From the Desk of the Chancellor, Nov. 14, 2011

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

John Krauss’s recent appointment by Governor Mitch Daniels to serve on the Indiana Education Employment Relations Board is an excellent example of the service many faculty provide to state agencies by lending their expertise as researchers and consultants. As a lawyer and expert in alternative dispute resolution, John has been a member of the board’s Ad-hoc Panel of Mediators and Fact Finders since 1991 and is also director of the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

At IUPUI, John heads the IU Public Policy Institute—a collaborative, multidisciplinary research institute within the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs—that serves as an umbrella organization for research centers affiliated with SPEA, including the Center for Criminal Justice Research, which regularly works with state agencies on matters of public safety.

SPEA faculty often work with the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, for example, to synthesize current information and best practices that help policy makers make informed decisions on such issues as crime prevention, victims’ services, effective substance abuse treatment programs, and juvenile justice. Thomas Stucky, who joined the IUPUI criminal justice faculty in 2004, is currently engaged in research on a two-year grant to increase the effectiveness of criminal justice grants made by the institute. He is also the principal investigator for the Indianapolis Comprehensive Anti-Gang Initiative research partnership, a $2.5 million grant to reduce gang crime in Indianapolis.

Other colleagues in criminal justice research, like Kenna Quinet, who specializes in homicides, has lent her expertise to studies on gun violence. Another, Samuel Nunn, does in-depth analyses of vehicular crashes and traffic safety programs in Indiana. Mark Berg, who joined SPEA in 2009, recently did research to identify areas within Marion County that exhibit higher levels of the most lethal forms of interpersonal violence and thus require more focused applications of preventive resources.

John Krauss, asked to define translational research in an interview once said, it is “taking complex issues, researching them until we understand them, and then identifying what the choices are for policymakers.” These are just a few of the ways that IUPUI faculty engage with Indiana policy makers and bring knowledge to bear on important issues for our city and state.

Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu.