IUPUI has effectively organized the human, financial, and physical resources necessary to accomplish its purposes.
Governance by Trustees
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis was created in 1969 as a partnership between Indiana University and Purdue University , with Indiana as the managing partner. Thus all IUPUI faculty and staff are employees of Indiana University and subject to its policies and procedures. Faculty, including those in the Purdue schools of Science and Engineering & Technology, earn tenure through IU procedures. IUPUI faculty in Purdue schools are evaluated for promotion in rank by campus policies and awarded promotion by Purdue University Trustees on recommendation of the IUPUI Chancellor.
IUPUI schools are managed in a variety of ways. For instance, the School of Liberal Arts and Herron School of Art, while IU schools at IUPUI, operate in a relatively autonomous fashion. The same is true for the state-wide Indiana University schools of Medicine, Nursing, Social Work, and Dentistry, for which IUPUI is the principal campus. The two Purdue schools of Science and Engineering & Technology offer courses and curricula that draw upon the Purdue University course inventory and curricula, but also include IU courses; degrees in these schools are approved through the Purdue Board of Trustees. Other "core campus" schools, such as Education, Business, Journalism, Library and Information Science, and Public and Environmental Affairs, are one with their counterparts in Bloomington ; executive associate deans lead these schools in Indianapolis while the dean"s principal office is on the IU Bloomington campus.
IUPUI is governed by the Trustees of Indiana University. In keeping with its mission as an urban campus, IUPUI has an active community Board of Advisors that meets bi-monthly.
Administration
The president of Indiana University and the IU Board of Trustees appoint and supervise chancellors for each of IU"s eight campuses. IUPUI Chancellor Gerald L. Bepko has created an administrative cabinet that includes Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties William M. Plater , Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education Mark L. Brenner, Vice Chancellor for Planning and Institutional Improvement Trudy W. Banta, Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Diversity Karen M. Whitney, Vice Chancellor for External Affairs Cheryl G. Sullivan, and Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance Robert E. Martin.
IUPUI uses responsibility center budgeting, which gives each dean the responsibility for managing both income and expenses. An annual assessment, or tax, levied on each school according to a formula provides funding for the central administration. The Chancellor convenes a monthly meeting of vice chancellors and deans that is called the Council of Academic Deans; administrative matters requiring campus-wide discussion are considered by this group.
Internal Governance Structures
IUPUI"s Faculty Council meets monthly to consider all major campus initiatives of interest to faculty. Each vice chancellor sits as an ex officio member on a faculty governance committee that provides a communication channel to the faculty in areas that correspond approximately to the respective vice chancellor"s area of responsibility. IUPUI"s Staff Council also is active in pursuing matters related to staff welfare. The Undergraduate Student Assembly and Graduate Student Organization are active forces in advocating students" positions on important campus issues and representing student concerns.
Faculty
The full-time faculty,almost 1700 strong, is appropriately prepared?85 percent hold doctoral or professional degrees in their disciplines. Many of the adjunct faculty attracted from business, industry, and government in Indianapolis are highly regarded practitioners in their fields. In surveys, students often comment on the extraordinary learning opportunities these individuals provide.
In 2001 a Board of Trustees initiative was implemented to address the issue of reliance on part-time faculty at IUPUI. A three-year phased approach was undertaken to provide funding for the conversion of part-time faculty to full-time faculty. In FY2001-02, the initiative"s first year, funding was provided for the conversion of 35 positions across the campus; in the second year, 43 positions were added; and 36 are planned for the third year.
Students
Since its creation in 1969, IUPUI"s enrollment has increased rapidly?22 percent in the 16 years that Gerald Bepko has been chancellor. Today the campus enrolls a little over 29,000 students, up from 28,339 in Fall 2001; some 7,000 are graduate students.
Services that Afford Students Opportunity to Succeed
University College , founded in 1998, provides the entry point for all students and the wide array of services that afford students from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to succeed. The Honors Program, which is associated with University College , creates enrichment experiences for some of IUPUI"s most outstanding students. The Office of Adaptive Educational Services addresses the individual educational needs of students with disabilities. The self-study on learning and teaching provides more detailed information about these services.
Most entering students participate in placement testing in writing, math, and reading. All admitted students who do not have transfer credits in college-level mathematics and writing (approximately 5600 students annually, or 70 percent of all admitted students) are tested in English, mathematics, and reading skills. The purpose of placement testing is to help academic counselors/advisors place students in appropriate courses and maximize the information needed to ensure students" success at IUPUI. Tests for advanced placement in French, Spanish, and German also are given to about 450 students annually.
Physical Plant
Most buildings on campus date from the 1970s onward and offer appropriate learning environments for undergraduate and graduate students. State-of-the-art research facilities serve many of the disciplines, most notably those related to medicine. But as on most campuses across the country, space is at a premium now and almost every department needs more space to support its aspirations for the future. A Learning Environments Committee has worked for several years to maximize the availability and quality of physical resources for teaching and learning. ( Click here for an interactive tour of IUPUI buildings )
Student Safety
Several campus offices contribute to the provision of a safe and healthy environment for students as well as faculty and staff. Student health services are available centrally. The Office of Environmental Health and Safety oversees the environmental welfare of faculty, staff, and students. The Dean of Students Office administers the Student Code of Conduct in order to cultivate a civil and responsible environment. The Campus Police provide law enforcement and community policing support to the campus 24 hours a day. As compared to urban peer institutions, IUPUI"s campus crime statistics are quite low. Transportation Services ensures that the campus has quality parking facilities and intra-campus shuttle services. The Office of Student Life and Diversity develops and implements many programs designed to contribute to the safety and overall health of the campus community. Campus Facility Services maintains the physical environment to ensure a safe and healthy campus.
Academic Resources and Equipment
Four libraries support the programs of IUPUI: the University Library, which includes a specialized art library and a philanthropic studies library, the Ruth Lilly Medical Library, the Indiana University School of Law Library-Indianapolis, and the School of Dentistry Library . The University Library is one of the country"s most technologically sophisticated academic libraries. Completed in 1993, it houses over 300 public workstations that provide access to library resources, the Internet, and personal productivity software. This library was among the first in the country to use a Web interface to its resources and to deploy an electronic reserve system.
Beginning in their first semester, IUPUI students receive instruction in the use of library resources. The University Library has been a pioneer in working to develop instructional teams, which, with leadership from University College, combine the efforts of teaching faculty, librarians, technologists, advisors, and student mentors to design and deliver curriculum. Student and faculty satisfaction with the libraries is consistently high.
For more than a decade IUPUI has had a plan for the development of technology infrastructure. University Information Technology Services (UITS) is headed by Indiana University Vice President Michael McRobbie , who led the development of a detailed strategic plan for information technology in 1998. Progress on this plan was evaluated in 2001. One component of the strategic plan addressed the need to maintain the quality of the desktop computing environment for faculty and staff. To address this issue the University implemented life-cycle funding for desktop computers. Units were required to identify the funding necessary to allow them to replace desktop equipment every three years.
Financial Management
Each year since 1995 Chancellor Bepko has related new institutional expenditures to the principal themes in IUPUI"s mission statement. The institution currently is in a strong financial position, but concerns about deficits in the state budget permeate higher education in Indiana in 2002.
The State of Indiana uses biennial budgeting. The budget for each two-year period is established during the legislative session preceding the start of the fiscal period. Based on early pro forma budgets produced at the campus level, the schools and administrative units are able to identify new resources, such as increased credit hours, and expenditures in preparation for the annual campus budgeting process. Models are run at the macro (campus) level to determine the impact of budget variables and are then disaggregated to the responsibility center level to determine the impact on each unit.
The carry-forward principle underlying the Responsibility Center Management (RCM) model allows deans and vice chancellors to develop reserve funding for major initiatives that might not be available using current year resources alone. Administrators must submit plans for using their reserve funds during the budget construction period. In addition, updates to the planned uses are required during periodic fiscal analysis reviews.
Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC)
IUPU Columbus was created in 1970, one year after IUPUI. Its mission is influenced by the fact that it is not an urban campus, but rather a campus located in a small town. Its student population comes from the 12 counties of southeastern Indiana , most of which are in rural settings. Approximately half of IUPUC"s student population comes from these rural counties.
All IUPUC data are included in IUPUI data. Among the nearly 1700 faculty listed by IUPUI, 22 are resident at IUPUC, along with 150 adjunct lecturers. Nearly all full-time faculty at IUPUC hold the terminal degree in their discipline.
Among IUPUI"s 29,000 students, approximately 1400 attend IUPUC; another 300+ Purdue School of Technology students are enrolled at Columbus and are not included in the official enrollment figures for IUPUI. The Columbus campus is just beginning to enroll graduate students in its newly approved MBA program. Undergraduate admission standards and placement tests are the same at both locations. In 1999 IUPUC followed IUPUI"s lead by establishing a University College program that provides services to students similar to those offered by University College in Indianapolis .
IUPUC has one primary building of 80,000 square feet and a small research building of 1800 square feet. The State Budget Agency is expected to release funds for construction of a new Learning Center of approximately 120,000 square feet that will be shared with the Community Education Coalition (CEC) partners. Many IUPUC classes and a few administrative offices will be located in this new building.
The University Library has a branch location on the IUPU Columbus campus. There are 5 FTE staff and 20 student workstations in the IUPUC library. All workstations offer all online services of the IU system.
Strengths and Challenges
Strengths include:
- synergies made possible through the collaboration of Indiana and Purdue University faculty in Indianapolis .
the enhanced learning opportunities afforded by IUPUI"s location near the heart of Indiana "s largest city and the state capitol. IUPUI"s distinctive urban mission and strong connections with its community, which afford IUPUI students access to community resources and community members access to campus resources. responsibility center management (RCM), which increases participation by deans and unit faculty and staff in planning, budgeting, and management and encourages entrepreneurial activity. a distinguished group of central administrators and deans, many of whom have achieved national and international recognition in their fields. well prepared and nationally and internationally recognized faculty whose ranks are being strengthened by the addition of outstanding junior faculty. strong and effective faculty, staff, and student governance structures. innovative University College programs that have enhanced student success demonstrably. Strong community support for IUPU Columbus through the Community Education Coalition.
Challenges include:
- interpreting for stakeholders the complexities of IUPUI"s organizational structure.
maintaining parity of faculty salaries, recognition, and workloads in Indianapolis and Bloomington , particularly in core campus schools. serious space limitations that hamper growth in instruction and scholarly activity. an ever-dwindling ability to keep pace with the growth of expenses related to library resources. inadequate state support for maintenance of buildings constructed without state funds. Indiana "s current fiscal crisis. securing state funding for (1) the appointment of new faculty to deliver the programs recently approved for IUPU Columbus by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and (2) construction of the new Learning Center in Columbus .
