New website makes tutoring resources easy to find
Faculty and staff looking to share tutoring resources with students can direct them to a new website that centralizes tutoring information.
The site, tutoring.indiana.edu, is a project led by the Student Academic Center and sparked by data showing a significant drop in tutoring usage associated with COVID-19 changes on campus.
The website explains three ways to receive tutoring assistance:
- Subject-specific tutoring.
- Academic coaching.
- Support courses for credit.
New mobile app pushes course notifications for instructors, students
Indiana University instructors and students now have access to Boost, a new mobile app developed at IU and integrated with Canvas that pushes notifications about due dates, announcements and calendar events.
Boost is customizable, so notifications can be chosen on a course-by-course basis. Instructors whose graded assignments have deadlines in Canvas can encourage students to use the app, to help them keep on top of assignments.
Learn more about Boost on Knowledge Base.
What’s open and closed on campus?
The holiday break has ended and the second semester is about to begin, but many faculty, staff and students will not be on the Indiana University Bloomington campus until a pandemic-necessitated period of online-only classes concludes in early February.
If you’re wondering what buildings will be open during the remainder of the intersession, don’t worry; we have you covered. Here’s a reminder about openings, closings and adjusted hours for some popular campus facilities and services.
Have your COVID-19 questions answered in webinars
Indiana University staff, faculty and students can have their COVID-19-related questions answered by Dr. Aaron Carroll, one of the leaders of IU’s COVID-19 Medical Response Team, in two upcoming “Ask Aaron” webinars this month, on Jan. 20 and Jan. 27.
The live Q&A sessions will include topics such as:
- Returning to campus and on-arrival testing.
- How and when vaccines are likely to be distributed.
- Connecting with others safely.
Additional “Ask Aaron” webinars are being planned throughout the remainder of the academic year. Visit covid.iu.edu for the latest COVID-19 updates.
IU supports state’s COVID-19 vaccination efforts
With distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine underway in Indiana and across the nation, Indiana University is continuing efforts to advance the state’s vaccine rollout plan while stressing the importance of Hoosiers getting vaccinated as soon as they are eligible.
IU President Michael A. McRobbie and IU Vice President Emeritus Charlie Nelms, who are both eligible, received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine Jan. 16 at IU Health Bloomington. The vaccine is administered in two doses, either 21 or 28 days after the first dose.
“The distribution of vaccines is extremely exciting news, and there is growing optimism that we are nearing a point when the majority of Americans will be able to receive one of the COVID-19 vaccines, which will begin to dramatically reduce the spread of this deadly virus,” McRobbie said. “We are becoming more confident by the day that, as the year progresses, we will be able to see a growing return to more normal operations of the university.”
IU’s Janet McCabe nominated for key EPA role
Janet McCabe, a professor of practice at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law at IUPUI and director of the Environmental Resilience Institute at IU, has been nominated as deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the incoming Joseph R. Biden administration.
The nomination was announced Jan. 15 by the Office of the President-Elect. The deputy administrator is the No. 2 position at the agency.
Kelley Direct named MBA Program of the Year
Kelley Direct at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business has been named MBA Program of the Year by Poets & Quants – the first time an online MBA program has earned the honor from the news site about business education.
John Byrne, editor and founder of Poets & Quants, said Kelley Direct was chosen after “reinventing its long-standing online MBA program, and creating the flexibility and options more common to full-time residential programs.”
Poets & Quants ranked Kelley Direct as its No. 1 online MBA program in the world in November. Kelley Direct also is ranked No. 1 by U.S. News & World Report.
School of Education appoints associate dean
Jeff Anderson, professor and department chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education, has been named associate dean for undergraduate education.
As chair, Anderson has worked to increase the coordination between his department and the Office of Teacher Education. He also has been chairing the Committee on Teacher Education.
Associate professor Lara Lackey will become the interim chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.
Kelley School project helps businesses, organizations during pandemic
A no-cost program by the Kelley School of Business has helped more than 360 small businesses and community organizations representing more than 50 Indiana counties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Kelley HOPE Digital Project, a partnership between the Kelley School and two state economic and small business development centers, also has provided meaningful opportunities to more than 230 current and prospective students and alumni.
The program’s purpose is to help small businesses and organizations that are struggling with the economic impact of stay-at-home advisories and restrictions to establish or increase their online presence and boost their digital capabilities.
Awards and honors
- Literary scholar Susan Gubar received the Modern Language Association Lifetime Scholarly Achievement Award in a virtual ceremony Jan. 9. Gubar, a distinguished professor emerita of English in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington, joined the faculty in 1973. She created groundbreaking works of feminist criticism that uncovered a female literary tradition previously obscured within a traditionally male literary universe. More recently, Gubar has written about race and religion.
- Valarie Akerson received the 2021 Distinguished Contributions to Science Education Through Research Award from the National Association for Research in Science Teaching. It is the highest award given by the global organization whose focus is improving science education through research. Akerson has pioneered research and practice that explore the nature of science and scientific inquiry with students and teachers in elementary school and teacher education contexts.
- Fil Menczer, distinguished professor of informatics and computer science at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering, has been named an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow. The honor recognizes the top 1 percent of association members for their outstanding accomplishments in computing and information technology, and/or outstanding service to the association and the larger computing community. Menczer, who previously was recognized as an Association for Computing Machinery Distinguished Scientist, focuses on the spread of online misinformation and develops tools to detect and counter social media manipulation.
