The co-branded space serves as a resource for students from both campuses to learn, grow and prepare for successful STEM careers
Together, Indiana University Northwest and Ivy Tech Community College Lake County unveiled the STEM Center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
Located on the second floor of the John W. Anderson Library on IU Northwest’s campus, the collaborative center serves as a place for STEM students from both colleges to learn, connect and take advantage of internship, peer mentoring and leadership opportunities both on- and off-campus.
The STEM Center came to fruition thanks to a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) Science, Technology, Engineering and Math and Articulation Program, which IU Northwest was able to apply as a federally designated HSI. The grant's goal is to increase the number of Northwest Indiana students graduating with bachelor's degrees in STEM fields.
Since receiving the grant in 2021, IU Northwest has implemented several programs, including TRIUNFOS (Transforming IU Northwest for Opportunities in STEM), which led to the creation of the STEM Center.
But while the center is located on IU Northwest’s campus, it is a truly collaborative and active learning space meant to serve students and faculty on both Northwest Indiana campuses to prepare them for successful STEM careers.
“This is a co-branded space,” IU Northwest Chancellor Ken Iwama said. “That is remarkable because in higher education often we can become competitive with each other as leaders of institutions. … IU Northwest has a tradition and history of really collaborating with Ivy Tech. I think in some ways we’re a model across the state of Indiana in terms of our collaboration.”
TRIUNFOS, and in turn the STEM Center, was created thanks to a team of IU Northwest faculty and staff, including Director of Sponsored Research Sandra J. McMullen and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Vicki Román-Lagunas along with an interdisciplinary team of STEM faculty and administrators, including Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and Principal Investigator, Dr. Kristin Huysken; Associate Professor of Biology and STEM Center Coordinator, Dr. Jenny Fisher; and Professor of Mathematics Dr. Vesna Kilibarda.
"When we conceived the STEM Center originally, we imagined it as a place for all things STEM for our students,” Huysken said. “A place for students to study and gather, but also a place where students could access a host of STEM-specific services that would lead them to triumph, that would lead them to success.”
And while the STEM Center is a tangible outcome of TRIUNFOS, other program highlights have already led to student success. Through funding from both the TRIUNFOS and INVEST (Inspiring, Valuing, and Empowering Success Together), 47 faculty members have participated in effective teaching and active-learning practices including a joint cohort with both IUN and Ivy Tech STEM faculty. In just two semesters, participating IUN faculty have seen a measurable decrease in DFW rates (students who finish a course with a D, F or withdraw) along with increases in average course GPAs and reduced achievement gaps for all students.
“There’s an immediate impact that’s taking place,” Ivy Tech Lake County Chancellor Marcos Rodriquez said. “Not only is that going to increase the enrollment, it’s going to increase the success. Both of our institutions really focus on retention so we can help our students reach their collegiate goals.
“By having these types of opportunities available, it’s going to make our partnership even stronger in order to support those goals."
In addition to the creation of the STEM Center, active learning models and enhanced collaborations between the two colleges, highlights of the TRIUNFOS program include: building innovative curriculum and student research experiences beginning as early as a student’s first year of college; wrap-around academic and student support services in STEM; and new and enhanced partnerships with high schools, colleges and area employers.
Through this, IU Northwest and Ivy Tech hope to continue to increase retention and graduation for STEM students, creating a student experience of belonging, engagement and completion for all students and increasing the number of students who transfer from community colleges to complete their degrees in IU Northwest’s STEM programs.