Ensuring our school is a welcoming place for everyone
At the School of Science, diversity, equity, and inclusion aren’t just buzzwords. They are the hallmarks of our commitment to creating and maintaining a safe, welcoming community for everyone.
We are dedicated to continually increasing the diversity of our total population—both among students and faculty and staff. To make that goal a reality, we have put a number of initiatives and programs in place to promote early STEM education, increase the number of diverse students seeking STEM degrees, and provide support for underrepresented faculty and staff.
First-year student demographics (2021-2022)
13%21st Century Scholars
25%first-generation students
22%African American or Latinx
61%female
International and out-of-state student demographics (2021-2022)
178undergraduate students are from out of state
161graduate students are from out of state
76international undergraduate students
221international graduate students
Helping our students succeed
We work hard to ensure that all of our students have the support they need to succeed.
Tools for a successful first year
Incoming first year students can take part in a summer Bridge program to ease the transition between high school and college.
These five-day sessions take place the week before school starts and give you a jump start on your science education.
You can also register for a learning community. These communities place you in a cohort that takes classes together throughout your freshman year, including your First Year Seminar.
Every department and program within the School of Science offers academic support. You can stop in during a faculty member’s office hours, make an appointment at a departmental resource center, or even get help finding a tutor.
We offer a number of funding and support opportunities for underrepresented students who are interested in research.
The Diversity Scholars Research Program (DSRP) is a competitive scholarship awarded to students who hope to continually participate in faculty-mentored research throughout their time at IU Indianapolis. If you win a DSRP award, you’ll become part of a student community with special academic and research opportunities, as well as financial support.
The Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is designed to broadening the participation of underrepresented minority students in STEM disciplines by providing financial support, research opportunities, and academic programming.
Increasing opportunities for women faculty
In late 2019, we created a program funded by the National Science Foundation called Project EPIC, which seeks to improve the institutional climate and address inequities in the representation, retention, and advancement of women—particularly women of color.
It provides intensive training for school leaders at multiple levels to help them become equity-minded and committed to the goals of furthering women scientists. It also hopes to increase understanding among school leaders of how different forms of discrimination, including racism, sexism, and classism, overlap and affect women scientists of color.
School of Science DEI ambassadors act as stewards of diversity and work toward awareness, education, and advocacy for—and inclusion of—all people. Ambassadors promote respect and equitable treatment of all, embracing a diversity of gender, culture, religion, national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, ability, age, economic status, and experiential differences.
The ambassadors provide leadership to improve and maintain as inclusive, informed, and diverse an environment in the school as possible in all aspects of our work and mission. This leadership extends to interactions with campus and community initiatives.
In addition, the ambassadors serve as a liaison to their representative departments, keeping faculty and staff informed of new action items that will ensure our school is a welcome environment for all.
Pat Clark - Biology
Brenda Blacklock - Chemistry
James Hill - Computer Science
Ryann Workman - Mathematics
Dan Ramras - Mathematics
Rui Cheng - Physics
Marion Logrip - Psychology
Greg O'Connor - Advising/Dean's Office
Jaime Sperandio - PREPs
Purpose: To recognize faculty, staff, and students who display an exceptional commitment to fostering an environment in which diversity is understood, valued, respected, appreciated, and practiced.
Eligibility: All faculty and staff members in the School of Science, as well as current graduate students and undergraduate majors. Candidates can self-nominate or nominations can be made by faculty, staff, and students on behalf of someone they see as deserving.
Selection criteria: Awardees would have played a significant role in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within the school or the broader community. For example, successful nominees could actively serve underrepresented populations, develop or implement innovative programs that enhance participation and opportunity, or enhance the ability and effectiveness of the school to be an inclusive and welcoming environment.
Statement from Dean DiTusa against anti-Asian hate
We are sure that you have received the statement from Chancellor Paydar on March 18, 2021 addressing the recent violence against persons of Asian descent in our country.
The School of Science is in full support of this statement and the commitments therein. We believe that it is the shared responsibility of all of us to embrace individuals from a wide range of identities, perspectives, viewpoints, affiliations, heritages, and experiences with full understanding and sensitivity.
The School of Science stands in solidarity against hate directed toward the Asian American community. There is no place in society for hatred against other human beings, and we hope you will join us in not only speaking out against such atrocities, but also hoping they never happen again.
Land acknowledgement
IU Indianapolis acknowledges our location on the traditional and ancestral territory of the Miami, Potawatomi and Shawnee people. We honor the heritage of Native peoples, what they teach us about the stewardship of the earth and their continuing efforts today to protect the planet. Founded in 1969, IUPUI (IU Indianapolis) stands on the historic homelands of Native peoples and, more recently, that of a vibrant Black community, also displaced. As the present stewards of the land, we honor them all as we live, work and study at IU Indianapolis.
