October 1998
We reported in the June newsletter on two outstanding additions to our
faculty, Herman J. Saatkamp, Jr., dean of the IU School of
Liberal Arts
at IUPUI and John J. Kirlin, director of our Center for Urban
Policy and
the Environment. In the meantime, some new leaders with equally prominent
reputations and experience at top-flight institutions have been recruited
to campus. They are:
Charlie Nelms, previously chancellor of the University of
Michigan's Flint
campus, was recruited earlier this year by IU President Myles Brand to lead
university-wide diversity and student retention programs. With Myles's
approval, we recruited Charlie to also be Interim Vice Chancellor for
Student Life and Diversity at IUPUI. Charlie will help put in place two
major ingredients for our student learning-centered campus: the new Student
Center and new Office of Student Life and Diversity. Charlie knows IU well,
having served as dean at IU Northwest in Gary and chancellor of IU East in
Richmond.
Mark L. Brenner will also fill a new position as IU associate vice president and IUPUI vice chancellor for research and graduate programs. This dual reporting line to IU and IUPUI underscores the concept of IU Bloomington and IUPUI jointly serving as the core of the university's research, graduate, and professional programs. As the former vice president for research at the University of Minnesota, Mark is a national leader and innovator in research administration, qualities that will help IU and IUPUI continue to build a research infrastructure that enhances Indiana's economic prosperity.
Susan Kahn, director of programs and planning in IUPUI's Office of Faculty and Senior Staff Development, earned national attention as director of the University of Wisconsin's faculty development programs. She is the national director of a Pew Charitable Trusts project aimed at improving public communication and quality assurance at six leading urban universities -- including IUPUI, through the use of institutional portfolios that chart what we are doing, how well and with what. Project results to date are being posted at this web site: http://www.imir.iupui.edu/portfolio/.
IUPUI's University College was dedicated this month. Established to put undergraduate students and their learning at the core of our campus mission, University College signals a coming of age for our campus and an important step by IUPUI to the forefront of urban higher education.
U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, who participated in the dedication ceremony, praised University College as an important way to help curb the nation's high college dropout rate. "IUPUI is taking the initiative by stepping up recruitment and retention of undergraduates, connecting students with faculty mentors, reaching out with academic counseling services and creating an orientation course for new undergraduates," he said.
Secretary Riley also received IUPUI's first Urban University Medal, created to recognize those whose work enhances the quality of life in our nation's cities.
William Browne, president of RATIO Architects, was praised for his firm's renovation of the old library as the new home for University College. Using every square foot as efficiently as possible, RATIO succeeded in creating an atmosphere that would both make students feel at home and offer the collaborative learning environment envisioned by the faculty.
The IU School of Medicine will join two state organizations to help Hoosiers select the highest quality and most cost-effective medical care. With the Indiana State Medical Association and Indiana Hospital and Health Association, Indiana's Eye on Patients will conduct public opinion research, collect case studies, survey patients, build health care databases and analyze ways to improve patient-doctor communication.
A significant part of the Indiana's Eye on Patients will be a study by the School of Medicine of differences among Indiana communities in terms of surgical procedures, Medicare spending and admission rates.
At the turn of the last millennium, you were considered old if you reached 50. By 1990, however, some 36,000 Americans were more than 100 years old. The Census Bureau predicts that by 2030, those having reached the century mark will number 435,000 -- a 12-fold increase in only 40 years.
The nation's attentions are increasingly turning to enhancing longevity and preserving a high quality of life for our elderly population. The IU Center for Aging Research at IUPUI was founded with just such a prospect in mind. Through research in the IU Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Optometry, Social Work and others, it will provide an invaluable resource for older Hoosiers, their advocates and loved ones, and policy makers. Its director, Christopher Callahan has been honored by the National Institute on Aging and the American Federation for Aging Research for his work on health service delivery to older adults. The Regenstrief Institute for Health Care is also among those that have supported its growth.
Established with $1.5 million in funding from IU's Strategic Directions
Charter, IUPUI, and our health schools, the Center for Aging Research
represents a signal commitment by IU to the health and well-being of
Indiana's senior citizens. Its first annual report includes a directory
of more than 100 IU faculty who conduct behavioral, biomedical and social
research on aging, identifies and summarizes their research interests and
provides information on how to get in touch with them. Its web page
The IU Center for Aging Research just received notice of a five-year
$500,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging. The funds will be
used, in part, to provide resources for faculty development in aging
research and an expansion of clinical research sites to community settings.
IUPUI has also received $870,000 from the National Institutes of Health to
study how prenatal alcohol abuse harms the developing brain. While health
schools tend to earn a larger share of NIH funding, this grant goes to
Charles R. Goodlett, associate professor of psychology in the Purdue School
of Science at IUPUI -- evidence that the interdisciplinary IU/Purdue
collaborations we have fostered across schools will help make IUPUI a
leading health university.
Professor Goodlett's research will identify how alcohol-induced loss of
neurons damage specific neurological circuits in the brain that control
particular types of learning. The study will focus on four areas of the
animal cerebellum and brain stem, then evaluate those for long-lasting
deficits in the ability of neurons to change signaling processes over the
course of learning. See www.psynt.iupui.edu/psych/frame/frames1.htm
for more information on this research.
A story in the Indianapolis Star recently reported on the importance of
nursing research and the changing face of the nursing profession The
newspaper reported that, nationally, nearly 10 percent of the nation's
2.1 million nurses hold master's or doctorate degrees. Of Indiana's
roughly 45,000 nurses, nearly 6 percent have advanced degrees.
Among the outstanding researchers from the IU School of Nursing faculty
mentioned in the article were University Dean and Distinguished Professor
Angela Barron McBride. Others were Joan Austin, who has for more than a
decade received significant NIH funding to study behavioral problems in
children with epilepsy, and Vickie Champion, associate dean of research
for the school, who is one of the nation's top authorities on the
prevention of breast cancer and whose work is heavily funded by both the
NIH and the American Cancer Society.
The IUPUI Jaguars are faring well in their first season of NCAA Division
I competition.
Last month, the women's volleyball team defeated Iowa State and won the
Wright State tournament in Dayton, Ohio. IUPUI Senior Cory Pepperworth
was the tournament MVP.
The women's soccer team defeated Western Illinois, and the men's team
played valiantly against Notre Dame, ranked 22nd in the county, losing
0-1 in overtime at South Bend.
The Jaguars men's basketball home game on December 7 against Mid-Continent
Conference rival, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, will be
televised at 8:30 p.m. by LeSea Broadcasting, the first time an IUPUI
intercollegiate game will be nationally televised. The local carrier for
LeSea Broadcasting is WHMB-TV.
Season tickets for all Jaguar home games, including the Division I
basketball team, are a modest $45 for the entire 1998-99 season. For ticket
information, call the IUPUI Athletic Department at (317) 274-0622.
Go Jaguars!
