From the Desk of the Chancellor, Dec. 21, 2009

View print-quality image

As we begin the last week of the fall semester, we look forward to the spring term and the new year with optimism.

It has been a bumpy ride this year with the pressures of the economy seeping into every aspect of our lives. But, thanks to you, our most important work proceeds unabated.

We set another record enrollment. We continue to improve first-year experiences so that students get off to a good start. We enrich their learning experiences, so that they can count on having opportunities to learn by doing throughout the curriculum. We provide opportunities for students to get to know one another through innovative programming and offer congenial spaces for them to get together for recreation or shared interests. As a result, first-year retention has improved to a record 80 percent!

Our faculty continue to add to the world’s accumulation of knowledge and other benefits to humankind through their research, scholarship, and creative activity. New breakthroughs in cancer treatment, tissue regeneration, targeted therapeutics, and more are emerging every day in our labs. Books that help us understand our cultural history, artworks that stir our imagination, and writings that challenge our thinking about topics both familiar and novel—all these activities are part of the fabric of our academic life. It is our work as scholars, but also a gift of ourselves to humanity.

We are privileged to have staff members who dedicate themselves to supporting our students’ academic progress and the work of our faculty. Universities require the collective effort of everyone—those who maintain our buildings and beautify our grounds, those who protect our safety and security, those who provide secretarial and administrative support, those who keep our computer systems working, and those who act as academic and career counselors to our students. With every year that passes, I have been more and more impressed by the extra effort and passion our staff members put into their lives and work each and every day. Through your efforts, you have made our campus an attractive, pleasant, and hospitable place. You care about the people you serve, and it shines through in everything you do.

At this holiday season, I thank you. Our reputation, our ideals, our energetic spirit have all been forged through the collective hard work and uncommon allegiance to the vision for IUPUI that we all share. May the new year bring renewed energy and spirit to the fore as we continue to strive for excellence in all that we do.