680 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(02/14/14 5:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Board of Trustees met Thursday at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, covering a wide range of topics including a presentation on the new academic directions of IU.Vice President for University Academic Affairs John Applegate, Provost Lauren Robel and IUPUI Chancellor Charles R. Bantz presented the new academic directions results to the Board of Trustees.The Academic Directions initiative has produced strategic and focused changes on an unprecedented scale in the academic landscape of the institution’s core campuses at IU-Bloomington and IUPUI, University administrators said at the meeting. The committee’s report, which came out in April 2011, included many recommendations to improve the school including recommending investing strategically in existing and new programs.Mark Land, associate vice president of public affairs and government relations, said the presentation showed the various goals and objectives of the new academic directions had been met. The School of Global and International Studies, the School of Public Health-Bloomington and the new Media School were all results of the Academic Directions initiative. The initiative was created in early 2011 in response to President McRobbie’s call for targeted investments to achieve academic excellence and improved efficiency, innovation and collaboration.“New Academic Directions has produced dramatic changes in the academic structure and operation of Indiana University’s core campuses,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a press release. “The decisions we have made as a result of this report will position the university to respond effectively to the demands being placed on higher education in a new century. The outstanding and strategic work carried out by faculty and administrators will benefit the university for many years to come.”The meeting will continue on Friday. — Kathrine Schulze
(02/13/14 4:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The search committee for the new dean of the Hutton Honors College made its formal recommendation to the provost early this week.After a long search process, there were three final candidates — Maria Bucur, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Andrea Ciccarelli, chair for the department of French and Italian; and Fritz Breithaupt, who has served as interim dean since July.“We look forward with eagerness to one of our great colleagues that will make a wonderful new dean,” said Dennis Groth, interim vice provost for undergraduate education and chair of the search committee.Groth added, though the committee has made a recommendation, how long it takes the provost to respond is out of their hands.The committee of 12 was composed of two students and 10 IU faculty members.“Having students on the committee and seeking their input has been a very important principle for us,” Groth said.The two students on the committee were Michael Jancovich, a senior majoring in biology, neuroscience and Spanish and Kristin Froehle, a senior in the Kelley School of Business majoring in business, economics and public policy.Both were asked to join based on their significant involvement in Hutton student organizations such as the Hutton Honors College Association.“I feel like they’ve really made an effort to include the student voice, and I’m appreciative of that,” Jancovich said.Aside from having two student committee members, Hutton staged town hall meetings open to the public and sent surveys to all honors students to gather a more widespread student response.Froehle said student perception of candidates was something she often considered while on the committee. She highlighted the importance of the town hall meetings. The meetings have been beneficial during previous dean searches on IU’s campus.“It’s really good to have a more holistic response from students,” she said.Groth said the committee received what he would consider an excellent response from the student surveys, adding that the committee takes all comments seriously.Jancovich said since the dean is an advocate for students, the student voice is necessary, as is the dean’s focus on students.“My primary metric has been engagement with students, someone who’s really going to reach out to students, listen to their needs, advocate for them,” Jancovich said.Now, the conclusion of the search lies in the hands of the provost. “For these types of searches, after we’ve submitted our recommendation, we wait to see if there’s anything else we can do,” Groth said.Follow reporter Anna Hyzy on Twitter @annakhyzy.
(02/12/14 4:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 50 people filed into the Ernie Pyle auditorium Tuesday evening to attend the Media School merger question and answer panel organized by the IU Journalism Student Advisory Board.The Media School, which combines the units of the School of Journalism, Department of Communication and Culture and Department of Telecommunications, will be housed under the College of Arts and Sciences at its new location in Franklin Hall.Lesa Hatley Major, interim dean of the School of Journalism and associate dean of the Media School, and Larry Singell, executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, answered student questions.One student questioned whether or not there would be enough space for the three units in Franklin Hall.“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” Major said. “We’re looking at what’s the best way to do this.”It starts with a wish list, she said.The space committee is working with student media representatives to try to give everyone what they think they will need and then go from there, Major said.Another student wanted to know when the move to Franklin Hall would be completed.Singell said it is tentatively scheduled for January 2016, but part of the building is already renovated. The University completed renovation to Franklin Hall’s old library reading room last spring. It has been renamed President Hall.The model of the Media School will be based on other universities like Arizona State, University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles. Major said the goal is to connect the schools, not contain them. The goal is to create collaboration between students and faculty.“We want faculty to be among students and students to feel welcomed,” Major said. “We hope what happens in the classroom continues out into the hallways. So we want to have these spaces where students can sit and just meet outside the classrooms.”Part of the vision of revitalizing the area is to bring students back into the Old Crescent, the University’s historic center, Singell said.“If there’s any group that’s there 24/7, it’s media students,” he said, earning a laugh from the students.One student said potential students looking for a good journalism program might shy away from IU because there is no longer an independent school of journalism.“That’s the question I’m worried about most,” Singell said. “The good news is we have talented people in the School of Journalism and these other units to talk about it.”Journalism will be a prominent part of the Media school, he said, with official discussion on marketing strategy beginning Wednesday.One sophomore asked what changes he should expect to see before graduation.It wouldn’t change that student’s degree, Major said, and changes to curriculum will take more than a year to see.“What I believe will happen, and what I hope you will notice, is there will be a willingness to cross boundaries before that and an understanding among the faculty about how we can work together so that there are classes you can take,” Singell said. “Often we’re planting trees we’ll never see.”
(02/07/14 4:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU is responding to concerns expressed by many faculty, parents and students last year about the lack of emphasis on diversity at IU by creating three new administrative positions and revamping other administrative positions devoted to increasing diversity. The IU student body consists of 4 percent African-American students, 4.2 percent Latino students and 4 percent Asian-American students, according to the fall 2013-14 enrollment report. “Things are being done. These sensitive matters and issues are being talked about,” IUSA Chief of Diversity, Inclusion and Advocacy Leighton Johnson said. ‘“I’m satisfied with the progress.” Johnson was one of the student leaders who started the rally last year to call for more underrepresented minorities and fix understaffed and underfunded programs, such as Groups and the Hudson and Holland Scholarship program, which were intended to recruit and assist minority students. He said these new administrative positions “speak volumes to the University’s character” and focus on diversity issues. One of the biggest administrative changes, Johnson said, was the selection of James Wimbush as the new vice president of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs, who brings “new energy” to the push for more diversity at IU. The three new administrative positions include Vice-Provost and Associate Vice President of DEMA Educational Inclusion and Diversity, Vice President of the IU Foundation and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity. History professor Claude Clegg will fill the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity position July 2014. The goal of this position, Clegg said, will be to recruit and retain faculty from underrepresented minority groups. “The big thing is that the University’s diversity mission will need to be absorbed by the roots of all of its departments, schools and other units, not just some of them,” Clegg said. “It’s a cultural shift that will require the buy-in of various faculty colleagues and administrators, a shift that I hope to help advance by working corroboratively with units and people across IUB.” One of the issues brought up last year was the discontinuation of the Hudson and Holland Scholars incentive scholarships for current students due to a lack of funds. This program is an incentive for academically gifted minority students to attend IU, Johnson said. However, with the new emphasis on diversity, the incentive program has been reinstated. Program director Marsha McGriff said the program is going in a positive direction and this temporary discontinuation was necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarship fund. “I think it was a good thing to just kind of stop for a moment, to relaunch the funding and then start again,” McGriff said. Currently, the Hudson Holland scholarship program is funding 914 minority students, with almost 1,000 in the group total, McGriff said. “We have the stats to support that it is successful,” McGriff said. “The students are phenomenal.” Johnson said he is satisfied with the reimplementation and focus on diversity programs and IU’s general willingness to address such a touchy subject by getting more involvement in diversity at the administration level. “There were diversity issues last year, and there still are,” Johnson said. “But is today better than yesterday? Yes.” Follow reporter Dani Castonzo on Twitter @Dani_Castonzo.
(02/07/14 4:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Millennials are pushing a national trend toward carless universities, and IU is among the most progressive.At least, according to the Indiana Public Interest Research Group, which released a report Thursday on university transportation policy around the nation.“University campuses must get the most value out of their limited land and they’re actually aware of problems associated with being overrun by cars,” Rory Carmer of the INPIRG Education Fund said in a press conference at the Indiana Memorial Union on Thursday. The report, called “New Course: How Innovative University Programs are Reducing Driving on Campus and Creating New Models for Transportation Policy,” can be found on the group’s website, inpirg.org.IU-Bloomington and IUPUI were the only IU campuses listed in the report as campuses that provide discounted or fare-free transit programs. Carmer cited many ways in which IU is stepping away from relying on a personal car to get around, including the IU Safe Ride Program, ZipCar and the campus and city buses.Bloomington mayor Mark Kruzan said these resources haven’t been cheap. “The University has invested heavily in mass transit as well as in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and safety throughout campus,” he said in a press release. “IU leaders have instituted policies and practices such as creating its cutting edge Office of Sustainability, and a myriad of other examples. IU is making it easy for staff, faculty and students to decrease vehicular dependence, empowering everyone to make smarter choices.”Carmer said bigger communities would do well to observe and implement similar programs. “Universities act as an important laboratories, testing what cities and suburbs can do in their own, broader communities,” Carmer said. “Policy makers of the municipal, state and federal level should shift resources to alternative transportation modes to meet the needs of the millennial generation.”She said millennials will put pressure on legislators to make the move.“The habits that people adopt in their younger years have a way of persisting as people grow older,” she said. “There’s a generation of college graduates for whom it will be normal and desirable not to depend on a personal car.”— Ashley Jenkins
(02/05/14 5:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU summer tuition discount that began in 2012 has been renewed for the summer semester at all IU campuses except Bloomington, according to a press release issued today.Indiana resident undergraduate students who take classes during the summer will receive a 25 percent discount, as well as an equivalent dollar reduction for out-of-state students.The discount will no longer be in effect in Bloomington, but will be replaced with a flat rate for students taking a high number of classes during the summer semester.A flat attendance rate for summer semesters at the Bloomington campus accounts for the change.Many satellite campuses, however, have seen an increase in their attendance for their summer semester.Currently, the flat rate for students who attend classes during the fall and spring semesters is 17 credit hours. With the new rate, students will be able to take an 18-credit-hour course load with no additional fees. Both policies are part of an effort by IU to encourage students to graduate within four years. The policies will go into effect fall 2014. “We are continually looking for the most effective ways to provide economic value to our students and their families, and to promote on-time graduation across all of our campuses,” IU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer MaryFrances McCourt said.With the new plan, an in-state IU Bloomington student taking 18 credit hours per semester would save about $284 per semester when compared to the current cost of taking as many credit hours. Non-residents would save almost $1,000. “The summer tuition discount and increase in the flat-fee cap speak louder than words,” John Applegate, IU executive vice president for university academic affairs, said. “University-wide, IU is firmly committed to supporting our students by increasing affordability and completion rates, and reducing time to degree. We are committed to experimenting with a range of creative approaches and adopting those that show promise of helping us to meet these goals.”— Kathrine Schulze
(02/04/14 8:07pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington campus won't receive a renewal of IU’s summer tuition discount, according to a press release issued today. The discount, which began in 2012 and was extended for all other IU campuses, will provide a 25-percent discount to Indiana resident undergraduate students who will take classes during the summer as well as an equivalent dollar reduction for those students from out of state.The discount will no longer be in effect in Bloomington, but will be replaced with a flat rate for a high number of classes in the summer semester.A flat attendance rate for summer semesters at the Bloomington campus accounts for the change.Many satellite campuses, however, have seen an increase in their attendance for their summer semester. Currently, the flat rate for students who attend classes during the fall and spring semesters is 17 credit hours. Under the new rate, students will be able to take 18 credit hour course load with no additional fees. The policy will go into effect fall 2014. Both policies are part of an effort by IU to encourage students to graduate within four years. "We are continually looking for the most effective ways to provide economic value to our students and their families and to promote on-time graduation across all of our campuses," said IU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer MaryFrances McCourt.Under the new plan, an IU resident student who is taking 18 credits per semester would save around $284 per semester when compared to the current cost of taking as many credit hours. Non-residents would save almost $1,000. "The summer tuition discount and increase in the flat-fee cap speak louder than words," said John Applegate, IU executive vice president for university academic affairs. "University-wide, IU is firmly committed to supporting our students by increasing affordability and completion rates, and reducing time to degree. We are committed to experimenting with a range of creative approaches, and adopting those that show promise of helping us to meet these goals."— Katherine Schulze
(02/04/14 4:32am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Claude Clegg, an IU history professor and award-winning novelist, was named the University’s associate vice provost for faculty development and diversity. In his new position, Clegg will be responsible for working with the IU-Bloomington Office of the Provost and the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs to recruit faculty for the University.He will also ensure new faculty’s assimilation into the campus community, according to a press release, providing such services as creating networks of faculty with similar interests, scholarly or otherwise, and holding community-building activities. These activities will increase IU’s involvement with the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity, which it joined in 2013.The NCFDD, according to their Facebook page, is a networking community designed to help smooth over the transition from graduate student to professor. “IU-Bloomington is at its best when our faculty members can thrive in every dimension,” Provost Lauren Robel said in a press release. “Professor Clegg has shown a great depth of understanding about faculty goals and needs, and has the creativity and enthusiasm to strengthen the diversity and vitality of our faculty community.”Prior to accepting the position of vice provost, Clegg served as the chairman of the history department from 2006 to 2010 and worked in the College of Arts and Sciences as a history professor. His professional interests and research center around the African diaspora of the Atlantic world, social movements and African-Americans in the U.S. South, and he has written three books on those subjects.His 2004 book, “The Price of Liberty: African Americans and the Making of Libera,” won the Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title, and made him one of five finalists for the 2005 Frederick Douglass Book Prize.Clegg is working on a fourth book now, the subject of which will be the last phase of the Haitian Revolution and the leadership of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. As associate vice provost, Clegg will work with other vice provosts to further diversify IU faculty and create programs that will encourage further leadership on campus.“I look forward to working with colleagues to formulate and carry out strategies for recruiting, cultivating and retaining the best faculty possible,” Clegg said in a press release. “I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to IU-Bloomington’s quest to represent the intellectual, cultural and demographic diversity of our 21st century world.”— Anicka Slachta
(02/03/14 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A six-block plot of land in Evansville now has the IU Medical School’s name on it. The proposed location of the University’s 10th medical school campus was announced last Friday after plans were submitted through December and January by several different companies. IU started directing the planning process after receiving a $2 million planning fund from the Indiana General Assembly, according to Vice President for Capital Planning and Facilities Tom Morrison.The campus is proposed to sit between Southeast Fourth, Cherry, Southeast Sixth and Locust Streets, according to Evansville’s 14 WFIE News.Two businesses, Townsquare Media and car dealership D-Patrick Ford, will be demolished to make room for the facility.Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said the School will make up for those losses with potential economic growth of $340 million by 2020. About half of Indiana’s physicians received medical training from the IU School of Medicine, according to its website. The expansion in Evansville will only further that trend. The school is expected to raise the number of resident students from 20 to 150, a 650-percent increase.It will also create 3,000 new jobs, WFIE reported. The Medical School already has more than 60 clinical departments and specialty divisions. Starting in 2030, the facility will reel in about $560 million to $580 million a year, according to an Oct. 30 WFIE article. An analysis of the proposals, which, according to a Dec. 13 IDS article, are rumored to be from entities including University of Southern Indiana, University of Evansville and Ivy Tech Community College, will be submitted to the Board of Trustees in April. Criteria for a proposal included plans for a facility that spans a minimum of 170,000 square feet with room to expand.If the board approves the proposals, IU will schedule interviews with potential construction firms, according to WFIE.The center will take about two years to build and may open for business in summer of 2017.The administration will release a synopsis of the proposals on the school’s website within a week. — Ashley Jenkins
(01/31/14 4:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU has completed and planned 52 building projects for the campus in the last six years, with the goal of completing these renovations by the bicentennial. Approved projects include the second phase of the Forest Student Room Project, student program spaces and new dining options, renovations on the Wright Quad dining hall and Teter Window Replacement. “What we’re trying to do for 2020 is to either renovate our existing housing stock or replace them while keeping the bed total roughly the same, but improving it across the board,” said Vice President of Capital Planning Tom Morrison. Work on all these approved projects will start this summer. Plans to upgrade on-campus housing and dining options were outlined in President Michael McRobbie’s State of the University address in October 2013.In addition to these approved plans, Morrison said there are many more housing renovations on the horizon that have not yet been approved by the Board of Trustees. The next round of housing will work to replace some graduate apartments on the Northern part of campus, he said. IU also anticipates another phase of renovations on Read, Forest, McNutt and Teter. Another large future project is the addition of residence halls in Wells Quad, which originally held women’s residence halls in the 1930s and ‘40s. “At some time in our history, we needed more academic space because our enrollment was growing,” Morrison said. “Wells Quad became academic.”According to a story in the Sept. 5, 2013 issue of the IDS, the cost for the renovation of Wells Quad alone is projected to cost about $60 million.Buildings like Memorial Hall and Morrison Hall would be repurposed to include student housing and dining, somewhat similar to Collins, Morrison said. “Having student residence hall space in the core of the campus is a great option for students,” Morrison said. Patrick Connor, executive director of Residential Programs and Services, said IU would try to keep dining and housing fees competitive with other large universities despite the numerous renovations. “Each year, part of the rate increase for residence halls and apartments is directly related to ensuring that RPS has the financial resources to continue to improve facilities,” Connor said. IU anticipates spending $1.5 billion on completing these renovations, but no sources would comment on exactly how much tuition rates would increase as a result. “This is in total the most ambitious renovation and repurposing project ever carried out at Indiana University,” McRobbie said in an address.Follow reporter Dani Castonzo on Twitter @Dani_Castonzo .
(01/29/14 5:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>President Barack Obama is boosting federal efforts to respond to and prevent campus sexual assaults, an issue IU officials claim is already a top University priority. In a memorandum signed Jan. 22, Obama instructed the creation of the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault to help support universities’ procedures and resources addressing campus sexual assaults. One in five college students have been sexually assaulted, while only 12 percent of victims reported the assault, according to a recent report by the White House Council on Women and Girls.At IU-Bloomington, security statistics released in the Annual Security & Fire Safety Reports showed 58 sex offenses were reported in 2012, preceded by 28 in 2011 and 34 in 2010. However, these numbers include only on-campus sexual assaults or those occurring in University-operated or adjacent property. Jason Casares, associate dean of students and director of IU’s Office of Student Ethics, said the report falls short of the accurate number of student-related sexual assaults. “I have a slew of sexual assaults that occur off campus, as well,” Casares said. An IDS investigation from three years ago reported more than 700 people filed reports of sexual assault with Bloomington and IU police departments, respectively, from 2000 to 2010. But Casares said he has seen an increase in sexual assault cases reported to law enforcement and the Office of Student Ethics. “I think we’re doing a better job at getting the information out,” Casares said. IU-Bloomington recently received the 2013-14 Institutional Award of Excellence from the Association for Student Conduct Administration for its success with programs related to Title IX, including the creation and implementation of its sexual misconduct training model.The Office of Student Ethics hears any sexual assault cases involving students, whether the student is the complainant or respondent, and even if the perpetrator was a student from a different university. In partnership with Casaras’ office, Counseling and Psychological Services offers the Sexual Assault Crisis Service, a free 24-hour crisis line that is available 365 days of the year. A student who is sexually assaulted can meet with a sexual assault counselor to decide whether or not to move forward with an investigation and hearing. The office will draw from interviews, police reports, medical evidence, social media and more to investigate a particular case, which will be heard within 60 days. The Office of Student Ethics selects its hearing panels for sexual assault cases from a pool of about 20 people who have received more than 40 hours of training, Casares said. Since the Department of Education released its Dear Colleague letter in spring 2011, the Office of Student Ethics began making sexual assault hearing decisions on a preponderance of evidence. This means the plaintiff in a civil case must provide just enough evidence to prove a claim, as opposed to the previous standard of clear and convincing evidence. “That was a huge game changer, and we immediately adjusted,” Casaras said. “It’s literally 50.0001 percent more likely than not.”It is much more difficult to prove guilt in a criminal case. Unlike student ethics cases, complainants in criminal cases must prove their standard of evidence beyond reasonable doubt. Debbie Melloan, a sexual assault counselor at SACS, said she often helps inform victims of their options when dealing with sexual assault cases. “I would let that person decide which body they want to report to,” Melloan said. “One of my roles is to empower that person and let them make their own choices.”The Office of Student Ethics receives all cases from the IU Police Department. It does not receive all reports from off-campus agencies, such as the Middle Way House, the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office, the IU Health Bloomington hospital and the Bloomington Police Department, unless those students report the event directly to the University. “We are trying to improve that,” Casares said. Casares said his office meets every two months with a Sexual Assault Service Providers Network to share sexual assault information and statistics with its off-campus partners in order to collect accurate data for the annual Clery Report.Melloan said she feels IU and the nation should improve sexual assault prevention by encouraging victims to report cases as they occur. “Historically, there’s been a lot of myths associated with sexual assault and biases that make it hard for victims to come forward,” Melloan said. “Anything we can do to keep it at the forefront of national attention is going to be at the benefit of everybody.”Casares said the White House Task Force is a step in the right direction. “It immediately places an issue like sexual assault at the top of everybody’s radar,” Casares said. “But it’s already been on our radar.”Follow reporter Samantha Schimdt on Twitter @schmidtsam7.
(01/29/14 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The search for a new dean will come to an end soon for the IU Hutton Honors College. The Hutton Honors College is a renowned honors program at IU. According to its mission statement, which can be found on its website, it consists of “diverse, talented and highly motivated students whose presence on campus serves to enhance the education of all undergraduates.” Three finalists for the deanship will present their plans for how they will lead the college, each during their own town hall meeting. The meetings will take place during the next two weeks in the HHC Great Room.After the candidates’ presentations, there will be a reception and chance to meet with them for informal discussion. The first presentation will feature Maria Bucur from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Jan. 29. Bucur is currently the associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science. Andrea Ciccarelli, chair for the Department of French and Italian, will present during the second meeting from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Jan. 30. HHC interim dean Friz Breithaupt, who has occupied the position since July, will lead the last meeting.It will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Feb. 5. Breithaupt is also a professor in Germanic Studies at IU, directs the West European Studies Institute and co-founded the European Union Center at IU. He succeeded Matthew Auer, who was the HHC dean from 2008 to 2013. Last summer, Auer went to Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, to accept the job as dean of the faculty and vice president of academic affairs. Attendees of the upcoming meetings will be given electronic surveys in which they can share their thoughts about the night’s candidate with the search committee.Dennis Groth, who chairs the committee, said it hopes to deliver a recommendation to Provost Lauren Robel soon after.— Ashley Jenkins
(01/29/14 4:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Kelley School of Business professor Richard Schrimper is working to build a network for artists and musicians alike.Schrimper is creating CultureU.org, an interactive cultural network for students to promote their work and celebrate different forms of art.“The whole idea, for me, is that if we could get students together collectively to share their experiences through cultural creations — their content, their blogs, their chatrooms — all that kind of thing and give them a community to explore that, that can be monetized,” Schrimper said.Sam Herwitz manages much of the technical and Web side of CultureU.“There’s not really a lot like it,” Herwitz said. “It’s going to be giving back to students. It’s a pretty cool organization.”Originally, CultureU was meant to be a not-for-profit organization, Schrimper said. Schrimper and an investor temporarily shifted his plan for the project into a for-profit enterprise.“I had a partner that just kind of went the wrong direction on building it, and wanted to keep too much of the money,” Schrimper said. “So, I said ‘Screw that. I’m done with that. We’re going to do this totally not for profit.’” Schrimper said he had an epiphany when he had a conversation with a student in class. The student explained to him some of the religious beliefs behind the idea of anonymous donations.“He also enlightened me that if I create all this cash, don’t just give a kid a scholarship,” Schrimper said. “Give a kid an internship, because that’s the stepping stone that they need.”Last semester, Schrimper said, was when his relationship with his investor fell apart. They split up and went their separate ways. Halle Hill, Schrimper’s former student, is now in charge of student involvement with CultureU.Hill was initially taken with Schrimper’s idea during her A200 accounting class. “Professor Schrimper is one of those rare individuals who is 100 percent dedicated to helping others without expecting anything in return,” Hill said. “He is passionate about giving all students the equal opportunity to succeed, which is what drew me to CultureU.”Schrimper needed both legal and software help to rework CultureU. “We’re trying to create a new business model that uses the same old stuff everyone is using: networking and all of that sort of stuff, but monetize it for a different purpose,” Schrimper said. Hill was able to connect Schrimper with her father Curtis Hill, who is a prosecutor in Elkhart.“I asked him if he would be able to just meet with Professor Schrimper to advise us on our plan of action, but when I told him more about CultureU, my dad said that he had a good friend who owned a software company in India that was constantly taking on projects like ours,” Halle Hill said.If all goes well with her father’s friend, CultureU should be able to partner with his software company and expand its reach, Hill said.“The purpose of CultureU isn’t to make money, but to give money, which is a difficult concept to grasp in the business world,” Hill said.Follow reporter Kathrine Schulze on Twitter @KathrineSchulze.
(01/24/14 4:42am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Faculty from the departments of Communications and Culture, Telecommunications and the School of Journalism have been working since last October to combine as a new Media School in 2014. “In a sense we’re starting from scratch,” Walter Gantz, department chair of telecommunications, said.The new Media School will be housed in Franklin Hall.Five task forces have been formed to focus on the different aspects of forming the new school, Joshua Malitsky, associate professor in the department of Communications and Culture and chair of the faculty government task force, said.The task forces are composed of faculty government, curriculum, faculty and graduate research, staffing, space and an umbrella committee which is the faculty advisory board. Each task force has representatives from the three different departments. “When the board of trustees approved it they basically said, ‘Fine, now go work with the faculty and create the school,’” Gantz said. “Even though there was a document that described it, it was more of an architectural plan rather than all of the bricks and mortar.”Some professors currently working in the individual departments will not make the transition to the new Media School. Professors have a deadline for sometime during the spring, Gantz said, to decide whether they will continue to work in the Media School or will transfer to a different department within IU.“I think a lot of that is still to be decided,” Malitsky said. “What’s interesting is that in part, that depends upon how the school ends up being structured, and what the make up of these individual units are.” Because of the nature of the Media School — the fact that it’s not going to be three separate entities under one roof, but a whole new school — Malitsky said some professors may be dispersed into different departments.“We’re going to be the department that loses probably the most amount of faculty, in terms of coming into the new school,” Malitsky said of the Communications and Culture department.The next phase in the planning of the new school will come after the committees have written up individual reports, Brownlee said. “The committee reports will circulate to the extent that we want them to circulate before the FAB (Faculty Advisory Board) takes hold of them,” Bonnie Brownlee, senior associate dean of the School of Journalism, said. “Then the FAB is going to, as representatives of all three units, will prepare a plan that encompasses all of the elements that the task forces are looking at.” Although Franklin Hall may not be open in time due to renovations, the new Media School is set to begin classes for fall 2014. “We’re not taking the programs and just saying, ‘Here, we’re just doing what you did, but we’re calling it a school,’” Gantz said. “We’re not doing that. It’s so much bigger, and that’s what makes it so exciting.”Follow reporter Kathrine Schulze on Twitter @KathrineSchulze.
(01/23/14 8:58pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Three months ago, student leaders expressed frustration with student representation to the IU Board of Trustees.Brady Harman, president of the IU Graduate and Professional Student Organization, spoke about the challenges of influencing high-level University decisions during the Board’s Oct. 18 meeting last year.“Most of our time is spent catching up on what’s been going on for the past three or four years. By the time we finally understand all of that, and know who to talk to, we have about two months left on campus before we’re kicked out and the next process begins.”His comments were backed by Indiana University Student Association President Jose Mitjavila, who sat beside him. The pair is considered to be two of the most influential students on campus, yet their strongly voiced concern was responded to with a joke. “That’s part of our strategy to deal with you,” Chairman of the Board Thomas Reilly Jr. said. The Trustees went on to acknowledge that yes, this is an issue upon which the University as a whole needs to improve. “You’re right,” Reilly said. “You are our customers. We exist to educate students, and I think we could do better at getting your input.”The problem is rooted in smaller decision-making bodies, called committees, which are structured to include student members. But this year and in years past, IUSA has struggled to use those roles to adequately represent students.How decisions are made The largest changes that occur within IU — such as increases in tuition costs, the merging of departments or plans for campus-wide initiatives — are examined and voted on by the Board of Trustees. But long before those public hearings occur, there are dozens of smaller committees, which research, debate and decide a best course of action to recommend to the Trustees. These committees also handle smaller decisions, such as what to name a new building, how much to charge for parking tickets or what to stock in the bookstore. Currently, there are 40 committees on campus that allow one or more student representatives to participate. These chosen students are supposed to attend committee meetings, contribute to the conversation and be considered equal to a faculty member. “There are very few committees or boards at the University that don’t have student members,” Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith said. IUSA President Mitjavila, who has served on committees including strategic planning and privatization of parking, said progress in these groups is often slow and tedious. “It’s definitely not the sexiest way to go about the student voice,” Mitjavila said. “People go to these committees, and some of them can be really boring, where nothing goes on for weeks or months. But that’s ultimately where decisions are made about all kinds of things. “When you think about what creates IU’s atmosphere, it’s all of these tiny decisions made across the University, which more often than not happen in committees.” Lack of representationSo who decides which students are placed on which committees? The presidents of student government, Harman and Mitjavila. Although GPSO provides all graduate students the chance to be on a committee, IUSA chooses only undergraduates who are already involved in student government.It is unclear whether this has always been the process, but the three most recent student government presidents, including Mitjavila, have all placed only members of their own staffs on committees. This is when complications arise. Though these committees are considered the starting point for the University’s decision-making process, IUSA leaders acknowledge facing many challenges in filling student representatives’ spots. When a new president takes office, it often takes weeks or months for them to figure out the committee system: what each committee is about, where it meets and who is in charge. Some committees meet weekly, others monthly and some once per semester. At the beginning of each semester, the president must work around each IUSA member’s class schedule to determine which staff members will attend which committees. This system has caused significant delays in getting students into those student representative positions. This academic year, at least seven committees were without a student representative until November. This includes the Bloomington Faculty Council and its subcommittees on affirmative action, educational policies and student affairs, among others. Though Mitjavila said that problem has now been resolved, there were more than two months of committee meetings in which no student was attending to represent the student voice. Even when IUSA members are successfully placed on a committees, it is difficult to convince them to focus on committee participation. Often, these students are placed on a specific committee not because it sparks their interest, but simply because it fits their class schedule. “Committee presence isn’t what you get into student government for,” said Kyle Straub, IUSA president in the 2012-13 school year. IUSA members are more concerned with fulfilling the promises they made during the election, Straub said. “You’re focusing on your set initiatives, Congress and maintaining good faith with administrators,” Straub said. And even if the student representatives are passionate about the committees they are assigned to, it’s almost impossible for them to contribute at the same level as a faculty member.Justin Kingsolver, IUSA president in the 2011-12 school year, said when a student joins a committee, they almost always join without background information about what the committee is working on. “So it takes a while to adapt,” Kingsolver said. “Most students aren’t fully versed on its internal workings and internal policy.”This lack of knowledge makes student representatives hesitant to contribute. And as Harman said to the Board of Trustees, by the time a student figures out the lay of the land, the end of their one-year or even one-semester long term on the committee is rapidly approaching.Both Kingsolver and Straub said these challenges have existed for some time. Yet, each year, they are passed down to the new administration, whose job it is to represent the opinions of more than 36,000 undergraduates on the Bloomington campus through these decision-making committees. Fixing the problemProvost Lauren Robel said in a December interview that committee representation is essential to students having a voice on campus. “The students are best served if they not only believe, but it is true, that the organizations that represent them are going to have a seat at the table,” she said.The Provost was familiar with GPSO’s “open to all” policy for allowing students not involved in campus government to serve on committees, but she said she is not in favor of that system.“The difficulty with that approach, on a purely theoretical level, is that the people who will be drawn to serve on committees come in two forms: one is people who are altruistic … and would like the opportunity to work on a committee to see how things work and participate in governance,” Robel said. “The other are people with an axe to grind. You don’t necessarily get the best form of representation through a general call out.”When asked about ways to improve the issue, the Provost said it is something she would not involve herself in, unless IUSA specifically asks for help. “My assumption would be that it is IUSA’s problem to fix,” Robel said. “Both Dean Goldsmith and I are always open to working with student government, but these are their appointments to make.”Mitjavila agrees but said he wishes the leaders of committees across campus would be more proactive in connecting with student representatives at the beginning of each semester.As for involving students outside IUSA, Mitjavila said it is possible, if a student seeks out a member of IUSA to express interest in a particular subject. “We don’t explicitly have an open admission policy,” he said. “But we’re always looking for new people who can increase our efficiency in any area.”Any student who wishes to be involved in or has concerns about committee representation can contact Mitjavila at jmitjavi@indiana.edu or Vice President Chris Kauffman at usasbvp@indiana.edu.At this time, IUSA has no specific efforts planned to improve the quality of student representation on University committees, other than making sure its members are attending the meetings they have been assigned.“I would recommend to whoever is in office next year to have a workshop at the beginning of the semester to go over professionalism, proper conduct and responsibilities,” Mitjavila said, “so that the staff can best represent student interests on these committees.” No such training will take place this year. “I wish I would have thought of that idea sooner.”Follow reporter Jessica Contrera on Twitter @mjcontrera.
(01/22/14 5:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When a student was shot and killed on its campus Tuesday, Purdue University’s emergency response systems were put to the ultimate test.Alerts, calls and tweets flew through airwaves, and a suspect in the shooting was arrested within minutes of police response.But despite preparation, training and protocol implemented to deal with scenarios like the shooting at Purdue, IU’s Director of Emergency Communications Services Susan Williams said there is no way to prepare for such a tragedy.“This is a university’s worst nightmare,” Williams said. “I would really want to go ahead and extend our thoughts to people at Purdue. Above all, our thoughts go out to them.” Williams said IU’s emergency response relies heavily on IU-Notify, a service that sends messages to students and faculty through text messages, emails and phone calls. “If somebody didn’t get it in one way, hopefully they would get it in another,” Williams said. These messages come from the police as soon as they are received, then are transferred to people on campus immediately.Deb Fletcher, director of emergency management and continuity, said faculty members are responsible for their classes.IU spokesman Mark Land said the main goal is to help receive information and get students to safety. During a possible crisis, Williams said the police would handle the situation while students sought safety and shelter. Students would be asked to stay where they were if they felt safe and lock or barricade doors as necessary. “The best thing to do really depends on the room,” Fletcher said. “Any room could be a sheltered location.” “Our plan is to try to keep in contact with people through IU-Notify every half hour or so,” Williams said. Fletcher said they can tell students what to do for a fire or weather disaster. With a shooter, everything depends on location. “We suggest that you don’t leave unless you have to,” Fletcher said. “People need to be aware of their surroundings.”Similar to the knife incident in October 2013, all actions were taken to ensure the safety of students and faculty until there was no longer a major or unknown threat.Since the University had not yet fully assessed the extent of the threat, they chose to err on the side of safety. Land said the best way to avoid this unrest is constant contact and updates, even if nothing has changed. Because that event took place during off-hours, Land said it was easier to simply lock students into dorms and apartments. There was no need to worry about locking lecture halls.During busy hours, though, no one can lock lecture halls. “That’s why we try to explicitly tell students to stay put,” Land said. After the police establish there is no longer a major threat, an IU-Notify will issue an all-clear. All faculty and students are added via email to IU-Notify, but they are also encouraged by Land to update their cell phone numbers at protect.iu.edu so they can be reached.IU-Notify can accept parent phone numbers, which is valuable because they are another way of getting in touch with students, Land said. Students can also help with efforts during emergencies, though Land stressed the importance of not placing oneself in harm’s way to do so. Through tweeting to IU and using other social media, students can help to track issues from where they are. “Students can be really helpful in that respect,” Land said. Williams said that IU’s emergency plan is similar to those implemented at other schools across the nation.Land said the important thing is student safety. “I can’t imagine for the students and faculty members in that classroom in particular,” Land said. “It’s fun to compete with Purdue, but at the end of the day, we’re all in this together.” Follow Reporter Amanda Marino on Twitter @amandanmarino.
(01/22/14 3:26am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Faculty Council met at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the tenure and promotion process and restructuring of prerequisites in the University.The BFC charged the faculty affairs committee with revising the guidelines to the promotion and tenure policy of IU. Claude Clegg, who leads the faculty affairs committee, pushed for the revision of the guidelines to the policy. There are gray areas and moderate conflicts between University policy and Bloomington campus policy, Clegg said. The revision will include new guidelines in case of mergers and consolidations within IU.“Tenure and promotion appointments determine who the faculty are,” said Tom Gieryn, vice provost for faculty and academic affairs. “The school tries to make sure that the teachers who get promotions and tenure are not just good teachers, but really good teachers.” The BFC also discussed streamlining the process students must follow to earn a degree.The Indiana General Assembly passed a law last year stating Indiana’s publicly assisted higher education systems must provide incoming students with maps to achievement the systems’ objectives, BFC president Herb Terry said. “Basically, if a student wants to major in X, we need to give that student a map to show them how to do that in four years,” Terry said.Some departments, however, put different prerequisites in the schedule of classes than the college or school bulletin.This potentially makes it confusing for students to understand their major requirements.“What we have discovered is that there are many ways in which departments currently notify students of prerequisites, and sometimes they’re contradictory or they’re not the same,” Terry said. The BFC is currently in the process of making sure the prerequisites for each department’s programs are correct. “The maps should reflect our curriculum choices, rather than letting the map affect our curriculum,” Terry said. Follow reporter Kathrine Schulze on Twitter @KathrineSchulze.
(01/15/14 3:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>During the past year, IU President McRobbie has spoken out about issues of inequality from education to gay marriage.Now, the Anti-Defamation League has given McRobbie the “Man of Achievement” award for his efforts.“IU strives to represent the best ideals of a free society,” Mark Land, associate vice president of public affairs and government relations, said. “As a leading institution in Indiana, we have a responsibility to...set an example by advocating for equality, fairness and diversity whenever possible.”McRobbie will receive the award April 24 alongside fellow honoree Robert McKinney, a former IU trustee and chair of the board.“We give it to people in the community, man or woman, who have given back professionally and philanthropically,” said Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the Midwest for the ADL.Ideals of the ADL include achieving racial equality, fighting discrimination and hate and living in a pluralistic world, Nasatir said.“We have been taking notice of his stance on many issues that are near and dear to the ADL,” Nasatir said. “The fact that he has worked tirelessly to create a climate on campus that embraces difference, that embraces diversity, is fabulous.”McRobbie has also traveled extensively to other countries for diversity awareness, Michael Maurer, 1997 ADL “Man of Achievement” said.“The fact that he is always looking to bring in different communities and kids from different parts of the world to expose them to Indiana and vice versa shows his commitment to learning different cultures, different customs, different ethnicities, different practices, which is exactly what the ADL is all about,” Nasatir said. “McRobbie has done a terrific job of being a champion for those ideals.”Follow reporter Kathrine Schulze on Twitter @KathrineSchulze.
(01/13/14 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU President Michael McRobbie has withdrawn the University from the American Studies Association in response to the group’s recent endorsement of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.Participants in the boycott are protesting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, specifically regarding their academic and political freedoms. McRobbie said in a press release he believes the boycott has a “chilling effect” on academic freedom. “Indiana University values its academic relationships with colleagues and institutions around the world, including many important ones with institutions in Israel and will not allow political considerations such as those behind this ill-conceived boycott to weaken those relationships or undermine the principle of academic freedom in this way,” McRobbie said in the release.More than 90 other universities have spoken out against the boycott, including Purdue University and Northwestern University.However, IU is among just a few schools to withdraw from the American Studies Association so far.The ASA is the nation’s oldest and largest association devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history, according to its website. It has almost 5,000 members. ASA’s boycott is part of a global justice movement involving human rights and international affairs.“The academic freedom of Palestinian academics and students is severely hampered, if not altogether denied, by the Israeli state and its complicit institutions, including universities and research centers,” its website states. The academic boycott honors the wishes of the Boycott, Divisions and Sanctions Movement, it adds.According to the BDS Movement website, it aims to “end Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights.” The Association of American Universities also spoke out against the boycott. In a press release, representatives said it goes against the academic freedom not only of Israeli students, but also of American students who comply with the boycott.“IU strongly supports the rights of individual faculty members to belong to the scholarly organizations of their choosing, but the University feels the boycott runs counter to IU’s institutional values,” said Mark Land, associate vice president of University Communications. Land said IU’s withdrawal from the ASA will not affect students in any way, including study abroad opportunities in Israel. “The boycott is inconsistent with IU’s many agreements with universities in Israel,” Land said. This is not the first time a boycott has been called for. In 2002, two university professors in the U.K. published an open letter in the Guardian calling for a boycott, and throughout the 2000s, there were similar incidents. Former Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren called for a ban on academic boycotts against Israel in an article in Politico Magazine on Dec. 20. “Such outrage sounds notes of moral clarity, even sanity, in a biased and dysfunctional academic environment,” Oren said.— Sara Boyle
(12/18/13 5:46pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU Maurer School of Law welcomed its new dean Dec. 16.Austen Parrish will assume the role of dean and James H. Rudy Professor of Law at the school beginning Jan. 1. He comes to IU from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, where he served as CEO and interim dean from July 2012 until November 2013. Parrish is a scholar, an author of several academic articles and books and an expert in transnational litigation, civil procedure and conflict of laws. Prior to entering the world of teaching, he earned degrees at the University of Washington and Columbia University and went on to practice law at global firm, O’Melveny & Meyers. Parrish succeeds Provost Lauren Robel, who served as the last dean of the Maurer School. “Austen is an exciting leader,” Robel said in a press release, “and I am confident that he will inspire our faculty, students, staff and alumni to continue raising the national and global profile of the Maurer School of Law.”Austen's new IU colleagues mentioned that they look forward to working with Parrish, and think that he will bring a dynamic and creative energy to the school.“The Maurer School of Law is rich in tradition,” Parrish said in the press release. “The school has had a remarkable series of leaders, and I feel privileged and humbled by the opportunity to serve as its dean.”— Anicka Slachta