Bursting at the seams
By Kim Puckett | News Editor
With more transfer and international students than ever before, the University of Indianapolis has the biggest and most diverse population in the university’s history.
UIndy’s total new student population for both transfer and freshmen is 927, a record for the university.
UIndy added 60 additional transfer students from China through its partnership with Ningbo Institute of Technology. The university also works with local community colleges such as Ivy Tech, helping to bring transfer enrollment for fall of 2008 to 165 students compared to 140 last year.
According to Ron Wilks, director of admissions, not only have partnerships with other universities boosted enrollment, but the majors UIndy offers improve its appeal.
“With the economy the way it is, we have a lot of recession-proof programs,” Wilks said.
Wilks listed programs in health sciences such as nursing, physical therapy and occupational therapy and also education as assets to the school in the nation’s declining economy.
According to data collected by the Office of Admissions, this year’s freshmen class is 6 percent more ethnically diverse than two years ago. Also, 13 percent of the class is from out of state compared to 6 percent two years ago.
Wilks said the student numbers are carefully monitored to ensure the balance between university growth and a small, private university.
“We want to have some moderate growth because we are tuition driven so we rely on tuition dollars to make sure that we have the services available to students,” Wilks said. “But you want to maintain that small, personal-attention feel that we are known for.”
By systematically changing and increasing the admission standards year by year, Wilks said the Office of Admissions is able to keep growth to a manageable rate and ensure the students who fit UIndy best are admitted.
The new freshman class includes a record 32 students who were their high school’s valedictorian or salutatorian.
Kory Vitangeli, dean of students, said the university’s recent expansion helped accommodate the growing student population.
“This was a good time for the increase in students because the university was prepared with its recent expansions,” Vitangeli said.
Although the campus expansions to the Schwitzer Student Center, the dormitories and other facilities have eased the strain on the university’s infrastructure, space is still a precious commodity.
With students living in lounges and other converted spaces and temporary gravel lots to accommodate parking, the campus still feels the weight of the ever-growing student body.
According to Vitangeli, the issue of parking was anticipated and planned for before the school year started.
“The beginning of the year always causes a parking problem,” Vitangeli said. “Parking is tight, but it’s not as crowded as we thought it might be.”
Ken Piepenbrink, physical plant director, said although some of the lot between the Schwitzer Center and Ruth Lilly Fitness Center was lost in the renovation, just as much parking is available.
“The tennis courts added about 20 more spots than we had with the old lot,” Piepenbrink said. “We also made two temporary lots, one on Shelby Street and one by the Athletic House creating about 70 spaces.”
The new dormitory, which broke ground on Sept. 11, will also add about 250 parking spots to the available spaces.
According to Vitangeli, the growth has not only made the campus more crowded, but the record population has had a positive effect.
“Meal plan numbers are higher than ever before and there are more people in the Schwitzer Center every day,” Vitangeli said. “It makes it feel more like a student center with more people around.”
