INDIANAPOLIS — It is full steam ahead for Purdue University in Indianapolis.
The campus launches July 1, when IUPUI ceases to exist after 50 years. Indiana University and Purdue University will go their own way with two separate campuses.
Dan Hasler, former Eli Lilly executive and former Secretary of Commerce, is leading Purdue's effort as the chief operating officer.
"The Indianapolis campus is an extension of West Lafayette," Hasler said. "It's not its own campus. It's not its own entity. It's literally intertwined with West Lafayette. That means admission standards are the same. The faculty will report to West Lafayette. The curriculums are the same. The schedules are the same."
Hasler said students admitted to Purdue can choose which campus they attend.
"They get their choice," Hasler said. "The admission standards are the same, regardless of which campus they want, which everyone knows is pretty rigorous. It's not easy to get into Purdue. But, when they do apply, they're able to select, 'I'll only consider the West Lafayette campus,' or 'I'll only select the West Lafayette campus,' or they're able to give a backup."
"These students may come to Indianapolis for four years. They also may decide to come to West Lafayette and come to Indianapolis for a semester," Hasler said. "If they want to come down for a year, the curriculum is the same. The teachers are the same. It's seamless in terms of the academics. But, it puts them in the heart of corporate Indiana."
Hasler believes students who attend Purdue University in Indianapolis are going to be well-positioned for internships and future jobs with companies in Indianapolis.
"The data shows that if a student has done an internship with a company once, the probability that they will go to that company for work after graduation nearly doubles," Hasler said. "If they do two internships with them, it's almost a sure bet they will choose to stay with that company after graduation, which helps that retention in Indiana, which is a lot of what motivates this."
Some Purdue students will receive an additional benefit at the Indianapolis campus.
"We have guaranteed all these engineering students that come to Indianapolis, will be guaranteed a paid internship while they're in Indianapolis," Hasler said.
According to Hasler, Purdue wants to bring the Daniels School of Business Executive Education Programs to the High Alpha building on Mass Ave. Purdue is also looking at putting their motor sports engineering operations and classes in the town of Speedway.
"By having students learning proximal to where the doing is happening, we believe everybody wins," Hasler said.
Purdue's goal is to increase the retention rate here in Indiana.
"Our Indiana schools have done a great job drawing amazing talent in Indiana. But we haven't done very well in keeping that talent here," Hasler said. "We lose a lot of this talent to companies like Google, Intel, all across the country. The only way we're competing with those companies and keeping them from moving is by having them have relationships with these amazing companies in Indiana."
As the former Indiana Secretary of Commerce during Gov. Mitch Daniels' administration, Hasler knows companies considering Indiana as a place to do business always want to know about the talent pipeline. He believes the downtown campus will provide local companies with bright Boilermakers.
"We believe that having these students have the opportunity to experience central Indiana, form relationships with central Indiana companies, it's going to be harder for them to leave. It's harder to leave a relationship than it is a place," Hasler said. "It's so important to demonstrate that not only are we educating the world's finest in Indiana, we're able to keep them here for the right companies and the right opportunities, and they're here for you."
Hasler said there will be plenty of job opportunities for Purdue graduates in large and small businesses in central Indiana.
"Imagine the opportunities. Medical companies, manufacturing companies, logistics companies and consulting companies," Hasler said. "The challenge we have is not going to the top 10 companies in central Indiana for these internships and experiences, but being able to access and work with the smaller companies, companies that may not have a recruiting department, let alone an HR department. We know that's most of our ecosystem here."
Hasler said the 28-acre Purdue campus in Indianapolis, bordered by West Street, Michigan Street and Indiana Avenue, will be designed to be in the community.
"The best practices we've seen at other urban campuses are it's hard to tell where the campus ends and where the community begins," Hasler said. "We want the community to feel like this is their place and space as well. We want the students to feel like the city is their campus."
Hasler said Purdue is in the process of planning an iconic building that represents the heartbeat of their urban campus.
"We're planning a much higher density. We're planning a population of students growing from 2,500 to potentially 10,000. We have the room to do that," Hasler said.
Even though IU and Purdue will have separate campuses in Indianapolis, there will be one library, one security system and one area for food services. The two schools will continue to collaborate downtown.
"A rising tide rises all ships. We know that. We are collaborating with IU in a number of ways now. I only expect those collaborations to increase and expand," Hasler said. "It's good for the schools. It's good for the students. It's good for Indiana."