IU Southeast strives to continually strengthen and improve diversity in its programming, hiring, student recruitment, business practices, and outreach. Creating a diverse campus in population, programming, and environment is essential to fulfilling our academic mission. The IU Southeast definition of diversity includes such characteristics as age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, and socio-economic status.
Honors Program
The Honors Program at Indiana University Southeast is designed to serve the needs and interests of highly motivated students who seek a stimulating and exciting academic experience and formal recognition for completing a challenging program.
Students accepted into Tier One of the Honors Program have the opportunity to choose from at least one multidisciplinary honors elective offered each semester, as well as a two-semester seminar sequence titled Common Intellectual Experience I and II. Honors H103, the first course in the sequence, is typically taken in the fall, while Honors H104, the second course in the sequence, is offered in the spring. These courses are offered to a limited number of Honors students by an instructor who has been carefully chosen for his or her teaching expertise and desire to mentor Honors students.
Additionally, these courses are designed to fulfill selected goals of Indiana University Southeast's General Education program, permitting students to participate in the program without slowing their progress toward the completion of their degree program. Honors H103 fulfills the general education requirements usually fulfilled by English W131 as well as the diversity requirement, while H104 fulfills the requirement usually fulfilled by Speech S121 and the critical thinking requirement.
Students accepted into Tier Two of the Honors Program have the opportunity to take two multidisciplinary honors electives. In addition, students may complete an Honors track of their choice. In order to address the needs of a diverse student population, the Honors Program offers the following tracks: Discipline-Based Honors, Honors Research Minor, and Individualized Honors.
Honors courses explore important topics in depth, through a multi-disciplinary approach. The pace of the courses, and the level and quality of work expected of students requires that participants be self-motivated, and that they exercise good time-management skills; however, the small size of each Honors class (fewer than 18 students per section) insures group discussion, interaction with the instructor, and focused guidance and support of each student's academic goals.
In addition to taking Honors classes, members of the Honors Program participate in various co-curricular activities, including group projects, attending cultural events, and participating in the Upper Mideast Honors Conference in the spring of their first year at IU Southeast.
For more information, please contact the Honors Program at iushp@ius.edu. The Honors Program telephone number is (812) 941-2587.
First Year Seminar (FYS)
The first year seminar courses are special courses for first year students to enhance their academic and social integration into college. FYS provides an introduction to the nature of higher education and a general orientation to the functions and resources of the university. The course is designed to help first year students adjust to the university, develop a better understanding of the learning process, and acquire essential academic survival skills. The course also provides a support group of students in a critical transition by examining problems common to new students. Faculty who know the IU Southeast campus well teaches FYS courses. Most often, these are full-time faculty or part time faculty who have been recommended by a dean and who have five years of experience on our campus.
Each incoming student is in a small class with a faculty member and the student gets to know the faculty member in a special way (as a mentor, really) and often forms relationships with other students that last throughout the college years. The Passport and required extracurricular meetings for the freshmen ensure that they participate in college by doing more than just going to class. Each incoming student receives training in library usage, learns about the writing center, enhances their social skills while doing group work, analyzes their time management skills, is introduced to a variety of different study strategies and learns about the variety of opportunities available to them at college. Each course uses the IU Southeast Student Success Guide for the FYS component of the course. This text has been designed specifically for our campus to work well with our students. Chapters have been written by faculty and staff on our campus and the information provided in the text will be invaluable for the students as they earn their degree at IU Southeast.
FYS is IU Southeast’ major investment in enhancing student retention on this campus. Students who take a FYS during their first semester are more likely to return the following semester than students who do not. Instructors benefit from the satisfaction of helping new students get off to a good start and the joy of some special relationships with students that will last. They also benefit from the camaraderie with colleagues from across the campus who are dedicated to the same purposes. This camaraderie is promoted through informal biweekly discussions. Retreats are held prior to each semester to highlight new materials, techniques or research relevant to the teaching of FYS. Teaching a FYS course is given consideration in annual reviews showing a dedication to the success of first-year students. Faculty are compensated for each FYS course taught.
The standard times for 3-credit classes (4 with the FYS) meeting twice a week are (times in parentheses are if you want a 5-minute break in the middle):
9:05-10:45 (9:00-10:45)
11:00-12:40 (11:00-12:45)
12:50-2:30 (12:45-2:30)
2:45-4:25 (2:45-4:30)
4:15-5:55 (4:10-5:55)
5:35-7:15 (5:30-7:15)
7:30-9:10 (7:30-9:15)
Appropriate schedules can also be developed for 4-credit classes, 2-credit classes, classes that meet once a week, etc.
The important thing is to add 50 minutes per week to the class and to try not to interfere with other class time periods any more than necessary. Please contact FYS Director Donna Dahlgren at ddahlgre@iu.edu; tel. ext. 2682, or gain information and reactions from anyone who is teaching an FYS.
International Programs
As a leader in international education, the Office of International Affairs at Indiana University provides support and resources for international education efforts on all IU campuses. For available services and related policies, consult OIA’s website.
IU Southeast has a faculty with strong interests in international education. It also has a BA degree in International Studies which is an interdisciplinary major that provides students with a foundation drawing from history, economics, political science, geography, and foreign language and culture studies. Consult the International Studies website for more information.