Beyond the Major: Building Career Readiness Across IU Indianapolis

Higher education faces many misperceptions. One of them is that career development skills are not included in the curriculum for students majoring in liberal arts and humanities. During my Listen and Learn tour last week, I learned that the IU Indianapolis School of Liberal Arts has a dedicated team of faculty and staff who have made career readiness a priority for our students. From their first semester, students are encouraged to start thinking of career pathways that will take them through graduation and beyond. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career competencies are being embedded into liberal arts courses, and students are encouraged to have their résumés reviewed by the end of their first semester. A career toolkit supports their progress, and internship courses, once limited to disciplines like Writing and Journalism, are now open to all Liberal Arts students. It is time we tackled misperceptions around careers and the humanities.

This focus on readiness extends beyond liberal arts. At the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, students, working with faculty and alumni, are developing technology models that foster empathetic learning skills. Together, Professor Zeb Wood and his students, like Louie, are using virtual reality (VR) tools to help children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) develop empathy and social skills. Their work is being tested and applied through OPENMINDXR LLC. 

Public libraries are not just about reading and borrowing books anymore. They can become repositories of learning resources that make it fun for the community to understand how STEM and engineering affect their day-to-day activities. Family Makers seems like an apt title for this program, created by the IU Indianapolis Luddy faculty in the Department of Library and Information Science to help rural communities understand and appreciate engineering and STEM skills in simple, relatable contexts.   

Our global population is aging and developed nations are dealing with an aging demographic. From consumer goods to services and health care, industry must meet the unique needs of this group. With funding from the NSF, NIH, and Google, Luddy faculty and students are designing AI tools to help caregivers, family members, and older adults manage their health information in a way that protects their privacy and respects their autonomy. Through conversational interfaces, they are also exploring human-centered design options that motivate social connections, which are critical to supporting the needs of older adults.

An aging population also underscores the need for accurate health records, and this means electronic health records (EHRs) are here to stay. These records can serve as a repository for caregivers and health care providers worldwide, but security concerns abound. With federal funding to support their work, Luddy faculty are building a foundation for the OpenMRS system to identify security challenges, create defenses, and improve safe access to health data where it is critically needed.

Closer to home, our faculty are using technology to help students stay engaged with course material, succeed academically, and graduate on time. And student feedback confirms that it’s working—thank you, Rosemarie, for sharing your story.

Speaking of students, November 8 is First-Generation Student Day – we have multiple activities planned for our campus. Be sure to check them out!

Go Jags!

Latha Ramchand
Chancellor