Progress & Updates
The following is not necessarily an all-inclusive list but captures several notable highlights.
- Foundations of Excellence—皇冠投注与合作伙伴加德纳学院(Gardner Institute)共同推出了卓越基金会(Foundations of Excellence),以实现机构转型,提高一年级或转学学生的成功率和保留率, evidence-based, guided self-study, planning, and implementation. The self-study has been completed and Butler is entering the second-year implementation phase (Fall 2021 – current).
- Undergraduate Advising Enhancements—The EAB Navigate Advising Platform, a network intended to connect students, administrators, advisors, faculty, and other staff to improve student support, is live; students, faculty, and staff will begin interacting in this environment in fall 2022.
- Student Success Center—The collaborative hub will include CASE, First Year Experience, Tutoring, Advising, and Exploratory Program. 皇冠投注已经聘请了第一位第一年体验总监,并将增加一名执行总监,以在学术学生成功和保留方面建立和创新,并为更广泛的学生做好准备, including commuters and online students (Spring–Summer 2022).
- BlueWork-新设计的平台将学生与雇主联系起来,通过与他们的技能和兴趣相一致的短期项目工作,获得实际的工作经验. BlueWork是转型实验室的试点项目,并已转移到CaPS,以监督该项目的管理和扩展(2022年秋季)。.
- Provost and VP, Academic Affairs—Following a national search that concluded in March 2022, Butler appointed Brooke Barnett as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Brooke joined Butler in 2018, after serving for 18 years at Elon University and most recently as interim Provost following the departure of Dr. Kathryn Morris. Brooke is a passionate advocate for expanding the reach of a Butler education to a more diverse set of learners (March 2022).
- FIR Program Enhancements—The Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) program continues to see positive growth and changes, 包括在学术和学生事务之间建立对项目的联合监督,并制定一项行动计划,以加强与FIR项目的学术伙伴关系(2022年春季)。.
- New Minors—Butler launches new minors in Esports Communication, Asian Studies and Museum Studies (Spring 2022, Fall 2022).
- Ivy Tech Articulation Agreements—Butler and Ivy Tech partnered to create the first transfer agreement in Elementary Education (December 2020) and two additional transfer agreements in Art + Design and Business Administration (August 2021). These agreements seek to provide a more accessible and affordable pathway to a Butler degree, and in the case of the agreement with COE, to address Indiana’s teacher shortage. There are seven new pathways in LAS, for degrees in English (with separate tracks for Composition and Literature), Environmental Studies, French, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and Spanish (.
- Three-Year Degree Programs—Butler established 10 additional three-year degree tracks, bringing the total number to 40. These accelerated, lower cost pathways allow students complete their degree sooner through access to year-round courses (July 2021).
- UnitedHealthcare Academy at Butler联合医疗和皇冠投注网达成合作伙伴关系,将为有兴趣在联合医疗追求职业生涯的LSB学生提供基于工作的学习和就业机会. Through the United Healthcare Academy, students will be part of a four-year track that includes multiple paid internships and the opportunity for full-time employment upon graduation, among other forms of financial support. The partnership creates a distinctive student experience, lowers the cost of a Butler degree and aligns skill needs closely to those of a key workforce partner (July 2021).
- Wipro-Salesforce Course—Wipro, formerly Appirio, has partnered with Butler University to offer a Salesforce consulting preparatory college course. Running as a pilot for the 20-21 academic year, students will have the opportunity to learn the in-demand skills needed for customer relationship management (CRM). The free, non-credit courses, which are held online, also provide students an opportunity to achieve their initial Salesforce certifications (Fall 2020).
- FIR Program Enhancements—The Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) program continues to see positive growth and changes, 包括在学术和学生事务之间建立对该计划的联合监督,并制定一项行动计划,以加强与FIR计划的学术伙伴关系. Two new FIRs were hired for fall 2022.
- Teletherapy Services Platform—In partnership with Preventia, Butler students now have access to online mental health specialists through a holistic health and wellness app (Spring 2022).
- Campus Climate Survey—Surveys were launched and results, which are expected late summer 2022, will inform the efficacy of existing programs, efforts and future focus areas (Spring 2022).
- SWISS—Student Affairs launched the Student Well-being Institutional Support Survey (SWISS) as part of the Institute for Well-being. To date, 20 colleges and universities and more than 16,000 students nation-wide have participated in SWISS during the pilot administration (Fall 2021—current/ ongoing).
- Student Well-being Champions-由80名学生领袖发起的校园范围内的学生同伴健康计划,他们接受过培训,可以支持他们的同学,并在整个皇冠投注社区推进BUBeWell(2021年秋季).
- SGA Restructure—Student Affairs restructured SGA and created three new programming councils (University Program Council, Diversity Program Council, Service & Community Engagement Program Council), to enhance co-curricular learning and opportunities for student involvement (Fall 2021).
- Esports—There continues to be considerable growth in Esports activity in anticipation of the fall 2022 Esports Park 今年,皇冠投注电子竞技的学生参加了13个不同头衔的近300场比赛,并成为2022年电子游戏联合会(EGF) VALORANT Power系列冠军. Butler also placed first in the iRacing Sebring 12-hour race. This semester saw Butler’s first Esports-specific course (Esports Production, College of Communication) offered, and three new courses are scheduled to be taught in the Esports Park this fall (Spring 2021—current).
- Franciscan Partnership—Butler Athletics has engaged in a multi-year contract with Franciscan to bolster athletic training resources. This arrangement enhances the level of healthcare to student-athletes, which will cascade to more resources for well-being and performance development (Fall 2021).
- Student Financial Literacy—Butler and Elements Financial partner to create a student financial literacy training program as part of BUBeWell (Spring 2021).
- Mental Health First Aid Training—Over the past year, a number of faculty and staff have elected to participate and become certified in Mental Health First Aid, which equips non-clinical individuals to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Over 250 have been trained through the end of 2021, greatly bolstering the number of mental health resources on Butler’s campus. The training has also been extended to parents and alumni.
- Headspace App—Student Affairs is offering all students a free, annual subscription to the mindfulness and well-being app, Headspace (Spring 2021).
- Podcast on Healthy Relationships—The Sexual Assault Response & Prevention (SARP) Office at Butler University launched a bi-weekly podcast – the ACTUALLY Love Podcast (Spring 2021).
- Butler Food Pantry—Butler has launched the Butler Food Pantry, a service addressing food insecurity through healthy food options available to all Butler students (Spring 2021).
- Student Mental Health Task Force—A student mental health task force (includes 12 students) has been created. Two of those students will join the current, ad-hoc faculty/staff mental health task force (Fall 2020).
- New Online Programs—Butler has launched a number of online degrees in high-growth, high-need program areas including a Master of Business Administration, a Master of Science in Data Analytics, a Master of Science in Strategic Communication, and a Doctor of Pharmacy (Spring and Fall 2022 launches). Two additional programs, a Master of School Counseling and Master of Mental Health Counseling, are in development and will launch in Fall 2023.
- Custom Programs—Butler’s non-credit, custom program arm is expanding its reach within the Division of Professional Studies and has added several new partner programs. One, the Roche Marketing Excellence Academy (MEA) won Brandon Hall Excellence Awards in two categories: Silver Award – Best Strategy for a Corporate Learning University; and Bronze Award – Best Advancement in Competency and Skill Development (Fall 2022).
- The Collective—The Collective, a clearinghouse to integrate continuous professional development, creates a collaborative, integrated approach for faculty development and excellence. It will foster ongoing innovative teaching, engaged learning, quality curricula and assessment, and scholarly research that supports equity and inclusion and augments the strong culture Butler has as a teaching university (Fall 2022).
- Foundational and Discipline-Focused Teacher Education Model—Responding to challenges in preparing and retaining secondary educators, Butler developed the Teacher-Led, Teacher-Ed program, which provides necessary and needed training for classroom foundations and discipline-specific education support. The online and self-paced classes will be available to teachers, schools, and school districts in Fall 2022.
- Innovation Fellows Program—In partnership with Purdue, the universities will name innovation fellows to identify, test, 以及试点机会,这些机会将更好地为本科生提供在未来经济中取得成功所需的跨学科技能(2021年春季). In Spring 2022, the inaugural Innovation Fellows hosted The Food Project Exhibition. 该活动的重点是应对食品可持续性的全球挑战,包括来自两所机构的教师和学生(2021年春季- 2022年春季)。.
- Butler Beyond Transformation Lab—As a result of a $2.5M grant from Lilly Endowment, the university established the Transformation Lab. The Lab serves as a university-wide catalyst for advancing the Butler Beyond strategic direction and supporting University transformation. The Transformation Lab’s focus is vetting, designing, and launching new educational and business models for the University. Additionally, the Lab helps address changes needed in the University’s foundational systems to support different and more diverse students. With support of an innovation management system, the team is actively facilitating movement of projects from idea to launch Since Fall 2021, six ideas have moved to pilot or launch. (Spring 2021). The Lab will lead Butler’s exploration of a two-year college model through the Come to Believe design grant program (Fall 2022).
- Division of Professional Studies—In securing a $10M grant from Lilly Endowment, Butler established a Division of Professional Studies (DPS) to grow new programs, including fully online programs and alternative credit and non-credit credentials that serve non-traditional learners (Spring 2020). The inaugural Sr. Executive Director began in April 2022 and is leading the division’s evolution. In support of new program development and growth, 不断扩大的团队将在各部门和学院之间进行合作,以确保项目的成功,并适当支持在线学生的需求.
- Competency Model—Over 80 faculty & 工作人员参加了焦点小组,以帮助确定关键能力,这些能力对于支持现在和未来蓬勃发展的劳动力和大学至关重要. The forthcoming competency model will drive all activities related to talent management.
- Human Resources Leadership –Butler’s Human Resources department is on the path to transformation, guided by an expanded leadership team and contemporary HR strategy. In addition to hiring a VP and Chief Human Resources Officer, leadership and staff have been added in the areas of Operations, Organizational Development and Effectiveness, Talent Acquisition, and Total Rewards. The team will lead the University in implementation of foundational work necessary to support Butler’s culture strategy (Summer 2021-current)
- Climate Surveys-试点气候调查于2021年秋季完成,执行委员会揭示和/或确认了需要重点关注和进一步发展优先事项的几个关键领域. The university will administer the Great Colleges To Work For survey to all faculty and staff in Spring 2023.
- VP/Chief Diversity Officer—Butler hired Khalilah Shabazz as the university’s first VP/CDO. Shabazz will serve as an important collaborative partner with internal and external stakeholders to proactively develop and implement plans, programs, and activities that educate and motivate members of the Butler community to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion as core values to be collectively upheld in support of student learning and success (Fall 2022).
- Campus Climate Study—Both student and faculty and staff climate surveys were launched in Spring 2022. Results, which are expected late summer 2022, will inform the areas in which Butler can improve (Spring-Summer 2022).
- Affinity Group Program—The program was created to deepen a sense of belonging and to support the onboarding of new faculty and staff, by bringing together individuals with similar backgrounds, identities and/or interests. 它承认教职员工经常在一个孤立的世界里工作,并提供资金来创造打破这些孤立的机会(2022年春季).
- Inclusion Advocate Program & Onboarding Enhancements—The IAP program, initiated in 2019, was expanded in Fall 2021 to include an online DEI training program, faculty development opportunities and community meetings. The IA Program is now being developed for staff, and this phase of the work will be led by Human Resources. Additionally, an online training was developed to support Butler University’s capacity to recruit, retain and cultivate faculty, 来自边缘化和代表性不足背景和身份的员工和学生,并增加资源以支持积极的入职体验(2021年秋季).
- Butler Latinx Alumni Association—Student initiative led to the establishment of the Butler Latinx Alumni Association, a significant contribution to Butler’s efforts to build an environment of belonging for our Latinx community through a variety of social, cultural, and educational programming with the ultimate goal to assist Butler student success and to further strengthen the BU Latinx community (Fall 2021).
- Most Diverse Incoming Class—Butler welcomes the most diverse incoming class in its history, with 21 percent self-identifying as students of color and 18 percent stating they are the first in their family to attend college (Fall 2021).
- DEI Inventory—An inventory collected feedback on the many ways the university community advances DEI on campus and in the community. Creating awareness has allowed for sharing resources and knowledge of existing DEI-related programs and initiatives (Summer 2021).
- DEI Focused Positions and Roles—Each college and the Office of Academic Affairs have created a DEI Faculty Director role, and more capacity and attention for DEI work in the colleges and academic affairs units. 为了更好地将学术视角融入学生DEI编程的学生生活中,已经创建了一个新的多元化中心教员研究员职位. This position is a collaboration with the Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies program. 重新调整的职位创建了一个以dei为重点的住校教师,为来自边缘化/代表性不足背景和身份的一年级住校学生提供更大的支持. A new Director for the Diversity Center was hired in October. The Advancement Division created a position to focus on DEI and identity-based alumni communities (Spring—Fall 2021).
- DEI Innovation Fund—A $200,000 fund has been established to engage our community in developing ideas that support a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable learning and working environment at Butler. Nine proposals were approved for a total of $115,000 in 2021. (Spring 2021).
- President’s Council on DEI—A council including nearly 20 faculty, students, staff and alumni are serving in an advisory capacity to the President on matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion at the University (Spring 2021).
- Hub for Black Affairs and Community Engagement—Under the leadership of Dr. Terri Jett, the Hub will be focused on the lives and experiences of the Black community at Butler, through creation of affinity groups, a collaborative fellows program, Black student support initiatives, and connection with visiting black intellectuals. Further, the Hub will create opportunities for engagement with the greater Indianapolis community (Fall 2020).
- ONB Center DEI Initiative- ONB卓越商业中心启动了一项分阶段的倡议,旨在通过为印第安纳州代表性不足的群体提供成功所需的资源和支持,加强和支持他们拥有的私营企业(2020年秋季).
- BUnited—Butler Athletics established BUnited as a department-wide initiative focused on empathy, education and experience. Its mission is Building Unity Through Leadership, Education and Respect (Fall 2020).
- Gateway Project—The recently announced Gateway Project will expand upon the considerable improvements made to our campus in recent years (e.g., Dugan Hall, Levinson Family Hall, Fairview and Irvington Houses, and Sunset Avenue enhancements) by pursuing new development opportunities that advance our University mission and enrollment goals, generate new sources of revenue, and enhance our campus and the Midtown Region of Indianapolis (Summer 2022).
- Butler Beyond Campaign eclipses its campaign goal of $250M—Butler Beyond: The Campaign for Butler University officially concluded as the largest and most successful philanthropic effort in Butler history, raising over $263.6M and exceeding the original $250M goal. Included in those gifts were two significant contributions to capital projects, which resulted in the naming of Dugan Hall and the Levinson Family Hall (May 2022).
- Campus Space Management—Butler Arts & Events has assumed management of campus spaces and assets, as well as the Campus Bookstore. By centralizing space management and consolidating oversight of business enterprises, 大学将更有效地利用空间,同时使校园活动和节目的类型多样化,并扩大创收机会(2022年春季)。.
- Operational Growth & Excellence—Butler partnered with Huron Consulting Group across three interrelated areas: administrative, academic and growth. Huron, with Butler’s input and direction, 已经开发了基于皇冠投注优势地位的基于证据的建议和数据工具,并指导进一步完善关键的行政管理, academic, and growth-related strategic initiatives. Several recommendations have been implemented while others are being further evaluated and prioritized (Summer 2021—current).
- Campus Renovation Projects – The new 44,000-square-foot Sciences Expansion building opens as Phase I of a $100 million investment in the University’s sciences facilities. Phase II, a complete top-to-bottom renovation of Gallahue Hall is scheduled to be complete in January of 2023. Learn more about Butler’s new sciences complex here. Renovations to Residential College (Resco) began Summer 2022 to upgrade the residential living areas. Phase II to complete the remaining areas, including dining, will begin in Summer 2023.
- VP/Marketing and Brand Management—Butler hired Sherry Wallace to lead and manage the Marketing and Brand Management team, ensuring productive, creative, and customer-focused results across Brand Strategy, Enrollment Marketing, and Creative Services (Fall 2022).
- National Rankings—Marketing and Enrollment teams are working together to prepare for the move from the Midwest to the National category for the U.S. News and World Report. Teams are currently conducting discovery and research to inform our campaign development and execution (Fall 2022–ongoing).
- Communications-Butler开发了一个新的全校范围的内容管理流程,用于在所有渠道中开发和分发外部和内部通信, leading to better storytelling and stakeholder engagement (Summer 2022).
- New Broadcast Commercial—A new Butler broadcast commercial and campaign, launched in December ‘21. The campaign theme is “We’re changing what it means to be a university” to further amplify our Butler Beyond Strategy. The commercial will have widespread placement, including usage by the BIG EAST and our student-focused advertising on YouTube, Connected TV, Spotify, Facebook/Instagram, and more. Marketing and Brand Management is also producing supporting/complementary videos on the topics of experiential learning, student-centered education, and innovation for use in our undergraduate digital efforts (December 2021).
- Office of Strategic Engagement—The newly formed Office of Strategic Engagement is established to elevate the University’s local, national, and global influence as a leader in higher education (October 2021).
- 1 Regional University—For the fifth consecutive year, Butler University is named the No. 1 Regional University in the Midwest, according to the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Rankings (September 2022).
- Community Impact Study – A community impact study is completed which evaluated and measured the various ways Butler contributes to the local community. We will also produce a dashboard for continual assessment of where and how Butler makes an impact (Summer 2021—ongoing).
- NCAA Tournament Host – Hinkle Fieldhouse served as one of six host sites in central Indiana, playing host to 16 games of the 2021 men’s NCAA basketball tournament. The university received significant, positive media coverage and attention throughout the country and beyond (March 2021).
- Netflix’s DOGS Series—Blue III and Blue IV featured in episode of Netflix’s DOGS (July 2021).
- Brand Equity Study—We recently surveyed prospective undergraduate students and parents, and prospective graduate students, to measure brand equity (awareness, familiarity, and consideration) and test key messages. 这是未来本科生连续第四个测量周期,也是未来研究生确定基线的第一个测量周期.
- Crisis Management—Marketing and Communications updated university-wide Crisis Management and Crisis Communications Plans. The CMT, CCT, 和EOT团队参加了由马里恩县国土安全办公室推动的桌面主题练习,从而制定了持续改进的行动计划.