Living and Working in Kokomo

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Video Transcript for the Diverse Hiring Initiative: Christopher Caruvana

Pop rock music is playing in the background as Christopher Caruvana begins talking in the IU Kokomo Library. A lower third appears on screen with the IU logo naming Christopher Caruvana, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Mathematics. 

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Christopher Caruvana

What brought me to IU Kokomo was that this campus reminds me quite a bit of my undergrad, actually. So when I was applying to jobs, was taking that into great consideration. I think one of the things that I like the most about my undergrad experience was the connection I was able to have with my faculty.

00:00:13:02 - 00:00:28:01

Christopher Caruvana

That's something that we have here at IU Kokomo, and I really, really value that, because I think it's just a great, a great campus. The environment's really great. It's just a really positive, positive atmosphere. I think another very positive experience is being part of the multicultural center as well.

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Christopher Caruvana

I mean, the fact that that exists on this campus, I think is, is, is a really good thing. It's not something that I'm familiar with at other campuses. I mean, I think community is one of the most important things.

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Christopher Caruvana

And having, like, a community that you feel is your own, you know, I think that's, that's a very important part to just being happy in general as a human. And so just making those connections, I think I mean, everyone here would be welcoming and and a friend. But exposure to to as many different kinds of people that that are

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Christopher Caruvana

here on campus, I think that's the best way to build, to start building your community. Yeah, customer service has been good so far. I'm Christopher Caruvana and I teach mathematics. I'm an assistant professor in the School of Sciences.

The video ends with the IU Kokomo logo appearing on screen with the website, iuk dot edu.

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Video Transcript for the Diverse Hiring Initiative: Kasem K. Kasem

Pop rock music is playing in the background as Kasem K. Kasem begins talking in the IU Kokomo Library. A lower third appears on screen with the IU logo naming Kasem K. Kasem, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry. 

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Kasem K. Kasem

I tell them that Kokomo is your heaven to start with. It has everything, it has peace, the atmosphere, even the geographical position. You're centered between, surrounded within 50 miles of bigger universities. Whatever you missed in the Kokomo campus, you can compensate it by collaborative work with other university.

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Kasem K. Kasem

And I always tell this to the people who were hired from different country, and so many of them stayed here. Housing is affordable. Living expenses are affordable. So what else do you need? You need a vacation. One hour we will come in Indianapolis. Two hour we will be coming to Chicago. Three hours

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Kasem K. Kasem

we will be coming to Detroit. What else do you need? And I have several choices, but I choose Kokomo because of family factors. Is the city a safe city? Is it good to raise children in? And so I put my family in my major equation, not only the academic parameter of it.

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Kasem K. Kasem

Well, my name is Kasem K. Kasem. I have a doctorate degree in chemistry. I am a full professor of chemistry at Indiana University Kokomo.

The video ends with the IU Kokomo logo appearing on screen with the website, iuk dot edu.

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Video Transcript for the Diverse Hiring Initiative: Sarah Heath

Pop rock music is playing in the background as Sarah Heath begins talking in the IU Kokomo Library. A lower third appears on screen with the IU logo naming Sarah Heath, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History.

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Sarah Heath

What's kept me here? Oh my gosh, the opportunities that I've had to work here. Indiana University is very generous in supporting faculty members research. Supporting student travel. I've had the chance to take students overseas and to different cities in the region, and in the nation.

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Sarah Heath

You know, we really feel like we offer a well-rounded experience. And so for that, I just feel like I couldn't trade it for any other institution. And I guess what I most like is that Indiana University values both research and teaching, and I found that other universities put an emphasis on one or the other, but not both.

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Sarah Heath

And I really find that each side of that experience informs the other. And so I hope it gives us a better educational push here. And then, of course, I've really had a lot of freedom to focus on the teaching that I want to do on the research that I'm participating in.

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Sarah Heath

And so it's, I think, that feeling that I'm allowed to dictate much of my future. Now here on campus, since I represent one diverse background, I'm part of the LGBTQ community. There were no hubs of LGBTQ connection right here in the community.

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Sarah Heath

Since then, there's an organization that fosters both to people of my age and to younger people in the community. But IU Kokomo, I've found, is very receptive to diversity. There's genuinely a push to really support a truly welcoming and caring atmosphere.

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Sarah Heath

My name is Sarah Heath and I teach history here at Indiana University Kokomo.

The video ends with the IU Kokomo logo appearing on screen with the website, iuk dot edu.

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Video Transcript for the Diverse Hiring Initiative: Rosalyn Davis

Pop rock music is playing in the background as Rosalyn Davis begins talking in the IU Kokomo Library. A lower third appears on screen with the IU logo naming Rosalyn Davis, Ph.D., Clinical Associate Professor.

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Rosalyn Davis

If what you want to see is people's lives changed because of education, then a place like Kokomo is the best place to be. They have the ability to make your own mark without getting lost in the shuffle of one of the bigger campuses.

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Rosalyn Davis

We still get some of the support from IU Bloomington and IUPUI, so we have access to those resources. So as a researcher, you don't really have a loss coming to a campus like IU Kokomo. But what you do gain is the ability to impact your students more directly to get to know them over the course of several

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Rosalyn Davis

years, as opposed to one or two semesters with a class size of 150 people in it. My biggest class since I've been here is, I think, 45 people, and over the course of that time, the classes, of course, get smaller, the deeper we get in the major.

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Rosalyn Davis

But the number of students who come back or try to friend me on Facebook or social media later because we made a direct impact on them is amazing. I would say, come meet us. I don't think if you meet us that you would be disappointed and you can look at the area to figure out if Kokomo or

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Rosalyn Davis

Indianapolis or somewhere in the middle makes more sense to live. But I think the campus itself is very welcoming and they're open to hearing about what we could do to improve. So if you have the ideas, we're probably ready to make it happen.

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Rosalyn Davis

My name is Rosalyn Davis. I'm a clinical associate professor of psychology, the Faculty Diversity Liaison, and I direct our mental health counseling program.

The video ends with the IU Kokomo logo appearing on screen with the website, iuk dot edu.