3.D.1
We are committed to connecting students to needed personal services and have compiled frequently accessed services on the Succeed at IU Southeast website (24-0269). Student support services are tailored to address the needs of our unique student populations.
The IU Online Coaching Program offers ongoing assistance to students to mitigate difficulties and implement early intervention strategies. This program has proven effective in increasing persistence and retention among struggling students and students from historically marginalized populations. The coaches help students navigate online courses and serve as a point of contact for the students' campus resources and courses (24-0662).
The Career Development Center (24-0270) provides opportunities for students to develop skills for their careers. IU Southeast provides individual counseling to over 1,000 students and graduates annually: 1,012 in 2019, 1,150 in 2020, 1,045 in 2021. They have created scholarship opportunities for internships and zero-credit internship options (24-0271). Across three years, 420 students have obtained these opportunities. Resume reviews are available to students and alumni needing assistance. The office has completed 1,004 resume reviews in the last three years. Mock interviews are a proven strategy to improve interview outcomes for candidates. Career Development performs these in-person or digitally as needed, facilitating 108 individual mock interviews as well as several in conjunction with academic courses. Career fairs are a valuable tool to familiarize students with current opportunities and allow for in-person interaction with career and internship opportunities. IU Southeast provides two career fairs annually with several smaller employer interaction events (24-0272). In the past three years, 593 employers have had the opportunity to interact with 2,448 students at events (for additional information, see: 24-0545; 24-0546; 24-0547). Additionally, they promote experiential learning in all programs. These consist of real-world experiences and projects that promote academic, career, and personal development. Qualified experiences will always include learning objectives and a reflection piece.
Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) (24-0015) offers free counseling for students, groups, individuals, couples, faculty, and staff, as well as referrals for specialized services such as substance abuse treatment and/or medication evaluation. Care management services are also provided through this office, to provide services and/or resources to students who may encounter needs that extend beyond the academic focus. These needs may be related to housing/homelessness, food insecurity, medication, and medical insurance. CAPS is responsible for operations of the South Eats Pantry, which collects food and personal care items for students (24-0016; 24-0017). This is a free service to the IU Southeast community. Starting in May 2023, IU has engaged the services of TimelyCare, a service that provides free virtual mental health support to students (24-0273). Through this resource, students can access services 24/7.
The need for mental health support, as well as basic needs support, for students on the IU Southeast campus has grown significantly over the past 15 years, as it has nationwide, with an acceleration of growth following the COVID-19 pandemic (for overview report, please see: 24-0665). We have experienced a continued growth in the number of students seeking both counseling and food pantry services over the past 15 years. The number of students receiving counseling services has increased 70% over the past 15 years, when comparing those served in 2008-2009 to 2022-2023. In 2018-2019, that increase was actually 130%, with an overall decrease of 23% in number of students receiving counseling between 2018-2019 and 2022-2023. This change, however, must be viewed in the context of significant decreases in enrollment. As such, the percentage of students receiving services has significantly increased. In addition, the number of actual client contact hours (sessions) has steadily increased from 958 sessions in 2009-2010 to 3,029 sessions in 2022-2023. These increases have been most noticeable in the last six years, with 32% between 2017-2018 and 2022-2023. Once again, these increases occurred as enrollment decreased. In addition to the growth in direct mental health services, CAPS has also increased the number of individuals served by outreach and education. In 2019-2020, 495 individuals participated in outreach and education services provided by CAPS, compared to 2,103 individuals. Finally, the use of the food pantry has grown from 50 instances of students/families receiving food in 2015 to over 4,200 instances. These instances of growth have necessitated increases in staffing.
Accessible Educational Services (24-0072) provides information and resources to all students, faculty, and staff, ensuring equal access to all educational opportunities offered. Services include guidance regarding appropriate accommodations. They also act as a liaison, consultant, and referral service for agents of the university and for students. For instance, they are responsible for providing accommodations letters for qualifying students (see table below):
| Year | Total Number of Letters Issued |
| 2019-20 | 437 |
| 2020-21 | 375 |
| 2021-22 | 389 |
| 2022-23 | 471 |
| 2023-24 (as of 10/27/23) | 193 |
Veteran Services (24-0076; 24-0619; 24-0620) offers benefits and services to help veterans, active-duty military, and their family members feel at home on our campus. IU Southeast has also been named a ‘Best Colleges for Veterans’ school by the Military Times. This accolade is important given our mission to contribute to the success of the region.
Student Central (24-0014) combines what were the separate Offices of Financial Aid, the Bursar, and the Registrar into a single entity to better serve students. Student Central is available to assist students and parents with questions related to financial aid, billing, payments, registration, and records, or as they say, to “take care of the business of being a student.” These offices have a high volume of contact with students and other key constituents, as evidenced in their data (see table below).
| Year | Total Number of Contacts |
| 2020 | 35,172 |
| 2022 | 52,930 |
| 2023 | 23,055 |
Results of the All-Student Survey (24-0274) are examined each year to gauge how effectively student needs are being met. In 2021 a series of student service questions were added, and the results indicated that at least half of all undergraduate respondents stated that they were ‘somewhat aware’ or ‘very aware’ of the IU Southeast offices or services that exist to assist students. Undergraduates were most aware of the Student Success Center (SSC) and CAPS. Three-fourths of the undergraduate respondents stated that Student Central staff were somewhat or very available when needed, with just under half (46%) of the respondents stating that staff were very available. Sixty-one percent of the graduate students reported that staff were somewhat or very available, with 42% stating that staff were very available. Both undergraduate and graduate students (91% and 98%, respectively) thought that staff were very concerned or somewhat concerned with the students’ issues at hand. Both undergraduate and graduate respondents (95% and 97%, respectively) felt that staff were somewhat effective or very effective when helping with students’ issues.
3.D.2
Students are also supported by a range of different facilities and services as they advance through their academic careers. The SSC strives to maintain a responsive, friendly environment where learning can flourish (24-0071). It provides peer tutoring (24-0275) and supplemental instruction (24-0276). The SSC also hosts a testing center for students with documented accommodation needs and for those who need to take make-up exams or certification tests. They also oversee placement exams to help ensure students are taking appropriate courses for their academic paths (24-0277).
Reflecting IU Southeast’s commitment to the mastery of key competencies, The Writing Center works with our teaching and learning community to provide one-on-one consultations, workshops, class visits, and web resources that improve the writing knowledge and confidence of students in all disciplines. Their overall mission is to create stronger writers at IU Southeast (24-0278).
The Math Resource Lab provides resources (technological and human) dedicated to assisting with mathematics comprehension (24-0279). This walk-in service helps students with homework and test review and has computers and calculators for student use. The Natural Science Tutoring Center provides free tutoring in the subjects of Allied Health, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Sciences, Geosciences, and Physics (24-0280).
3.D.3
Academic advising, both within the schools (24-0281) and in the Academic Center for Exploratory Students (ACES) (24-0073), is an essential part of student support at IU Southeast. Advisors help map out courses so that students can find the most efficient route to on-time graduation in their fields and the program that best matches their intended careers. Each school has its own professional advisors trained to assist students in specialized academic disciplines. In Fall 2021, advisors also received coaching training to enhance their ability to engage students (24-0282). This was to facilitate the meaningful middle project, which focused on advisors meeting twice a semester with a targeted group of students. Analysis indicates that students who meet with their advisors are more likely to be retained. (For more on the Meaningful Middle Project, see 4C2.)
In Spring 2022, to improve the advising experience, a texting platform, SignalVine, was provided to advisors. It has been implemented with positive results. Current analytics indicate that 5,557 total contacts have been made to date with 5,405 students opting in to receive text messages. 8,722 messages have been sent and 2,309 messages have been received. Advisors have noted enhanced communication with their students using this platform.
ACES addresses the academic needs of students who have not selected a major or who may not have formed a firm picture of personal or professional goals relating to their education. Between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2023, 9,980 students have used their services (24-0548). ACES helps students access the skills and tools necessary to explore, identify, and, eventually, declare a major. This effort aims to increase retention and persistence toward graduation (24-0549; 24-0550; 24-0607).
Students have access through the secured, web based OneIU platform to advising tools to assist them in achieving a timely graduation. From their first day on campus, students are made aware of the Interactive Graduation Planning System (iGPS), which is composed of helpful advising tools (e.g., degree maps, the student plan, student scheduler, and academic advisement report). iGPS is a course navigation system where students can see what classes are required for their degrees and how to search for those courses that are needed. It also allows students to view detailed descriptions of courses, create course schedules, and plan future semester schedules. Advisors keep track of their caseloads and maintain detailed records of their contacts with students using IU's Advising Records system (AdRx).
3.D.4
UITS exists to provide the technology, tools, and services needed for all students, faculty, staff, and individuals partnering with Indiana University (24-0283). UITS supports IU's vision for excellence in research, teaching, outreach, and lifelong learning. In addition to traditional customer support, UITS consults on all new campus construction as well as renovations, ensuring that the technology infrastructure is designed and installed properly with an eye toward the future. Overall satisfaction with services is high among faculty, staff, and students, with a 98.5% satisfaction rate in 2019 (24-0666) and a 96.8% satisfaction rate reported in 2021 (24-0667).
ILTE is a resource center for IU Southeast faculty at all stages of their careers (24-0284). ILTE brings faculty members together to share expertise, explore innovations, and discuss the challenges of teaching in and across disciplines to help instructors be more successful. ILTE services encourage faculty members to take advantage of rapidly changing technology that is pedagogically proven to enhance student learning.
Several specialized features give students hands-on experience in their fields of endeavor, helping them to graduate with a firm grasp of real-world expectations and the ability to meet them. For example, the School of Natural Sciences houses advanced facilities for biology, chemistry, computer science, and informatics (24-0285). Highlights include a 600 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer, a robotics lab, a math lab, herbarium, and two renovated chemistry labs.
The School of Nursing uses low- and high- fidelity simulation to teach nursing care (24-0286). The Judge Carlton and Sue Sanders Laboratory for Nursing Education features a skills lab housing 12 beds with simulation mannequins where students can practice basic nursing techniques. In providing care, students become proficient in performing complex procedures. This results in greater student confidence when providing care to patients in acute care facilities. Additionally, the School of Nursing partners with clinical agencies in southern Indiana and the Louisville metro area so students can gain non-simulated experience through the clinical requirements of their degree (for list of partners, please see: 24-0668).
The School of Business is home to the Sanders Financial Markets Lab and the Sanders Professional Sales Lab, both of which give students the ability to hone their business skills in simulated corporate environments (24-0287).
The School of Arts and Letters is home to several facilities that benefit students in the visual and performing arts (24-0290), including studio spaces for printmaking, painting, drawing, ceramics, digital art, and graphic design. The Barr Gallery is a modern, 1000 square-foot facility with full track lighting for walls and floor space. Features also include a hardwood floor and 11' tall, high weight capacity walls (24-0291). Music programs enjoy instruction and practice rooms for one-on-one lessons and ensemble work. The Richard K. Stem Concert Hall, the Norman and Millicent Stiefler Recital Hall, and the Robinson Theater, all part of the Paul W. Ogle Cultural & Community Center, are at the disposal of the music and theater programs (24-0292).
Horizon Radio is a new installation—an independent, student-run internet radio station and studio that gives students in multimedia journalism the chance to gain experience in programming, audio production, and managerial responsibility without leaving campus. Like the award-winning student newspaper, The Horizon (24-0162), it is more than a learning laboratory; it is a functioning enterprise that enables students to build journalistic competence while giving them an independent channel for engaging with the public.
The IU Southeast Library hosts and provides access to the Curriculum Materials Center, which houses two primary collections designed to provide students in the School of Education with interactive resources for learning and teaching about diversity (24-0288). The first collection, Center for Cultural Resources, contains over 120 kits that include, among other things, cultural artifacts, curriculum guides, readings, lesson plans, media, and activities focused on different geographic regions or cultures of the world (24-0289). Each kit is designed to assist future and current educators in developing effective curriculums for their teaching careers. The second collection, known as CULAB, provides students in the School of Education with award-winning juvenile and young-adult literature, media, and games, which students and local teachers use to help develop curricula.
The Library empowers and serves its communities by facilitating lifelong learning through physical and digital collections, services, and programs, and is an active partner in the teaching, learning, and research missions of the campus. It provides access to an extensive collection of books, journals, films, government documents, and other resources, in both physical (130,573) and digital (1,368,484) formats (24-0551). As part of IU, the Library provides access to millions of other resources through IU-wide collections and interlibrary loaning. Physical and digital information resources may be searched in the IUCAT Library Catalog. The library also houses several special collections, including the William L. Simon Sheet Music Collection, the IU Southeast Oral History Project, the institutional archive of IU Southeast, and the archives of Ars Femina (24-0293). Additionally, the Library is a congressionally designated depository of U.S. Government Publications, providing free access to a vast array of unique historical and current Federal documents to the community (24-0294).
A collaboration with the Floyd County Public Library situates a mini branch of the public library on the main floor of the Library with a small physical collection of popular reading materials (24-0295; 24-0296; 24-0297). This grant-funded partnership enables local residents and our students, faculty, and staff to request, receive, and return items to/from the local public library while on campus. It also provides IU Southeast and local community members the ability to sign up for online access to their collections. This directly advances the initiative in the campus’ strategic plan regarding community engagement and use of space (24-0606). IU Southeast also participates in the Kentuckiana Metroversity cooperative agreement which enables our students and faculty access to the library collections of colleges and universities in the Louisville metro area; students, faculty and staff from Metroversity organizations are also welcome to use our Library (24-0020; 24-0298).
The Library offers a variety of individual and collaborative workspaces, including a quiet floor, reservable group study rooms (24-0300; 24-0609), and comfortable couches and chairs. From March 2023 to May 2023 (when reservations became required for using the study rooms), students reserved these rooms an average of 175 hours. There are computer workstations on every floor, with scanning and printing equipment on the main floor, including a poster (plotter) printer (24-0299). The Library is also home to The Writing Center and ILTE, which includes a new academic media production space (24-0301).
Situated within Academic Affairs, the Library consists of six faculty members and seven staff members. Library faculty are both research librarians and scholars, with an IU-wide regional campus committee serving at the unit review level for promotion and tenure recommendations. Librarians participate in scholarly conversations within the field of library and information science (LIS), including presenting at conferences, publishing in peer-reviewed journals, and serving at the national and state level on professional committees and organizations. Librarians also serve on IU and campus committees, including Faculty Senate.
The Library participates in academic life of the campus in many ways. Perhaps one of the most vital is in the GenEd curriculum, through its information literacy instruction program. Faculty librarians teach customized and interactive information literacy instruction sessions in all courses that fulfill the information literacy GenEd learning outcomes, including FYS and Pathways courses (24-0302). In addition, instructors can request an information literacy session for their course. This program has outlined its learning goals to train students about their responsibilities as information consumers, the use of available technology, information literacy, and other essential aspects of collegiate research (24-0178).
The Library also provides information and services to help patrons more effectively access, engage with, and utilize information resources. Research help is available at the service desk whenever the Library is open. Faculty librarians are on call to answer in-depth research questions, either in person or online (24-0610). Students, faculty, and staff can also schedule one-on-one research consultations with a librarian through Book-a-Librarian (24-0622). Beginning in October 2021, as part of the campus’ efforts to strengthen assessment in response to HLC feedback, and in response to a shift to a new service model, the Library began collecting more robust data on study room usage, research assistance needs, and other important services.
In Spring 2023, the Library expanded its information literacy instruction with the Information Literacy Partners Program, which assists instructors in better facilitating the integration of information literacy into their curriculum. An additional librarian-instructor partnership is the Zero Cost Textbook Initiative, which provides stipends for instructors who choose to adopt open educational resources in their courses (24-0623). This initiative was created by the Coordinator of Collections and Online Resources, who has also begun to provide digital repository support to IU Southeast faculty, in addition to working with students to archive and make available their presentations and papers from the annual IU Southeast Student Conference.
Finally, the Library is involved in the Federal Work-Study Program on campus; students who work at the Library Service Desk train with librarians on advanced information literacy knowledge and skills, in addition to learning other transferable job skills, as outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Career Readiness Competencies. This work is regularly assessed as part of its co-curricular assessment program (24-0303).
