Fueling student success and opportunity
Empowering our students to reach their goals
Student success impacts how we structure our programs, design our curriculum, and position ourselves to respond to the evolving demands of the workforce in central Indiana and beyond.To measure progress toward these goals, IU Indianapolis will benchmark its performance against peer urban institutions. Key indicators will include enrollment, student retention, four- and six-year graduation rates, career outcomes, social mobility measures, and reductions in cohort loan default rates.
Goal 1: Strengthen student enrollment
IU Indianapolis must broaden and diversify key strategies aimed at stabilizing and expanding undergraduate and graduate enrollments through improved retention and relevant academic programs, and effective financial aid leveraging strategies.
- Academic offerings: Promote quality, variety, and versatility of current academic programs and develop offerings to serve all students and the community.
- Educational value: Develop recruitment strategies, business partnerships, and practices that link the value of higher education with workforce demands.
- Financial aid support: Develop a broad financial aid strategy, integrated with school scholarship support.
- Increase the percentage of students receiving need-based aid to 58%.
- Decrease the average unmet financial need (excluding loans and work-study) for in-state undergraduate first-degree-seeking students.
- Establish a formal process for non-degree enrollment of working professionals via enrollment partnerships.
Goal 2: Increase retention and graduation rates
Ensuring that students have the support necessary to complete their degree strengthens both Indianapolis and the state. Enhancing retention and improving on-time graduation at IU Indianapolis will strengthen student enrollment, improve affordability for our students, and ultimately support our state through the contributions of our graduates to the workforce.
- First-year experience: Provide a consistently high-quality first-year experience to help students build a solid foundation for their future studies and to create a sense of belonging.
- College costs: Strategically leverage institutional aid to reduce unmet financial need and expand opportunities for student employment and paid student internships to help students manage the cost of college as they progress toward their degree goals.
- Workforce demands: Develop, update, and enhance degree programs to meet workforce demands.
- Holistic support: Ensure continued holistic support for each student as they persist to timely degree completion.
- Innovative teaching: Enhance curricula, pedagogy, and inclusive teaching practices to engage all students and accommodate different learning styles.
- Academic access: Eliminate barriers to student success and improve processes, particularly in academic advising.
- Experiential learning: Integrate high-impact learning opportunities, including internships, research, service learning, and other applied experiences, throughout curricular and co-curricular programs for all undergraduate students.
- Student well-being: Promote student wellness, safety, and mental well-being.
- Increase four- and six-year graduation rates.
- Increase retention rates for first-year, full-time students.
- Increase the number of STEM graduates and other high-demand disciplines to support the state’s growth.
- Reduce DFW rates (students who withdraw from or receive a D or F in a course) in 80% of course sections at the 100 and 200 levels.
- Decrease the average debt of undergraduates.
- Embed experiential learning opportunities (e.g., internships, service learning, research) into 100% of undergraduate degree programs.
- Implement timely and effective use of the Student Engagement Roster by instructors teaching 100- and 200-level courses.
- Increase student participation in proactive advising (weeks 2-7 of the semester) and strategically targeted appointment campaigns by advisors, particularly among students at risk for attrition.
- Ensure that 80% of priority first-year students have a proactive advising meeting, and 75% of sections of 100/200 level courses report data on student performance (through the student engagement roster) in the first four weeks of class.
- Improve student awareness of student mental health services through periodic system-wide student surveys.
- Increase a sense of belonging among the student body as measured by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and/or others.
Goal 3: Bolster graduate and professional education
Graduate and professional students add immeasurably to the campus community through their research, student leadership, graduate teaching, and other activities. Bolstering recruitment, enrollment, and support of graduate and professional students at IU Indianapolis will enhance our campus's reputation, strengthen our research programs, and further energize our intellectual community.
- Enrollment growth: Grow enrollment in graduate programs to strengthen research and attract top students and faculty.
- Graduate student outcomes: Increase student retention and degree completion on par with IU Indianapolis’ peer institutions, with a focus on providing student support and professional development.
- Accelerated degree programs: Align curricular offerings with workforce demands, with a particular focus on accelerated degree programs.
- Increase degree completion for master’s and doctoral degrees with an emphasis on doctoral programs.
- Increase the doctoral student retention rate.
- Improve graduation rates in doctoral-research-level programs.
- Increase enrollment in master’s degrees and doctoral research programs.
- Increase the number of master’s and doctoral degrees conferred from the School of Science and Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering – Indianapolis.
Goal 4: Enhance undergraduate career outcomes
The earnings gap between college graduates and those with less education continues to widen. It is critical that IU Indianapolis students are adequately prepared with the skills and knowledge to meet the workforce needs of the communities they will serve, preparing them for success in their chosen careers.
- Comprehensive career support: Provide all students, regardless of major or school, with comprehensive career services aligned with the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS), preparing them for the job market and helping them make informed decisions about their future careers.
- Social mobility and career outcomes: Expand career development support for Pell-eligible, 21st Century Scholars, and first-generation students to improve social mobility and career outcomes.
- Career readiness: Ensure all degree programs include integrated experiential learning experiences to help students become more career-ready and competitive in the job market.
- Strategic relationships: Engage in strategic employer relationship cultivation and management to support student career success.
- Increase positive career outcomes of all graduates, including Pell-eligible, 21st Century Scholars, and first-generation students, as reflected in the First Destination Survey.
- Embed experiential learning opportunities (e.g., internships, service learning, research) into undergraduate degree programs.
- Increase engagement with employer partners year-over-year as measured by the Career Services Council Annual Metrics Reporting Form.
IU Indianapolis
Office of the Chancellor
University Hall, Suite 5010
301 University Blvd
Indianapolis,
IN
46202
USA