Newly-Created Program Meets the Needs of Today’s Learners UINDY ONLINE ANYWHERE. ANYTIME.
The workplace of today is changing— faster than you realize. Whether it’s factors like automation and artificial intelligence or cybersecurity and climate change, it’s what led the World Economic Forum in 2023 to predict that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years. The University of Indianapolis is helping prepare the workforce of the future by creating UIndy Online to reimagine the educational experience for post-traditional learners. UIndy Online was unveiled in July 2024 and joined with Sease Institute to become a new academic unit within the university. It is expected to accept its first students this winter. “The need has never been greater for employees to get retraining, reskilling, and upskilling to meet the challenges and demands of an evolving workplace,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Chris Plouff. “This is just the next chapter in UIndy’s long and proud history of serving the community with a relevant education.” According to the Indiana’s Leaking Talent Pipeline study from the Indiana Chamber, while Indiana ranks as the 14th best state for business, it’s near the very bottom, 48th, for attracting talent. In other words, the workforce pool doesn’t match the overall business climate. For employees, this presents an opportunity. Gain the right skills and education, and there’s likely to be a good job available close to home. UIndy Online and Sease Institute will meet the needs for a variety of student populations. For some, it will be about finishing a degree that
was interrupted—for family obligations, financial constraints, or perhaps a job that unexpectedly became a career—whether that was a recent interruption or farther in the past. It could be as simple as transferring coursework from another institution and finishing only a few classes, or combining a smaller number of credits, years of work experience and the right degree completion courses to finish a program. For others, it will be about starting to work on a postsecondary degree or credential for the very first time. UIndy Online and Sease Institute is developing fully online degree programs, stackable certificates (see p. 12 for more) and credentials to align with corporate training and executive education. A variety of online, hybrid, and face- to-face courses will be included to serve the workforce needs of the population. UIndy Online will house all degree-completing and credential-bearing programs for post- traditional learners at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The Sease Institute, created in 2019, will continue to focus on supporting workforce needs in the region by offering individualized business solutions for employers, usually through non credit certification programs like specialized medical training or leadership training. “I couldn’t be more excited about the creation of UIndy Online,” said Plouff. “This is a necessary step to help bring to life our vision of ‘Anywhere. Anytime. For life.’” Creating UIndy Online and Sease Institute also goes directly to the heart of UIndy’s strategic plan which was approved in the spring. The plan
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UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
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