IU South Bend selected for national initiative to expand career preparation for students

Indiana University South Bend was recently one of just 16 institutions chosen to participate in From Campus to Career, a national initiative from the Lumina Foundation designed to scale career-connected high-impact practices (HIPs) and strengthen workforce outcomes for students.

Over the next two years, IU South Bend will receive $100,000 in funding along with tailored technical assistance and cohort-based support from national intermediaries. The funding aims to increase student retention and degree completion by helping students demonstrate the skills employers desire, ensuring their credentials are as valuable as possible.

“The grant is going to allow us to move forward with our existing high impact practices that prepare students for careers, as well as introduce new ones,” explains Susan Thomas, dean of libraries at IU South Bend.

Planned granted-funded activities at IU South Bend include:

• Establishing an ePortfolio studio on campus, a space where students create personalized digital collections that highlights their academic and professional experiences, and facilitates reflection, goal setting, and preparation for the future.
• Continuing the work of the Office of Professional Engagement, which supports students in finding and excelling in high-impact internships that align with their academic and professional goals, fostering growth, learning, and career readiness.
• Incorporating of HIPs into the Honors Program curriculum and adding Honors’ peer mentors
• Offering faculty workshops on incorporating HIPs into their coursework

“Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our campus team, this grant will allow IU South Bend to continue our mission of providing students with experiences that open doors and prepare them for real-world success,” remarked Chancellor Brian Pappas.

The highly competitive grant required progressing through three rounds of applications, which the committee spent three months working on. The HIPs team that authored the grant consisted of areas across campus:

• Susan Thomas, Dean of Libraries
• Jay VanderVeen, Director of the University Center for Excellence in Teaching (UCET) and Professor of Anthropology and Sociology
• Kory Vitangeli, Vice Chancellor of Student Engagement
• Neovi Karakatsanis, Director of Honors and Professor of Political Science
• Erinn Kelley, Director of the Office of Professional Engagement & Career Services and Senior Lecturer of English
• Sally Norton, Registrar
• Marlene Wenta, Director & Clinical Assistant Professor of Health Sciences
• Ayla Wilder, Dean of Students
• Erika Zynda, Contracts and Grant Coordinator
• Angel Nathan, IU Foundation