In a letter delivered this morning to Teresa Lubbers, commissioner of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE), Purdue University President Mitch Daniels, on behalf of the Purdue Board of Trustees, requested that the Commission change the designation for Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) from “Regional Campus” to “Metropolitan University.”

President Daniels also requested that the Commission modify the metrics applied to IPFW through the state’s performance funding formula. This change would recognize the impact on the state and regional economy made by IPFW graduates in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

“By making this request, the Board of Trustees and President Daniels have strongly demonstrated their recognition that IPFW, situated in Indiana’s second largest city and part of the Purdue University system, is an integral part of the economic vitality of northeast Indiana and will continue to play an essential role in meeting the state’s current and future workforce needs,” said IPFW Chancellor Vicky Carwein.

“All of us at IPFW sincerely appreciate the leadership shown by the president and the Board of Trustees on these issues of university designation and performance funding metrics,” Carwein said.

This action directly responds to IPFW’s long-held position that in order to better serve the needs of northeast Indiana, the university requires greater flexibility in graduate program development, a university designation that recognizes IPFW’s unique role in the regional economy, and a substantive change in the performance funding metrics by which the university is evaluated.

“As we embark on writing the next chapter of IPFW’s history, the Metropolitan University classification will provide the framework needed for our campus to mature even further and become the great university northeast Indiana demands,” said Peter Dragnev, chair of mathematical sciences and speaker of the Purdue faculty. “By offering advanced terminal professional degrees, I expect the impact on the Fort Wayne metropolitan region will be immense.”

When approved, IPFW will join Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) as one of the state’s two Metropolitan Universities.

A copy of the letter is available for download.

Source: IPFW