Executive Leadership
State of the School
Over the last few decades, the Indiana University School of Nursing evolved into a vital presence on eight Indiana University (IU) campuses. During this time, we have undergone various stages of development. During the first stage, the focus was extending undergraduate nursing education throughout the state. The second stage involved building our presence on each Indiana University campus. Now in our third stage, we are focused on advancing multi-site partnerships around the commitment to teaching excellence and interactive learning.
In July 2008, the Indiana University School of Nursing "system school" changed. Schools on five of the campuses—IU Northwest, IU South Bend, IU East, IU Kokomo, and IU Southeast—becoming independent. The schools on the Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Columbus campuses will then be known as a "core campus" school.
During the 2006-07 academic year, the eight campuses as a system taught over 50,000 credit hours, enrolled more than 2,630 students, and awarded 833 nursing degrees. The university school employed 169 full-time faculty, 81 of whom are doctorally prepared, 74 of whom have tenure track positions, and 53 of whom are on clinical tracks. In addition, we attracted nearly $5 million in new monies from grants, contracts, and philanthropic giving.
In 2006, the National League of Nursing (NLN) designated Indiana University School of Nursing at Indianapolis as a "Center of Excellence in Nursing Education" based on pedagogical expertise. Only 14 other schools in the country have been awarded this designation. In 2009, the School's designation was extended for another three-year period through 2012.
In 2006, we were ranked 8th of 100 schools and colleges of nursing in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding.
U.S. News & World Report ranks graduate nursing programs every two years. In 2007, we were ranked 15th in the nation out of hundreds of programs—higher still were our rankings in adult health (third) and psychiatric-mental health nursing (fifth).
The Indianapolis campus houses the Institute for Action Research in Community Health (IARCH), a trustee-approved center.
In 2004, the World Health Organization designated the “Healthy Cities Program,” as one of the many collaborating centers in North America.
The Fairbanks Foundation grant provides funds to create a learning consortium among four Indianapolis area schools of nursing with the purpose of establishing a faculty development institute for simulations in nursing education. This institute will provide faculty development opportunities for faculty from the four major schools of nursing located in the greater Indianapolis region – Indiana University, Ivy Tech Community College, Marian College, and University of Indianapolis. One outcome of this project is the development of clinical simulated learning scenarios that will be shared with all members of the learning consortium
We utilized 364 clinical/community teaching sites, including 54 new sites, across the state of Indiana, as well as 2 additional sites outside Indiana. About 260 of these sites provided students with practical, community-based nursing experience, reflecting the direction in which nursing care is moving.
The Office of Lifelong Learning offered 71 conferences and online courses, involving over 1,600 participants for continuing nursing education.
Community outreach efforts included: Brown County Health Support Clinic (BCHSC) located in Morgantown, Indiana; "Service Learning: The Fit for Life Project," a three year, interdisciplinary service learning initiative targeted at preventing childhood obesity; MOM Project, a custom-designed mobile clinical facility, launched in 1990 to reduce black infant mortality in Indianapolis.
Efforts to enhance diversity, under the leadership of Lillian Stokes, Director of Diversity & Enrichment, continued to thrive. Faculty, staff, and student development workshops were held.
Our international initiatives resulted in enhanced collaboration with colleagues in Brazil, China, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, and Thailand. Such initiatives included hosting nursing leaders from abroad, student exchange programs, and consultations to enhance nursing education and professional development.
