IU Indianapolis’ Next Generation 2.0, a nine-month leadership development program dedicated to preparing individuals from historically underrepresented groups for advanced roles, welcomes applications from faculty and staff to participate in the 2024-25 cohort.

The course embraces the campus’s core values of being collaborative and excellent, equity-minded, future-focused, inclusive and innovative. It engages campus and community leaders and academic experts on topics such as the contemporary higher education environment, planning and leading change, managing strategic resources, higher education finance, and conflict resolution.

Participants, individually or within a group, will identify, plan and implement a capstone project responding to an identified need of their department, the campus or the Indianapolis community.

More than 150 faculty and staff members have participated in the program, now entering its ninth year.

“As a philanthropist, I deeply value the thoughtful design of the Next Gen 2.0 program,” one past participant said. “Its sessions effectively connect participants with diverse experts, including guest speakers and Next Gen 2.0 alumni. This support has been instrumental for those with limited institutional knowledge.”

Other graduates said the program gave them a greater understanding of the university’s environment, helped them make lasting campus and community connections, and gave them confidence as leaders.

Selected participants are required to attend a two-hour orientation session in August and attend the program one Friday per month between September 2024 and May 2025 on the IU Indianapolis campus. Fees for the institute are paid by the sponsoring unit, with a match from the Office of Academic Affairs.

The deadline for applying is March 11, 2024. Applications are reviewed by the program advisory board, and selected participants will be notified the week of April 29.