Purdue Fort Wayne’s metropolitan university status reaffirmed

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—The Indiana Commission for Higher Education has reaffirmed Purdue University Fort Wayne’s status as a Metropolitan University.

The resolution that passed in a June 13 meeting, which was held in Fort Wayne, formally acknowledges the university’s recent name change from Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) to Purdue University Fort Wayne and reconfirms the university’s distinction as a metropolitan campus.

The designation is important in that it distinguishes Purdue Fort Wayne as a metropolitan campus rather than a regional campus in the state of Indiana. According to the resolution, “Purdue University Fort Wayne is Indiana’s Flagship Comprehensive Campus for the Fort Wayne Metropolitan Region serving a distinctive role to provide leadership to the region by using its resources to improve the region’s quality of life.”

“We are extremely pleased that the Indiana Commission for Higher Education has ratified Purdue Fort Wayne’s continued designation as a Metropolitan University,” says Ronald L. Elsenbaumer, Chancellor of Purdue Fort Wayne. “Our university is an essential driver of social, economic, and cultural advancement in the region, all of which contributes significantly to the quality of life in northeast Indiana and beyond. This designation helps galvanize our continued expansion of research, scholarship, and creative expression.”

Metropolitan University status affirms a commitment from Indiana to support Purdue Fort Wayne as a special-mission institution that:

• Focuses on aligning outcomes of educational programs with the economic and social priorities for the metropolitan region.
• Emphasizes the value of applying university research resources to tackling challenges of and creating opportunities for the metropolitan region. 
• Builds intentional educational opportunities that create mutual benefits for students, the institution, and the metropolitan region focused on integrating student learning in “real life” experiences in industry, social agencies, and governmental bodies. 
• Responds to economic development needs of the metropolitan region through developing educational programs that support the professional and technical needs of emergent industries. 
• Enhances the quality of life in the region through artistic and humanistic programs that affirm the value of inclusivity inherent in a vibrant metropolitan area.    
• Evolves a culture of inclusive excellence that emphasizes leveraging our educational resources to close equity gaps for the region’s citizens.

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