The University of Indianapolis seal inside Esch Hall in Indianapolis.
UIndy photo
Two growing science majors were recently added to the transfer agreement between two Indianapolis higher education institutions.
The University of Indianapolis is teaming up with Ivy Tech Community College to add mechanical engineering and environmental science to its now 16 undergraduate 2+2 Transfer-as-a-Junior programs. These programs are designed to accommodate the 150 to 200 transfer students who start at UIndy each year, allowing students who have already earned their associate’s degree to start at a 4-year institution as a junior.
Ben Houston, the assistant director of admissions for transfer recruiting at UIndy, said the university is excited to include these new programs. Additionally, Houston emphasized the level of collaboration that goes into crafting these curriculums that both entities need to agree to, for example, looking class by class to ensure each one has an equivalent. Additionally, the programs are designed to address a growing need in these STEM programs, Houston said, especially in Central Indiana.
“There’s a huge need for continued improvement …” Houston said. “We know that Indianapolis in general in Central Indiana, more specifically, is a booming market for you know, pharmaceutical, for engineering, you have companies obviously like Eli Lilly, Rolls Royce, based in Indianapolis or near Indianapolis.”
“Both sides have to sign legal documents between both institutions, and they’re usually on a two-year rotating basis for at least two years for how long they are in effect,” Houston said. “And then at the end of that term, both parties would re-examine, ‘Have there been curriculum changes made since the last time we signed this agreement? Do we need to update this agreement?’ That kind of thing.”
Houston also added that these agreements take a lot of research and a general back and forth between entities. For general education courses, Houston said it is simple to equate courses offered at Ivy Tech to those offered at UIndy due to both colleges adhering to the Indiana College Core curriculum. However, when it comes to more advanced, major-specific courses, it gets a bit difficult, as Ivy Tech generally offers 100 and 200-level courses. For the mechanical engineering program at UIndy, its unique curriculum proved a unique challenge.
For example, UIndy has a course called DesignSpine, which engineering students participate in that requires groups of students to collaborate on a project. These projects are typically for actual clients, so students gain real experience in the field they are going into. Since this curriculum is exclusive to UIndy’s engineering program, it proved difficult to find an equivalent for transfer students looking to join the program from Ivy Tech, Houston said.
“We require freshmen who start in mechanical or one of our engineering majors here, you have to take a Design Spine lab, you know, almost each year starting from your freshman year,” Houston said. “… So the question became, ‘How do we account for those specific classes that are so integral to our engineering program?’”
Greg Bond, vice chancellor of enrollment services at Ivy Tech’s Indianapolis location, said that colleges in Indiana that are accredited generally have similar standards, which makes it easier to come to these agreements. In addition to earning their bachelor’s degree, students can be offered guaranteed admission and merit scholarships if they meet a 3.0 GPA, said Houston. However, Bond emphasized that these thresholds differ depending on the 23 schools Ivy Tech works with. In the transfer students that decided to complete their degree at UIndy last fall, Bond said a third of them came from Ivy Tech—-indicating a close partnership between the two colleges.
“All of our goals, our ultimate goals, for those who work in higher ed, is to help students cross the finish line and successfully graduate,” Bond said.
