By: Cassidy Clouse, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2018, Psychology and Human Life Science, East
My main purpose as a bicentennial intern is to document IU East history. Along with other student workers in the library, I’ve been indexing and categorizing archived student newspapers, The Pioneer Press, from the 1970s.
There is an emphasis on documenting history with Alumni Oral Histories, which are gathered by recording conversations with alumni reminiscing about their time at IU East. We’ve begun our project by focusing on the 79 faculty and staff who have degrees from IU East.


In this blog I will feature some highlights from recent alumni interviewees. If you are an alumni who would like to share your experiences at IU East, please complete this quick form! http://iue.libsurveys.com/oralhistory
Tim Scales began his time at IU East as an accomplished banker. While taking classes in order to move up to bank president, he realized it was time for a career change to teaching. In his words, “I’ve learned that with a lot of organizations, I’ve worked my way up, and as soon as I get to the point of being the president, it’s time to move on.”
He is now Director for the Center for Entrepreneurship, Director of the Center for Economic Education, Senior Lecturer in the School of Business and Economics, and academic advisor for ENACTUS and Delta Mu Delta.
Amber Hall has both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from IU East, and is the Administrative Secretary of Academic Affairs. She fondly summarized her experience with the campus as, “IU East … it’s my home. No matter what, it’s my home. I wish other people could see that, that there are so many possibilities here on campus and with so many different types of people and culture and just everything. It’s so rich here, and it just makes your world a lot bigger.”
Liz Ferris graduated from the first Master of Science in Management cohort in 2013. Liz’s Bachelor’s degree is in Psychology, and she was surprised at how seamlessly her education and experience as coordinator of several programs melded with her graduate courses. Her relationship with IU East began as the 21st Century Scholars coordinator before transitioning into the Career and Experiential Learning coordinator.
She spoke highly of Nasser Paydar’s leadership as well as her experience working for the IU system. Just this year Liz decided to go to her true calling and is now an advisor for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and focuses heavily on student satisfaction and the quality of programs.
Professor Roger Crane had a “first career” for 17 years as the owner of a manufacturing-distribution company, a $32 million business, which he then sold for an early retirement at 48. After becoming involved with non-profit organizations, he saw a need for help with their accounting and decided to go back to school.
His first choice was the affordable, local, reputable Indiana University East. He recalls that while taking 122 credit hours in a year and a half he essentially lived in the library. After receiving his degree he was notified of an employment opportunity- he obtained two Master’s degrees from BSU before returning to IU East to teach. Some of his best memories have been with the Honors program and presenting at conferences, where he now takes his students.

Andy Britt has, in some way, always been involved with IU East. His mom, Carolyn, would sometimes let him sit in on her classes at IUE when he was younger. When looking for colleges to attend after high school IU East was the natural choice. In his time as a student, he was involved with STAT, SAAT, The Foam Dart Society, Campus Life, the Howler, SGA, and sat on the Disciplinary Committee. Some of his several positions on campus included barista at the then Bearcreek cafe, work-study in the art studio, Peer Mentor, Pack Leader, and was the first person to wear the first official Rufus costume.
It was also here that he met his still-partner Ashlee Brown. In graduate school he continued to work in a university setting before returning home and beginning what would turn into his current position as Assistant Director of Academic Support Services. “IU East will always be home, to a degree, it will always be my family… I’m excited to give back to a campus that gave me so much. That’s the long and short of it, I love IU East.”

For part two, please visit: https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2017/04/28/iu-east-oral-history-project-part-2/
Read more about the campus wide oral history project here:
https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/23/iu-northwest-oral-history-project/
https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/14/oral-history-at-iu-kokomo/
https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/14/165/
https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/14/staring-the-journey-oral-history-at-iu-southeast/
https://blogs.iu.edu/bicentennialblogs/2016/11/07/ipfws-oral-history-project/