IU Trustees Appoint Erwin Boschmann Associate Vice President for Distributed Education
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Erwin Boschmann, professor of chemistry and associate dean of faculties at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, has been named IU associate vice president for distributed education. The appointment, approved today (Jan. 22) by the Trustees of IU, was recommended by Kenneth R.R. Gros Louis, vice president for academic affairs and chancellor of the Bloomington campus. Boschmann, who will assume his new role Feb. 15, has been a member of the IUPUI campus faculty since 1968. His duties will include oversight and responsibility for developing and enhancing instructional capability across all eight IU campuses.
"Erv Boschmann understands IU very well, has participated in our pioneering and successful efforts in distance learning, and has been recognized for his activism and excellence in teaching," Gros Louis said. "These qualities make him an outstanding choice to lead our fast-growing efforts in distance learning and continuing studies." Gerald Bepko, vice president for long range planning and chancellor of the IUPUI campus, added, "Erv has been one of the trailblazers on our campus in the use of technology for student learning and faculty/staff development, and we are confident he will offer superb leadership in the broader arena of responsibilities for which he has been chosen." Boschmann will be instrumental in defining and implementing a distributed education strategy for IU, and he will be responsible for stimulating pedagogic and techological experimentation and evaluation throughout the university.
The School of Continuing Studies will report to Boschmann. The school offers programs in independent study, distance learning and professional development, and serves as the academic home for degree programs in general studies, labor studies and adult education. IU's Independent Studies Program is one of the world's largest, serving 18,000 students annually. Boschmann also will be part of the Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and collaborate closely with its Teaching and Learning Information Technology Division. He will report jointly to Gros Louis and Michael McRobbie, IU vice president for information technology. "The deployment of information technology in support of distributed education is among the major recommendations made in Indiana University's Information Technology Strategic Plan," McRobbie said. "Professor Boschmann has made very significant contributions in the field of technology-enabled distributed education, and in his new role he will bring his substantial expertise to bear on providing leadership, coordination and focus in this area at IU."
Boschmann earned a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry in 1963 from Bethel College in North Newton, Kan., master of science and doctoral degrees in 1965 and 1968 from the University of Colorado, and certificate in higher education in 1991 from Harvard University. He has taught chemistry at the undergraduate and graduate levels and served as a consultant to chemistry departments in South America and Indonesia. Since 1988, Boschmann has served as associate dean of the faculties, charged with responsibilities for faculty development for the 1,500 full-time and 800 part-time faculty at IUPUI. His duties included the implementation of technology in the curriculum, administration of an internal grants program, organizing workshops, facilitation of one-on-one faculty consultations, coordination of all awards, and assistance with promotion, tenure and sabbatical decisions. He also supervised the Center for Teaching and Learning.
He is author of several dozen articles and numerous books on research and teaching. He chaired the American Chemical Society's national examination committee for general, organic and biological chemistry and is a table leader for the Educational Testing Service Advance Placement examinations. In 1983, he received IU's statewide H.F. Lieber Award for Distinguished Teaching, and in 1986, he was awarded a Lilly Faculty Open Fellowship. During 1997, Boschmann served as chair of the Indiana Section of the American Chemical Society, and in 1998, Bethel College presented him with its Distinguished Alumni Award.
