Four new interim leaders bring expertise to Institute for Engaged Learning

As a new academic year approaches, the Institute for Engaged Learning welcomes four new interim leaders for three of its units:

• Charity Bishop, lecturer and program director for the Bachelor of Science in Public Health–Community Health with the Fairbanks School of Public Health, will serve as a faculty fellow and interim director of the Center for Service and Learning through June 30, 2023.
• Tom Stucky, professor of criminal justice with the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, will serve as a faculty fellow and interim director of the Center for Research and Learning through July 30, 2023.
• Rachel Swinford, clinical associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology with the School of Health and Human Sciences, and Debbie Oesch-Minor, senior lecturer in the Department of English with the School of Liberal Arts, will serve as faculty fellows and interim co-directors of the ePortfolio program through June 30, 2023.

These faculty join the institute to advance its vision that all IUPUI undergraduate students will participate in education pathways that include at least four engaged learning experiences and will be transformed by making meaningful connections among their degree, life experiences, and postgraduation goals. Learn more about these interim roles and the faculty filling them.

A leader for integrating high-impact practices and engaged learning into the IUPUI curriculum, Bishop is a champion for service learning and supporting the success of students through experiential learning.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Charity in this role,” Jerry Daday, executive associate dean for the Institute for Engaged Learning, said. “After an extensive professional career in the field of community health, Charity joined the Fairbanks School of Public Health and immediately sought out ways to embed engaged learning opportunities into the curriculum to benefit her students and their personal and professional success. She has used CSL funding in the past, through the Community Engagement Associates program, to integrate service learning into her degree program, and she’s been involved in a variety of curricular efforts on our campus, including the capstone community of practice and the Undergraduate Affairs Committee.”

As faculty fellow and interim director for the Center for Service and Learning, Bishop will spearhead efforts to form a new advisory board for the center and will work with the Office of Academic Affairs and the Center for Teaching and Learning to embed professional development programming for service learning, civic learning, and democratic engagement into the curriculum.

Bishop will also work with staff in the center, the advisory board, and other stakeholders to establish short- and long-term goals. These goals will guide the position description and search for a new permanent director, which is set to launch in November or December of this year. Searches will also launch for a community partnership coordinator and a faculty and community resources director within the center.

Along with more than 25 years of community health experience, Bishop brings expertise in professional preparation, training, and curriculum development to this role. Prior to joining academia in 2008, Bishop held a variety of positions as a community health practitioner, including working with local health departments, conducting community health assessments, and serving as the executive director of community nonprofit agencies.

Stucky is no stranger to high-impact practices and applied and experiential learning. With nearly two decades of experience integrating teaching, research, and community engagement at IUPUI, Stucky most recently began service as a faculty fellow in the Institute for Engaged Learning’s Project-Based Learning Lab and has implemented key lessons from this work in undergraduate capstone courses with projects on real-world local criminal justice issues.

“I am so thankful to have the chance to work with Tom over the next year to support and grow our undergraduate research programming,” Daday said. “Tom is a strong advocate for high-impact practices because he knows these experiences provide profound outcomes for our students. Tom’s extensive leadership experience and his networks on our campus will help the CRL team to identify new opportunities to create more diverse and equitable research experiences for our students.”

As faculty fellow and interim director for the Center for Research and Learning, Stucky will lead efforts to scale undergraduate research programming; host events to build community among, develop, and showcase the work of undergraduate research students; and facilitate the undergraduate research award process. Through close collaboration with the center’s staff and faculty fellows, Stucky will also provide leadership and stewardship over the many undergraduate research programs.

The search for a permanent director will begin in January or February 2023, guided by goals established within the center and by the center’s advisory board. Another search for a full-time coordinator of the Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Research Institute and Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program will also launch soon.

A member of the IUPUI criminal justice faculty, Stucky’s career has spanned field work as an undercover enforcement agent in the Ohio Department of Liquor Control to teaching experience in higher education. Stucky’s research covers criminology, communities and crime, corrections, mass incarceration, policing, public policy, and violent crime reduction.