From the Desk of the Chancellor, April 19, 2010

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

A major key to IUPUI’s success in meeting the educational needs of our region has been the ability to create and maintain innovative 21st-century degree programs that are attractive to our students and that prepare them for exciting and rewarding careers. Several of our degree programs have received national attention recently.

U.S. News and World Report ranked the evening M.B.A. program, based at IUPUI and offered by the IU Kelley School of Business, 10th overall and fourth among public business schools in its inaugural ranking of part-time MBA programs. The ability for working adults to expand their credentials with master’s degree programs accessible at times and places that are convenient for them has long been part of IUPUI’s urban university role.

U.S. News and World Report ranked the legal writing program at the IU School of Law-Indianapolis fifth best in the nation, up from eighth last year. The success of this programs rests in the faculty’s ability to create a practice-based sequence of courses that gives graduates the confidence and skill to be effective as lawyers in research, persuasion, and advocacy.

Responding to economic development opportunities important to the region is another reason we create new degree programs. A few years ago, our Center on Urban Policy and Environment did a study on the motorsports industry’s potential for central Indiana. Indianapolis has more than 400-related businesses and more racing events than anywhere else in the world. The report led to the identification of motorsports as a “microcluster” for economic development for central Indiana as well as to our creating degree programs related to motorsports.

A recent article by the former editor of Sports Car Magazine just listed our two-year-old motorsports engineering program among the top 10 automotive engineering programs in the U.S. His judgment was based on interviews with representatives of several car companies who said “managers will care less about where you went to school and much more about what you can do for them.” The ability for students to get experience outside of the classroom was a key factor in the author’s appreciation for IUPUI’s program.

Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu