Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN
Charles R. Bantz, Chancellor
29,933 Students

Community service programs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) cover a wide range, from offering dental services to homeless people to addressing complex environmental problems to providing mentoring to juvenile offenders as they return to the community.

Many of these activities have a service-learning base. The university had 101 faculty members teaching 157 service-learning classes last year. IUPUI integrates its service with community service agencies and schools using other national and community service programs, including AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA. In 2005-06, 2,818 students provided 53,648 hours of service in the community through service-learning classes.

Aftercare for Indiana through Mentoring provides mentoring to juvenile offenders throughout Indiana who are returning to the community from correctional facilities. Since 1996, student volunteers have been providing one-on-one mentoring to juvenile offenders before and after their release, teaching life skills and developing plans for reentry, including high school completion and college entrance. Every 100 youths served who do not return to a correctional facility results in a $1 million saving to the community.

The School of Dentistry’s community oral health program and statewide mobile dental program, Seal Indiana, provides oral health services for qualifying children and disabled adults as well as dental services to homeless people and residents of shelters. In 2005-06, 108 students provided more than 500 hours of dental services.

IUPUI students participate in community service through the Federal Work Study program; in 2005-06, 34 percent of that funding supported community placements. In addition, IUPUI supports one of the largest community service-based scholarship programs in the nation. In 2005-06, the program supported 196 students who contributed almost 30,000 hours of service benefiting the community. Service included tutoring, mentoring at-risk youth, AIDS awareness education, college prep initiatives, developing computer applications, translations in medical settings, and cultural exchanges.

The Center for Earth and Environmental Science engages students in service learning science classes that benefit the community through partnerships with several state and local agencies on projects that enhance the environment and show students how the community works together to solve problems. Last year, more than 500 students were involved in 2,100 hours of service.