October 21, 2002
Frequently Asked Questions
NetWorks,
an outreach of the Indiana State University
School of Business, is funded
by a Grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
|
|
Recently, the
financial services industry has faced a number of challenges.
Innovative approaches to deal with emerging issues are
necessary in order to ensure the long-term vitality of the industry.
Development of NetWorks was initiated by Dr. Lloyd W.
Benjamin and reflects the vision of a group of faculty from ISU
School of Business who participated in a “quantum leap team.”
The team was charged with examining how the School could
build upon its competencies to move the School and ISU to greater
prominence. Given its
history of providing leaders for the financial services industry,
the team developed the Vision for NetWorks:
“To provide new directions in financial services for
Indiana, the nation, and the world.”
Under the
leadership of ISU President Benjamin and Dean Ron Green and due to
the generosity of the Lilly Endowment, NetWorks will build upon the
educational innovations of ISU and its School of Business to provide
a platform for the development of “reality based, innovative
approaches” to dealing with emerging issues.
Linking ISU students and faculty in experiential learning
opportunities with scholars and practitioners representing the best
minds from around the world will serve as a catalyst to the creation
of one or more ISU-NetWorks Centers of Excellence that will provide
long term solutions to the challenges facing the financial services
industry. The
interdisciplinary nature of these challenges will require combining
the financial and intellectual resources of the ISU School of
Business, other academic units of ISU, and NetWorks.
One goal is to establish funding mechanisms to sustain
NetWorks and the ISU-NetWorks Centers of Excellence that are
spawned.
Why
ISU and the School of Business?
Indiana State
University has a long history of providing its students with focused
educational opportunities. ISU’s institutional identity centers around a more
personalized educational experience due to smaller class sizes, a
core faculty committed to teaching excellence and involvement with
students, numerous opportunities to participate in active or
experiential learning, and a wide range of internship and other
community based options that connect students with their future
professions. This has
resulted in ISU becoming known as the University where students
“Experience Your Future.”
This personalized
educational experience also embraces the concept that while teaching
is a critical part of the process, it is a mean to an end; that is,
teaching is of value only if it leads to “learning” on the part
of the student. While
many universities embrace a shift from focus on a teaching to a
focus on learning, this notion has become ingrained within the fiber
of Indiana State University to the degree that others recognize ISU
as a model of innovative excellence.
One example is
found within the Insurance and Risk Management Program of the ISU
School of Business. With the assistance of the Gongaware Center for Insurance
Management Development, this program has become a model for
developing future leaders for the Financial Services Industry.
Widely acclaimed with respect to the quality of its graduates
and the reality based learning environment that links students with
their future professions, this program has been said to “jump
start the profession careers of its graduates by at least ten
years.” A critical
component of this success story is that many of the innovations of
this program would not have been possible without the generous
financial support of its many benefactors who include Don and Pat
Gongaware.
Why
ISU-NetWorks Centers of Excellence?
While NetWorks can
be viewed as a catalyst for change, it should also initiate
mechanisms through which effective change can occur.
Its primary role will be to provide new directions so that
educators and practitioners can form partnerships in dealing with
emerging issues. It
might best be viewed as an intellectual incubator with a primary
role of giving birth to focused Centers of Excellence.
These Centers may emerge from a variety of challenges that
presently face the financial services industry (such as risk
management or ethical leadership) or may result from challenges that
arise as the activities of NetWorks are being carried out.
It is anticipated that the application and development
activities of NetWorks will also provide for its own sustainability.
What are Some of the Proposed
Outcomes of NetWorks?
- Create, organize and staff a new international center focusing on the needs of the financial services industry. Headquartered in Indianapolis with associated offices on ISU’s Terre Haute campus, NetWorks will also have an office in Washington, D.C. and an international presence through an office in a major European financial center.
- Develop a comprehensive directory, Web site, and annual conference connecting financial services programs and organizations.
- Create
ten Senior Fellows as a means to secure formal relationships
with highly respected and recognized financial leaders from
industry, academia, and government.
- Through the appointment of Research Fellows from across academia and industry, develop a source of unbiased research expertise to study the challenges facing the financial services industry and seek innovative solutions.
- Enhance the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs of Indiana State University to better meet the needs of a changing financial services industry and attract the best students to these programs through the use of scholarships and other financial incentives.
- Through
seminars and conferences, a semi-annual journal, and other print
and electronic media, enhance communication and awareness with
school systems and the public to improve knowledge and
understanding of financial services.
What are Some of the Proposed
Activities of NetWorks?
- Attracting Innovative Practitioners and Scholars from Academia and Industry
- Providing Research Support for the Development of Scholarly Innovation and Practical Application
- Providing Opportunities for Innovative Curricular Development and Delivery
- Providing Opportunities to Support the Development of Industry Programs and Services for the Financial Services Industry
- Attracting the Best and Brightest Students
- Providing Scholarship Opportunities for Students
- Providing for Experiential Learning through Internships and Class Projects
- Providing Opportunities for Students to Participate in Research with Faculty
- Introducing Executive Experience through Scholarly Exchange
- Providing Opportunities for Executive in Residence with Academia
- Providing Opportunities for Faculty Internship with Industry
- Providing Opportunities for Open Exchange of Ideas
- Sponsoring Annual Conferences
- Establishing Web Based NetWorks
- Establishing Round Table Conferences
- Providing Opportunities for Financial Services Awareness Programs
- Sponsoring Continuing Education Programs for Financial Services for Indiana’s K-12 Educators
- Developing Materials for Personal Financial Education to Indiana’s K-12 Educators
- Sponsoring an Annual Financial Services Conference in Indianapolis for Collegiate and High School Students
- Sponsoring Seminars Promoting Need for Personal Financial Literacy
- Publishing a Semi-Annual Financial Services Education Journal
- Sponsoring an Annual Ethics Symposia both Nationally and Internationally
- Supporting Curricula Development within the ISU School of Business
- Provide Mechanism to Enhance Focus on the Financial Services Industry for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs
- Provide Support for Professional Development of ISU School of Business Faculty
- Provide Support for Professional Development for other ISU Faculty Contributing to NetWork Programs
ISU
Public Affairs:
(812)
237-3773 or http://isunews.indstate.edu