Chancellor's Corner

Helping students succeed is the most important thing we do at IUPUC, and we have many areas and functions supporting student success. From the clean, well-maintained grounds and facilities to the attention students receive in their classrooms and from multiple offices on campus, everything we do can have an impact on student success.

University Information Technology Services (UITS) supports student success from the beginning of their experience at IUPUC throughout their time studying with us. UITS made 179 Student contacts via IUPUC Orientation, and an additional 85 through Early Start. Students at IUPUC can participate in IU’s program with Grubhub and are able to utilize the CrimsonCard to purchase meals through Grubhub. We also know that this year 67 IUPUC students gained access to university supplied software through IUWare. This seems to be an underutilized opportunity for students to gain access to full-functional software for their educational needs. Students are also able to purchase reasonably-priced, life-cycled computers through our bookstore that have been configured by UITS for their use.

Under Matt Rothrock’s leadership, the ARC (Academic Resource Center) serves all IUPUC students and is staffed by both IUPUC student workers and part-time Ivy Tech staff. The ARC provides tutoring for every math course offered at IUPUC, any written work for any course, several of the science courses, and public speaking. The ARC offers both in-person and remote tutoring via Zoom five days a week, both during the day and most evenings as well. No appointment is necessary, but email communication is encouraged to remote tutors if there are questions or difficulties connecting. In Fall 2021, the ARC provided 147 tutoring sessions, with 35% of those conducted online and the rest conducted in person. Public speaking and finite math were the top two courses for which students sought assistance. 20% of the visits were Ivy Tech students while 80% were IUPUC students. So far in Spring 2022 the ARC has served about 20 students, of which all but one are IUPUC students.

Adaptive Educational Services (AES) is available for IUPUC students who may have physical, psychological, or medical disabilities which might affect or hinder their overall academic achievement at IUPUC. Whether the diagnosis is related to mental or physical health or temporary injury, the AES office stands ready to assist. For students with dyslexia, hearing or vision impairment, or attention disorders, AES serves as a conduit for students to obtain resources through IU’s Assistive Technology and Accessibility Centers (ATAC). AES currently supports 25 IUPUC students.

The IUPUC Testing Center supports a variety of students, from incoming IUPUC students who need to take their ALEKS math placement exams to pre-nursing students taking the TEAS test via ATI, and any other students who may need in-person proctoring for certification exams or other kinds of placement exams. One student worker assists with proctoring for 9 hours per week. For Spring 2022 admits, the Testing Center proctored 48 placement exams in December. For Summer/Fall 2022 admins, the Testing Center has already proctored 8 placement exams between February and March. We are also proctoring the TEAS exam for pre-nursing students through April 1. So far, we have proctored 9 exams with another 20 or so scheduled.

The Pride Pantry is free and open to all current students, staff, and faculty members at IUPUC. The hours for the Pantry are Tuesday 9 a.m. -- 4:30 p.m. and Thursday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and by appointment. To set up an appointment, students can contact Olivia Fuel at ofuel@iu.edu, or place an order through the virtual shopping cart. As of Tuesday, March 8, the Pride Pantry had distributed 1052 items this semester. This includes 663 through pantry walk-ins, and the online ordering portal, and 389 items through the grab-and-go station near the Education suite. This is more than double the usage from all of Spring 2021, and we are just at mid-semester.

In addition to IUPUC donor-funded scholarships, donors also support students through unique retention and emergency funds. IUPUC provides several donor-funded scholarships to address student needs. The Reach Your Dream Scholarship is a scholarship focused on retaining students and supported three students this year. The Kroot Family Scholarship is an emergency fund that has supported two students this year. The Debra Winikates Student Success Scholarship is a retention emergency fund that aided two students this year, and the Student Emergency Assistance Fund distributed $3250 among four students this year. In total, just this year, our emergency and retention funds have assisted 11 students with over $10,000 in support.

IUPUC’s academic advisors guide our students as they pursue their goals at IUPUC, and ultimately help them connect with a fulfilling career. Academic advising is an integral part of the IUPUC experience, and most students will meet with their advisor at least once per semester. All IUPUC advisors have been trained in and use the Student Appointment Scheduler and AdRx systems. For the current academic year, advisors have held over 600 appointments for student advising, both in-person and via Zoom. Advisors have taken on guiding students in different areas and working with multiple divisions and have supported two events thus far for 21st Century Scholar support.

IUB describes the Student Engagement Roster (SER) as an early feedback tool that allows faculty members to communicate with students about how they are doing in a class and make recommendations to improve or deepen their learning. The SER system offers various features that facilitate efficient, meaningful communication with students, including:

· Positive feedback on student performance

· Personalized comments when adding feedback

· Ability to provide feedback for multiple students at once

· Canvas integration to filter students based on gradebook columns—e.g., all students who have less than 70% on quizzes

· Ability to view when students have viewed your feedback.

At IUPUC, 40% of all undergraduate courses have utilized the SER in Spring 2022. Feedback provided in the SER allows us to assist students holistically by providing information to advisors that can be crucial in helping students identify resources, such as the ARC, counseling, emergency fund assistance, or other services that can help them succeed.

While the resources covered here are important, there are many others which students also rely on that aid in their success, such as Recruitment and Admissions, Registrar Services, Career Services, Honors Program, Office of Student Research, and University Library. Thank you for all you do to promote student success. Our clear focus on student success will help us increase our retention and graduation rates and will help us attract new students as they understand that IUPUC is focused on their success both as students and in their future careers.