University of Indianapolis gets new tool to connect with Indiana employers
The University of Indianapolis has expanded its collaboration with Ascend Indiana to connect more students to good and promising career opportunities in Indiana. By connecting Greyhound graduates to Hoosier employers, it serves to help fight the acknowledged ‘brain drain’ problem by retaining more graduates from Indiana institutions of higher education.
Ascend, an Indiana nonprofit organization, helps to connect students to internships and careers through the Ascend Network that matches a student’s skills and interests with the best Indiana career opportunities. By signing up for the web-based Network, students have access to more than 750 Indiana employers and receive support from an Ascend Indiana Career Mentor.
Since its inception in 2016, Ascend has connected more than 5,000 Hoosiers with jobs, internships and training opportunities in all sectors across the state. It’s an effort which strongly connects to the Indiana Chamber’s strategic goals to increase college graduate retention rates by 25% by 2035.
“At the University of Indianapolis, we are deeply committed to being locally rooted as well as a community engine for growth,” said Andy Kocher, UIndy’s Vice President for Corporate and Community Partnerships. “By collaborating with Ascend Indiana, our Greyhound students are gaining more exposure to top Hoosier employers—which only strengthens our longstanding commitment to experiential and work-based learning opportunities—and our Greyhound graduates are gaining more opportunities to land their dream job without having to leave Indiana.”
The Ascend Network is a resource offered through the Stephen F. Fry Professional Edge Center. During the job search, application and interview process, the Professional Edge Center will continue to provide individualized support and educational resources, in partnership with Ascend. Students can find out more information here: https://ascendindiana.com/.
Ascend Indiana not only adds a robust resource to the school’s career services, but also gives students a comprehensive view of the many rewarding and exciting career opportunities in the Hoosier state. Indiana’s economy continues to expand with new and existing companies, leading to many opportunities for Indiana-based careers in the fields of information technology, advanced manufacturing, biosciences, financial services and more. There are more than 2,000 open jobs on the Network for hundreds of different roles including systems analyst, accountant, engineer, marketing, human resources and information technology, among others.
“Students using the Ascend Network will experience a platform that is tailored to finding jobs and internships specifically in Indiana in a wide variety of industries that employ more than 3 million Hoosiers in meaningful and well-paying careers,” said Brad Rhorer, president and CEO, Ascend Indiana. “Indiana’s economy is growing at unprecedented rates; in 2023 alone, 208 companies committed to locate or expand in Indiana, investing more than $28.7 billion in their operations and creating nearly 22,000 new jobs with an average annual salary of $75,025.”