IU released the details of its seven-year strategic plan, IUB 2030, on Tuesday after announcing the plan last fall. The plan includes three pillars, which focus on increasing experiential learning, impactful research and the university’s global reach.
In an email sent to students Tuesday, President Pamela Whitten celebrated the IUB 2030 plan by specifically addressing its three pillars.
“Together, they provide a roadmap that will lift IU to new heights and reaffirm IU’s rightful place within the highest tier of American public higher education,” she wrote.
[Related: President Whitten presents IU 2030 plan at State of the University Address]
The first pillar, titled “Student Success and Opportunity,” aims to revamp the first-year experience and increase career experiences. It would include an academic-based, first-year seminar to engage and support students and have students have one experiential component each year, whether it be a seminar, study abroad experience, intensive writing course, research or internship.
Through these initiatives, the plan hopes to increase graduation rates, retention rates and career outcome rates. IU’s retention rate of first-year students is in the 34th percentile as of 2020. Six-year undergraduate graduation rates as of 2015 are also in the 34th percentile. IU hopes to increase both of these metrics to the 75th percentile.
[Related: IU to change compensation, cut healthcare for some College of Arts and Sciences graduate workers]
For graduate students, the plan listed goals such as increased funding for graduate student assistantships, more workforce opportunities such as micro-credential programs, which provide short, focused credentials for in-demand skills, quality online programs and more accelerated master’s pathway offerings.
The plan hopes to create a diverse and inclusive environment with equitable student policies, catching students in crisis early and incorporating cultural competency into the curriculum.
The second pillar, “Transformative Research and Creativity,” seeks to increase the impact of the university’s research. One aspect of this is increasing grants for priority areas, which the plan listed as aging research, artificial intelligence, quantum technology and environmental health.
The third pillar, “Service to Our State and Beyond,” aims to make an economic and social impact on the state. It included efforts to improve mental health and health disparities, public education, sustainability and rural community development. Another aspect of the pillar is workforce development, which the plan hopes to improve by training students to have intercultural competencies and engaging students with alumni and employers.
