IU has a new president, and as with any new administration, change is coming. President Whitten has promised to focus more on the content offered by the university, which will in turn lead to a major slowdown in physical construction around campus.

Over the past decade, IU students have grown accustomed to the sights and sounds of construction. Twenty-two buildings were either significantly renovated or built brand new during former president Michael McRobbie’s tenure. While the university touted shiny facilities and state-of-the-art equipment, some students grew a bit frustrated with the spending habits under McRobbie. Tuition did increase steadily under his leadership.

Jacob Collins, an IU senior studying finance and accounting, was critical of the money spent during those years.

“I just didn’t feel like all those changes were necessary,” Collins said. “Tuition has gone up since I’ve been here, and my friends at Purdue haven’t had the same experience.”

A summary of IU’s tuition fees year by year under McRobbie can be found here, where a chart shows a nearly 25% increase overall.

Cyberinfrastructure Building, completed February 2012

Third and Union Apartments, completed August 2012

Bart Kaufman and Andy Mohr Fields, completed March 2013

Spruce Hall, completed July 2013

Jacobs School East Studio Building, completed August 2013

Forest Hall renovation/expansion, completed August 2013

Hodge Hall, completed July 2014

Global & International Studies Building, completed July 2015

Musical Arts Center addition, completed May 2016

Paul O'Neill Graduate Center, completed January 2017

Luddy Hall, completed November 2015

Conrad Prebys Career Center, completed December 2017

Marching Hundred Hall, completed December 2017

Auxiliary Library Facility III, completed August 2018

Memorial Stadium Excellence Academy, completed August 2018

Wilkinson Hall, completed December 2018

Jerry F. Tardy Center, completed July 2020

Health Sciences Building, completed November 2020

Luddy Center for Artificial Intelligence, completed August 2021

Walnut Grove Center, completed June 2021

Whitten’s new initiative will instead center on improving students’ and employees’ ability to carry out virtual work, something that has now become necessary thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said that is one of the most positive things from the pandemic, and the university is planning for that as part of its work fabric in day-to-day operations.

Carney also said many of the virtual possibilities and the scaling back of physical infrastructure is due to all that was accomplished under McRobbie.

“Now we have the space we need to put students and staff into to carry out this work,” Carney said.

Collins thought it was a welcomed sight after the barrage of construction.

“Physical infrastructure is still very important, but not necessarily so much during the COVID age,” Collins said. “The online infrastructure has just been neglected for so long.”

Financially, Carney said due to the addition of a couple new schools to the curriculum, like the Global & International Studies academic area, a new building had to be constructed, so it’s hard to determine exactly what kind of money impact there will be.

This is far from the only initiative Whitten has started since taking over as president. Each week, she sends students and faculty an email of her blog, dubbed “Written by Whitten,” where she details some of the news and updates across all of IU’s campuses statewide.

To that point, while the Bloomington campus has a tendency to steal the spotlight, Whitten has also pledged not just to focus where she’s based. That includes all five of the state’s regional campuses, where Whitten has said she will make sure those places will continue to serve as an important role to the state.

In one of her blogs posts, Whitten said IU “must play a leadership role in advancing the quality of life for the residents of Indiana and beyond.” Plans to hold that statement true include a wide variety of possibilities, but for Whitten, it starts with shifting from the physical to the virtual realm on campus.