O’Neill provides chance for students take education overseas

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Leslie Wells

Two women stand in front of a monument in Berlin at night. The monument is brightly lit in the background. — O’Neill student Ariel Mason (R) spent her Spring Break studying abroad in Berlin, Germany.

O’Neill IUPUI’s downtown Indianapolis location provides students with ample opportunity to gain diverse views on their career paths as they pursue their degrees. But sometimes, shifting your educational environment can provide perspectives students may have never considered.

Ariel Mason is a student in O’Neill’s Accelerated Master’s Program, pursuing degrees in Sustainable Management and Public Management.

“I had never been out of the country,” Mason says. “Studying abroad was an easy way to make that first trip happen. You get to experience a more organized approach to being in a new country which was comforting to me.”

Mason applied to O’Neill International to travel to Berlin for Spring Break 2022—one of three courses offered around the world:

Berlin: This course focuses on the policy approach of Berlin and Germany to generate economic resilience in a turbulent global economy.
Poland: This course provides a broad overview of the problems facing urban areas today and identifies past, current, and possible future urban problems in the United States.
Cayman Islands: This course allows students to conduct research in the distinct and diverse ecosystems found only in the Caribbean, including coral reefs and mangrove forests.

For Mason, the course topic and location’s history and culture all seemed exciting. She could also earn a scholarship to help cover some of the cost of the trip. To help others gain a better understanding of what it’s like to enroll in the Berlin study abroad program, Mason shared her perspectives of traveling overseas for the first time, her impressions of Germany and Berlin, and her most memorable takeaways from the experience.

(more…)

Learn a holistic approach to leadership with IU Executive Education

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Leslie Wells

Photo grid of three women. On the right, a woman wearing a cardigan holds a coffee mug sitting at a desk. In the center a woman wearing a patterned dress smiles. On the right, a woman wearing a turquoise shirt and glasses smiles. — Christy Shepard (L), Stellamaris Mulaeh (C), and Susan Sears (R) attended IU Executive Education’s Holistic Leadership Series.

It was 6 p.m. in Kenya when Stellamaris Mulaeh logged on to her computer. Even though her work day was over, she was joining a leadership development series being hosted live thousands of miles away in Indiana by IU Executive Education.

The time difference and distance didn’t matter to Mulaeh. She wanted to learn, form connections with others around the world, and become a better leader.

Mulaeh works in the nonprofit sector in Kenya and admits that after the past two years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, she needed fresh ideas and inspiration.

“I needed to refill my jar as a leader so that I could be much more effective, much more deliberate in influencing change in the institutions and people I work with,” she says.

Susan Sears, who works for IU Health in Indianapolis, also needed a recharge.

“I just felt kind of stuck, like I was traveling without a compass,” she admits.

The two were part of a group of global leaders enrolled in the Holistic Leadership Series offered by IU Executive Education and Consulus, a global innovation consultant group. They’re teaming up again to host the upcoming Holistic Leadership Series beginning October 19, 2023.

The program is based on Consulus’ HERO holistic leadership model:

Heart and spirit: The personal values and character that inform decisions and actions.
Embracive thinking: The ability to learn new information, think critically, embrace diverse thought, and apply knowledge to real situations.
Relational dynamics: How leaders’ physical presence, habits, and emotions impact how they relate to others.
Operational leadership: Functional leadership skills, such as creating a vision, planning, directing, and more.

“This was a leadership program experience that I had never experienced before,” Mulaeh says with a smile. “It was a program that emphasized finding yourself and your values. It wove different components of the sessions together in a way that I found very powerful.”

(more…)

Private sector provides examples of how to LEED on climate change

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Leslie Wells

Written by: Doug Noonan, Paul H. O’Neill Professor

Addressing climate change is not only about finding viable, effective policies, it’s also about recognizing and addressing the myriad barriers on our path to solutions. Political gridlock, special interests, and policy whiplash whenever a polarized electorate flips party control all hold us back from finding ways to renew and sustain economic growth, curb wasteful and unfair government regulation, and foster new opportunities and innovation.

The challenges facing our society are simply too complex, too dispersed, and too localized to rely on crude, top-down fixes. As such, climate challenges do not imply one particular policy response. In fact, we can often look to the private sector to find complementary approaches to policy.

Case in point: The great success story in green building. The building environment accounts for 40% of total carbon emissions. As a result, the industry needed a renovation. Greening our buildings is a massive opportunity to usher in innovation, economic growth, and better performance.

(more…)

O’Neill’s Jerome Dumortier: War in Ukraine causing increased carbon emissions globally, higher food prices

Posted on September 19, 2022 by Leslie Wells

the sun sets over a wheat field in Ukraine with the Ukrainian flag flying in the foreground. — A new study from O’Neill’s Jerome Dumortier predicts the war in Ukraine will have global effects on food prices, food insecurity, and climate change.

Written by: Teresa Mackin and Leslie Wells

The disruption of crop production after the Russian invasion of Ukraine is expected to increase carbon emissions and food prices across the globe, without easing food insecurity.

New research published this week by Jerome Dumortier, associate professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI, uses economic simulation models to predict the short-term and long-term effects of the war on climate change, crop prices, and food shortages.

(more…)

O’Neill students opt for Fall Break of service and learning

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Leslie Wells

Group of students stand in a field with the mountains behind them, holding an IUPUI flag. — Students can spend their Fall and Spring Breaks on service learning trips through the Alternative Break program.
Photo courtesy: Amber Greaney

Looking for a way to connect your Fall Break to service in your field of interest? IUPUI’s Alternative Break program gives students the chance to participate in a service-learning experience with community organizations.

For 2022, the Alternative Fall Break trip lasts from October 14 through October 18. This year’s program is titled The Great Derangement: Humans, Nature, and Future. The project focuses on how environmental sustainability and justice interact with social and economic development.

“With the rapid increase in population, urbanization, and global warming, the challenges cities face are also on the rise as limited resources must be shared with more people,” says Alternative Breaks Coordinator Medha Kulkarni. “This trip will focus on exploring several aspects of environmental sustainability, recycling, and factors impacting ecological barriers and justice on a local, state, and federal level.”

Dates: October 14–18
Cost: $30
Applications due: Monday, September 19 by 11:59 p.m.
Location: Urban Midwest setting outside Indiana

Details of the program’s exact location will be revealed during the first of two mandatory trip meetings on September 30 and October 7. You can learn more about the program and apply to attend at this link. The program will run another option in the spring during Spring Break.

Alternative breaks provide a particularly unique opportunity for O’Neill students, who often fill sustainability and social justice spaces.

As a student, O’Neill alum Amber Greaney (BSPA’20, MPA’21) traveled to Kentucky and Tennessee for a service project about land management and ecotourism. During her trip, the group helped build a section of the Cumberland Trail. Amber shared more from her experience and why she chose to participate:

(more…)