Indiana University President Pamela Whitten presented IU's priorities to the Senate appropriations committee on March 11.
(Indiana General Assembly)
Universities presented their funding priorities to the state Senate appropriations committee Tuesday.
Indiana University President Pamela Whitten says IU acknowledges the General Assembly’s scarce resources this year, but she says the university still has priorities. The university requested millions for renovations, an entrepreneurship program and the IU Police Department.
“We have ambitious goals for our university,” Whitten said. “We have ambitious goals for how we want to serve the state in the outcomes that we want. But we know that that happens when we partner successfully with all of you, and so we're grateful for your interest and ongoing support of our great university.”
Whiten says IU will continue to advocate for funding for repair and renovation, and she requested a 3 percent increase for inflation for all existing line items.
The university’ s first priority is securing $96 million for the second phase of Bloomington’s biology building renovation and utility upgrades. IU funded the first phase with $59.4 million to renovate biology and chemistry labs.
“Phase Two would go on to do significant renovation of the biology building — which was constructed on the Bloomington campus in 1955 — which will be renovated to modernize and enhance the research laboratories, the instructional spaces and the academic support spaces,” Whitten said.
The university’s other five priorities are:
$89 million for the IU Indianapolis central academic campus infrastructure renovation phase
$25 million for IU regional campus renovation projects
$65 million for IU Indianapolis science labs
$75 million for the IU Fort Wayne health sciences building
$80 million for IU Bloomington’s third phase of the science learning initiative
IU also wants $5 million for the IUPD. Whitten said the money will go toward compensation on all campuses, training and recruitment. Sen. Liz Brown (R-Fort Wayne) called the request a “huge ask in a tight year.”
“We recognize the significant shortfall we had in public safety, which was due in large part to the discrepancy between what we were paying and what outside folks were paying," Whitten said. "So we were losing people right and left, and so we've, we've narrowed that gap."
Whitten requested the state match $1.3 million for IU Innovates, a program dedicated to helping IU entrepreneurs with their start-up businesses. Whitten says the demand for the program exceeds expectations.
“We know that by investing in this program that we can significantly increase the number of successful startups that are launched through IU, driving innovation and economic growth at Indiana, throughout our state,” Whitten said.
“Our ultimate commitment is to affordability and accessibility,” Whitten said. “We're working hard to maximize internal efficiencies and continue with addressing the opportunities to either cut costs or reallocate to those things that are important.”
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member.Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
