Strat plan addresses national STIM crisis

Across the country, about 40 percent of students planning to major in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines change their major before graduating.

That’s according to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and IU is not far off the trend.

The Strategic Plan is looking to improve STIM education: education in science, technology, informatics and mathematics.

Without an engineering school, IU has adopted the acronym STIM to refer to its initiatives that parallel national STEM efforts, according to Robert Sherwood, associate dean for research in the IU School of Education.

Sherwood is the chair of the STIM interdisciplinary initiatives committee.

“There is so much concern in the country that we get a lot of people started interested in a STIM career, but then they change majors,” he said.

Sherwood said he hopes IU will be more able to recruit and retain students for thesemajors in the future.

“We’re not getting nearly enough underrepresented minorities into STIM majors,” he
said.

According to the strategic plan, a big part of this initiative is a push for more research opportunities.

Sherwood said he hopes, by improving the way some of these courses are taught, retention rates will rise.

“That is sort of focused more on making sure that the science teaching we do on campus is more evidence based,” Sarita Soni, vice provost for research, said.

Soni also said she hopes the initiative will work to make students more aware of opportunities around them, and put an increased emphasis on practice.

But Sherwood said he’s not just concerned for STIM students.

He said he wants all students, not just STIM majors, to leave IU with an understanding of STIM concepts, like basic physics and biology.

“Everyone is facing some of these grand challenges,” he said. “Global warming, enough water, energy concerns.”

The initiative will also create a STIM center, which Sherwood described as a “campus center.”

Sherwood said this project will not involve any new buildings, just a center with enough space for directors, faculty and perhaps some graduate students who might work out of the office.

“We’re very hopeful that the center might be established within the next year or two,” he said.

There has been no discussion on where this office might be located yet.

Though there are efforts being made to improve STIM education, Sherwood said it doesn’t mean IU is not in bad shape.

“Since we don’t have an engineering school, that hurts our numbers a little bit, but informatics is growing rather quickly,” he said.

Sherwood said he hopes the substantial drop off with STIM majors will level out after the Strategic Plan is implemented.

“We’ll see how this all comes out,” he said, “You know, the reports still a draft, but I am hopeful that the STIM center of excellence will be in the final strategic plan.”