Strategic Priority #1: Preparing students for a 21st century global economy by delivering innovative and relevant academic programs

1. IU Kokomo will enhance academic offerings and deepen learning by: identifying new degree programs, increasing online courses and programs, increasing the number of students in high impact practices.

Add new programs: New undergraduate degrees include: Hospitality and Tourism, Computer Science, Health Science, Sport and Recreation Management, Bachelor of Applied Science, Biochemistry, and New Media, Art and Technology.  We also have added BS degrees in most areas of Arts and Sciences to complement the BA degree offerings.  The new graduate degrees include Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling and the Master of Science in Nursing which includes three tracks: Administration, Education and Family Nurse Practitioner.

B. Add online courses and programs - joint and campus

Dramatically increased IUOCC offerings

Joint Programs: IU Kokomo is participating in approximately 20 joint online programs that are in place or in development (Informatics, Applied Health Science, MIT, Bachelor of General Studies, Business Administration, several certificate programs for dual-enrollment teachers, and others).  See “Collaborative Programs in Development as of 7/28/17.”

IUOCC Offerings: We have grown our IUOCC spots by 211 percent and hired a Visiting Lecturer to provide Allied Health Sciences courses, which are in great demand in the IUOCC.

C. Increase high impact practices - Key program

Key:  We launched the IU Kokomo KEY (“Kokomo Experience and You”) in fall 2016.  Aligned with both employer demands and George Kuh’s “High-Impact Educational Practices,” the KEY is a four-year program of transformative learning experiences designed to promote five learning outcomes: application, integration, collaboration, mindset, and initiative.  Because of the emphasis on these outcomes, it promises to contribute mightily to our delivery of “innovative and relevant academic programs” (Strategic Priority 1).  Furthermore, the emphasis on experiential learning should make IU Kokomo an attractive destination for prospective students while successfully engaging current students, thus “Increasing college enrollment and degree attainment in north central Indiana” (Strategic Priority 2).  Because the KEY involves extensive domestic travel, undergraduate research, and the like, it should help us to create a “culture of discovery and creativity” (Strategic Priority 3).  Finally, because some of the experiential learning in the KEY involves service-learning, it will help us to be a “valued regional partner” (Strategic Priority 4).

Over summer 2016, faculty in every academic unit on campus crafted a series of experiences tailored for students in their disciplines.  These experiences include freshman learning communities/courses (Criminal Justice, Education, Business, Bachelor of Applied Science, Sciences, etc.), internships (Communication, Psychology, Sciences, Business, Health Sciences, and Public Administration and Health Management), career consultations and workshops (English, Business), undergraduate research (Psychology, History, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry), service learning (Communication), study abroad (English, Business), capstone experiences (Sociology, Psychology, History, Health Sciences, Informatics, Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry), portfolios (English, Communication), immersive retreats (New Media, Art, and Technology, Education), attendance at conferences and expos (Nursing, Sciences, Sociology, MIT, Psychology, Radiography), and Sophomore Sojourns to relevant locales such as Google offices (Informatics), the Indianapolis Zoo (Psychology and Communications), PR firm and WBEZ in Chicago (Communication), Churchill Downs (Hospitality and Tourism), the Underground Railroad Museum (History), and the Field Museum (Biology).  The goal is for every student to graduate with at least four transformative learning experiences.  

When we launched the KEY in the fall, we publicized it for students, faculty, staff, and the larger community through a variety of media, including T-shirts for all faculty and staff, a website, a banner in Alumni Hall, professionally designed fliers, and presentations on campus.  Members of the KEY Task Force have implemented the use of the new REAL (Record of Experiential and Applied Learning), piloted at IUPUI, to showcase KEY activities.  A form of expanded transcript, the REAL will allow IUK graduates to demonstrate to employers their work outside the classroom in areas such as career readiness and service-learning.  In spring 2017, we hired a travel coordinator, who handles all of the logistics (transportation, reservations, insurance, waivers, etc.) for Sophomore Sojourns and other trips.  In fall 2017, we opened the KEYpad, a designated space where students can collaborate or work independently on KEY-related projects, such as posters for professional conferences or the Field literary magazine.  In 2018, student artists designed a wall “wrap” for the KEYpad, logos, “tech tattoos,” cups, and a KEY map, which students can use to plan their KEY experiences.  Also in 2018, we developed a relationship with Ascend Indiana, a nonprofit agency that connects employers and job seekers, and many of our students have interviewed with Ascend, which manages an exclusive career network.

2. IU Kokomo will provide inviting and engaging 21^st century learning spaces supported by new technologies and state-of-the-art facilities.

Each year the campus sets aside funding that is dedicated to maintaining and improving our facilities. The sources for funding repair and replacement include capital appropriations from the state, student R&R fees, interest income, donations, and unrestricted campus funds. The fund balance in our operating budget is leveraged to support improvements to our facilities, teaching areas, IT infrastructure upgrades, and furniture replacement. For the most part, we have worked through our deferred maintenance list of projects, and we hope to continue cutting down this list in the coming years.

Main Building renovation: Thanks to a $14 million renovation to the Main Building, students are learning in ideal learning environments, many of which include movable seating and sophisticated technology, including computers, projectors, and glass boards.  These spaces facilitate active, collaborative, innovative learning. 

Library/Learning Commons: Thanks to a major renovation in 2016, this space has new furniture and shelving, as well as several new study rooms, which library statistics show are being used extensively by students.  Indeed, as the table below shows, the number of students using study rooms in spring 2017 was nearly three times the number using them just one year earlier.

Additionally we have renovated our advising center and set up a one-stop shop concept from admissions to enrollment

We have also added the following facilities:

Nutrition lab: The Nutrition Lab serves to provide hands-on learning experiences for students.  Depending upon the class, students learn basic and intermediate culinary skills, as well as ways to change standard recipes to choices that would be better for overall health.  These skills not only are valuable for individual health, but also may be applied to career choices and may benefit the clientele.

Math Commons: The new Math Commons, located on the ground floor of the Main Building, is a large, open, comfortable space where students can get help with math from tutors.  This beautiful new space provides students with a relaxing place to gather for individual or small-group study.  Calculators, textbooks, computers, and a printer are available.  During open hours, experienced tutors are available to assist students on an as-needed basis.  Thirty-minute one-on-one appointments can be reserved.  Special tutoring sessions are available for certain courses.  In fall 2017, tutors in the Math Commons became available for online tutoring (using Zoom technology) by appointment.

Crime Lab: This space, developed in fall 2017, features fingerprinting and other equipment/supplies that prepare Criminal Justice Students for the work they can expect to do in the workforce.

Nursing Simulation Center: Nursing students use this updated space to practice procedures (drawing blood, inserting a catheter, etc.) that they will need for the workforce.

New Construction Projects: Student Activities and Events Center, Coffee Shop, Greenhouse.

Technology Enhancements:

Since 2015, UITS-KO has completed the following action items:

1. Upgraded forty-two (42) classrooms to incorporate a digital Audio\Visual infrastructure, offering modern flat panel display technology, updated instructor computer workstations, flexible device connections for additional personal devices, document cameras, as well as support for popular media formats including Blu-ray and streaming media.
2. Upgraded three (3) Student Technology Center (STC) computer classrooms in the KO Main Building with fifty (50) PC systems, twenty-five (25) Macintosh systems and new AV technology.
3. Upgraded two (2) Student Technology Centers (STC) computer classrooms in the KA Library Building with forty (40) systems and new AV technology.
4. Created three (3) new active learning technology enabled classrooms, which allow full collaboration and sharing between students and faculty and support student centered classroom methodologies. This effort placed six (6) flat screen televisions and five (5) PC systems in each of the classrooms, with collaboration accomplished by integration of extensive digital switching equipment.
5. Integrated collaborative technology into nine (9) new Library study rooms, featuring flat screen displays with the option of using the connected PC or a personal device.
6. Assisted in technology deployment for the highly specialized Nutrition lab, equipped with an overhead camera to capture faculty demonstrations, which are displayed on personal monitors at each of the (5) student workstations.
7. Provided technology integration for the Math Commons, including seven (7) workstations and printing equipment.
8. Provided technology integration for updated Math Lab facilities including thirty-four (34) Workstations.
9. Provided two (two) collaboration devices in new student lounge located in second floor of Main Building, allowing students to share content from their personal devices with classmates on large flat panel screens.
10. Provided technology integration including nine (9) PC Workstations and new networking infrastructure for the Criminal Justice Department Crime Lab.
11. Completed campus-wide wireless network equipment upgrade, enhancing access to network services, systems, and applications.
12. Integrated 5 laptops with a charging cart and a collaboration workspace with large flat panel display to the KC114 ‘KEYpad,’ supporting student and faculty work.
13. Installed an “IQ Wall,” a bank of monitors that can be configured to form a single screen, in the Cougar Café, where students can give presentations, engage in learning projects, and more.

3. IU Kokomo will engage all students in diversity experiences, both on-campus and abroad to prepare graduates to live and work in a diverse, global society.

Expanded Study Abroad: New “Going Global” lunches have promoted international travel.  The KEY travel coordinator has staffed booths at the Activities Fair and Culture Bash, administered surveys at these events to collect students’ preferences for travel destinations, and provided students with the opportunity to mark these destinations on a giant map.  Each year, the campus sponsors 3-4 international trips to destinations such as Poland, South Korea, Guatemala, Germany, France, England, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy.

Developed diversity plan: As part of the ongoing mission to serve our campus and local community, IU Kokomo faculty and staff, after reviewing the diversity assessment report from Halualani and Associates, convened to create a cohesive strategy going forward. Approximately 10 work groups broke down the report, assessed what needed to be done in specialty areas, and created a comprehensive plan through 2020.  Additionally, as part of that plan, students, faculty, and staff received a campus climate survey to make sure that our plan is in line with the needs of the campus.

Increased Externships:  The Externship Program was launched during the spring break of 2017 with a group of Business students going to South Bend, Indiana, for a week-long experience where they connected with professionals in the field, went on site visits, and networked with alumni and industry leaders.  In spring of 2018, a group of Humanities students traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they met with alumni and representatives from Hendricks Motor Sports, ESPN, Beasley Media Group, McColl Center for Art and Innovation, freelance writers, and a small public relations firm.  Over the 2019 spring break, Computer Science and Informatics students traveled to San Francisco, California, where they visited the offices of Facebook, Google, Apple, and more and met with industry professionals.  

Climate Survey:  The climate survey was administered in the fall semester of 2017 and was open to all students, faculty and staff.  Data was collected and analyzed, and results were disseminated late in the spring semester of 2018.  While the results of the climate survey suggest that the campus is welcoming to most groups and that there are no glaring problems with racism or discrimination, we will use the data to revise and expand our efforts to make IU Kokomo even more inclusive. For example, the Faculty Diversity Liaison has begun working with the various academic units to ensure that diversity/equity/inclusion are part of the curriculum and better support these types of programming initiatives on campus. The Coordinator of Student Life and Campus Diversity has met with a variety of student leaders in the fall 2018 semester to debrief the survey and seek their input for further action.  Students have indicated that they are interested in diversity but were unsure how to approach the subject.  They realize their knowledge of others different from them is limited and want to know how to gain more knowledge without offending others.

More embedding of co-curricular activities in classroom: Academic Affairs has begun collaborating with Student Life to integrate more co-curricular activities into courses.  A101 (Student Success) courses, for example, have a portion of the grade dedicated to the attendance of Student Life, Campus Diversity, and Career Services events, among other programming.  Faculty have also reached out to the office to learn of upcoming speakers and events, in order to put potential reading material on their syllabi to help prepare students to better engage with such speakers.  Some faculty, as a result, took students to hear Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai’s presentation in Greencastle, Indiana.  Others, including Sociology, History, and First-Year Seminar faculty, purchased Holocaust survivor Eva Mozes Kor’s book to prepare students to attend her lecture.  The Office of Student Life and Campus Diversity is actively working to include more faculty into the planning of programming, and both sides seek to ensure the programming provides experiential learning for work already happening in the classroom.  

4. IU Kokomo will increase the diversity of the student body, faculty and staff to enhance academic excellence in the classroom.

Increase in diverse faculty:  IU Kokomo has hired several faculty representing a variety of backgrounds and has stepped up efforts to diversify the faculty ranks.  We are being more targeted in our recruitment efforts, looking to advertise in venues that diverse faculty are most likely to see.  We are also working to update and maintain our diversity programming on campus and represent our diverse university community accurately on our website so that potential hires can see all that Indiana University Kokomo has to offer.  For the past three years, a faculty member has represented IU Kokomo at the Institute for Teaching and Mentoring, “the largest gathering of minority Ph.D. and Masters level scholars in the country,” and shared recruiting materials for both faculty and staff positions.  Our hope is to build a pipeline for recruitment.  

Faculty Diversity Liaison:  Academic Affairs has hired Dr. Rosalyn Davis as the Faculty Diversity Liaison to coordinate diversity efforts (recruiting, documentation of faculty efforts in the area of diversity, etc.) on the academic side.  She not only assesses what is already documented by our very active faculty, but also helps programs develop more robust recruitment plans, assists them in infusing diversity into their curricula more seamlessly and developing learning outcomes associated with diversity, equity and inclusion. 

Increase in diverse student enrollment, international and domestic: While overall enrollment of international students has remained stable, we have seen an increase in undergraduate enrollment of international students.  We have continued to see increases in our domestic minority enrollment over the last five years, with the greatest growth being in the Hispanic population.  We are making efforts to provide a greater connection to the growing Hispanic population in the state of Indiana.  In 2017, we served as the host site for the Indiana Latino Leadership Conference, and our Admissions Office has sponsored multiple bi-lingual recruitment events offering information in Spanish and English.  We also offer Spanish-speaking campus tours by request, and translation services for applicants and their families. Athletics continues to draw a more diverse group of students, many of whom are from outside our typical recruitment area.  Additionally, we have seen growth in co-curricular activities that are focused on diverse populations (e.g. Black Student Union and Spectrum, a group for the LGBTQ community and allies).  The Institute for Teaching and Mentoring, a multi-tiered development program to increase diversity throughout academia, has also provided an opportunity for us to promote our graduate programs to prospective students.  In 2018, the campus added a Diversity Scholarship for incoming students.  Ten individuals were selected for this scholarship through an application and essay-writing process.  This is a $1500/year renewable scholarship.  The Minority Mentoring Program was started in the fall of 2018.  The program seeks to support students who are underrepresented navigate the college experience.  Students may be a domestic minority or identify as first-generation or LGBTQ.  The purpose of the program is to connect them with a faculty or staff member who can help them in their transition to college through one-on-one interactions and email.