SELLERSBURG — Ivy Tech Community College announced Tuesday that it will undergo organizational changes meant to better connect campuses with their local communities.
Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann, former Indiana lieutenant governor, initiated changes after touring the state and speaking to more than 750 Ivy Tech staff last summer.
Instead of regional chancellors overseeing multiple campuses, each campus will operate under its own chancellor as a result of structural changes. While Ivy Tech Community College Sellersburg operates under its own chancellor, some campuses in other parts of the state were under regional chancellors.
The Sellersburg campus has not begun the search process for a permanent chancellor "in the midst of the organizational structure project," Jeff Fanter, senior vice president of student experience and communications and marketing, stated in an email.
Sellersburg's most recent chancellor, Rita Hudson Shourds, who was fired in April, was replaced with former vice chancellor and now acting chancellor Terry Nolot.
Campus chancellors across the state will be announced between June 15 and Aug. 1. Over the next year, staff will transition into these new roles.
"The bi-regional structure was causing unintended consequences and difficulties in serving local communities," Ellspermann stated in a news release. "Our overarching focus with the organizational structure is to put more 'community' into community college, place more attention on students and reduce friction across our large organization."
Nolot said the Sellersburg campus prioritizes aligning degree programs and training to meet workforce needs.
"By utilizing workforce data and occupational demand projections, we identify key industry sectors in our community with high demand for a skilled, credentialed workforce," Nolot stated in an email. " ... This workforce focus, in conjunction with our expanding roster of transfer degree options, frames our approach to serving the people and employers of Southern Indiana."
The new statewide structure will include 19 campuses, of which Sellersburg is one. Twenty-six other educational sites will offer classes, including the Mid-America Science Park in Scottsburg.
Some locations that were called campuses will now be educational sites, Fanter said. Criteria of what constitutes a campus will be better defined under the new organizational structure. Generally, campuses are larger in size and will host more services, such as advisers. If an educational site grows substantially, it's possible it could become a campus one day, he added.
Faculty Councils will also be established at the local and state levels, intended to give faculty a larger voice in policy and planning discussions, the news release stated.
The community college will release a new strategic plan in December.
"This is not a project to reduce headcount, or eliminate staff or campus locations," Ellspermann said. "Similarly, we will not add staff. We do, however, anticipate cost-savings over time with more efficient operations, allowing us to focus more resources to our programs and student services."