Well, welcome. Good morning. Uh, welcome to the July 23rd meeting of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Uh, I would like to start the meeting by looking to my left to Kent Kramer, our secretary, to call the role, please.
>> All righty. Mike Ally, Dennis Bland, >> Ted Castanova, >> here. >> Don Fesco, >> present. >> Jud Fischer >> here. Bill Hannah >> present.
>> Molly Kitell >> here. >> Kent Kramer is here. Pepper Mullharin. I >> think she's on the way. >> On the way. >> Dan Peterson >> here. >> Mr. Chair, we have a quorum. >> Wonderful. Thank you very much. And
again, welcome. Before we uh start the meeting, I would like everyone to please rise as we say the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Seems only fitting since we are in July of 2026 and glad to be here together on this 250th anniversary celebration of
this great nation. So um again welcome uh let's start with uh we need to approve the agenda which you should see in front of you. I would entertain a motion for approval of the agenda. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Second. Thank you very much. Any
comments or suggestions? All right. All in favor please say I. >> I oppose. Same. >> Okay. All right. Same thing now on the minutes from the May 20 26 meeting which are in front of you as well. would entertain a motion for approval. Motion to approve. Thank you, Bill.
>> Second. >> Thank you very much. Um any comments, questions, corrections. All right. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same. All right. Very good. Um so, as
mentioned here in July, near the end of July, can't believe we're Dr. Dr. Butler and I were lamenting on this even though I'm not in my school age days, lamenting that my gosh, they're going back to school again. At least the K12 students are pretty quickly. So, and teachers
even sooner. So, it's a it's always a bittersweet time, a a good time, but a it's a time of refreshment, uh, if you will, and right in the heat of summer and, um, vacation's coming to an end. I hope everyone's had a great summer so far, and what's left of it, I hope, is
great. and you've had wonderful uh rejuvenation and vacations and and hopefully good time with kids and grandkids and family. Um it also marks the start of our new fiscal year with opportunities to further strengthen affordability, access, alignment, and
attainment of higher education um across the state of Indiana. As we begin this new chapter, it's also a moment to acknowledge changes within the commission itself. I'd like to number one I'd like to recognize Kathy Cabo who is not here today but um we want to
thank her for her extremely dedicated service on the commission. Her term concluded at the end of June and we are so grateful for her leadership and insight that she brought to the commission over her term but also uh before her term on the commission across many other aspects of the state of
Indiana from higher education to other areas. Been a great member and and we really thank her. We know her work will continue and I'm sure our paths will all cross. Um, at the same time, we are super pleased to welcome Don Fesco to the commission. Welcome, Don. Super excited to have you here. Don's
president, CEO of P Health. He's a doctor of optometry. He also holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Purdue and a master's in business administration from Indiana University Northwest. He was recently appointed by Governor Braun as an atlarge member. And uh, Don, we getting to know you a little
bit. look forward to getting to know you more, looking at your background and your experiences. There's no question of the value that you will bring to this commission and to all of us and our higher ed institutions. So, thank you for joining the commission and we welcome you. Look forward to working with you. We're also uh here today.
We're grateful to uh be here and and thank you to Ball State University for hosting us today uh at our meeting. Thank you for the breakfast and we are looking forward to your uh campus presentation here during the student sex success presentation. So, thank you very
much. Um, with that, I will turn it over to Dr. Jenner for her report. >> Thank you. Well, I see a few of you wore your Ball State Red. Uh, huge. Again, thank you uh for hosting us today for breakfast and
coffee. Uh, and and echoing Dan what you shared. Uh, and it was funny. I think back to the call that we had, Dr. Castanova. Uh you said for higher ed, summer is not over yet. Don't rush us.
Uh so while while K12 is is going back uh mostly over the next couple of weeks across the state, higher ed still has a bit more time. So for those of you who do have time, I hope you continue to have a great summer and that we all have
a wonderful start to the school year ahead. So the presentation I have and do I have a clicker somewhere? If not, someone can just click away. Awesome. Thanks so much. Thank Yes, sir.
Thank you, Brad. So, a few updates, uh, commission members, and and all that I'd like to make sure that we provide for you. Workforce PEL, of course, we provided the update in at our last meeting in May, and we're going to have
Brooke Kyle come up and and share that. While she's getting set up, I'll also share we awarded the collegiate purple heart award of Indiana to several higher education institutions. We'd like to share with you celebrate those. The
physical facilities report which is uh required by statute for us to complete. We're going to have a a report out on that and of course the report will be made public online. And then uh uh we'd like to recognize our summer interns who
have had work-based learning experiences uh with us. Hopefully very memorable and exciting and uh uh certainly meaningful for your path ahead. But we'll go ahead and start with uh Brooke K who's going to update us on Workforce PEL. And
Brooke, I'm gonna grab >> Yeah. You Why don't you >> Yeah. Thank you. >> [clears throat] >> Okay. Good morning members of the commission, Mr. Chairman, uh Dr. Jenner. So today, um I'm going to give an update on workforce PEL. Um at the May
Commission meeting, we talked a lot about the uh proposed rule making and the rules that were set to be finalized. Really happy to share the update um with you all today of where Indiana's at in terms of launching the state's workforce PEL program application.
Um, so a little bit of background. Effective July 1st, the federal PEL grant will expand to need-based grants to eligible students who are in very short-term shortterm workforce programs known as workforce PEL. And this is really stemming from a larger federal
movement to have more integration between the Department of Education and the Department of Labor to make sure that our education and training programs are aligned. And so they are bringing together three types of funding. PEL which is title four WEOA and then Perkins. WEOA and Perkins um are
something that our career and technical education team are very familiar with to make sure that our training and education is also aligned with our state objectives. Um I will not review this um at a high or at a deep detail today but these are
the workforce PEL program requirements. Um when we saw the final regulations released that was about a week after the commission meeting in May. there was nothing substantial that they did change. So, we are still working with these um very limited program requirements and I will talk a little
bit more about how Indiana has strategically utilized these program requirements in just a second. Um so, one of the state's biggest responsibilities with workforce PEL was that the state had to identify where its
highskll high demand occupations and industry sectors were. So every state is going to be a little bit different in determining what those sectors and industries were. And so our uh agency worked with the Department of Workforce Development. We had great partnership with them. Um and we identified using
this Indiana's WEO estate plan the following in demand sectors which are already something that the state has been utilizing for several years which is great because it means that we're bringing together more alignment across education and workforce. So those uh are
advanced manufacturing, building and construction, health and life sciences, IT, business services, and then transportation and logistics. Um so the biggest announcement that we have today as sort of our update is Indiana has um publicly released its
eligible occupation list. There are 28 occupations on this list. We worked with the department of workforce development to look at demand and growth and we looked at occupations where there was a possibility for a short-term training program to directly lead to entry-level
positions. Um we have looked at some other states um in for context Indiana's one about uh a group of states that really has what uh we're reading about is called a narrow list. Um so Minnesota for example approved 22 occupations.
Pennsylvania approved 19, Texas 25. So we're in that group with about 28. Um and really what this is signaling um is that the state is making sure that we are being strategic. We are not just opening the floodgates to all types of programs. We really want our state to
focus on these very in- demand uh types of programs. Um so this list has been made public. Um, we are still working with our partners at IvyTech and Vincens's University to continue talking about what programs might be available as well as um allowing for partner
allowing for conversations to continue about what new programs might need to be developed to fit this need. Um, so Indiana, we are proud that we did we were an early adopter state of the workforce PEL process. Yes, Mr. Bland.
Thank you. You're >> welcome. Sorry. to interrupt. >> Sorry to interrupt, but just looking at the sectors, agriculture seems conspicuous by absence
given our state's obvious heavy emphasis on agriculture. So, I'm assuming it's in one of these other categories or >> I believe agriculture is embedded into one of these, but let me double check and get an answer for you, Mr. Bland. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Um, so again, Indiana was an early adopter for Workforce PEL. We have a live application. Um, this is sort of an overview of the application process. Um, we're really proud as a state. We've got a a really uh robust process, but also one that moves quickly with both the
commission and the department of workforce development as a committee. So, so far we've had four programs that have gone through review. Three of those programs have been submitted to the governor for approval. All three of those programs were uh recommended by the governor um for approval by the
federal secretary. Um and then we've been made aware that at least one of those programs has been submitted for federal review. However, the federal department of education has not yet um announced that any programs have been fully reviewed and approved yet. Um but
we do have a process in place um and we're happy with how the process worked out. Especially thankful to our partners at Vincens and IvyTech. >> Yes. Question. Can >> I ask a question please? >> Could you just walk us through what is the what is the daily life experience of
someone who is in this program? Is this I go to an institution, I take classes, and then I go to a work site. Is it that sort of thing? >> That's a great question. Thank you for asking that. Um the what we're seeing from our institutions and these programs are developed in tight partnership with employers. So the student is completing
the entire program within 8 to 15 weeks. It's not just one course, it's the entire program. And there are existing partnerships with employers um as the student completes this program so that they can directly transition to the workforce. Um, we see this as one of the benefits of this program is it allows a
lot more um, uh, institution and employer partnership as well as getting students uh, really driven into the workforce right away. Thank you for the question, >> Dr. Jenner, please. Yeah, I I'll just flag uh and I know you have have one
more slide here, but um you mentioned a huge thank you to IvyTech and Vins and I'd like to give a bit behind the behind the curtain. Uh uh US Department of Labor, US Department of Education uh reached out and said, you know, Indiana
is often a leader in in the education space. uh where are you on workforce pel? How is that how is that coming? [clears throat] It felt very much like a make sure you're moving uh call which is important and and and good to know good
to have. We called Vincens and IvyTech uh to check on them where they were. They were on it. Uh they were excellent to work with. They had already partnered with workforce partners in their area. uh and and so we were able to announce
on July 1st when the official federal law uh started. We were able to announce that uh Indiana is all in despite they do have a review process. So I just wanted to again thank you
higher ed sometimes we're we're not always known to be as nimble and I just need you to know there was there's a lot of nimleness happening and this is one example. Thank you so much for calling that out, Dr. Jenner. I could not agree more. Uh we've had great partnership with both institutions. Ken,
>> yeah, just a a question on um who monitors the programs that uh folks are going through >> um that you know the 70% completion, the 70% um job placement and then the uh value added earnings. Is that is that on us as
commission or is that on each institution? How does that work? >> Uh great question. and it's actually monitored by the state. So the uh commission and the department of workforce development, our combined committee will continue to uh review those metrics um as the programs are in operation and then we report back sort
of like an annual certification to the governor who then announces yes the program can continue or no the program did not meet those metrics and then eventually the value added earnings portion will be monitored by the department of federal student aid. Um but in the meantime uh our agencies are
are co-managing that process together. >> Thank you. And and just a uh commentary, this is a population, uh in my day job that I work with uh quite a bit and the access to funding has been through through WEOA and that year after year is
up and down and we've run out of funds. We we use as much as we can. This is going to be huge for a population that really needs it. So really excited to see it move forward. >> Couldn't agree more. This is a great opportunity to really talk about how we braid state and federal funding and we're happy to to have those
conversations going forward with leadership in both of the agencies. So, >> and Brooke, sorry to keep interrupting, but [laughter] >> you didn't expect all these. >> I did not. I'm so excited. >> Pretty straightforward presentation. Sorry. Um, just for background, I don't remember exactly, but the push for
workforce PEL nationally has been around for a long time. There's been a lot of advocacy around this at the federal level for a long long time under lots of different administrations. So this is not a new uh a new initiative if you will. It's been widely supported by both
all all parties and and uh industry I think higher ed and and certainly everyone else. So it's it's uh it's been a long time coming but I just for context I think that's something worth knowing. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. Um so in terms of our timeline um we are
still right now in the pilot phase. Um we are continuing to work with Vincens's and IBTech to sort of work out the process and also um get some more information about what we want to look like when we do open this up to all Title 4 institutions. And that will happen sometime in the spring of 2027.
Um and that would be available for all two and four-year public and uh private institutions um if they're Title 4 eligible. So looking forward to that. Um and are there any additional questions? >> Wonderful. Thank you so much. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you Brooke for that update. We'll now shift to if you could go to the the next slide if you don't mind Brooke. We'll now shift to discuss the Collegiate Purple Star Award of Indiana. And I'd like to invite Kate Marling to share more.
>> Hi, good morning. Um, thank you all so much for letting me speak on this. I'm very excited about this initiative, uh, personally. Um, we're going to go into some background uh, for our new member. But, um, as we know, the, uh, Senate enrolled act 384 from 2023 tasked both
the Indiana Commission for Higher Education as well as the Department for Veterans Affair affairs establishing um, and implementing the Higher Education Purple Star designation, which we called the Collegiate Purple Star award of Indiana. The purpose of this, the mission of this was to recognize um the
eligible post-secondary institutions that have successfully demonstrated a supportive environment for the US uh military affiliated students um from when they apply all the way to when they graduate. So the um initiative was set up. So we
uh created 37 standards across eight different categories. Um core uh requirements for the institutions to meet marketing, admissions and enrollment policies that needed to be met, financial support, um as well as student support services as well. Um and
then also all the way to helping them find potential careers through their college experience. We have three tier designations from one to three. Um, as you can see, institutions need to meet at least a 70% of uh meeting the
standards to even receive a tier. And then we go all the way up to 100%. If they meet 100%, they get a special commission distinction. Um, there are bonus uh points available for any institution who have gone above and beyond um the regular expectations. Um,
but they need to meet a minimum of that 70% to receive a score. So for this cycle, the 2526 cycle, um we had 11 institutions that were awarded. This includes um 10 newly recognized institutions as well as one institution
who put in an application again to receive a higher tier designation, which they did receive. So we now have a total of 39 institutions across the state that are recognized with this award. Um we can see that this past uh cycle we have
uh Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana University Fort Wayne, Indiana University Indianapolis, and then Indiana University Southbend received a tier 1 designation. In tier 2, we have Indiana University Columbus, IU Cooko, IU Northwest, IU Southeast, um as well
as Marian University for a tier 2. And then for tier three, Indiana University East as well as University of Indianapolis. So, we're very excited to be able to uh designate these um institutions um and then put them on our website and hopefully students will see this and be
excited to attend these institutions. >> And and just a point of clarification, >> absolutely. >> It says 39 institutions are recognized. Yes. Uh so while this is uh very IU heavy uh there are many other
universities that have also been recognized and and we'll make sure that uh media and commission members have that full list. Yes. Uh because again a lot of institutions in this room uh are are on the list and we appreciate that. >> Yes. Many institutions applied in our
first cycle. So we had 28 institutions in that cycle. Um, and that list is lives and is live on our website. Um, and can absolutely send that out to you all if you're interested. >> Can I um make a suggestion? I don't know if you're doing this, but I love these logos. >> Mhm. >> And I imagine myself putting one of
these purple stars in my office window. >> Yeah. >> So, I I would just suggest a program where this gets sent out to the different campuses. >> Yes. Everybody who receives a tier is given these um logos. It's sent to the
institution. They also receive a award certificate as well as a letter to their president or chancellor. Um so they can post that, they can distribute it. Um and then of course we have our social media uh badges um that's sent out as well for their marketing teams to use. >> I guess I just like stickers,
>> but I'm happy to I'm happy to send those to you if you'd want to post it in your office. >> All right. So our application cycle um is yearly. The designations are valid for three years. So we will have um ne
last cycles um uh recipients potentially have to reapply again um and prove that they are maintaining those standards and then um but they are eligible to apply every single year if they want to improve
their score. So we did have one apply again this year and improve their score. The application period opens January of 27. um they will submit a notice of interest uh to the collegiate purple star email address um and then we will work with their teams um getting them
access and then they will go forward and submit their documentation by the end of February um for us to review. Uh we have a team of uh commission staff as well as a couple individuals from the uh department of veterans affairs who gets together and we review those from March
to June. Um and then award notifications are sent out to the institutions end of June and then the public announcement is made in July. So you'll have potentially another um update from me next year. Any questions?
>> Any additional questions for Kate? >> Um I I just have one about tracking. um kind of an anecdote, but when I when I left the military, um and I remember walking into law school the first day and feeling pretty intimidated, not fitting. Um so the first thing I did was
gravitate toward other veterans and even though one of them was a Marine, we were able to be friends. [laughter] >> Yeah. So gracious, right? Um but my question is about tracking the results and how the inclusiveness and that sort of brand identification for this and
support is going to have an emotional impact uh on these folks. And so with all the struggles of adjusting, >> is there a way that we can get a sample or I can be involved personally to help with that so that we can understand is there more that we can be doing to make
it feel welcome? Yeah, I think I think let's uh a number of great ideas have come out of these meetings and produce action items. So, Bill, let's take that as an action item and have a follow-up conversation. Uh Kate, I'll join uh with Bill and and
let's uh let's think through that a bit. >> Okay, I appreciate it. I know uh General Studyer when she was on here was wasn't part of that and that's maybe but I'd like to take up that if I could. >> Okay, thank you. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Great. >> Okay. Yeah, thank you very much for
that, Kate. Uh, next I'd like to invite uh Cody Robersonson up to share the physical facilities report. So, Cody, the floor is yours. >> Awesome. Good morning, everyone. Uh, my name is Cody Robinson. I'm the deputy
chief financial officer for higher education. Uh today I'm going to give you a little bit of insight into a report uh that we uh filed with the uh uh general assembly and the state budget committee on July 1st.
Uh per IC 18 uh 211869.5 uh the physical facilities report is a new requirement that bids the commission to submit a report on the count and utilization of the physical facilities on our public campuses particularly the count and utilization of classroom
instructional laboratory instructional and combined instructional spaces. Following its passage during the 2025 session, staff met with representatives of each of our institutions to understand the current state of their data systems that we would likely like
likely need to employ in order to uh collect this data and to get their thoughts and feedback on both the design of the data guidance and the report itself. Uh wanted to give a special thank you to IvyTech, Vins and Ball State University who as part of these
discussions hosted them on site. uh and that was really really helpful for staff to you know we could walk around and see and talk about spaces as we talked about how we were going to collect this data. So special thanks to all of them in particular. Special thanks to everybody for um really being great partners with
us and helping us figure out how we could uh do this the best way. The final report uses a snapshot utilization determinations at the top of each hour and normalizes start and end times across campuses in order to create
a data set that we believe is fair, is representative and comparable across our institutions and the uh original data systems where we are getting this information. The report submitted to the general assembly and the state budget committee lists utilization for each
building on every campus uh including evening and Saturday utilization. Uh and here today I'm just going to provide some highlevel uh uh representation of what some of that looks like. So in our first table here uh this lists
the count of the different instructional spaces on each campus. Uh per code there are three different classifications. Classroom instructional spaces are those that you would pretty traditionally think of when you think of a um lecture or facilitation style classroom. Desks
and chairs, maybe a whiteboard of some kind, that sort of space. Uh laboratory spaces are often uh very discipline specific. Uh the most obvious example you might think of like a chemist chemistry laboratory. You may also think of like a nursing lab that has
simulation space. Uh those sorts of spaces. And then lastly, a combined space uh sort of allows for some of that newer or uh sort of more interesting uh architecture of these rooms. You might think of this as like a room that has on
one side a you know typical classroom structure and maybe on the other side has that simulation or lab space. So kind of combines both uh factors. These next two graphs represent the utilization of the reported spaces um on
our campuses uh split by morning and afternoon. As we saw, there was some pretty big differences in the data uh depending on the time of the day. Wherein in this 100% utilization would represent that a space is being actively used for instruction
uh from the start of the day to the end of the day at every hour. Uh and as we expect um and as you might expect labs and combined spaces uh which often serve highly specific purposes have lower rates of utilization than the classroom
spaces. It's important to note as you look at these graphs and as we talk about these numbers that this report is only looking at instructional utilization of these spaces. Thus we have not captured any sort of utilization outside of that. So, we're
not capturing uh student groups or community groups utilization of the space. Um any sort of unscheduled use of the space or ad hoc utilization by students, faculty or staff, which we know happens very frequently uh on a lot
of our campuses. Uh per code commission staff plan to utilize this report to help uh inform some of our future capital recommendations. Uh we believe that the information that it provides can help add context um and a and a larger narrative to the individual uh requests
that we get. Uh and our hope is that we can use this data uh and this information as a great starting point to ask uh and have conversations with institutions about how different projects you know uh impact capacity and impact utilization, how they may
improve, how they may address issues of utilization. So we think this is a really good place to start. Um and to add to kind of our conversation around capital projects, uh again, we're very thankful for our institution's partnership on all of this and our continued partnership as we
continue this report as it is an annual requirement. And with that, I'll uh open up for any questions. And >> Cody, just a point of clarification. Um I believe this report was repealed this past session. Yeah,
>> but to those in the room as well as to commission members, uh we are getting an increasing number of questions about uh efficiency utilization of space. Uh especially when it comes to future
capital projects. Uh so it would not surprise me at all if this report is reinstated. And I've talked to several of the universities who've expressed some really good ideas. Cody mentioned a few about how to improve the report, how
to further disagregate so that uh we can you know this is Monday through Friday I think you said all hours uh I think we can further disagregate a lot more to to share a more complete story of space utilization. So, if the report uh is
reinstated going forward, just know we will work together uh to make sure we're sharing a fuller uh story about uh taxpayer buildings >> and how we're utilizing them. >> Could could I ask about um what is a
day? Does it start at 6:00 a.m. and go till midnight? I mean, >> great question. So what we did in the report was we created these categories of morning, afternoon and evening which helped us normalize and compare across campuses. Morning essentially being whatever the official start time of
scheduled instruction up to noon. Afternoon is then noon to the official end of instruction and then evening anything access. >> I think that's an important point to put in because you know the official opening time of my building is 7 a.m. >> Yep. And I can guarantee you I'm not
going to be teaching at 7 a.m., you know. So that is important context for these numbers that look a little low, >> right? >> Absolutely. >> And and so we want to make sure that it's understood that you know how how wide this definition is.
>> Yep. So >> absolutely and that is the the additional um disagregation additional thought we we need to put into some of the questions ahead. uh regardless um this is really important information
especially going in front of a budget session thinking about uh investments uh capital projects whether it's renovating or new or how that looks. Uh these questions are uh active uh as they should be and we have an opportunity to
include some of that additional detail that you mentioned and I'm sure others in the room are thinking through to make sure again that story is complete. Um I I also I agree with everything you said. Um I think it's important and and
not just in terms of efficiency on its face. Um I mean that's always we always should be looking at but when you think about AI technology implications, remote working trends and attendance I get a little bit concerned about overbuilding. Um, also my day job we do the
philanthropic side as does Jud and and you see tendency where if the money is there maybe we should do it. That's not always the case. So the thoughtfulness at the institutional level in terms of how they're using the campus facilities is as important as and if the if the
report drives that sort of change and thinking I think it's doing a lot. >> Thank you. Any other thoughts on this report? >> I am a little curious. Yes.
>> On the IU Fort Wayne. Uh it is such a outlier just as far as looking at how to better define this and break it down. I'm curious if we know why that is such a outlier.
>> Yes. So we know that IU Fort Wayne's one uh part of how they uh are able to be such an outlier is they um are have a much yeah much more limited uh scope both of their instruction uh very focused um very high attendance and it's
those six and five six classrooms five labs uh so that's part of how they in the subsequent slides kind of end up as that outlier. >> Good question. >> Yeah, >> not really with that graph. face. Anything? Anything else?
Okay, Cody, thank you very much. Uh, so last but not least, I would like Kate to come up again and Victoria Fair to share a bit about our summer interns. All right. Yes.
>> All right. So, my name is Kate Marlin, as you know, and this is Victoria Fair. We had five summer interns along with Cody um this summer, and we'd like to share a little bit about them. Um so, I had a financial aid intern, Molly Morris. Um she is >> if you want to if you want to step a
little closer to the mic. Yes. And then I'm also gonna have our interns come on up. >> We wanna We like to see you. [laughter] >> We're gonna run out of room. Hello, I'm [laughter] >> And then we also had our records
retention intern, Hikaru. >> Hi, nice to meet you all. >> Thank you. Um, so I oversaw our outreach intern, which is in partnership with the college matters grant from the Richard M. Banks Foundation. So, Griffin, thank you.
>> Perfect. And then we also had a college enrollment intern who helped with Indiana pre-missions, Isidora Pavage. after seeing yourself as well. >> Good morning. And then I'll switch to Cody. >> Awesome. And this summer I was also blessed to have the opportunity to ha uh add someone onto my team uh Jackson Bon.
He uh was our finance intern helping us out with uh getting stuff ready for this upcoming budget session and getting our own budgets ready. So >> morning. >> Perfect. And then we're excited to announce uh how we are celebrating the
end of their internship with us. So each of them have about two weeks left. In collaboration with Work and Learn Indiana, Indiana intern day is next Thursday, July 30th. Um so how that works is again we partner with work and learn Indiana. Uh it's modeled after
national intern day. Organizations and agencies can sign up and take the intern day pledge. Through that uh they recognize that they want to celebrate their interns. They also in return get a social media kit. Uh so they're able to post for intern day. How we celebrate them at the agency. So July 30th, next
Thursday morning, they get to do intern capstone presentations. So each of them do their own individual presentations where they talk about what are the tasks and activities that they worked on this summer as well as what are those goals and uh like things that they set for themselves this summer they wanted to accomplish. So that could be anything
from learning how to professionally network to even learning just the basic uh professionalism within Excel and Word. Uh so we get to have them share what they've done. Uh we obviously get to see every day what they work on, but it's exciting to see the rest of the agency get to learn what they did as
well. We also host a drop-in lunch hour. So during like the noon to 1 time frame, uh we have them in our conference room and individuals across the agency get to pop in, give them well wishes, ask them about their next steps. Um all of them will be returning to their campuses for their senior years this fall. Um so we
will get to do all of the celebrations of their graduations this time next year. Um, and so we get to have the staff just again celebrate and commemorate their time with us. And I'm happy to answer any questions as well. >> I think we have a couple. >> Perfect. >> Go ahead, Dennis.
>> Yes. >> Well, um, can you just tell us which institution each of you are from and your major and what year you're in? >> Um, >> I am going into my senior year. I'm a
finance major at Miami of Ohio. >> Okay. >> Can I add on to since you're all going to come up, can you also say maybe if you're willing, what is like the one or two most impactful things you experienced or learned so far this
summer. Don't have to, but if you're willing. >> Um it's been really awesome to work with a lot of our initiatives working along with the 21st century scholars program. So, it's been really impactful um helping to um bring access to education.
>> Thank you. >> Um I'm Hikaru. I just graduated from IU Bloomington with a degree in history and then I'm going back for my masters in library science. Um and this summer it's been really good to just grow my confidence in my professional skills. Um along with, you know, working with all
the initiatives in Indiana. >> Hello again. and I'm Griffin and um I'm going to be a senior at Indiana University Bloomington studying law and public policy. And I would say the best thing so far in this experience has been the conversations I've had to have with people um in my career profession. So
hopefully going to law and Michelle's been great to establish those relationships and entire network of people. And so it's been great to have conversations with loads of lawyers, people who work on foundations, things like that for hopefully getting future career prospects. Good morning everyone. My name is
Isidora. I am also a rising senior at Indiana University Bloomington. I study public affairs management. And the most impactful part of this internship for me uh has been working with the Indiana pre-missions initiative. I'm interested in potentially pursuing a career in higher education. So being able to
interact with both the uh universities here in Indiana as well as the high schools and getting to administer a program that really helps students has been very impactful. Are you a senior? >> Yes. >> Then hello, I'm Jackson. I'm also going
to be in my senior year at Indiana University. Go Hoosiers. I'm studying accounting and finance while I'm there at IU. And I think the most impactful thing for me here at the state is not only seeing how good people are at their jobs here, but how passionate they are too about when they do it. So, I've
really enjoyed that. >> Awesome. >> Great. Other Go ahead, Pepper. Are you all Indiana student are from Indiana? I Okay, >> we hope you consider staying in Indiana. >> They they have been given that pep talk
and more to come. Exactly. Exactly. Anything else? >> All right. Well, thank you. >> Really appreciate [applause] you. >> All right. At this point, Chair Peterson, back to me. >> Back to you. >> Okay. Wonderful. Great report. Lots of
important and interesting topics. And again, thank you to the interns for your service and for sharing um your experiences so far. We wish you nothing but the best of luck. So, we will now move to our approval of capital projects
and report out from the budget and productivity committee. Uh Mike Alli was not able to be with us today. He's got a board meeting, I believe. Uh and so Cody is going to both give us a report out and help us talk through the capital projects. >> Hello again everyone. So uh the budget
and productivity committee met on Thursday July 9th and in that meeting we uh reviewed four capital projects which you will hear uh uh today and subsequently for vote. Uh notably with uh this particular meeting, we noted
that uh Senate enrolled act 204 of the most recent uh session which amended IC 2133 by raising the threshold at which projects require commission approval and review. Uh that raised that threshold from 2 million to 3 million and that
became effective on July 1st. So this is our first review cycle with this new requirement. And then with that, uh, >> sorry. >> No, you're good. [laughter] >> Looking short and sweet. >> Um, okay. Wonderful. Any questions for Cody? And if not, we'll move into the
capital projects for approval. >> All right. So, we have four capital projects for full discussion today uh that were shared online with all of you. And, uh, the first project is the Wilky Quad C recapitalization.
So, and would invite Zach uh Smith Howard for director of state relations at Indiana University to present on that. >> Good morning, commission members. Dr. Jenner, uh on behalf of President Whitten and the board of trustees of Indiana University, um I'm here asking approval to proceed with the
recapitalization of the Wilky quadrangle on the Bloomington campus. This project is estimated to cost $60 million and will be funded through 30 million of the residential program and services reserve so RPS and up to an additional 30
million in consolidated revenue bonds which will be repaid using the residential program and services funds. Wilky Quadrangle was constructed in 1965 and it was partially renovated in 1998 and it consists of two student
residential buildings and a connecting uh central hub that will serve as the main entry point. The quad also houses core community amenities, study spaces, and an auditorium. The facility totals over 325,000
gross square feet and it provides 752 student beds. The comprehensive reifing project will upgrade critical building systems throughout the complex, including the renewal of elevators, roofs, stair towers, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and life safety
systems. All student rooms will be fully renovated and updated. The project is planned in two construction phases with the first phase, which includes the central and south buildings, will begin May of next year in 2027 with a completion in August of 2028. and the
second phase, the north building, beginning in May of 2028 and completing in August of 2029, enabling half approximately half of the facility to be in use during each phase. Um, I know during our meeting, uh, commission
member Hannah, who also sits on the finance authority board, asked a question about where is IFA in this process, and I didn't get to email the you and the rest of the committee the process. So from Don Lukes, our university treasurer, uh we when we when IU issues bonds for Wilky, we will work
through the IFA to get state budget director approval for the issuance. However, we initially use commercial paper as interim financing for the project. Under Indiana Code 21322-2, we have authority to issue interim financing, including commercial paper.
The state budget director approved our $200 million commercial pre paper program in 2023. Therefore, no further financing approvals are needed at this time. Thank you. And with that, I ask any questions. Great.
>> Um, any question? Well, actually, Cody, why don't you go ahead and give uh why don't you go ahead and give staff comments and then we'll ask questions. >> Yeah, absolutely. So, staff does recommend this for approval. We think that the approach to this, in particular, the financing approach is a very fiscally responsible way to do
this. And we know that these quality quality of life improvements are really important to students as well. And so we do recommend this for approval. >> Great. Thank you both. Any comments or questions or concerns, Molly? Oh, sorry.
Saw you pulling that close. >> Just getting ready to go. >> Just getting ready. Yeah. >> All right. Any other comments or concerns? All right. Hearing none. All in favor of approval of the Wilky uh reconstruction or if you will remodel.
>> Uh thank you. Second. >> Second. >> Okay. Thank you very much. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same. All right. Thanks, Zach. Congratulations. >> Okay. Next up, uh we have the uh Armory first floor mechanical system
replacement and classroom renovation. So, invite Kendra Leatherman, director of government relations at Purdue to present on this item. >> Oh, man. Okay. Well, now I've messed myself up because
I did not put this up there. Oh, see. Great. Thanks everybody. Okay. Uh, good morning everybody. Kinder Leatherman, director of government relations for Purdue University here on behalf of our board of trustees requesting approval to proceed with updates to our armory on our West Lafayette campus. These updates
are part of our annual RNR plan. It'll include replacing part of the building's first floor mechanical system and renovating two classrooms. As you might expect, the Armory supports the instruction and activity for programs that prepare our students for leadership roles as officers in the US Armed
Forces. The majority of the Armory's first floor is the drill floor, which is adjacent to the head house, where the classrooms in the Army offices are located. The doors between the head house and the drill floor will be replaced to provide better air barrier between these two areas and prevent cooling loss from one to the other. New
fan coils, duct work controls, and piping will be installed to serve the centrally scheduled classrooms and the adjacent office space. The classroom renovations will include new equipment, flooring, furniture, and improved lighting. And the total estimated project cost is $3.55 million and will
be funded by operating funds. I'm happy to take any questions. Great. Sticking with my the way I started, Cody, you want to go ahead and do uh staff and then we'll ask questions? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, we also recommend this project for approval. Um, this has
been in alignment with Purdue's repair and rehabilitation plan. Um, and so, yeah, we recommend this for approval as well. >> Great. Very good. Thank you very much. Any comments or questions for Kendra or Cody? Okay. Hearing none. Uh would entertain a
motion for approval of the armory. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Second. Thank you. All right. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> I. Oppose. Same. [clears throat] Very good. Um All right. Next up, one two more. M u we are here to um seek
approval for the Marie Elizabeth Gdare. Is that right? Gdar. >> Goddar. >> Godair. >> God. Sorry, you got me saying it. >> Marie Elizabeth Godair. would have tried that a number of times before getting it right. Uh, residence hall renovation. Uh, Tony Han, vice president of government and legal affairs at Vincens,
will present on this on the next two projects. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good to be with you today. Tony Han from Vincens's University. Uh, Marie Elizabeth Godair, the Betsy Ross of the Northwest Territory, designed the battle flag for the Vincens's militia in the
Revolutionary War as it fought the British at Fort Sackville. So that is how she is remembered in Knox County. >> Shame on me for not knowing that history lesson. We'll >> we'll move the cord and stuff later. That's fine.
>> The Godair Hall renovation is a $23 million estimated project. Godair Hall is a 93,000 square foot building that was built in 1987 and it has 202 rooms and I'm so it holds 202
students in a very traditional way long hallway room on each side group bathrooms and that has become a less attractive style of housing for students. But our vision for God Hall in the future is a little different. To
really leverage our the benefits and the advantages we have in our training models for business and industry. We're proposing to turn God Hall into a 134 room extended stay style housing
complex. This would essentially gut the building to the walls and rebuild it in a style that would have 4 to 500 square ft per room, little kitchenet, some laundry, a little more space, and that would be designed for a
longer stay for some of our stay and learn training modules. Currently, we serve both Amazon and Walmart in these extended stay 12 and 13week programs where their associates come to our campus and live on campus
and have the full campus experience while they're earning industry credentials and certificates in mechatronics and automation and robotics. and a stay that long when you're 30 something or more, the
traditional dorm is not as attractive. And so our investment in this will be a a a show to our partners that we're invested in long-term training. That also means that we can move our Cumins apprenticeship program and our John Deere apprenticeship program to campus.
We envision having this flexibility to do weeklong boot camps, three-day professional development for teachers over weekends and have this housing option to eliminate that kind of obstacle to long-term training. So, this
would be a $23 million project funded by revenue bonds as was mentioned earlier. Uh ideally this could open in the fall of 28 and we would be able to rearrange our Amazon and Walmart schedule that is
constantly being refreshed with students uh so that they can move in there and then we can reclaim some of the space on campus for our traditional students. Any questions about how we envision using this? Just a comment of I I appreciate the
opportunity that you hosted us on campus to see that program so we understand the students and the need. So that that's beneficial at least to me. >> Glad you enjoyed it. It's been I think Amazon and Walmart as you would imagine
in that space are the tip of the spear. And I think if you've driven any highway in Indiana, you've seen those those distribution centers and there's a need for the training of those technicians. >> Yeah. I just want to compliment Ben Sins
on uh really thinking differently and and again going back to that point about being nimble, being hyper aware of the economy, the workforce needs, the AI uh pressure that we're all feeling. uh it it sound it's not only needed today, but
you're really thinking about uh future opportunities to leverage this different model. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you. We've used the past five years with Amazon as proof of concept that yes, this this has value in the marketplace. Employers appreciate it and
I think we have a lot of room to grow and of course a contingency. If that should dry up, these will become attractive one room suites for traditional students. So when the commission members when we go back on the road, maybe we can stay at the extended stay
in Vincens. >> Just let us know. >> Extended do you want to be in? >> You know, [laughter] >> your choice. We've got the space. >> Be careful what you offer. >> January. >> Speaking of that extended stay and us staying, I do have a question though.
Um, are you operating this? I I like the concept by the way, but um is the institution operating it or did you look into a P3 type scenario with a hospitality venue? >> You know, thank you for that question. We did a deep dive into this uh because it's it's unusual and we wanted to we really wanted to investigate it. So, we
looked at three options. A P3 and we went far down the road with a few developers on what that might look like. uh and of you know I have some experience of that with my time at Purdue and where they would build they would operate they have some hospitality expertise might even bring some retail
to campus we looked at a whole new build and that would be about 34 million and so that was not really attractive but when we did the long-term uh and the you know payments uh and debt retirement and
and some of the investor uh obligations this this model of using the space that we have already that's good. You know, the envelope's in good shape that came out several million dollars ahead. But we we went pretty far down the road in the P3 option and even had site work
done to make sure environmentally that it was possible, but not this time. >> Nice. Well, I think it's great that you did the due diligence and know the difference and pencil it out. So, >> yeah, the process was really worthwhile. I think we it it forced us to do an even deeper dive into what housing looks
like, the future of housing, and brought in some expertise. >> Awesome. Any other questions? >> Okay, Cody, now now we'll look to you for staff. >> Yeah. No, absolutely. So, we also recommend this for approval given a lot
of the reasons that were also shared. And then I think u as you'll see in the next project when we think about both of these together I think it's a really good representation of that unique approach that Vincens's has in our state. Um so we do recommend uh this for approval as well.
>> Great. Yeah very very creative very uh innovative and I think very adaptive to what the future will bring. So maybe a model to continue to see others use as well as yourselves. So unless there are other questions I would entertain a motion for approval. So moved.
>> Thank you. Second. Thank you. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same. >> Okay. Great. And as alluded to, uh, the next project is the Henry and Francois Vanderberg residence hall renovation. I
do not know who Henry and Francois Vanderberg are either, so I would love a history lesson if you'd also provide that. >> You're familiar with the county name? >> Yes. Henry was a pretty famous fur trader, a an officer in the
revolutionary or in the revolutionary war for the for the uh Vincen's militia. Francois was his wife who bore him 10 children. >> But he was also one of the first three judges of the Northwest Territory. And so he there at Grousland and in that
Vincent's area, he was one of the first three judges. But he also died pretty abruptly. and Francois then managed the estate, continued the work with the fur trading. Then they had William Henry Vanderberg who was a famous fur trader in that area too. So they they were one
of the first to settle around the city when it was founded in 1732. >> Thank you. >> We expect history lessons in all future res. >> There's a project too. I forgot. >> Oh yeah, the project. It's less exciting than uh the Betsy Ross of the Northwest
project. Uh this is Vandenberg Hall is our is our largest resident hall. It was built in 1990. It's 113,000 square feet. It houses 432 students and it's it's our most popular by the students. It's a sweet style, but it's also looking a lot
1990s. And I know that's popular sometimes, but it also feels 1990s. And so this is a $12 million renovation also funded by those revenue bonds that will be backed by the pledges of the students living there. And this does things like
lighting, restrooms, finishes, student amenities. We'll re we will reconfigure some of the common space to be more aligned with how the students use them now. And then we should be able to get this project done in a way that doesn't
disrupt the current students. And we have some we'll be rearranging where some of the students go through Clark Hall and Morris Hall while we work on this. And then in the fall of 28, we'll be able to open this up as a fully renovated residence hall to 432
students. >> Questions either on the historic front or the renovation. >> Okay. Cody, staff response, please. The recommendation. >> Yep. Staff also recommends this project uh for approval as well. >> Okay. >> All right. Entertain a motion for
approval. >> So move second. >> Thank you. Any other final call for questions? Hearing none. All in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Opposed? Same. Okay. Thank you very much. And thank you. Congratulations to all of you.
>> All right. Moving on here, we are going to move to our academic uh degree programs. And before we do that, I'd like uh Chair Dennis Bland to give a brief report out on the academic affairs and quality committee efforts. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
So, we actually had two meetings. We had a May meeting where the committee which consists of Pepper, Dr. Castanova, Jud Kent, Larry, and Dan Peterson. Thank you all for your service. So at our May meeting, we
reviewed and submitted for full for the full agenda the women's health nurse practitioner postgraduate certificate. And so that's for consideration. And then in our June meeting, we considered four programs
all from the Indiana University system. And I'll I'll list the programs. A BS in biomedical engineering from Indiana University Bloomington. A BS in biomedical engineering from Indiana University Indianapolis.
A certificate in medical laboratory science from Indiana University School of Medicine Evansville and Indiana University South Ben submitted an MS in medical laboratory science. So these are the programs that
are on the agenda for expedited action consideration. >> Thank you Dennis. Yeah. Um that was a great set of discussions around these degrees and uh a lot of obvious alignment with needs out there and interesting conversation around that. So
I'd call on Dr. Matt Butler to provide some uh additional comments and information and before our vote. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Chairman Bland. Matt Butler, senior associate commissioner and chief academic officer. Uh, yes, you might
have noticed a theme throughout all of these. Uh it's uh sort of a full spectrum of the health and life sciences uh industry spanning uh licensed providers with nurse practitioners, certified diagnostics
through medical laboratory science and then one could perhaps say the uh bench to bedside biomed uh research and development that we see from biomedical engineers. Um a couple things that are quite interesting about all of these is none
of them start from scratch. They leverage uh a lot of pre-existing resources when it comes to faculty coursework and facilities. Um for the nurse practitioner uh certificate, Purdue Global has a very large nurse practitioner program anyway with several
concentrations in it, but not women's health. As you can imagine, women's health uh is becoming a shortage area, whether it comes to physicians or further down when it comes to professional practitioners like nurse practitioners. Indiana, like many
states, has maternity health deserts. And so, Purdue Global is providing this as a way of meeting those needs. And through its online delivery, there's hope that nurse practitioners who live in uh rural areas and regions throughout Indiana and other states can stay where
they are, but reach this specialty uh as uh a as they can become a professional in that. It's also going to mirror adding a concentration to their current nurse practitioner uh degree program. Um so responsive to talent workforce
shortages in that area. The two parallel medical laboratory sciences are quite interesting. I'd say that uh they're quite nimble responses to meeting students where they are in terms of their academic journey. for IU Southbend. Uh the master's in medical
laboratory science is replacing a bachelor's in medical laboratory science which that found seems somewhat interesting and the reason why is uh the they were finding that the majority of their students who were pursuing that bachelor's already had a bachelor's in foundational science whether biology,
chemistry etc. and pursuing further undergraduate uh study uh and not getting a second not getting a graduate degree out of it was quite a deterrence to a lot of students uh when it came to financial aid and some other things. So well before the under threshold review
process we concluded earlier this spring IU Southbend was looking at that to flip it instead to be a master's to accommodate the majority of those students who already had a bachelor's as well as to provide a 4 plus one accelerated masters program for their
own IU Southbend undergrads. As you can imagine, medical laboratory science is highly in demand for uh hospital systems, clinical laboratories, and then even our our burgeoning life science industry. Um, parallel to that, the
Indiana School of Medicine's Evansville campus uh is creating a certificate that will enable University of Evansville students to spend their last year at the medical school's location in Evansville
to complete their medical laboratory uh studies and get certification. Otherwise, they would have to leave Evansville, not get their Evansville bachelors uh and go to another uh uh institution. So, uh this is in a way you're seeing the school of medicine is
serving other schools because they care about filling uh this shortage area and they're in talks with other universities in the region that are independent or out of state to uh leverage this certificate. Um, it also comes about at the same time that Deaconist Health
System in Southwest Indiana has opened up a a slew of new clinical seats so that the school of medicine's medical laboratory students they have themselves will have far more clinical seats. That's been a a major constraint on this talent pipeline. And then the last is uh
IU Indie and IU Bloomington, a biomed engineering bachelor's. Um the commi commission might remember that last year uh you approved a masters in biomedical engineering at Indianapolis and the school also uh reorganized its PhD in
biioinformatics to also be a biomedical engineering program. So this will complete the comp the degree pathway for IUD at um Bloomington. The Luddy school there has a bachelor's in intelligent systems engineering with a concentration
in bioengineering. It's a very popular tract and they're hoping to uh elevate that to a true standalone degree. So when they did this, they worked together uh at the same time simultaneously to make an intentional
strategic uh creation of two offerings at the two uh the main campuses for the university system leveraging each other's expertise uh having slightly different concentrations given their faculty assets. Um, so, uh, another, uh,
aspect of, uh, being responsive, I would say, to Indiana's burgeoning biotechnology, biomedical, and life science industries. And I'm happy to answer any questions on the details or broad brush strokes of the programs. >> Yes. Um, comments or [clears throat]
questions? Don, it makes me think happy to have you join given your experience with the bone health and and in healthcare in general. So, um, not sure if if you had a chance to review much of that, but it was a robust discussion around it and I'm sure we're going to see more. So,
>> yes, all needed programs uh in the state and there's plenty of jobs available now and in the future for those >> for those um MLS and obviously the the NV program. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> I had a I had a question. Um the phrase
maternal health desert sort of struck me and it's if if there's a code red for policies, it seems to me like that would be one. So could you [clears throat and cough] could you tell us what defines a maternal uh health desert? And uh at the risk of
generalizing, where are these? You mentioned rural, but I'm guessing they're probably urban areas or but could you just answer what where are the maternal health deserts and what are they? I I will attempt to up to a point and then I can get back with you with some more information. Professor,
>> yes, I forgot to say I I know you don't do that research yourself as part of >> I believe the term the the term hinges upon um how far does a patient have to travel >> to access uh up to I believe a nurse practitioner, physicians assistant or an
actual physician specialized in OBGYN OBGYn care. Uh, and I think uh, if I remember the submission correctly, there is double-digit county counts in Indiana that do not have these services uh, for
Hoosiers. And I uh, not that I'm an expert in it, but main, you know, kind of keeping my ear to the ground on these topics, this is not unique to Indiana. Uh, it's it's probably quite prevalent in our neighboring Midwest Miss Midwestern neighbors.
>> Dr. Dr. Butler, the uh um added definition there is uh labor and delivery is available in uh a hospital and uh the you know unfortunately the um there's been an exit from some of our
systems in in uh for labor and delivery. So creates a desert where they don't have access and I'm sure could probably that's accurate. Yeah. But we're far better than Mexico.
>> Okay. Um, yeah, that was great. Any any other comments or questions before we move to approval? >> All right. I would entertain a motion for approval for the uh for expedited action expedited action on the five degree programs presented uh here today.
>> So moved. >> Second. >> Second. >> Very good. Thank you. Uh, all in favor, please say I. >> I. >> Oppose. Same. Okay. Very good. Uh, let's see. Next, we're going to ask to or where are we? Oh, yeah. Cody, I think you're going to come back up now.
Uh, we're going to have a presentation uh from Cody on the outcomebased performance funding program uh OBPF as affectionately known. All right, good morning again and hello once again uh once more. My name is Cody
Robinson. I'm the deputy chief financial officer for higher education. Uh and today we're going to be talking about the outcomesbased performance funding formula for the upcoming 2027 to 2029 bienium. Uh how this will look today is first
we're going to uh start ourselves off grounded in state law and what's required by code. We'll also look at what that has meant for the past couple budget bills uh house enrolled act uh 101. We'll do a quick recap on the
conversation as this was a conversation that uh we here started uh back in May and so we'll kind of touch on that again and let you know what's happened in between then and now. Uh and then lastly we'll uh present the proposed future formula for that upcoming bienium.
So the Indiana code for OBPF which I'll use to refer to it or the formula is grounded in IC 211816. And here there's a couple requirements for the formula itself. First that it be aligned with the commission's long range
plan and our strategic priorities. uh that for IvyTech in particular, we consider employer needs, positive wage outcomes and stackable credentials and that the data that is uh used for the formula to determine earnings is audited every two years. Code is also very
specific about how the approval and the presentation of the formula uh works its way through uh the system uh to an action. So first uh the formula must be approved by the commission uh by October 1st of every evenumbered year. That's
what we'll be doing today. Uh then following that uh we'll bring the formula to the state budget committee uh prior to their budget hearings. So that uh will be sometime between August and October. And then the formula will come up once more uh in uh November December
time frame during the state's budget hearings where we'll uh discuss more of the uh formula as part of the overall budget recommendation for higher education. uh for the last number of years uh the formula is appropriated via House
Enrolled Act 101. Um and it is only one of many different funding streams that go from the state to our higher educational institutions. Uh here you can see kind of a pie chart. We showed this in May, but this sort of gives you an idea of the relationship that those
different funding streams have to one another. Uh in particular, you can see a great majority of that funding is that base operating funding going directly to our public institutions and their campuses. That's in that big uh blue color. And then at the very top, you can
see performance funding in the 2023 to 2025 bianium represented about 1% of the total higher education funding package uh of that budget. Uh there was some rationale for that. uh the formula in its current form is considered base
building. So earnings in one year build onto that base operating in the future. Uh but you can also see it's a very it's been historically at least in recent history a very very small portion of the total funding package and we'll touch on this a little bit
more here in a second but in the current bienium 2025 to 2027 uh the performance funding formula was not funded uh uh due to uh the economic conditions at the time.
Now, this begs the question of why we want to revive or kind of bring backodyf. Yes. >> Uh, sorry, I was trying to get your attention. Sorry to interrupt. Um, if Mike Ally, who chairs our finance committee, was here and I feel like I
need to say this because I've heard it so many times. Um, and I appreciate it. I think he's spot on. Uh there is increasing interest in outcomesbased performance funding being a more significant part of the higher ed uh
model. Um that interest is coming not only from uh stakeholders, business and industry, it's coming from uh general assembly members uh because that value proposition has to we have to be laser focused on continuing to improve that.
So while 1% was kind of the number in the past and zero most recently, uh we should expect that to go up uh significantly. Uh obviously it depends on the budget forecast. The months ahead will will
dictate how much. Uh but I just wanted to flag that on behalf of Mike Ally. Could >> Could I just jump in at that point and ask a question? These these monies are also no strings attached, right? They are given to the institutions and they
don't have to spend it on this that or the other. >> Uh yeah, this would be considered operating funding. So it um does not necessarily have the same sort of attachments as like capital funding which has to be spent on capital. Yeah, I I bring that up because I think that's based on my interaction with
administrators, that's special money, money that isn't tied to anything and that they can do things with. So I think the incentive power of even if it is 1% it's 1% of open flexibility with funding. So,
>> and so, right, that begs the question kind of, you know, what can we do with an outcomes based performance funding, especially when it's a uh funded at a level that we believe pres pro provides a true incentive. Uh, and this is where we bring in our priorities. You've heard
us refer to them, affordability, access, attainment, and alignment. And here's where we can um utilize a funding formula like this to do things such as reward practices that balance cost, quality, and return on investment for students. We can encourage the reduction
of barriers for students to entry and completion in a timely manner. We can hold institutions and the state accountable for delivering high quality academic and work-based experiences that lead to completions and real results for students. and we can reinforce the vital
role that higher education plays in preparing students for high demand careers and opportunities here in the state of Indiana. So that's why we want to see you know uh beyond just the interest that's why we also too want to see uh this come back and we want to see
this work. So just a little bit of a recap of where we've been over the last recent history like we shared the current formula uh was implemented in 2023. There was some work ahead of that to sort of redesign the formula, but the current formula was
not funded in 2025, which gave us a an opportunity to step back and kind of re-evaluate the strategy of the formula. We received a lot of feedback um over that time. And in May of this year, uh, at our last commission meeting, we
opened up a collaborative effort and a public feedback, uh, opportunity, uh, for folks to continue to send us feedback that we could then use to improve the current formula. That period closed around the July 4th holiday um, and has helped inform what uh, the
formula that we're proposing for the future bienium, which you will see here momentarily. [clears throat] Just to catch us up a little bit on what some of that feedback was. There were some pretty key themes I think that came out very early on. One being that the
formula in its current form is not effectively moving the needle and creating impact for students. Two, that the formula was not focused enough on outcomes and three that its complexity had made it difficult to understand and communicate. And then from our feedback
period that we recently closed, a couple other themes that um came out for us were an emphasis on mission differentiation for our institutions and even our campuses and the different roles that they play here in our state and for students. Uh another one that
came out was there was a lot of really creative ideas for how we could measure progress or and measure completion. And so those were very interesting. Um and also there was a lot of ideas for how to address challenges that come with using recent data. One of the things we signaled in May is that we had a lot of
interest in utilizing more recent data than what we are currently doing both from the uh uh in the sense of uh having that you know reward and incentive closer to the actual results. um and in terms of being able to communicate more
uh quickly about what those results were and to celebrate our institutions with those results. So uh at this point um I'll go ahead and share what we're proposing for the current or sorry for the future formula
in the upcoming bienium. uh what you'll see in front of you and and commission members, you have these on individual 8 and a half by 11 papers, but what you can see is a graphic of the proposed formula. Uh there's actually two as you can see here, one on the left
and one on the right. Uh the one on the left represents the formula we are proposing for our four-year institutions and uh that also includes Ben's University's Balora programming and the one on the right represents the formula
for IvyTech that we're proposing as well as Benson's University's subbalorate programming. There are many similarities between the two. So I'm going to start by explaining the one on the left pretty in depth and then highlight the differences that are in that IvyTech
formula. The core of the formula is attainment. Institutions may earn a dollar amount per degree conferred in the most recent academic year. In order to be eligible for the performance funding, the degree
must be earned by an Indiana resident. This will include those students that are enrolled in Indiana high school and thus for the first time with our OBPF model. We'll be recognizing uh with performance funding for the first time the work our institutions are doing in our high schools which is something that
we've heard a lot about um in the last number of years especially as their work in our high schools have expanded considerably. Uh additionally the highest level degree earned uh per subject area per student will be eligible for award. Uh we'll establish this using what's known as the
uh six-digit classification of instructional program code. Uh thus if a student earns multiple credentials in a year and those credentials are in different subject areas, the institution can actually be awarded for each of those uh for uh for that student's
graduation. If the student graduates with uh two in the same subject area will recognize the highest. Uh we're also expanding the levels of degrees and credentials that we'll be looking at and rewarding for our institutions when compared to the
current formula. For our four-year institutions, we'll recognize subassociate credentials such as certificates and technical certificates, associate degrees, bachelor's degrees, and uh in- demand graduate level degrees. And these will all be eligible for that performance funding. The
Indiana College Corps will also be eligible if it's earned by uh a current high school student. Uh up there on the top, you can see that uh under that attainment category, that sort of core of the formula, uh we do have dollar amounts there. Those are just representing that each one of these
different degree levels will have a uh different value assigned to it. Um but aren't meant to necessarily indicate any sort of ratio or value between them at this time. just re just uh indicating that there will be different dollar amounts assigned to each one of those.
On top of that uh sort of core or base foundation attainment funding and they can do this by uh pursuing uh our state priorities. Here you can see that there are three categories below that little plus sign there uh affordability, access
and alignment. institutions may earn a bonus, a percentage of that performance funding for that credential level by meeting at least one option in each of these categories. These options are meant to provide institutions with the ability to differentiate how they earn
their funding. It's a it's uh meant to allow institutions to demonstrate their unique missions while staying focused on the things that we as the state believe and know will move the needle for students in an impactful and meaningful way. For example, looking at that first
category, institutions can earn 35% of the additional uh sort of core funding if at least one of these three options is uh underneath affordability is true for that credential. So the first being that the institution did not exceed the commission's recommended uh
recommendation for tuition and fees for the entirety of the program's intended length. The credential was completed on time or the credential was completed early. The second category represents our priority of access. Institutions can
earn uh 25% of the base amount or core amount of the degree by meeting at least one of these options. The credential was earned in high school such as the stackable Indiana college core. The credential was an associated or had an
associated stackable transfer single single articulated pathway. The credential had an embedded stopout credential. The credential was a reverse transfer associate degree or the credential was earned by a state financial aid recipient. For example, uh
a recipient of the 21st century scholar program or the Franco Bannon grant. And in our third category, uh, institutions can earn 40% of that sort of, uh, foundational award up at the top, uh, by meeting at least one of these options
within this category. The credential had a meaningful embedded work-based learning experience uh, aligned with employer needs, the credential was in a targeted field aligned with employer needs, or the credential scored a three or higher on the credentials of value list. Thus the way funding is earned for
our institutions is first by uh the uh production of credentials and earning of credentials by students and if those credentials have these uh attributes within these uh different buckets they can earn additional funding as well.
Code requires that IvyTech have a separate formula which is why we've created a a second formula there on the right. We will also be applying this formula to subassociate credentials in associate degree programs at Vincen's University. And while you can see there
are a lot of uh elements that are very similar, uh there are a few key differences that I want to note for you today. First uh subassociate credentials including certificates and technical certificates and associate degrees will be eligible for both the performance
funding and the uh multipliers or that bonus funding uh as well. In addition, select industry recognized certifications will also be eligible for award uh uh but won't be available for that bonus funding.
Uh second, given IvyTech's role in and in in part Vincent's role as well as a a workforce engine uh for our state, we've adjusted the bonus amounts per category to reflect this. So uh whereas in then the four-year formula credentials that
earn that affordability uh option will earn a 35% multiplier for IvyTech the way the multipliers will work is 30% for affordability uh 20% for access and 50% for alignment really uh emphasizing the
alignment piece uh particular of those missions. Uh lastly, the thing I'll note is we've augmented an option within that affordability category of on-time completion to also apply to part-time
students in these cases. So, uh and to do that, we're using the federal maximum time frame of 1.5 times the intended program length so that for IvyTech and Vincent's sub assoc programs, we'll recognize on-time completion for those
students using that standard. We believe that uh this proposed formula not only meets the statutory requirements of the legis and the legislative intent of outcomesbased performance funding but also has the uh opportunity and the potential to create
real meaningful change for students and for our institutions. We have focused every element of this formula on outcomes, basing mo uh almost entirely the funding on completion and earned credentials and centering all of that bonus funding on qualities of those
earned credentials uh and the student experience. We've kept things simple and even in this simplicity, we've developed a way for institutions to reflect their different and unique missions. And lastly, we've built the bones of a formula that we believe can last. and in
doing so provide stability, predictability to our institutions even as we push for rigorous goals and priorities shift over time. Uh and with that, I'll close here and open up space uh for members to ask any questions that
you have. >> Thank you very much, Cody. And and I would just say very simply and we heard this loud and clear if you uh uh listen to some of the appropriations meetings in particular
when higher ed uh was um being asked questions. The key is are we supporting our students? Are we contributing to educational attainment? Are students completing? And so that is
the foundation. That's the starting point uh if you will. Did they complete what did they complete? Again, we'll look at the zip codes and then those multipliers based on the priorities of trying to make sure uh higher education is as affordable as possible. Continue
focus on that in Indiana for parents and families and students access uh for our students. Really focus on improving our stackability uh uh in our credentials. and then of course uh alignment to um our most
valuable state and regional uh high demand areas. So thank you very much for all of your time. Thank you for uh uh the many people in the room and not in the room who contributed feedback verbally written uh however uh and also
commission members uh for your uh thoughts as well. I will share as I have with commission members uh the the general assembly that the key to this is we we [clears throat] provide a recommendation as a commission they have
to fund it so they have to believe in this as well. Uh so uh the conversations have already happened and are active with leadership on this. they are well aware that we are voting and approving this exact model uh today and that sets
us up to next work through some of the funding questions. What's the percentage? What's the dollar amount behind each credential? How does this look further? Uh but we are uh in a very good place today uh going into session
in six months. >> Um quick question. I apologize if it's accounted for in there. Um, but with the federal c, it goes to the question of affordability. With the federal debt caps and now sort of an emergence of private lenders,
>> are we able to track still total student debt coming out whether or not it's been furnished by the government? Because I think the intent was to get the cost down, but what we're seeing is maybe, you know, a little bit of leakage in terms of going out for other funds. So
I'm just wondering if we can so that we can understand the evolution of that impact. It's a good question. >> So So there are uh a number of data points that have been raised that as a state we would like to contribute
to this formula. Uh but that if the data is not certain uh we have uh we have that on a short list to work through. uh some of it might be uh needing additional clarification or information from our institutions. Uh but that one
is on our list and uh a a university president also elevated that. So it's on our short list to work through because this model uh you know is per statute by statute we have to revise every two
years. My hope would be I think and for the sake of higher ed and trying to keep it simple we we can't keep changing the model every single cycle. So my request would be the model that remains as the
foundation going forward and then we look at some of these additional bullets one that you mentioned Bill there are others as well as data points that we seek to gather and then transparently share with the public ahead. Yeah, I mean I I do support this. Absolutely. I
and I don't think in that category we'd have enough data at this point to really truly understand it, but I just want to make sure it's being tracked as well. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you, >> Secretary Jenner. Um, >> in your opinion or actually maybe in
your knowledge, do you believe that what's presented here the General Assembly will get behind or you you're pretty certain, right? Because that's really we've got to make sure they get behind it, right? because they they pull the purse strings and and uh are the decision makers here. From that
perspective, >> we we work very closely with leadership as everyone in this room and beyond knows frequent conversations. They have been very very good partners and collaborators with us. Uh some of the
individuals who had the strongest uh you know very smart questions quite frankly of us in the past we reviewed those questions. we called those specific legislators and talked through what are your thoughts. Uh so uh we are you know
there's so many unknowns in in six months in the world we live in but in the place that we are today we are in we are in a very good uh position in terms of support from leadership. >> That's good. Yes. Yeah. because the better they feel about this, the better
opportunity we have um to achieve what Mike has been talking about. >> Yes, sir. You're exactly right. >> Get that incentive funding. >> You're exactly right. And it has to start, Kent, to your point much before session, those conversations and making sure we're we're working together as one
Indiana uh trying to move the needle in educational attainment in valuable areas. >> [clears throat] >> What else? Questions, thoughts. >> Okay, if there are no other questions,
thoughts, let me add my uh support for this and for all the good work that's gone into it. I know we've had a lot of discussions around it uh building up to uh and evolving this to to where it is. Um it's it's been a good process. I hope everyone feels like that. And uh unless
there are any other questions, I would entertain a motion for approval of the formula uh as presented here today by Cody. >> So moved. >> Thank you. Thank you. All right. All in favor, please say I. >> I oppose. Same.
>> Okay. Very good. Thank you all. All right. So, last but not least, like to welcome our friends. It may I don't Becca if it's just you or who all's going to be doing this, but um thank you again for hosting us here for uh today's
meeting and for for breakfast. We appreciate it and as always and would turn it over to you for our student success presentation. >> Well, thank you again for the opportunity. I don't worry. I am think of me as the MC for today. I'm going to
sort of lay out some some framework and then we will have some guests who do the real work um join us for different portions of the the presentation. But um we're grateful for the opportunity to present today. We would have loved to host you on our campus. We love hosting. Um not just because our campus is
beautiful and our facilities are full of students from Indiana doing great things. Um, but one of the things that I love when you come on campus, um, that you'll see and we hope to, uh, showcase a bit today is, um, I like to call it a gamble. President Ms prefers when I say
it's a calculated risk, but we don't brief our folks because we've created this wonderful ecosystem. I really believe um, the alignment that we have across our institution is really well aligned with the work that you're doing at the commission and the other entities in the state. I love the 4A and I think
hopefully you'll see some of that alignment as we talk about some of those programs that are so important to our our state uh and keeping our student uh our our students who graduate here in the state but also to make sure that they have that really excellent
educational experience. So um you know going back to to our strategic plan as we think about our strategic plan for Ball State University it is a working strategic plan. Everyone who has a strategic plan turns out they say those sorts of things. We're really really serious. That's part of um my my
calculated risk, right? As we talk about what it is that we uh we mean to the state, we mean to the students. We are really trying to be um as nimble as possible. We're trying to be a catalyst. President Ms often talks about how we're a catalyst. Uh some of you have um seen,
some of you, most of you, all of you have heard through some of the pro uh building approvals about our village. That's a really physical example of how we're a catalyst, but we squeeze every bit of value um that we can out of providing that educational experience. And so, as we talk about return on
investment, we're also talking about return on investment um not just to the student, but to the state, to the employers, and getting those pipelines all of the places that we need them in the right pipelines. Um, a couple of the items that I'll call out that are new for this strategic plan that we have are
around the idea of purpose and a relationship rich education. As we expose our students to all sorts of different opportunities in and throughout Indiana, we want to make sure that we are um fulfilling um not just the idea of, you know, the the subject matter what we're learning, but you
know, our trustees and president have become um a little concerned about the unhappiness of of folks uh across the country. And I think as we really dig into purpose, um, we're talking about that intersection of what you value, um, and your contribution, um, to the
greater good, to the public good. And so, as you think about that, um, as students make choices about where they want to be, the career they want to have, the things they want to be civically engaged in. All those things come together, I think, to create a sense of fulfillment. Um, again, we really care about not just fulfilling
careers, but meaningful lives. And I think it ties those things together really well. We've also called out the idea of a relationshiprich education. We want to do that one for student success as students are going throughout our our institution, but also we really want to make sure that they're creating those relationships in and throughout the
state. Their best networks are the ones who have invested in them from the time they were in K12 when they're doing those K12 learning experiences. um and and before they come to us and if we can help to ignite those as not just you know my friend's mom who drove us here
who had the great snack drawer whatever it is but that's my network and if I want to go back to my community um they've articulated what it is that they can eat and what the value or what it is they can do in terms of network and what the value of coming back to that community is. So today I'm going to attempt to highlight just a couple of
initiatives um that that um we have been focused on. Um, you've heard me talk a lot about how we're a state serving institution. You've heard me talk about the skills infusion. I'm going to pop this up. Um, you have a couple of handouts. One of them has that graphic
here so you can remember it. Um, and we'll talk a little bit more about what that is. But um as we think about um the things that we've shared in the past, we've talked about skills infusion and how industry meet with um through our career center with faculty and talk
about all of the different um workforce outcomes and competencies that that are needed in today's workplace. Um we also talk about faculty externships where faculty who do that program then go on and spend time. All those ways are about signifying success in and throughout Indiana for our
students. but it also makes it a more impactful, meaningful experience. You've all been to the Indiana, well, many of you, not our newest members, but you've been to our Indiana Connection Lounge. Again, it's about making sure that our students find different ways to apply what it is they're learning in the industries and in the communities that
that mean so much to our state. So, back to this handout, this is a toolkit. It turns out that people who already like us know how to work with us. We need to make sure that everyone across the state knows how to find our programs. Um we're a nimble institution and it's not as complicated as you might might guess.
And so um there is a QR code you are welcome to share with those in in your your areas of the state. But I think you know this is a way that we can reach out to to more folks. The other thing that you have that you are probably more than familiar with um is the handout that shows that um we have students from all
throughout Indiana, all 92 counties. And it turns out we're really careful about making sure that we're creating those opportunities for students to go back to all 92 counties. We are focused in a way that um many um have shared with us that they have not seen in other places. And so we want to make sure that we're we're
doing that work. Um and then finally uh now it's sort of a consistent thing, right? But on the other side, you see 80% of our students um decide to to live and work in Indiana upon graduation. So, of the 91% of each incoming class that comes in uh that are Hooser students, we
we are pretty big bang for the the buck. So, um without further ado, I will start to talk about some of those um initiatives. I'm going to ask Garrett to join me for this first portion. Uh Garrett Tur is our area coordinator for our living learning communities and our
dorms. We think it is so important from the students first days on campus that we make sure that the idea of success in Indiana is really important. So, he's done some pretty groundbreaking things to highlight success in Indiana. So, I'll pop up the fun pictures and I'll let you share a little bit about what
you do. >> Wonderful. Thank you so much, Becca, and thank you, Commission. At Ball State University, we have a housing requirement for all firstear students. And we really leverage this opportunity to assign students by major or their honors college status to one of our 12 living learning communities. And this
align allows us to provide strategic direction and programming that connects the academic experience with a career exposure. My staff and every LLC has academic peer mentors that serve alongside resident assistants that provide guidance to first year students.
These peer mentors also help plan site visits that expose students and opportunities to leave campus and explore destinations in Indiana businesses with tailored experiences where they engage with an employer and learn more about the industry in their
career field of study. In the past, these trips have really gone anywhere we found willing partners, whether it's Cincinnati, Chicago, Louisville. But the few years ago, we really sought to align with as a state serving institution and target these industries in Indiana and
to focus and align with Ball State as an Indiana serving institution. During the 2025 2026 academic year, we had 428 students um leave campus and visit nine different counties from Allen County to Spencer County with 26 trips that left
campus including Ortho Works in Warsaw, Indiana, Sweetwater in Fort Wayne, Delara and Speedway, the Indiana State House not too far away from here, uh Marian VA hospital and more beyond that. Our purpose here is to ensure that every student understands that there is an
industry in Indiana for each of them and that their success can be here to pursue a fulfilling career. However, we recognize that students are making decisions about their futures um based on more than just simply a job. They're interested in leading meaningful lives.
For that reason, we are also intentional about providing them with experiences on these trips that give them a glimpse into the quality of life that they could have in these various communities. These are simple exposures. Uh sometimes it's just dining at a local restaurant that's frequented by people in their
community or that place of work, visiting a park or engaging with individuals on topics that reach beyond the nineto-5. From the moment students step into their living learning communities, we introduce them to industry and begin introducing them to what Indiana has to
offer. If you've ever had the opportunity to visit one of our residence halls, you've probably seen a unique map of Indiana that highlights that particular field of study of that LLC. The map is a first impression. A conversation with an academic peer
mentor makes them aware of what's possible and a trip to a specific organization Indiana community makes them aware of the and that private that provides that tangible example and introduces them to industry connections. This is one way in which our campus
experience bolsters the talent pipeline in Indiana. >> Thank you. >> So we love this. The default of our new uh freshman students is that they live in the living learning community in which their program is based. And so this is really so important to to
calibrate what the idea of success is for our students as they're they're beginning their academic programming and to start to create some of those relationships. So, the next thing we're going to talk a little bit about is something that you've probably heard before. Um, oh yes, >> before we go away from living learning
communities, um, this idea of having a map of Indiana in the dorm. >> So, and and if I understand it correctly, student comes in, students majoring in engineering education, and you see a
map, here's all the places where that career can go in the state. Is that what I'm >> It can be it can be that it can be something that's interesting based on the major and there's room for more maps. So, whatever it is that I think that our state wants to communicate to those students um you know for instance
there's maps in the living learning community for education of all the school districts. Um there's also you know in the STEM living learning community um I'm going to maybe butcher this a little. you you'll tell this isn't my area of expertise, but a topography map that shows different
interesting things about what it is that um you know as you're thinking about waterways and you know some of those things that make a difference. So there's all sorts of different possibilities. One that makes them see that their major is relevant here, but then also that there's a place for them to work and um there's there's lots of
walls and we're happy to put as many maps as you want. >> I I understand and approve the vocational focus, but I always think of the liberal arts. What if I come in and I'm an English major? >> What does my map look like? >> So, >> just I'm trying to improve my character.
>> That is a a huge focus. I you know, we care deeply about making sure that our individual programs are aligned, >> but a lot of our focus and you know um I know that you have not been to our Indiana connection lounge, but that is the basis as we talk about it. We want to talk about industry by industry
what it is that someone can do. And obviously in biotech, chemistry and and uh biology are right there and they're super important. So is HR, so is technology. So are um you know, you name it, there's a piece of many industries
in there. And so we have, you know, one of the best examples I have is a student um when when the um uh Motor Speedway came to campus, you know, and they were talking about the different careers that they had and this guy was just interested because there's an indie car on our campus, right? So he comes to the
career center and meets with these people. He's like, I just wanted to meet you. I'm a landscape architecture person and I had no, you know, all of a sudden he's doing landscaping work at the the Motor Speedway because there are, you know, so many ways to apply so many fields there and so >> Well, I hope we can travel up and see that. It sounds like an interesting
>> and we actually do have regular conversations with all of our deans together about the industries in which Indiana is interested in or that are important to our community and talk about how each of their programs fits into that because it is really really important that you don't get you know we
want to inspire success not pigeon hole you know that. So >> Becca kind of semi some somewhat related topic to the question that I think Ted's asking. I remember a few years ago um when we were up there hearing about the
way that Ball State was using um the industry partners to help inform all the different degree programs in their curriculum. And I remember it wasn't just the technical programs, it was English and others. And so each of those
degrees was, as I recall, informed specifically with ideas around real world examples and applications of opportunities and that sort of thing. So I assume that's continued and is built
into things like these maps. It helps inform um not only the students but the faculty say in English about how to weave in opportunities. >> Yeah. For English just Greenfield and James Whitam Riley would be on my
English map. So >> well wonderful. Yes, we love we still love making sure that we're taking a multid-disciplinary approach and all of those living learning um community site visits. They fill a bus and they take the the students places, but um you know
they open it up when the bus has extra spots. You know, they make sure that anyone who has interest in those particular employers or communities has an opportunity. Um so with that, we're going to talk a little bit about immersive learning. That is something that has been really a point of pride for a long time. Um, as we talk about
work-based learning, you know, that is really filling out uh coursework in a way that um that has a community partner, I think the more strategic you are about it, the greater the impact you have. But perhaps one of the the best examples that we have of this work. I'm
going to have JP Hall join me um to talk a little bit about some of the work that the Center for Historic and uh Preservation does on our campus. But you know as as I talk about it you know this is just you know the gold standard I guess I should say the red standard because we are cardinal red and white um
but it's so important in so many ways as we work on that definition you know for workbased learning that it could be immersive learning it could be internship sorts of things but we love talking about this gold standard and you had a partner an industry partner who was going to join us and generally when folks present we say break a leg and unfortunately she did break her leg
before this and was unable to join us but we're grateful her enthusiastic partners. Um, so I'll let you perhaps share her enthusiasm. >> Thank you, Becca. Good morning, commissioners. >> Uh, Dr. Jenner. Uh, my name is JP Hall.
I'm director of the Center for Historic Preservation. Also teach in the College of Architecture and Planning. And the center is an outreach arm of the college. And we've been around for 15 20 years. Um, just just to set some context, you know, to expand a little bit on what Becca was saying about
immersive learning, Ball State has really prided itself on this kind of model. Some would argue that it actually started in the College of Architecture and Planning. It's kind of baked into our DNA ever since our inception since 1966. We've prided ourselves with engaging
with communities around the state. I don't think there's been a county that hasn't been touched by the college in some uh some form or another. We embed our students via studios, courses, centers like uh like the Center for Historic Preservation, which I'm going
to talk uh very briefly today. Just to kind of drive that point home even further, in the 80s, early 90s, uh we had a donor donate an RV to the college. And we actually um we actually created a mobile studio that we would take out
into the communities and uh and set up shop, you know, for a lack of a better word, uh for for a moment to do work with the communities that need need it, uh that don't have access to it. So, um it's really built in our DNA. The center
comes is kind of cut from that fabric uh where uh we engage with communities. We allow students an opportunity to work in the real world to work with real stakeholders, real community partners who need something that uh we believe we
can offer uh uh very well. Uh here's our purpose. Uh Becca talked about purpose. The the center's purpose is really to offer first and foremost is to give students hands-on experience uh so that they can uh build out their resumes,
build quality portfolios. Uh but a close second is actually to you know provide a purpose or a service to communities uh that really need it. Uh for the most part we work in smaller rural communities around the state uh and have done dozens and dozens of projects over
the last couple decades. So we really do collaborate with communities which gives the students an ability to kind of build their skill set. Uh and then we make an impact in Indiana. Oops.
And um just to maybe talk about an example that I think epitomizes this uh better than anything that I've worked on uh since I've been at Ball State. Uh we've been working in Sheridan, Indiana for a number of years. I think going on
five years now. If you're not familiar, Sheridan is in northern Hamilton County. Small uh community, great historic downtown Main Street. Uh but they're anticipating growth that's going to be coming north obviously from Noblesville, Fisers, and Carmel. And so we've been
partnering with them, working with them, uh, to kind of help understand what the local patterns are in terms of the built environment. Um, and we've worked with over 21, uh, private property owners over the last four years. So, uh, we've
kind of created what we're calling a the Sheridan model here, uh, which is working with private property owners, working with the town, and then working with the local nonprofit, the local Main Street organization, Sheridan Main Street. Cindy Kever is, as as Becca
mentioned, was supposed to be here today because she could talk about local impacts much better than I can. I can talk about the impacts for the students uh, and for the center in general. Um but over the last four years, yes, we've worked with private property owners, the
town, and uh we've done renderings and tech technical assistant uh packages for over 22 property owners uh in the downtown area. And uh this has been aligned with the facade grant program that they have there and has just been
an incredible model that I think can be uh replicated around the state. We're we're seeing other interests from other community partners around the state. We're going to be working in Huntingburg uh moving uh into the fall semester. So, uh it's been a great experience for
students. It's been a great obviously uh experience for the local partners and uh we think we're really proud of it. So, I'll stop there, but I'm happy to answer questions if there's if there's time. >> Thank you.
>> So, you can see that's just a great experience. I know um for the students they are really um learning a lot. Learning about communities across the state, learning the communities are learning about what it is they want to be and how to get there and being strategic around it. And our students being part of that solution is such a
fulfilling thing for them. But it also helps inspire what their definition of success will look like later. So our last mystery guest is um one of my favorite programs um the county ambassador program. It is still the only uh program of its kind that I am aware
of in the country. Um it takes students I'll pop up this. I will not read all Oops. The pictures are fun. Uh I will not read all of this, but just for your information, you know, it's only a couple years old. We launched it as soon as we thought of it. We have students from all 92 counties. Surely there's
someone who wants to say nice things about where they're all from. It's really important they tag back with a contact in a local community because um you know we want to know what the county wants to share whether it's um the municipality involved. Sometimes that's a big source whether it's a tourism
group whether it's the goals um of the economic development um corporation of that that entity or the the tourism bureau. I think it's really important for students to have a partner but then in their sphere of influence they pretty much take it whatever way they want to go. They don't get paid, but they do
have the best opportunity to network with whoever it is that they they want to and tell a really great story about how our students can have fulfilling careers and meaningful lives throughout uh the state of Indiana. Um so to date, I think we are at uh 53 counties who have signed up to do uh this work with
us. uh and uh Crystal in the background of this program. But I am going to introduce Caroline Emmerick um a very recent graduate but one of our star county ambassadors to just share a little bit about her experience and some pictures. All right. Um good morning everyone. My
name is Caroline Emer and I'm so excited to talk with you all about the county ambassador program today. So a little bit about me. I'm a recent Ball State graduate, just graduated this past May um with a degree in human resource management and I am a born and raised Indiana native. I'm from Columbus, Indiana, and my family still resides
there. So, Bartholomew County is my home. Um but why I got involved with the county ambassador program and what benefit it's brought to me. It's given me a lot of strengths and I almost would say it gave me a strength portfolio. I was able to be involved for about twoish years with the program. Um and I
ironically got involved in probably the most business student way possible. I accidentallyworked my way into the position when striking a conversation with Crystal at a networking event our college was hosting. Um, but the strength my network is probably the greatest benefit. I can confidently say no matter
where I would go in Indiana, I have connections in every corner, whether that's staying in my city, in my county, or statewide. And not many graduates can say that as confidently as I can. Now, I would also like to touch on the impact the county ambassador program has had in my life too. Um, recently I was able to
relocate to Brownsburg, Indiana to pursue my career postgrad. And I was able to actually connect with another county ambassador to give me recommendations on where I should go in the area. And that was a great way to feel at home and get connected with not only fun opportunities, but also new community initiatives that I could get
involved with. And even the local farmers market, which who doesn't love that? Um, the other impact I like to say and speak to with the program is that a lot of the students that get involved, like myself, were able to take it in a lot of different directions. I was pretty involved on campus serving in multiple different clubs and student
governance as well. But a lot of students either their ambassadors like in a peer-to-peer organic conversational way or we're use we're utilizing social media marketing to kind of promote the program and promote our home counties. Um, one of my favorite things to speak to with the impact is I recently had a
video go slightly viral with our county ambassador program. For a following account that in Columbus, it's called Visit Columbus, Indiana. It only had about 5,000 followers at the time. I had a video hit 60,000 views with impressions both in and outside of the state, which meant a lot of eyes were certain were suddenly looking to
southern Indiana and Columbus as a next tourism bucket list item. But nowadays, since I have recently graduated, I am still happily living and working in Indiana. If you're a sports fan or maybe you like hats, you might have heard of the retailer lids. I'm a human resources coordinator for them, which is pretty
full circle since I actually connected with them at our college career fair. Um, so the county ambassador program really gave me a lot of opportunities to see why I wanted to stay rooted in Indiana. And it also again it gave me that network to feel comfortable and confident no matter where I would go no matter what job I might take whether
that's staying in Brownsburg or maybe that's going back home to to live and work in Columbus Indiana which if you also haven't heard of Cummins it's headquartered in Columbus as well. So it's a great industry to support there no matter if you're interested in hat retail or engines. So
>> happy to take any questions. >> That's awesome. What a great program. Thank you. >> You are very clearly an ambassador for Ball State and Columbus. Uh so and also very well spoken. Uh I got a text from a couple folks and uh you you are very
well spoken. Um and your energy we can feel it. Congratulations on your recent graduation. >> Thank you so much. >> Very cool. So, you know, as I wrap this up, um, you can see the enthusiasm that our partners that we decided to bring today bring. I
think we're continued to focus, we're continuing to focus on all of the ways in which we can put all of these things together and tell the same story. But we can't forget how much each of these experiences not only benefits our partners in different areas across the state, but also these students are
getting really fulfilling uh experiences that that change the trajectory of what they think they may want to do. Um and so I'm going to Oh, look, that is a video. That's kind of fun. Um so anyway, there we go. So I I'll leave you with this. I think I started where I said
people who are already fans uh of our institution or of higher ed or um whatever it might be already know how to work with us. So we are really focused on how it is we can create more friends and partners and supporters um so that they actually get that pipeline the
pipeline that they and their communities need. And so, you know, when you heard JP talk, he talked about, you know, a rural community. How many rural communities? Um, as you think about small communities, as you think about, you know, sometimes you say, uh, when you hear about some of these programs, you think about the well-resourced, uh,
stereot, you know, the communities that you hear all the time are the ones that can benefit by these programs. But frankly, we're creating a map that shows all of the ways that different folks have been able to to engage with our institution so that you can be inspired as a community who isn't quite sure given resources. is there's a lot of
ways without a lot of time and a lot of money you can build your pipeline and this map um you know it's still being populated with some of the projects but the idea that you know towns like Sheridan can come in and say that that they were able to do this Union City you know people that um really are committed
to to the future of their community but you know are conscious of what it takes to to do that stuff we want to make it easy entry point for all of our partners so with that um happy to take any uh questions questions or >> questions or comments?
>> Um, if there is a uh spot on this map for the uh ambassadors and we might know a student, who would they contact at Ball State? >> Yeah. So, um Crystal Fusion back there, she can raise her hand. She is um our
allstar who helps us to connect directly with communities. If it's easier to let me know, then I can also make the connection with Crystal. Uh we are grateful for whatever connections you want to make and we will make it work. We like to be nimble. >> Uhuh. >> I know you're really active in the
communities that uh throughout the state. So, do you already have a list of those ambassadors or should we follow up with you just in case we have some that you may not have? >> What we can do is we can follow up with you all. Um I'll send to you Dr. Jenner, your staff, and we'll share with you the
counties um who have current ambassadors. I almost gave you a a map with all of those counties. appreciate it. >> You You did. >> Oh, I did. Good. Yeah, we all have a map. >> The one thing I want to note is the gray ones are ones that are working with us but don't have an ambassador. Do not get
too uh worried about so many gray. We are so happy that our uh students complete their education. So, we had a lot of graduates in the program. Um and obviously students are away for the summer. So, we do expect uh some of the gray to turn red um as our students
start to come back next month. That's great. Awesome. Any other questions? All right. Well, great presentation. Thank you all uh for that collective presentation on behalf of Ball State and all the good work you're doing for students. And thank you again for being
our host today. Much appreciated. Um I think that brings us to the end of our agenda. Uh unless I am missing anything. So, uh, if there is there any other, uh, new business or, um, or old business for that matter?
>> Yes, sir. >> I think at the next meeting, I know we're we're still working on, uh, agenda for coming or schedule for coming years. So, we'll be back with you shortly on trying to finalize that, I think, at our September meeting probably. So, and a couple other things. So, if that uh, if
there's nothing else, it's been a pleasure to be with you all, and we'll call this meeting to adjournment. Have a good rest of the summer. Thank you.