Where Are We Headed?

A little-known fact: Did you know that the first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in Boston in 1737, before it started in Ireland in 1903?

At IU Indianapolis, we need to make sure our accolades are not our best-kept secrets. Did you know that our Fairbanks School of Public Health was recently selected as the 2026 recipient of the prestigious Harrison Spencer Award for Outstanding Community Service? The Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) concluded that our model demonstrates structural power-sharing, research rigor, policy impact, economic sustainability, and community-centered governance in ways that collectively embody the highest ideals of the Harrison C. Spencer Award.

This month, I was also informed that one of our faculty members has received a highly prestigious national award (embargoed for the moment). Even more impressive, this is their second such award this year! Whether in the arts, humanities, social sciences, or the natural sciences, many of our faculty and staff are winning awards and grants. They are proof of the fact that while we may have been the “little engine that could,” it is abundantly clear that we have the fuel to become the leading engine that roars.

In our budget meetings with deans last week, we heard about the motivation, strong work ethic, and performance of faculty and staff like Ted Hall (School of Education), Debbie Koliba, James Eckerty, and Alivia Slone (O’Neill), Wendy Miller (School of Nursing), Benjamin Perrin (School of Science), to name just a few. True to the vision of our IU2030 strategic plan, our goals are to improve student success and research excellence, and, in so doing, serve our communities. 

As student success goals focus on improving retention and graduation rates for all students, we need to ensure that the body of knowledge we share in our classrooms is at the cutting-edge of research in every discipline. This can happen only if our research keeps pace with new discoveries in every field. In short, for our students to succeed in their careers and in serving our communities, our research must meet the highest standards of excellence in every field. Hence, in addition to retention and graduation rates, every dean has identified discipline-specific metrics to measure research excellence and community engagement for their unit. Performance on these goals informs our decisions—from budget allocations and recruitment to space assignments, performance reviews, and program evaluations. Clear, measurable goals ensure that our decisions are guided by objective criteria and remain focused on our mission.

Go Jags!

Latha Ramchand
Chancellor