Indiana University Kokomo hosted Campus Con in October. IUK’s first comic con was one of more than 100 ideas produced during Chancellor Mark Canada’s “100 Ways in 100 Days” initiative. The initiative was a campuswide goal to come up with 100 ideas that could be achieved within the chancellor’s first 100 days on the job. Photo provided by Indiana University Kokomo
President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first 100 days in office were marked with action.
Congress passed 76 new laws in those 100 days. Many of the laws gave relief to the impacts of the Great Depression, helping farmers, homeowners and the unemployed. Fireside chats began during this time, too.
Today, a president’s first 100 days is an arbitrary mark to achieve goals and build credibility.
Channeling that sentiment, new Indiana University Kokomo Chancellor Mark Canada laid out a goal for not just himself but the entire campus: 100 ideas that could be achieved in the chancellor’s first 100 days.
Ideas had to be fairly modest — no new buildings or programs — avoid making more work for someone else and, ideally, get others involved. If it spanned multiple departments, even better.
The idea took off immediately. Canada heard a couple ideas at fall convocation, when he announced the initiative.
“People felt, rightly so, they were involved in generating the ideas,” he said.
The result was 101 ideas that spanned everything from campus safety to social media to diversity and sustainability.
Julie Saam, associate vice chancellor of academic affairs, helped come up with a pilot program that paired students with professors. Called Pedagogical Partnerships, the pilot program aimed to improve inclusivity in courses, instruction and classroom discussions through student feedback.
“We need students to help us understand how to do our jobs better,” she said. “We might be doing something that is hurting or disadvantaging our students.”
Students not enrolled in a participating professor’s course sat in during classes and provided feedback.
While diversity, inclusion and identifying possible unconscious biases were the original intent, Saam said student feedback also included course-related suggestions.
For example, a student overheard others saying they felt overwhelmed after back-to-back-to-back assignments. The student approached the professor about it, who in turn agreed they could probably rework the homework schedule.
“It’s things they (professors) don’t think about or things students aren’t comfortable talking about,” Saam said.
Saam, who is also the director of the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment, said both students and professors who participated in the pilot program found it valuable.
“(Students) talk about how much more empowered they feel,” she said.
Students also got an inside look at how much work goes into being a professor.
Four students and four professors took part in Pedagogical Partnerships. Students were paid an hourly rate, and professors received stipends. Both were afforded through a grant.
Saam said there is interest in continuing and expanding the program, though future funding streams will need to be identified.
Over in the financial aid office, staff members wanted to get students, current and prospective, to apply for more scholarships. All too often, money available to IUK students is left on the table.
The result was keychains with a QR code that, when scanned, takes a student straight to IUK’s scholarship page. The keychains serve as free swag that can be given away at events.
The financial aid office also spruced up IUK’s discounts webpage. A number of area businesses, such as Bruno’s Pizza and Pastarrific, offer discounts to IUK students, though students aren’t always aware.
IUK developed window clings that businesses can display, letting students know they offer discounts.
“We’ve heard from students that they want to be engaged more in the community,” said Dara Bishop, director of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
Bishop said they’d like to expand the discount programs into more area communities, given the number of commuter students.
The finance director said “100 Ways in 100 Days” boosted employee morale and made them feel like they had a say in what goes on around campus.
A sense of investment in the campus community from the campus community was what Canada was going for.
“The more important takeaway was the sense of ‘We can do this,’” he said. “It really took off because people were energized.”
Wanting a more energized cheering section at away games, academic advisor and IUK athletics fan Kim Evans came up with a fan bus. A fan bus took IUK students and employees to Saint Mary of the Woods and Richmond for basketball games last month.
Evans thought of the idea after remembering the men’s basketball team’s run to the NAIA Sweet 16 last year, which took place in Kansas City, Missouri.
“A lot of people would have liked to go to support the team,” she said.
Like with other ideas born out of “100 Ways in 100 Days,” Evans hopes the fan bus expands to more games next year.
The initiative also produced IUK’s first comic con, Spirit Day Fridays, free yoga classes at the Cole Fitness Center and an e-waste collection drive, thanks to the campus IT department.
“When you get creative energetic people together, good ideas come out,” Canada said.
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