By JEREMY EILER Staffjreiler@ius.edu

IU Southeast started a new program to help students obtain jobs and track involvement for the future. The program, called My Involvement was designed by Indiana University and came about from a partner­ship with IU Southeast, Bloomington and IU­PUI. Located on One­Start, My Involve­ment is designed to allow students to get involved in a club or sport easier. Students can pull up a list of clubs to see informa­tion about the group and what activities they have coming up. They can also click an “I’m Interested” tab, which will send an e­

mail with students’ in­formation to the club sponsor. “I just found out about My Involve­ment,” Kristin Kenne­dy, special education freshman, said. “I defi­nitely plan on using it because I know it will help me get more in­volved here at IUS as my college career pro­gresses.” Before My Involve­ment, students had to visit Campus Life in or­der to receive informa­tion about who to con­tact or find out dates for meetings. With My Involvement, it allows them to have access to organizations’ infor­mation quickly. The program has been developing for almost two years and is currently in Phase

By AYSIA HOGLEStaffahogle@umail.iu.edu

IU Southeast enrollment dropped by 5 percent for the fall 2012 semester and has the smallest population out of the eight regional Indiana University campuses. Christopher Crews, associate direc­tor of Admissions, said IU Southeast expected a drop due to the demo­graphics. “We expected and knew that the de­mographics in this area wouldn’t sup­port continued growth at that rate,” Crews said. Crews said people are moving out of the area, and, as a result, there are fewer available students to be en­rolled. “Issues like the bridge closure and construction in the area helped to ex­acerbate that problem that was already there,” Crews said. Other IU campuses with drops in enrollment included IU Bloomington, with a 1.4 percent decrease, and IU­PUI, with a 0.3 percent drop. IU East and IU Kokomo received the largest increases, with 12.4 and 12.1 percent, respectively. During the State of the Campus Ad­dress, Chancellor Sandra Patterson-

Randles said the Sherman Minton Bridge closure played a part in the de­crease of enrollment. “The resulting gridlock unfor­tunately convinced residents and students that cross­river travel was

something to be avoided on a regular basis,” Patterson-Randles said. Crews said another factor in the de­crease of enrollment is the economy. “The economy is starting to heat back up locally,” Crews said, “so we

are seeing a lot of employers start to hire. As employers start to hire and re­hire students who were laid off, it re­ally starts to impact that number even greater.” Patterson-Randles said fewer stu­dents age 25 and older returned this fall compared to last. “One reason for this may be the sudden availability of well­paying jobs for people already employed and somewhat educated,” Patterson-Ran­dles said. Anne Skuce, interim vice chancellor of Student Affairs, said IU Southeast is focusing on trying to retain the stu­dents they already have. “We are making sure that their ex­perience is one that wants them to be engaged and continue their process,” Skuce said. Skuce said they have assigned freshmen someone to communicate with them and answer their questions. “We have never done that program before,” Skuce said. “We are going to try to maintain better contact with the students as they go through their pro­grams.” Crews said they are trying to attract transfer students to come to IU South­east for the spring semester. “We know based on the demo­graphic information that there are fewer high school students available to be admitted, so that leaves a popu­lation of either transfer or adult stu­

Graphic by Stephen Allen-4.9Decrease fro

m Fall 2011

%

FRESHMEN23%

Fall 2011 Fall 2012

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

SENIOR24%

NONDEGREE7%

MASTERS8%

GRADUATE NONDEGREE

2%

SOPHOMORE19%

JUNIOR17%

1

3

5

6

24

7

7,256 6,904

Source: Spring 2012 Census Quick Facts

By GAIL FAUSTYNStaffgfaustyn@ius.edu

IUS faculty have im­plemented a new pro­gram, FLAGS, in order to help students stay on the track to graduate and, more importantly, to keep them in school. FLAGS stands for “Fostering Learning, Achievement, and Grad­uation Success.” Faculty now has the ability with­in their student roster to make note of a student’s attendance. They can also note how regularly they participate and to show if the student has suddenly started slip­ping academically. The reason for this new program is due to the elimination of the mid­term grade. “Mid­term grades came too late within the semester in order to get students the help they needed,” Greg Roberts, academic adviser for the School of Arts and Let­ters, said. The FLAGS program begins within the first two weeks of the semes­ter. If a student is consis­tently under­perform­ing, his professor has the ability to mark or “flag” these trends. Whether students are not attending class regularly, or not turning in their homework, the professor will take note

of this, and it is up to the professor’s discretion on what action to take to solve the problem. “There are many so­lutions to the problem,

and we want to use the best one in order to help each specific student,” Roberts said. A FLAGS report is sent out during the second through the sixth and ninth week of school. By the sixth week, if a student is still falling off track, that is when action is taken first. They may be directed to receive help from one of the labs on campus, such as the Writing, Sci­ence or Math Labs. They could also be told to meet with their adviser. Once the student is flagged, the adviser will be notified and will call

and e­mail the student, letting him know of the circumstance. If the adviser does not receive any sort of re­sponse from the student, a letter will be sent to him. After nine weeks, if the student continues with this trend, he may lose his financial aid and potentially have to start paying it back. “While this program isn’t mandatory, it is highly recommended,” Roberts said. IU Southeast started this program for stu­dents who struggle with school.

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Students immerse in cultural tripCounselor seeks to improve office

IUS flags academic performance

While this program isn’t mandatory, it is highly recommended.

Greg Robertsacademic adviser

School of Arts and Letters

News.......................................................1, 2Events ........................................................ 4Opinions ................................................... 5Profiles........................................................6Diversions ................................................. 7Features.................................................3, 8

Program broadens student involvement

Photo by Gail Faustyn

Enrollment falls back for semester

Elizabeth Sutton, biology junior, reviews her FLAGS report with Misti Whitaker, academic adviser for the School of Social Sciences. FLAGS is a new program that focuses on student at-tendance, participation and grading in classrooms.

See INVOLVEMENT, page 2

See ENROLLMENT, page 2

See FLAGS, page 2

IUS Fall 2012 EnrollmentIUS plummets past regional campuses

My Involvement 101

• Provides lists of campus organizations

• Located on OneStart

• Creates an involvement report

• Allows sharing of information betweengroupofficers

Source: Seuth Chaleunphonh, dean of Student Life

Graphic by Claire Munn