The IUB 2030 student success initiatives are designed to ensure the long-term success of all students—undergraduates, graduates, professional, and online, as well as lifelong learners. We will reenvision the first-year experience, define academic and cocurricular milestones, and embed career-relevant experiences into degree programs. Graduate and professional students will benefit from excellence and innovation in academic training, professional and career development, and receive the comprehensive support they seek. All students will experience a supportive and empowering environment and will be prepared for life after graduation.

Increase student involvement and feelings of inclusion and belonging.

Status: A new working group has begun to work on creating a new model for student involvement/belonging at IU Bloomington.

Facilitators: Lamar Hylton, Vicka Bell-Robinson, academic deans

Improve academic and career advising and interventions along more fully defined career pathways.

Status: A working group focused on academic advising conducted a comprehensive assessment of advising at IUB and developed a plan to transform the current academic advising structure. Implementation of the new plan, which includes requiring academic advising of all undergraduate students each semester, began in fall 2024.

Facilitators: David Daleke, Vasti Torres, academic deans 

Expand resources for career development (includes curricular innovation, career-based support, and workforce opportunities).

Status: Career services for graduate and professional students continue to expand with events, workshops, group support and one-to-one career coaching.

The Graduate School Bloomington conducted the first administration of a graduate student experiences survey. IU Bloomington is a member of the national SERU Consortium of schools that regularly conduct this survey.

The Graduate School Bloomington hired a new graduate ombudsperson who will begin in January.

Work continues across schools to identify any areas where more robust graduate and professional development services are needed and address them.

Facilitators: David Daleke, Vasti Torres, academic deans

Create innovative new academic programs that leverage the existing strengths of the campus and address student, community, and industry demand.

Status:

The following new undergraduate degrees have been developed and received final approval:

• Bachelor of Science in music business in the Jacobs School of Music and the Kelley School of Business.
• Bachelor of Science in music production in the Jacobs School of Music.
• Bachelor of Science in Public Health in sexual and reproductive health in the School of Public Health-Bloomington.

The following new graduate degrees have been developed and received final approval:

• An online Master of Science in education in evidence-based practices in educational psychology in the School of Education.
• Education Specialist in Higher Education Administration in the School of Education.
• Master of Public Policy in the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
• Master of Design Leadership in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.
• Master of Geographic Information Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.
• Master of Science in economics and data science in the College and the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering.
• Master of Legal Studies in the Maurer School of Law.
• Master of Science in nutrition in the School of Public Health-Bloomington.

An additional three graduate certificates and seven Accelerated Master’s Program pathways have been added this academic year.

Facilitators: David Daleke, David Johnson, Vasti Torres, academic deans

Increase the use of evidence-based pedagogy and inclusive teaching practices.

Status: Dean Stacy Morrone convened a new working group focused on conducting a classroom needs analysis for IU Bloomington.

Facilitators: Vasti Torres, academic deans

Ensure student-friendly campus policies.

Status: Work is underway with two units—the Office of Student Life and Undergraduate Education—to evaluate whether current policies serve student needs. 

Facilitators: David Daleke, Lamar Hylton, David Johnson, Vasti Torres

Ensure efficacy and integration of academic and co-curricular technology systems.

Status:  A partnership with Stellic —a comprehensive online student success platform—continues and various working groups are strategizing on how to leverage that partnership to integrate existing academic and technology systems.

Facilitators: David Daleke, Vasti Torres

Project Inspire: Optimize curricular learning spaces.

Status: Through Project Inspire, IUB dedicated up to $5 million per year to enhance campus learning spaces, including biology and chemistry teaching laboratories and related supported areas that serve over 2,400 undergraduate students each semester. Renovations are now underway in biology teaching labs and bids are due in December for chemistry teaching labs.

Upgrades of more than 31,000 square feet of IUB instructional spaces were approved at the Board of Trustees meeting in June.

Facilitators: Aimee Heeter

Reimagine the undergraduate first-year experience (with the aim of increasing retention, lowering DFW in gateway classes, and getting students to better familiarize and adapt to IU's core academic goals/mission).

Status: Three sub-groups continue to meet on first-year experience initiatives.

The pilot first-year seminar is underway for fall 2024.

A working group focused on the transfer student experience met throughout the year to research how to best support new transfer students and enhance transfer student pathways. A report with recommendations was submitted to campus leadership for consideration.

Recent outcomes of the group’s work include:

• Launching a partnership with Verto Education that enables students to study abroad during their first year and then transfer to IU Bloomington while staying on track for graduation.
• Establishing a new transfer admission office within the Ernie Pyle Welcome Center to provide tailored services for prospective transfer students.
• Partnering with EdVisorly, a mobile app for community college students. The app will feature a dedicated IU profile, with plans to integrate an IU-specific transfer application to streamline the process for prospective students.

As part of an effort to integrate academic and student life and help new students thrive, a steering committee — co-chaired by Lamar Hylton, vice provost for student life, and Vasti Torres, interim vice provost for undergraduate education — is moving forward with plans to launch a new, cohesive first-year student experience. Initiatives include reimagined welcome weeks and new programming.

Facilitators: Lamar Hylton, David Johnson, Vasti Torres, academic deans

Ensure an annual experiential learning opportunity for every undergraduate student.

Status: The experiential learning working group submitted its work to campus leadership for consideration. Paige Andersson was hired as the senior assistant vice provost for experiential learning — a new position within the Division of Undergraduate Education created to drive IUB 2030 experiential learning initiatives.

Over the next academic year, Undergraduate Education will work toward the goal of creating structures for:

• Approving co-curricular experiential learning.
• Tracking experiential learning activities.
• Working with faculty to implement an experiential learning requirement.
• Creating more experiential learning opportunities for students.

Facilitators: Vasti Torres, Lamar Hylton, academic deans