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Trustees for Indiana University and Purdue University plan to vote on a realignment plan at their board meetings Wednesday, marking the next step in the rebranding of IUPUI.
The vote comes 10 months after the two institutions signed a memorandum of understanding in which they agreed to retire the IUPUI name and rebrand the 536-acre campus as Indiana University Indianapolis, although Purdue will continue to offer classes and programs there.
The IU board will vote on a “definitive agreement” with Purdue University. The Purdue board will vote on the creation of Purdue University in Indianapolis, including 5 buildings, autonomous operation of a 28 acre campus, and likely three other Purdue University in Indianapolis locations.
The change is designed to end confusion and drive enrollment by giving both IU and Purdue stronger identities in the state’s capital city.
The west downtown campus has been a joint venture between the two universities since it was established in 1969, but the realignment plan will split the institutions into separate academic organizations, each governed by its parent university.
IU will take over operation of what is now the School of Science at IUPUI, while Purdue will assume responsibility for engineering, computer science and technology.
The universities will also work together on a new biosciences engineering institute comprising IU’s School of Medicine and Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, along with health disciplines from both institutions.
Officials from both institutions plan to share more details about the definitive agreement following the vote.
The realignment, which is scheduled to be completed by the fall 2024 semester, also has support from Indiana lawmakers. They earmarked $120 million in the state budget for IU to construct a “school of science instructional and research building “and for Purdue to erect an “academic and student success building.”
The IU building will be part of the four-block science and tech corridor that the university plans to create in Indianapolis to boost the number of STEM graduates.
Purdue intends to open a branch of its Purdue Applied Research Institute on or near the current IUPUI.
A video released by IUPUI last month outlined a plan to “create the nation’s premier urban research university,” with a heavy emphasis on graduating students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, math and medicine.
Purdue, meanwhile, has rolled out a 60-second ad that touts the university’s strong STEM presence in Indianapolis.
Purdue University President Mung Chiang has said that Purdue’s campus in Indianapolis will not be a branch of the West Lafayette campus. Instead, the university is branding its operations in the city as a fully integrated extension of its flagship campus.
Overall, Purdue anticipates growing its Indianapolis enrollment by more than 1,000 students, housing many together in a new residential building near their academic buildings.
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