June 16, 2017
Purdue, IU trustees finalize Fort Wayne realignment agreements
WEST LAFAYETTE and BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Purdue University Board of Trustees and Indiana University Board of Trustees on Friday (June 16) approved agreements to implement the realignment of the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne campus, as outlined by the plan approved by both boards in December.
With the goal of providing a seamless student experience, the agreements govern the formal transfer of programs between Purdue and IU based on their redefined academic mission areas as well as Purdue’s provision of various curriculum delivery, administrative and support services to IU students, faculty and staff on the Fort Wayne campus. The agreements allow for a one-year transition period before the realignment fully takes effect on July 1, 2018.
“From the time we received the state recommendation that led to the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne realignment effort, hundreds of people have worked tirelessly to bring to reality a vision of a stronger and more focused campus that better serves the educational and economic development needs of this important region of the state,” said Purdue and IU presidents Mitch Daniels and Michael McRobbie in a joint statement. “We are extremely grateful to faculty and staff at IPFW, Purdue and IU, as well as to members of the Fort Wayne community, for all of the thoughtful input and support we have received. The set of agreements approved today provides the foundation for a reinvigorated educational endeavor that reinforces our commitment to Fort Wayne and that will serve its students and northeast Indiana for generations to come.”
Under the realigned structure, Purdue will have authority and responsibility for managing and operating the majority of the Fort Wayne campus, to be named Purdue University Fort Wayne. IU will operate and manage the health sciences programs on the Fort Wayne campus, which will be named Indiana University Fort Wayne. Both IU and Purdue are committed to exploring opportunities for growing their respective programs, and working closely together, to better serve the needs of Northeast Indiana students and to advance regional economic priorities.
More than 200 faculty and staff from Purdue, IU and IPFW have been involved in the transition planning process, which identified and explored necessary implementation steps in areas ranging from academic policies, finance, human resources, and student services and systems to facilities, legal and legislative issues, and alumni and foundation matters.
As they carried out their work, the transition teams adhered to guiding principles that had been articulated by a joint steering committee representing all three entities. These principles included striving for a seamless student experience; transitioning faculty between institutions with tenure, rank and seniority intact; ensuring no duplication of missions; arranging for a smooth transfer of libraries to Purdue; and administering endowments and gifts in accordance with donor intent.
Agreements approved Friday:
* Provide a road map for the 2017-18 transition year by outlining various measures for the transfer of programs, personnel and property between institutions in accordance with the realigned academic mission areas. For example, the universities agree to certain transfers of real estate they now hold jointly, with the land underneath the medical education building going to Indiana University and the land under other campus buildings going to Purdue.
* Provide an outline for the delivery of general education courses by Purdue for the benefit of IU health sciences students going forward. In addition, the agreements provide for the delivery of health science courses by IU for the benefit of current Purdue nursing, dental education and medical imaging students through 2021 under a “teach-out” mechanism.
* Outline Purdue’s delivery of services, such as housing, parking and IT resources, to the faculty, staff and students within the IU academic mission areas, as well as the charges and cost reimbursement for those services.
* Provide the terms and rates for the lease of space on the campus by Indiana University.
While most agreements will not fully take effect until July 1, 2018, the program transfer agreement will become immediately effective on July 1, 2017. Together, these agreements will replace the current management agreement between Purdue and IU for the Fort Wayne campus.
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