I am delighted to have taken on the position of executive associate dean for of the spring 2015 semester. As a graduate student, a professor, and now serving in the Dean’s office, I have both witnessed and played a role in the evolution of SPEA. Well, the evolution continues.
We are very excited that the SPEA IUB building will be expanding. The new Paul H. O’Neill Graduate Center will provide new classrooms and new administrative space, as well as the capacity to continue to grow, both in the number of faculty members, and in the number of students. We break ground on the Center in winter 2016 and, if all goes as planned, our incoming master’s students will spend their fourth semester, spring 2017, in the new Center.
SPEA IUB also has hired many new faculty this year— ten, as of this writing – who will be joining us in the fall 2015 semester. The new SPEA IUB faculty possess expertise in environmental policy, healthcare policy and management, nonprofit organizations, local government management, and financial management. As a result, we will have more than 100 full-time faculty members when the new school year begins.
Finally, the SPEA 2020 plan, when completed, will provide strategic guidance to the Dean’s office as we lead SPEA toward the Indiana University bicentennial celebration. New Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Kirsten Grønbjerg and I look forward to the opportunity to implement the initiatives included in the plan. I relish the opportunity to implement the initiatives included in the plan.
If you ever have a question, comment, or suggestion for SPEA, please feel free to contact me.