SD projects represent campuses' creativity, innovation

Myles Brand

Once again, we are immersed in the excitement of Strategic Directions initiatives and as I look over the 61 proposals that have just been funded (see related story), I must say that as satisfying as Round 1 was, Round 2 may be even more so.

The second-round proposals reflect some changes that have occurred since the inception of IU's Strategic Directions Charter. To begin with, the proposals were spread out over more areas of the charter than was true in the first round, and we saw a greater degree of collaboration, both among faculty on the same campus, as well as faculty across campuses.

Second, the Strategic Directions Charter has captured the imagination of the academy and invigorated the community in a myriad of ways. There are winners, but in one sense, there are no losers: The students, faculty and staff all come out ahead, along with the citizens and state of Indiana.

Third, there is an exciting focus on excellence. Excellence is at the heart of Indiana University and excellence must inform everything we do. The charter assures that we do not lose sight of that goal.

The proposals in Round 2 were all exciting, thought-provoking and representative of the most creative and innovative thinking on all campuses. Here is a sampling of those that were funded:

• At IU Bloomington, one initiative establishes a "Women in Science Project." Its goal is to attract, encourage and advance more women at all levels in science and mathematics and to improve the learning and working environment for women in the field. The initiative includes mentoring programs for students and a distinguished visiting scientist program for faculty.

• From IUPUI, a proposal to establish a new interdisciplinary department of public health was funded, and IU Southeast won support for an institute for learning and teaching excellence. At IU East, the "Planning and Implementing a Successful First-Year Experience for Students" program was funded, as was "Destination: Education IUK," an early intervention program at IU Kokomo.

• "Extending a Center of Excellence: The Toradze Piano Study at IUSB" received support on the South Bend campus, and at IU Northwest, the "Development of a Collaborative Master of Social Work Program," involving IUN, IUPUI and northwest Indiana human service agencies, was approved.

• Two of the university-wide proposals that were funded were a new Facilities Information Management System (FIMS) and implementation of the Associate of Arts Degree Program.

The five review panels, which did an outstanding job and played a crucial role in the process, were impressed with all of the proposals. We were not able to fund all of them, but there were many excellent ideas and we hope that some of them might be funded at the local level or with external money. Total Round 2 funding came to about $8.4 million.

On behalf of the entire IU family, I wish to extend my warmest congratulations to everyone who took part and I look forward to the implementation of the winning initiatives.

What's on your mind? E-mail President Brand at pres@indiana.edu

Related Link:
http://www.iuinfo.indiana.edu/pres/

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