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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Robel delivers State of Campus address

IU Provost Lauren Robel gives the State of the Campus address Tuesday in Franklin Hall.

Lauren Robel, IU provost and executive vice president, presented the highlights of the IU Bicentennial Strategic Plan in the State of the Campus address Monday.

It included educational initiatives and programs promoting diversity and student health on campus. The plan is published on the ?provost’s website.

“The IU-Bloomington Bicentennial Plan represents both a path to excellence for the dawn of our third century and an appreciation for the strengths, people and distinctive culture that brought us to this point,” ?she said.

Robel first spoke of the progress in educational ?initiatives on campus.

Throughout the address, Robel mentioned the creation of the most recent IU schools, including the Media School and the School of Global and International Studies.

Senior Anu Kumar is majoring in both journalism and international studies. She said she attended the address to learn about developments being made, especially in the Media School and SGIS.

“I have kind of an investment in both of those schools as a student leader to see what I can do to ?contribute,” she said.

Robel said SGIS was selected as one of five founding institutions of the Carnegie International Policy Scholars Consortium, a program that connects students and faculty from different universities to prepare students for their careers in ?international relations.

SGIS is in the process of conducting faculty searches, Robel said, and classes are to start in the new building this fall.

Robel said the Media School’s progress includes the hire of its founding dean, James Shanahan, and the approval of two undergraduate degrees in media and game design.

Kumar said she was impressed with the reported progress of both schools.

“I thought she gave a great review of all the initiatives that are taking place,” she said.

Robel said the plan also calls for campus allocation of resources to support diversity in science, technology and mathematical fields.

She said the Center of Excellence for Women in Technology, an initiative that supports women in technology fields, is making ?great strides.

“CEWIT has already engaged over 350 faculty, 2,000 students, over 400 staff members and close to 500 alumni around the simple idea that technology fields should be inviting to ?women,” she said.

Robel also addressed the possibility of an engineering school at IU. She said a committee of faculty members has been formed to assess the benefits of an engineering program.

Beyond educational endeavors, Robel mentioned several successful campus initiatives to promote diversity and student health and wellness.

She highlighted the ?efforts of IU Culture of Care, a program focused on respect, sexual assault, alcohol and drug abuse, and ?mental health.

“The initiative is truly becoming a campuswide effort in engagement and collaboration,” she said.

She said the program will connect with the greek community this spring to assess the houses’ adherence to their stated missions and values.

To address initiatives promoting diversity, Robel highlighted IU2U, established this year to engage IU’s international student population.

She said IU2U sent a group of students, faculty and staff abroad last summer to host a two-day event for incoming IU students and their families in Beijing to foster connections between current and international students before they step on campus.

The program will expand next year to host events in Beijing, New Delhi, Shanghai and Seoul, South Korea, Robel said.

Robel said the State of Campus address could not cover the entire Bicentennial Strategic Plan or all of the efforts being made to promote aspects of the plan on ?campus.

“It is intended to be a call to pride in our collective mission and to our powers of generative thinking,” ?she said.

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