Celebrating 40 Years of Excellence!

1969 - 2009

History

The Bantz Years

"Think of the university as a city," IUPUI Chancellor Charles R. Bantz says, drawing a parallel between the need for a great university – just like a great city - to "do it all" in terms of providing facilities and utilities, along with security, education, human capital and other resources.

"One of the reasons chancellors and mayors get along is that we understand each other's problems," Bantz says. "(Former Indianapolis Mayor) Bart Peterson (and current Mayor) Greg Ballard have problems I don't have, but we share a lot of things in common."

And as did Ballard the politician, Bantz the chancellor laid out a bold plan of action when he took office, calling for the campus to double certain outcomes, such as the number of bachelor's degrees completed and dollars in research funding received.

"We'll double. It's just that we are not going to double by 2010. It will be more like 2013 or 2015," Bantz says when assessing progress toward those goals.

The number of degrees completed is climbing as are retention and graduation rates.

"Research funding continues to climb, even though we are in a much more competitive environment than when I put that challenge out there," Bantz says. "It is much tougher to get a federal grant today than it was in 2003." Yet the IUPUI campus brought in $302 million in research dollars in 2007-08.

Major achievements include an increase in translational research.

"It means that this is a campus that takes what we do, whether it is in research or teaching, and we translate it into practice in our community," Bantz explains. "Today the future of the state as a life sciences state is tied to us and our ability to do things that translate into new technologies and new clinical practice."

The chancellor recalls building dedications attended as an easy way to tally the construction of the seven new campus buildings that he calls "game changers" in terms of improving teaching and learning, research, creative activity and civic engagement at IUPUI.

"This is a stronger campus than it was 40 years ago; it is stronger than it was 30 years ago, 20, or 10, and it will be stronger in (another) 10," the chancellor says confidently.

"People here have never gotten up in the morning and said 'We have arrived.' There is always the sense that we need to do this better," Bantz says. "When we are at our best as a university that is what we do, we strive."