Indiana University President Pamela Whitten says one of the challenges the university faces is it's complex nature and its size.
During her presentation, Inspiring Future Leaders at the Bloomington Women in Leadership event Tuesday, Whitten says she’s working hard to be more transparent despite others not liking what they see.
“But we're all going to have to have the courage to face those things so that we can move ahead and again, do the best by our students and the other goals that we have as an institution,” Whitten said.
Whitten discussed her career path, leadership, and priorities, including student success and experience, IU’s role as a research institution, and serving the state of Indiana.
“Having those experiences that separate them out from people that graduate from other universities, it's always going to be about students first,” Whitten said.
Whitten says IU is at an exciting crossroads and will get to do strategic visioning and planning for what people are going to be at IU in the next 50 years.
“We're going to talk to people, we're gonna get information, we're gonna get ideas, we're going to make sure we have formal ways for people to share information, we're gonna make sure we have informal ways for people to give us feedback as well,” Whitten said.
Whitten says she wants to collaborate with faculty and staff.
“To figure out how we help more students be successful, graduate faster, take the coolest classes they've ever had,” Whitten said. “How our faculty, how we support them, so they can go get amazing grants to do life changing work, how we can get out across the state and take down rates of hypertension, diabetes, and all the health problems we have and everything in between.”
Whitten says IU is currently in the preparation stage, explaining why, reducing uncertainty and helping people understand that the status quo won't help them or others.
“Soon, we'll be transitioning into the setting milestones and getting people excited about it, and communicating as well,” Whitten said.
After giving her presentation, Whitten answered questions from the audience.
She declined an interview request from WFIU/WTIU News after the event.
