'Shared Vision' continues to define IU Northwest initiatives

By Bruce Bergland

These are exciting times at Indiana University Northwest. While the institution certainly faces many challenges, we have made important strides to fashion a "Shared Vision" for our institution.

The vision presents a word picture of the kind of institution we are striving to create at IU Northwest. It begins with the statement: "We the students, faculty, staff and alumni of IUN take pride in our unique identity as Indiana University, serving the seven-county region of northwest Indiana."

We have chosen to develop our efforts around two dimensions. In order to pursue our vision, our initial steps have included developing a unique identity for our institution, and secondly, enhancing the campus climate in such a way as to provide more support for our students and faculty in the learning process.

We have identified nine different task forces that have been and will continue to focus on eight outcomes related to unique identity and campus climate. These task forces have been in place for approximately 18 months and involve more than 250 faculty, staff, students and members of the community.

The work of these task forces has progressed according to plan, and we are accomplishing many great things. For example, one of the outcomes focuses on the quality of our classrooms in terms of the actual physical environment.

We have assessed each of our classrooms in the context of lighting, heat, furniture, technology, etc., and have inventoried and ranked them in terms of their conduciveness to learning. Our next step will be to begin an orderly process of bringing all of the classrooms up to a level at which they are conducive to learning rather than barriers to learning. Twenty classrooms have already received multi-media facelifts with more upgrades planned within our three-year renovation time line.

Another task force involves collaboration with the residents of the Glen Park community. Monthly meetings are held in IU Northwest’s "That Little Café" in the Library Conference Center. These meetings provide an opportunity for members of the Glen Park community to come together for coffee and conversation. Each meeting features a different speaker on topics of interest. This task force also has developed a quarterly newsletter that is mailed to all residents in the Glen Park area. These are just two examples of the many task forces at work.

In our effort to develop a unique identity, we have chosen to pursue two broad areas of excellence for which we plan to be known as we build academic strength. One area focuses on the sustainable vitality of northwest Indiana. In pursuing excellence in this area, we shall partner with the northwest Indiana community to develop solutions that promote and produce sustainable, regional vitality. We shall emphasize leadership in systems thinking and pursue programmatic emphases such as environmental systems, urban planning, and regional health and wellness.

The second area of excellence emphasizes cultural discovery and learning. In this area, we are currently developing partnerships with our community to explore our regional cultures through diverse perspectives and forms of expression. We are utilizing traditional and new media in developing this collaboration, and we are initiating and sustaining cultural projects, programming and events that serve the seven-county region of northwest Indiana.

We now enter the next phase of our "Shared Vision" where we are in the process of soliciting ideas from our faculty, staff, students and the community as to what new initiatives we should focus on to further our campus climate and unique identity.

IU Northwest is committed to accomplishing our vision. We are gaining momentum as our initiatives are achieved.

Visit the IUN "Shared Vision" Web site to view recent accomplishments:

http://www.iun.edu/~vision/