the requirement of Public Law 221, which requires all schools to have a staff development plan that meets specific requirements.  Finally, the CQIC offers professional development courses on topics such as leadership, strategic planning, student and stakeholder focus, process management, and continuous quality improvement. 

Other Campus Partnerships

Senior Center Services

IUPU Columbus and Senior Center Services have enjoyed a 10-year partnership in offering an Elderhostel program in Columbus, Indiana.  Elderhostel, an international organization, hosts programs in conjunction with universities and offers 21 ½ hours of instruction on topics appropriate for the host organizations, as well as tours of locations of local interest.  The Columbus, Indiana Elderhostel has had a waiting list for its programs for each of the 10 years since its inauguration.

Walk Through Time

Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus worked in partnership with a host of community organizations and volunteers to sponsor an exhibit titled "A Walk Through Time...from stardust to us" during the last week of September and the first week of October 2001.  This traveling, outdoor, ecological exhibit, developed by the Hewlett-Packard Company, depicts the history of the earth in a series of 90 colorful, 3-foot x 5-foot panels of graphics and text stretching one mile in length.  The panels are designed to foster a scientific understanding of the significant stages in the development of the Earth.  Each foot represents one million years of the Earth's history.  The focus of the exhibit is the wonderful planet on which we live and the importance of preserving it.  Nearly 50 community residents and 13 companies and agencies financially sponsored the exhibit; over 100 volunteers handled all aspects of it.

Breakfast with Scholars

This series, presented at a nominal cost to the attendees, is an example of one of the many benefits provided by IUPU Columbus to community residents.  The campus sponsored, for a period of 10 years, a bi-monthly series of presentations of topical interest to the community by researchers resident at universities other than IUPU Columbus.  The breakfast programs were well attended, creating much interest in the community.

Brown Bag Lunch Lecture Series

This noontime speaking series is free to the public and highlights the excellent qualities of IUPU Columbus full-time and adjunct faculty.  Presented once each month, the series focuses on subjects of general interest; presenters are selected from among the best of the 180 faculty members at IUPU Columbus.  Like the Breakfast with Scholars series, it is an effort to reach out to the community.

American Business Seminar

This series, too, ran for a decade.  The purpose of the seminar was to expose students in the third year of a business school in Chartres, France to American business practices and culture.  Over 50 business leaders in the community volunteered their time to give presentations to the French students about their particular business and to interact with the class of approximately 20 students.  The French young people lived in host families in Columbus, visited local elementary and high schools, and had the opportunity to interact with business owners in their businesses.  The program was a campus-organized, but community-supported, effort.

Women's Conference

Sponsored by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, the Women's Professional Development Conference is in its fourth year.  Attracting 200-300 participants, the purpose of the conference is to provide information, insight, and stimulation to the many professional women in Columbus.  This year's focus will be the many roles held by professional women.  Several IUPU Columbus administrators have been and continue to be involved in the organization of this conference.  IUPU Columbus faculty have been featured speakers at two of these conferences.

Leadership Bartholomew County

Leadership Bartholomew County is an organization that holds a series of monthly, day-long classes in the government, education, social service, and cultural agencies of Columbus for 25 participants each year.  Begun in 1981 by three individuals, including current IUPU Columbus Dean Dr. Paul Bippen, the organization has had a huge impact on the lives of countless individuals and on the community in which they have become leaders.  Faculty members and administrators have been both students and presenters in LBC over the years, and there is effective interaction between this program and the campus.

Dean's Circle

The Dean's Circle provides speakers for one or two lunchtime programs, focusing on issues of current interest, each year.  In the fall of 2001, two lectures were presented on the history, politics, religion, and geography of Afghanistan.  Four instructors-three from IUPUI and one from IUPUC-spoke with the aim of providing the public with research-based answers to their questions and concerns. 

Program Partnerships

Division of Business and Economics

Business faculty represent IUPUC with the Connected Communities Partnership, a civic group seeking to improve the technological environment in Bartholomew County.  Current initiatives include developing a network infrastructure technology plan for the county, the home-to-school connectivity project, and the Tech ReConnect Center. 

The Business Programs lead the campus's involvement in an NSF grant proposal to provide entrepreneurship training and development in the state, with a special focus on start-ups and developing companies in the high tech sector, using distance education technologies and strategies.

The IUPUC Division of Business and Economics participates with the IU Kelley School of Business Economic Outlook Panel when it visits Columbus.  A participant representing the local community shares an economic perspective specifically addressing the Columbus regional economic outlook. 

The Predicator , published annually, presents the regional economic perspective.

In the first of what we anticipate will be annual meetings, the Business and Technology Programs met with local Economic Development leaders to discuss and frame the campus's involvement in regional economic development initiatives and their implementation. Nursing

The IU School of Nursing has provided the LPN>ASN Mobility Option at IUPU Columbus since 1986.  The partnership provides the access to local health care facilities necessary to educate student nurses and an opportunity for joint appointments of selected staff and administrators at these health care facilities to teach nursing curriculum.  Staff and administrators from community health facilities serve as members of the IU School of Nursing Advisory Board and provide curriculum input.

In the spring of 2002, the IU School of Nursing brought the generic ASN program to Seymour, Indiana.   This program, a collaboration among the IU School of Nursing, IUPU Columbus, and Seymour Memorial Hospital, will provide the Associate Degree Nursing program in its entirety to the small town of Seymour, Indiana.

In the spring of 2001, IUPU Columbus partnered with the American Red Cross to provide a First Responder course for the IUPU Columbus community.  Fourteen participants completed the course, thus improving the health and safety of the IUPU Columbus community. 

Education P-16 Partnerships

The IUPU Columbus Elementary Education Program supports teaching and learning in the region through several partnerships. While many of these partnerships are in the form of emerging Professional Development School relationships, others are focused on specific community initiatives and needs.  Partnerships include:

P-16 Relationship with Ivy Tech State College Early Childhood Program

· Articulation of programs

· professional development planning

· curriculum discussions

P-16 Relationships with Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation

· Partner Teacher Preparation/Professional Development Schools: Southside Elementary School, Taylorsville Elementary School, Mt. Healthy Elementary School, Richards Elementary School, Clifty Creek Elementary School, Smith Elementary School, Fodrea Elementary School, Rockcreek Elementary School

· Service-Learning Grant application for K-16 professional development in service learning with Mt. Healthy Elementary School, Eastside Community Center

· Professional development support to the Connected Community Project

Eastside Community Center After School Program

· Senior Teacher Candidates tutor elementary students as a service learning/program experience opportunity

P-16 Relationships with Flatrock-Hawcreek School Corporation

· Partner Teacher Preparation/Professional Development Schools: Cross Cliff Elementary School, Hope Elementary School

· Professional development support to the Connected Community Project

Community-Based Service Learning Opportunities

Psychology Practicum

For over twenty years, IUPUC has offered psychology practicum courses.  Students are able to select a practicum site in the community that corresponds with their personal or career interests.  Learning goals are developed for the semester as a collaboration between the student, site supervisor, and course instructor. During class sessions students focus on topics such as diversity in the workplace, values/ethical concerns, professional relationships, interviewing skills and self-awareness. Course requirements include completing 120 hours at a practicum site, attending class weekly, and preparing a written paper to integrate course material with practicum experiences.  Examples of practicum sites include: Head Start, Youth Services Center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, First Call for Help, local nursing homes, public schools, a domestic abuse shelter, and a homeless shelter.

Sociology Internships

Sociology students at IUPU Columbus can complete their capstone requirement through an internship.  Two IUPUC students have completed internships at First Call for Help, the comprehensive information and referral service provider for the Bartholomew County area.  One intern spearheaded the creation of a directory of services available through faith-based organizations.  Another intern is currently assisting with the development and production of the updated Community Resource Guide for First Call for Help.  A third intern is helping the Columbus Human Rights Commission to develop an "Employing Latinos" technical assistance manual and to evaluate 2000 census data.

Business Internships

The new Business Degree Programs at IUPUC are involved with the community through Learning Communities courses linked with Business courses; through internships ; through business presentations on campus; and through participation of area business and community leaders in courses, especially case discussions. 

Education Service Learning

In Education, service learning occurs across the program through field placement and student teaching requirements.  These have been detailed in the partnership section.

In addition, through the America Reads Program, IUPUC provides federally funded work-study opportunities to undergraduates. Students placed in nine local elementary schools receive financial support awards and gain valuable experience working with children. IUPUC students provide elementary classroom support, with a primary focus on early literacy tutorials for children in need of extra help.

Nursing Service Learning

The LPN>ASN Mobility Option on the IUPU Columbus campus has migrated into the communities of Columbus, Seymour, and Franklin to look at societal ills.  The nursing capstone course utilizes the Healthy People 2000/2010 report and the National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives developed by that body as the basis for the practicum curriculum.  Students work in settings that investigate, study, and address such problems as addictive behaviors, homelessness, domestic abuse, troubled teens, obesity, and anger management for 15 consecutive weeks.   There is no better way to become familiar with an issue than to become immersed in seeking solutions. 

Students in the acute care class of Activity/Exercise (i.e. Cardiac, Respiratory and Hematology) are required to complete a group project that provides health information to the community.  A health fair, organized and run by the students at the local mall, is held annually.  This activity is seen as a way for students to give back to the community in which they live and/or work; they do not receive academic credit for the project.   

IUPU Columbus Freshman Seminar

The IUPUC Freshman Seminar is required for all incoming full-time students.  Each class plans and implements a community service project.  Projects have included writing cards and letters for nursing home residents, assisting with Special Olympics, community mentoring, and collecting clothing and toys for shelters.  Students learn to work collaboratively with each other and the community. 

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