Indiana University East’s growth and recent accomplishments related to efficiency, innovation, and community college collaboration are the focus of a report titled “Regional Campuses’ Contributions to the State and National Higher Education Goals: A Field Report from Indiana with a Case Study of Indiana University East.”  The Indiana Chamber Foundation commissioned the study with support from the Lumina Foundation.  MGT of America, Inc., a national management research and consulting firm, conducted the study.

The report assesses progress in increasing productivity in Indiana higher education. With funding from Lumina Foundation for Education, the Indiana Chamber Foundation is supporting a variety of initiatives to advance state goals of increased educational attainment among Indiana residents. One initiative is to enhance productivity at regional campuses. This report focuses on the success of one campus, Indiana University East, and the relevance of its experience to other regional campuses in Indiana and the nation.

The report is available online at iue.edu/chancellor.

“IU East is seen as an institution on the move that understands the need to offer high quality programs at affordable tuition rates, through innovations that increase the efficiency of operations and the productivity of our faculty and staff,” Chancellor Nasser Paydar said. “The result of this study is an impressive report that reflects the IU East experience over the past four years.”

According to the report, “The turnaround at IU East offers lessons for other regional campuses whether they may be struggling or thriving. A new vision coupled with strong leadership was central to the campus transformation at IU East. The analysis includes several key findings relevant to regional campuses elsewhere in the country.

“By reducing its inflation-adjusted expenditures by 21 percent, IU East was able to serve many more students than it could have done otherwise…IU East created a vision and expanded its numbers of students and graduates at rates well above other IU campuses.”

From fall 2006 to fall 2011, IU East has increased headcount enrollment by 66 percent.  From 2005-06 to 2010-11, the campus also increased the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by 66 percent.
Additionally, the report indicates that many of the recent accomplishments at IU East result from forging a more effective working relationship with Ivy Tech Community College.

“The report gives special recognition to what we have accomplished academically,” Paydar said. “We continue to add new degree programs, including graduate programs, and to expand the horizons on what is possible in delivering high quality online programming. The citizens in our service region now have access to a level of higher education that is unprecedented for a region with our demographics, and our presence is, in turn, increasing the quality of life in our communities.”