March 2018

Dear Alumni and Friends,

It’s hard to write a new update from your university this particular month without starting with the Boilermakers’ great showing in the NCAA March Madness tournament. In spite of the lousy luck of losing Isaac Haas, we’ve been fortunate to see the grit and character of Coach Matt Painter, Isaac, and the whole team displayed and praised on the national scene.

(Purdue Athletics | Charles Jischke)

Purdue Global receives final approval
Earlier this month, the Higher Learning Commission granted its final approval of the newest addition to the Boilermaker family, Purdue Global. This is the final step in a three-part approval process, following approvals last year from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the U.S. Department of Education.

The commission’s approval transfers Kaplan University’s accreditation to Purdue Global and allows us to complete the final steps in converting Kaplan University over the next few weeks. Purdue Global will officially begin enrolling students in April, and the roughly 30,000 students currently enrolled at Kaplan University will transition to Purdue Global. 

This final approval opens a new era for our university. Through Purdue Global, we will expand our land-grant mission to millions of adult students around the country by offering the highest-quality online education for the tens of millions of Americans who have started but not completed their degree, and to those with no college credit at all.

Already, more than 100 Purdue staff members have shown interest in attending, including Kate Webber, a customer service representative in the Bursar’s Office.

“Purdue Global is a great opportunity for me to advance my career while working full time. I’m excited to get started!” Kate said. Purdue staff will be able to pursue their degree tuition-free.

Purdue Global will serve a population who stand to benefit greatly from this new option. The Chronicle of Higher Education’s new report on adult students describes how America’s adult students — the single mothers, military veterans, third-shift workers, and downsized employees — have been treated as higher education’s afterthoughts.

The Purdue Global Commitment provides students a three-week window at the start of classes to get acclimated to the Purdue Global curriculum, faculty and classroom or online platforms. If at any point during the three-week trial period a student decides that Purdue Global isn’t the right fit for them or their family situation, or the university concludes that the student is unlikely to graduate successfully, they can withdraw with no financial obligation to us. 

This "money-back guarantee" gives students the confidence to enroll, knowing that if it doesn’t work out, they aren’t on the hook for tuition, and it reduces the chance that a student will pay a lot of money but fall short of their hoped-for degree.

Purdue’s Online Writing Lab
You may have seen a couple of news reports that Purdue was attempting to ban the word “man” from its vocabulary. These accounts were inaccurate; it is not now and has never been true that Purdue has advocated for a ban on the word “man” in any fashion.

Although the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) is used by some of our students and instructors as a reference resource, it operates primarily as a public source of information and guidance on a wide variety of writing and composition subjects, and in so doing has earned world renown. It is a repository of style guides, including from places like the University of Chicago, the American Psychological Association and, in the case of the page in question, the National Council of Teachers of English.

The media reports did serve one useful purpose. They helped us realize that the website, developed over 20 years ago, has not had the level of supervision something this prominent should have.

Going forward, there will be clear editorial oversight of OWL by the College of Liberal Arts, who will ensure it is maintained at the high standards Boilermakers expect.

College of Education three-year degree
I am very pleased also to share that the College of Education has launched a new three-year accelerated degree program for special education students.

Beginning this fall, highly motivated students will be able to enroll in the Fast-Track degree program, the first accelerated special education degree program in Indiana. The program, which includes all the same coursework and classroom experiences of a traditional four-year degree, addresses the shortage of special education teachers in Indiana and nationwide and allows students to enter the workforce sooner, potentially saving $15,000 or more on tuition, room and board, and other college expenses in the process.

This builds on the College of Liberal Arts’ pioneering work in creating their Degree in 3 programs for most Bachelor of Arts students pursuing a liberal arts major. Since Degree in 3 was announced last fall, 30 students are already pursuing three-year degrees, and we expect to see the idea of an accelerated degree option catch on with special education students as well.

Sesquicentennial celebration update
Since I wrote to you last month, the sesquicentennial planning committee has been hard at work organizing a world-class celebration for Purdue’s 150th anniversary, and I’m glad to share with you a preview of what’s to come during our sesquicentennial year.

A celebration during Homecoming 2018 will kick off the festivities, followed closely by an expanded Dawn or Doom conference on November 5-6, 2018, focusing on all things Artificial Intelligence.

Dawn or Doom will be a centerpiece of the Ideas Festival, for which many of you shared a great many good suggestions over the past month. We hope to share more details next month on what else we have planned for the Ideas Festival.

Earlier this year, Provost Jay Akridge named 10 faculty members 150th Anniversary Professors in recognition of their excellence in teaching and mentorship, which exemplifies the important role faculty have played in making Purdue so successful over the past 150 years and that will be necessary to propel us toward even more success in the next 150. In 2019, Provost Akridge plans to name additional 150th Anniversary Professors as part of the campus-wide celebration.

Keep an eye out for more details to come soon. Our sesquicentennial year is sure to be one to remember.

Boilermakers in space
Yesterday afternoon, Boilermaker astronaut Drew Feustel launched on a six-month mission to the International Space Station. When he arrives tomorrow afternoon (Friday, March 23), he’ll be greeted by fellow Purdue alum Scott Tingle, who has been aboard the ISS since December 2017. Both will collaborate with a third Purdue grad, Gary Horlacher, the expedition’s flight director. In total, since NASA’s founding in 1958, more than one-third of all U.S. spaceflights with humans aboard have included at least one Boilermaker.

Our alumni have said this over and over, and it turns out it’s really true: No matter where you go, you’re bound to run into a fellow Boilermaker!

Astronaut Drew Feustel (BS '89, MS '91, EAPS), flight director Gary Horlacher (BSE IDE '89) and astronaut Scott Tingle (MSME '88) at NASA’s Mission Control in Houston.

Boiler Up!

Mitch