Editorial: Support is needed to propel Indy schools to premier status

We’re just months away from the official split of IUPUI into Indiana University Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis, and we’re excited about the plans the schools have been rolling out.

Both universities appear to be seizing the opportunities that being independent will provide, which is key to helping Indianapolis prosper.

As reporter Mickey Shuey explains in a cover story this week, Indianapolis is one of only a few major cities without a so-called R1 university, as rated by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.

R1 is the designation for schools that have significant doctoral programs and do substantial research. IU, Purdue and the University of Notre Dame are R1 schools—and with that comes prestige and funding, which attracts top-notch faculty and students.

IUPUI is rated an R2 institution, meaning it does have doctoral degrees and research but not at the same level. And R2 schools generally receive less funding for research. That’s been a concern for IUPUI for some time as well as for city and state officials.

IU Indianapolis is almost certain to be rated an R1 school when the next set of ratings is released. And Purdue’s R1 designation will carry over to its new Indianapolis operations because it’s not designating Indianapolis a separate campus.

The designation alone should help the schools draw faculty and funding to Indianapolis. But to become the premier research institution that higher education officials and state and local leaders have in mind, a larger, more unified effort will be needed.

That’s already underway. The state and IU have announced plans for more than $100 million in research endeavors at IU Indianapolis.

The money will pay for building two science and health research institutes, expanding and renovating research and laboratory space, and hiring additional faculty. The university also said it wants to double enrollment at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering.

Purdue is also introducing new degree programs such as motorsports engineering and executive education. And it has longer-term plans to expand into 28 acres the school will take over as part of a 100-year lease agreement with IU—a site largely bounded by Michigan, West, North and Blake streets and Indiana Avenue.

But officials know more can be done.

In September, Indy Chamber is taking a delegation of local leaders to Boston to learn more about how the city and local organizations have worked with schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University to make the most of research opportunities. (IBJ Publisher Nate Feltman is going on that trip as a member of the Indy Chamber board.)

Of course, IU Indianapolis is not Harvard. But there will no doubt be lessons in Boston that can be applied locally. And there will be ideas and lessons in other places, too. We applaud the efforts to go find them and bolster the work IU and Purdue have started with their split.•

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