A search committee has been named to help identify the next chancellor of the Indiana University South Bend campus, where longtime chancellor Susan Elrod has announced she’ll retire in December 2024.
The chancellor is responsible for all aspects of the academic, student, financial, development and administrative dimensions of the campus. As the oldest and largest regional campus, IU South Bend’s mission is focused on regional impact, partnership and transformation.
The campus enrolls approximately 4,500 students, offering undergraduate and master’s programs across six schools and the IU School of Social Work. It has six varsity sports teams and campus housing, plus nearly 200 full-time faculty members.
During her tenure as chancellor, a role she began in July 2019, Elrod shepherded development of a new campus strategic plan. She has also led several key initiatives to transform the campus.
Elrod led an effort to purchase the historic Engman Public Natatorium site as a permanent home for IU South Bend’s Civil Rights Heritage Center. She cultivated a $5 million lead gift from the Vera Z. Dwyer Charitable Trust and support from local economic development funds to support a $10 million renovation project to create the Dwyer Healthcare Simulation Center, which will open to students in Parkside Hall this fall. A $2 million philanthropic gift to launch a Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and an inaugural director position have created a new focus on entrepreneurship for students.
Under Elrod’s leadership, IU South Bend has seen consistent enrollment gains. Greater engagement with the community has resulted in new partnerships, such as the North Central Indiana Healthcare Talent Alliance. The campus also achieved a Top 10 Military Friendly School designation, ranking sixth in the nation among small public colleges; and improved in U.S. News Social Mobility Rankings to fourth for public regional universities in the Midwest.
“I am proud of the many accomplishments that we have achieved together to strengthen IU South Bend and accelerate its impact as an even greater force for education, social mobility and the public good in north central Indiana,” Elrod said. “I look forward to helping with a smooth leadership transition and am excited to watch the continued soaring success of our IU South Bend campus in the years ahead.”
One of IU’s executive search partners, Storbeck Search, will conduct the search for the new campus chancellor.
Search committee members are:
Chair: Debbie Ford, chancellor, IU Southeast.
Joseph Campbell, associate professor of counseling and human services, School of Education.
Hang Dinh, associate professor of computer and information sciences, School of Natural Sciences.
Chloe Garner, Student Government Association president.
Aviva Hakanoglu, lecturer of music, Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts.
Bethany Hartley, president/CEO of South Bend-Elkhart Regional Partnership.
Erinn Kelley, director of professional engagement, senior lecturer of English, School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Jesús García-Martínez, interim dean, College of Professional Studies.
Mohammad Merhi, professor of decision sciences, Judd Leighton School of Business and Economics.
Amy Pawlosky, University Center for Excellence in Teaching.
