Chancellor: Grant adds to ‘unprecedented’ funding for IU Northwest
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The chancellor of Indiana University Northwest says a recently-awarded, $3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, combined with another grant received last year, is a “game changer.” The five-year grant was awarded through the ED’s Developing Hispanic Serving Institution Program. Ken Iwama says the funding validates IU Northwest’s efforts to grow as the state’s only public university to receive the Hispanic Serving Institution designation.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Iwama said the HSI designation is about more than just a number of students.
“What helps us in the service piece is we’re now eligible to apply for these federal grants,” said Iwama. “Based upon the strategies and the funding that we’ll be able to use with that money, it really will help define our service to our campus and our students.”
IU Northwest received the HSI designation in early 2020 after reporting 25% of its student population being Hispanic, a number that has since grown to 27%.
The ED says the designation is designed to help colleges and universities “expand the educational opportunities for Hispanic Americans and other underrepresented populations.”
IU Northwest says it will use the $3 million grant to implement its Inspiring, Valuing and Empowering Success Together, or INVEST, initiative. The effort includes three primary goals: improving retention and graduation rates; enhancing instruction; and building a culture of student success through strong leadership.
Iwama says one of the main components includes implementing student success initiatives such as career exploration resources and a summer bridge course.
“One of the things that we’re seeing from high school to college is if you establish these summer cowork programs and ask students to take a class over the summer, the transition piece is so much more effective and successful going into your first year,” he said. “Many of our students are first generation and don’t come from a history of higher education in their family, so everything is new.”
The university also plans to develop active learning classrooms in contrast to the traditional lecture model, which Iwama says helps to prepare students for a changing workforce.
“That spatial design, instead of rows of chairs, it’s having tables where students learn in a collaborative, almost like coworking space environment. [We’ll have] technology supports to support that as well. That’s something that’s been a priority for us a while, but now we have funds to do that.”
The university also plans to create an Office of Student Success to “build a culture of success and assessment.” The grant will also fund professional development resources for faculty and staff.
One year ago, IU Northwest received a $5 million grant through the ED’s Hispanic Serving Institution Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and Articulation Program, which led to the creation of a STEM Resource Center and a collaboration with Ivy Tech Community College.
“This funding furthers our goal of building a campus that is committed to meeting the academic and professional needs for all students, especially Hispanic students, and students in need of financial support to attend college. And as an IU regional campus, that is precisely our role,” said Iwama.
The Department of Education has a third HSI grant program, focused on post-baccalaureate opportunities for Hispanic Americans.
Iwama says IU Northwest will be considering an application for a grant from that program as well.
“It takes a lot of work, and sometimes it takes a year of a team to get together because [the grants] are so competitive. So the fact that we’ve got two in back-to-back years is something that’s phenomenal.”
Looking forward, Iwama says the university wants to help serve the growing Hispanic community in Lake County and throughout northwest Indiana.
“Our task for the short term is determining what groups are out there that we need to connect with. What are the groups in the community that we need to talk to to spread the work that we’re a Hispanic Serving Institution and that we provide maybe something different than other institutions. We want to make sure that our services match the needs of the community.”