IU President Pamela Whitten presented IU’s strategic plan, IU 2030, during her first State of the University Address at Hine Hall on the IUPUI campus Thursday.
IU 2030, focuses on student success and opportunity, research and creativity and service to the state, nation and beyond. Whitten first launched the plan on Sep. 21.
“This framework is only the beginning,” Whitten said. “Bringing it to life in unique ways for each campus will allow members of the IU community to play a meaningful role in shaping the destiny of each part of our university.”
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IU 2030 plans to increase external research funding from $520 million to $700 million annually.
“The IU 2030 strategic plan framework calls for us to be ambitious in the coming years about expanding excellence in research, discovery, entrepreneurship and creative scholarship,” Whitten said.
IU 2030 also addresses service to the state. Whitten plans to partner with government agencies to make IU the preferred resource for data and policy analysis in Indiana.
IU’s regional campuses, located around Indiana, plan to partner with local businesses and industry to fill workforce needs, Whitten said.
“The value of a college degree lies in more than a salary,” Whiten said. “It can be measured in ways our graduates use the knowledge and critical thinking skills they gained at IU to contribute in countless ways,”.
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Whitten praised IU for being one of the most affordable options of the schools in the Big Ten Conference. Her administration created the Academic Tuition and Fees Task Force to make the tuition and fee setting process more transparent and to find ways to lower the cost to attend IU, Whitten said. The task force is expected to release a student-centered process to inform students of tuition and fee changes by June 2023.
“Further enhancing student success at IU will mean not only increasing our retention rates and ensuring that students graduate on time, but also improving the overall student experience in multiple ways,” Whitten said.
At the beginning of her speech, Whitten recognized three doctoral students: Erin Hennessey, Donald Bradley and Meghan Paradis, who will continue their research with the U.S. State Department’s Fulbright Award program.
Whitten also recognized Elvin Irihamye during her speech. Irihamye is now studying at the University of Oxford in England as IU’s 19th Rhodes Scholar, she said.
