Seven goals in Ivy Tech’s five-year plan

Monday, February 5, 2018

Ivy Tech Community College has unveiled its new, statewide five-year strategic plan, “Our Communities. Your College. Pathways for Student Success and a Stronger Indiana.”

The plan features seven goals: Student Success, Recruitment and Enrollment, Completion, Workforce, Employee, Financial and Community. The plan also seeks to have Ivy Tech students earn 50,000 credentials per year through 2023 via high quality certifications, certificates and degrees, aligned with Indiana’s workforce needs.

Each goal is vital and Goal 7, community, is of particular significance, as the college seeks to emphasize “community” across the many diverse communities, large and small, that comprise the Hoosier landscape.

Locally, Ivy Tech - Greencastle recently launched a new advisory council. This group of diverse leaders was formed to strengthen Ivy Tech’s efforts within Putnam County and the surrounding region. Its focus is truly on “community.” I look forward to working with this creative team as the college seeks to grow and enrich educational opportunities locally and throughout Indiana.

Ivy Tech Community College - Greencastle recently welcomed students back for the spring 2018 semester. We are excited about the new year because it brings a time of meaningful opportunities for the campus and for the Putnam County community.

Our enrollment at Ivy Tech - Greencastle increased this spring semester and we are building critical momentum on campus as classes begin in 2018.

One of these exciting new changes is the Licensed Practical Nursing to Associate of Science in Nursing Transitional Track program for Ivy Tech - Greencastle students. A new group of nursing students joined us this January as they seek to build their nursing credentials and advance in their profession to an Associate of Science degree in nursing. We look forward to elevating the LPN to ASN transitional track program on campus and see wonderful potential moving forward, both in terms of student opportunities and collaboration with community partners. More information can be found at IvyTech.edu/nursing.

Meanwhile, our current Greencastle-based Practical Nursing students continue to work toward earning their LPN certifications. One of the more inspiring times on campus is the college’s nursing pinning ceremony. The campus is abuzz with lots of anticipation and emotion. It is always fun to see the beaming faces of our LPN students – and their families – when they secure their well-earned nursing honor.

It is also imperative to stress the continued promise of Ivy Tech’s Associate Accelerated Degree program, or ASAP. This program allows students right out of high school to earn an associate degree in just 11 months and transfer to the four-year school of their choice to earn a bachelor’s degree.

The campus is in the midst of its second cohort, which more than doubled in size from the inaugural class of ASAP students in 2016-17. Students in the 2017-18 cohort are an engaged, dynamic group and are thriving on campus, both individually and collectively.

Our new campus ASAP coordinator, Emily Speer, has hit the ground running and brings a talented skillset to campus as she works toward a successful spring ASAP graduation – and ushering in a great 2018-19 ASAP class. You can refer a student to ASAP by visiting www.ivytech.edu/asap, or by calling Emily at (765) 719-6015.

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