Leadership: Una Mae Reck, Chancellor (2002-2013); Terry L. Allison, Chancellor (2013-2018); Jann Joseph, Interim Chancellor (2018-2019); Susan Elrod, Chancellor (2019-present)
Student life was a focus in the early 2000s. The campus had academic buildings but no area for recreation (save table tennis and a few arcade video game consoles in the basement of Northside Hall) until the Student Activity Center was opened in 2001. The campus built a bridge across the St. Joseph River and received approval to build dormitories on that property. River Crossing Student Apartments opened in 2008, marking the first IU campus housing (together with IU Southeast) outside of Bloomington and Indianapolis.
Video of the dedication ceremony marking the opening of the River Crossing student housing complex at IU South Bend, 2008
The university grew outside the campus, as well. Although classes had been offered at Plymouth and Elkhart high schools for decades, business and civic leaders in Elkhart wanted an IU presence in their downtown. They funded the IU South Bend Elkhart Center, opened in 2007.
Likewise, the IU School of Medicine was in the area for 50 years, but the first purpose-built academic facility was constructed in 2005 near the campus of Notre Dame. Born from the efforts of IU South Bend students and professors, the Civil Rights Heritage Center transformed a once-segregated city swimming pool into an active learning center in the West Washington National Historic District in 2010.
Degrees were granted or approved in innovative new areas like Informatics (2004), Sustainability (2012), and Clinical Laboratory Sciences (2017). New degrees could be completed entirely through online courses because of collaboration across several IU campuses. Since its inception more than 100 years ago, IU South Bend has found new ways to be directly tied to the academic, economic, and cultural needs of the community.
2002-2020: Expanding the Footprint
