“Indiana University is well positioned to leverage…all of its assets so that its enormous success over more than 200 years can now be sustained and built upon.”
That’s the message Indiana University President Michael McRobbie gave during his final State of the University address Tuesday afternoon.
McRobbie highlighted the growth of all seven campuses and increased diversity, while ensuring the university is both academically and fiscally sound.
“In less than 10 years, we have seen the establishment of 10 new schools,” McRobbie said.
The new schools added 589 new degree and certificate programs to IU since 2007.
McRobbie said IU’s regional campuses were underappreciated, undervalued, and underutilized resources when he became president.
“The faculty and staff of these campuses have gone from being strangers to true colleagues,” he said.
McRobbie said all seven IU campuses have become more diverse with minorities accounting for 28% of all students.
“In fall 2020, IU welcomed the most diverse class in the university’s 200-year history,” McRobbie said. “With a record total of 23,401 students of color.”
That amounts to a 102% increase since 2007.
A McRobbie touted a number of initiatives that led to the increase in diversity such as the creation of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Multi-cultural Affairs or DEMA in 2007.
In 2013, chief diversity officers were appointed on all IU campuses the LGBTQ+ culture center moved under control of DEMA, and the university graduate school established the president’s diversity initiative. In 2015, the Groups Scholars Program was strengthened by four-year funding for first generation students.
“IU’s Black philanthropy circle and queer philanthropy circle were successfully established in 2017 and 2018, respectively, to address education issues faced by these communities,” he said.
McRobbie said Indiana University’s commitment to diversity comes from its fundamental belief that a public research university should be open to all.
“IU also welcomes a large and diverse international student body, who now come from over 160 countries,” he said. “They bring the world to IU.”
McRobbie said research is another fundamental mission of IU. However, most of it is externally funded.
“Over the last 14 years, IU has seen a steady increase in externally funded research,” McRobbie said. “Culminating in a record $854 million in funding in the financial year 2019-20.”
McRobbie also touched on a number of construction and renovation projects during his tenure, drawing the most attention to residential facilities in Bloomington. He said these buildings had been largely unchanged since the 1960s, but all of them will have been renovated, scheduled for renovation, or demolished by 2024. The investments totaled more than $600 million.
McRobbie said IUPUI received comparable investments, but on a smaller scale.
He said one of the most gratifying things he has seen happen is the transformation of IUPUI from a commuter campus to a traditional university campus.
“One only has to look to cities like Chicago and Los Angeles where the University of Chicago and the University of Southern California illustrate the transformative impact that a great residential urban campus can have on a city,” McRobbie said. “That is now the future that is starting to emerge at IUPUI and in Indianapolis.
He said the university was committed to its employees during the pandemic and enacted a number of initiatives. He said the most notable is the IU Board of Trustee’s recent approval of an increase in IU’s minimum wage for appointed staff to $13.66/hr, with a further increase to $15/hr in July 2021.
He said IU has done what Congress has not been able to.
“Despite declining state support as a percentage of IU’s total operating budget, and despite the negative effects of the pandemic, IU’s net financial position is sound.”
McRobbie said it has been an enormous honor to serve IU and recalled an interaction he had in 2004 with former university president, Myles Brand.
Brand told him, “Leading Indiana University is a hallowed trust that one is privileged to have but for a fleeting moment.”
McRobbie said he hopes he leaves the university as a better place later this summer.
