Community Engagement: IUPUI

News

Community engagement is in our DNA

IUPUI is inextricably connected to the world around us. Our campus covers more than 534 acres within the city of Indianapolis but our reach goes deep into the community.

Our commitment to community engagement can be seen in almost everything we do, whether we’re helping students succeed in the classroom or working to increase the well-being of our city, country, and world.

We’re here to facilitate these activities, creating and nurturing partnerships between campus and community in ways that matter.

Community engagement by the numbers

9,737students enrolled in community-based learning courses in 2015–16

1,000,000+hours of student engagement in the community through courses

4campus-wide days of service

875 community partners

63%of alumni reported participating in community service or volunteer work while at IUPUI

24%of faculty report engaging in a collaborative research project with a community partner

57%of IUPUI employees live in Marion County

57.7%of students voted in 2016

177community service scholarship recipients annually

A round yellow seal that says Carnegie Foundation Elective Community Engagement Classification.

IUPUI was among the first cohort of campuses to receive the Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in 2006—the gold standard for the field—and was reclassified in 2015.

We connect campus and community

We work with partners across the Indianapolis area to make our communities stronger, help our neighbors stay healthier, and better prepare our workforce for the future.

How? By making the right connections between community organizations and IUPUI schools, departments, faculty, and students.

And provide the support partnerships need to flourish

We nurture community partnerships

When our campus and community connect, we all benefit. See how we help make it happen.

We support community-engaged research

Community-engaged research has the potential to change the world around us. See how we facilitate it.

We enhance learning by integrating the community

When students have the opportunity to work on projects in the community, everyone wins. See how we work with faculty to make it happen.

We connect students with our community

Community service is integral to an IUPUI education. See how we connect students with organizations in need of help.

We connect the community with educational opportunities

We offer educational opportunities that advance businesses and our workforce. See how.

We proudly facilitate our responsibilities as an anchor institution

As one of our area’s biggest and most stable institutions, we are committed to doing our part to help our community thrive. See how.

Making an impact in our community

Three people stand in front of a home. Two are holding shovels. One is holding a tree. There is a hole in the ground.

New interactive map explores community engagement

Explore the new interactive map and stories that show how and where IUPUI is engaging with the community, including students' course-based work, partnerships, research by faculty and volunteerism. This map shows activities entered into the Collaboratory, a database of activities by students, faculty and staff engaged with the community.

Students learn about neighborhoods that predated IUPUI

The Digital History and Community Change in Indianapolis course explores the rich history of the neighborhoods affected by IUPUI's establishment and expansion. A digital map from 1908 was created from the research performed in the class. Users can click on the houses to learn more about the structures and families who once inhabited them.

IUPUI offers camps and classes to K-12 students in the community

IUPUI is home to a number of summer camps and year-round classes that help prepare students for a wide variety of careers, with focuses on art and design, STEM, engineering, informatics and computing, nursing, other health and science fields, and more. Programs that foster student success, such as reading, learning a foreign language, tutoring, and mentoring, are also offered.

Help us make Indianapolis a better place

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