January 20, 2026
What a day to be a Hoosier!
Congratulations to our new national champion IU football team, Coach Curt Cignetti, athletic director Scott Dolson, and our entire athletics and support teams! What an unprecedented accomplishment! It has been so rewarding to see the truly international acclaim and interest this historic season has brought for IU, not only in football, engaging our students and alumni and so many others in all that makes IU special.
With this incredible start to the new year, I urge us all to keep the momentum going as we also continue to excel in academics, research, and creating positive impact in our world.
This spring, we’re continuing to advance key academic priorities across IU Bloomington. From growing our newest degree programs and integrating emerging technologies to reenvisioning general education and expanding experiential learning, we are excited for the promising efforts underway to benefit students, faculty, and staff.
Innovating academic programs and pathways
While we’re still mid-cycle in admissions, we continue to see tremendous interest from prospective students and expect another record year for Bloomington. It is particularly exciting to see the high interest in some of our newest degree programs, including the new joint degree in business intelligence and data science being launched by the Kelley and Luddy schools.
Since 2022, we have introduced 25 new degree programs aligned with emerging fields and workforce needs, including recently approved bachelor’s degrees in robotics and sports media, which will begin to seat classes this coming fall.
This spring, we continue to take concrete steps to enhance or reimagine degree programs with lower enrollment.Working closely with faculty, campus academic leaders, and the state Commission for Higher Education, we have now submitted our formal recommendations for approval, which we hope will all be finalized by March.
Though this time of growth and change in our academic offerings is demanding, I continue to be impressed with the creativity and resilience of our faculty. I remain confident that our academic portfolio will emerge even more relevant and innovative and continue to flourish in the years to come.
Moving general education and experiential learning forward
This semester also marks an important phase in our work to improve the core curriculum and expand practical experiences for students.
A campuswide committee is now moving toward initial recommendations on a formal update of general education, our first major update in more than a decade—and after years of faculty study. This revision aims for simplicity, transparency, and a focus on student success. Expected in early 2026, the recommended revisions will come with opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to provide vital feedback, and I hope that you will take part in these discussions.
This spring we will also launch the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program—a major milestone in expanding experiential learning by embedding students in long-term, faculty-led research and problem-solving experiences that span disciplines. This new program joins outstanding efforts across campus to ensure all students have immersive, hands-on learning opportunities, which will soon be reflected for students in a new experiential learning record launching next fall.
Strengthening faculty excellence and the environments that support it
The Faculty 100 initiative continues to be a cornerstone of our faculty investment. This semester, we welcome four new Faculty 100 members, bringing the total to more than 60 new faculty, whose work will strengthen IU Bloomington’s leadership in biological and health sciences. We are also actively searching for up to 20 additional tenure-track faculty this year in areas such as biomedical engineering, computer engineering, robotics, and microelectronics—fields critical to student opportunity, research growth, and Indiana’s economy.
These investments are complemented by continued improvements to our research and teaching spaces. Numerous research laboratory spaces across campus, including for our new Faculty 100 colleagues, continue to be enhanced through a major investment in research infrastructure. In December, I toured our newly renovated chemistry and biology teaching labs—now modern, inspiring environments providing faculty and students cutting-edge space to drive discovery, collaboration, and high-impact learning. This work continues to be supported through Project Inspire. Thanks to all who have helped make these fantastic improvements come to life.
