Just a few swift weeks into the semester, campus is abuzz with student life and countless opportunities for learning and growth.
To ensure all our students have the fullest chance to succeed and flourish during their time at IUB and far beyond, our ambitious IUB 2030 plan calls for us to approach student success from every angle and at every level.
With the leadership of our faculty and academic deans, this fall we are undertaking a range of efforts aimed toward getting students to better familiarize and adapt to IUB's core academic goals and mission, increasing student retention and progression through degree programs, and ultimately, improving graduation rates and reducing the time to degree.
Key initiatives seek to:
- Ensure equitable access to academic advising across schools and the university division
- Improve student support in courses that have the highest failure and withdrawal rates
- Pilot an early academic alert system to identify and support students before challenges mount
- Reimagine a comprehensive first year experience for incoming undergraduates, including development of a pilot first year seminar
- Review and update campus honors programs, including Hutton Honors
- Help faculty and students more readily access available advocacy, well-being, and support resources across campus
In an exciting milestone, our first three implementation working groups are up and running — supporting student success through attention to a first year seminar and transitions among first year and transfer students. A growing list of working groups and facilitators will continue to be updated on the IUB 2030 site.
Another new development this year is the move of summer registration from spring to fall. This scheduling adjustment will allow students to better incorporate classes into their summer planning and include the summer term in paths to meet degree requirements.
I encourage faculty and staff to help by determining as soon as possible what courses will be available for summer, and ideally offering those required for degree programs or with heavy demand during other terms. Summer classes are often offered in an online or hybrid format, allowing students who travel for internships and jobs over the summer to continue making academic progress while gaining meaningful practical experience.
These new initiatives also benefit from the launch of our new Office of Student Life, under the leadership of new vice provost, Lamar Hylton. This core faculty and student-facing office supports students across IUB—undergraduate, graduate, and professional. Along with facilitating key initiatives in our 2030 plan, this team is actively working to integrate residence life more fully across the student experience. These efforts will expand leadership, involvement, and community engagement experiences for students and help improve belonging and connection with each other and the campus.
Along with continuing efforts to improve the graduate student experience and career development through our new Graduate School, enhancing support for highly accomplished students through the Hutton Honors College, and expanding support for student innovation and entrepreneurship through the new IU Innovation HUB, and more, we are working together across campus, at every level, to push student success at IU Bloomington to new heights.
Thank you, as always, for your contributions to student success, and I look forward to collaborating with you, and with our students, on the exciting efforts ahead.
