Ivy Tech taps Kentucky school superintendent as new leader
The next president of Ivy Tech Community College will be Martin Pollio, a superintendent at Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Kentucky.
'Ivy Tech is doing great things in Indiana,' he said in a statement. 'I'm honored to be joining such a strong institution, and I'm ready to continue building more value for students and communities across the state.'
Pollio will serve as the 10th president of the institution, succeeding former Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann, who announced her retirement after nearly a decade in the role. Pollio starts on July 1.
Ivy Tech president and former Indiana lieutenant governor, Sue Ellspermann, announces retirement
The school's board of trustees selected Pollio following a national search process conducted by Issacson Miller and overseen by a search committee. According to a release, Pollio 'rose to the top for his passion for students and experience creating results around workforce readiness and academic excellence.'
'Marty Pollio is a results-driven, dynamic leader with immense heart and passion for students,' said Ivy Tech Board Chair Andrew Wilson, who also served as co-chair of the search committee. 'We are confident he will build on the innovation and growth we've experienced in the last decade and bolster our ability to help more Hoosiers achieve their academic and career goals.'
Pollio spent 28 years with the Louisville school district as both an administrator and an educator, taking the role of superintendent in 2017. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Indiana University, Pollio went to Eastern Kentucky University to secure his master's degree and obtained his doctorate from the University of Louisville.
More than 200,000 students are enrolled at Ivy Tech across 19 statewide campuses and online. Nearly half, or 49%, of all postsecondary credentials earned by Hoosiers are awarded by Ivy Tech — including graduate degrees.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Indianapolis Star
What are President Trump's approval ratings? See what Indiana thinks of his performance
President Donald Trump's approval ratings nationally are in the red, but in about half of the states, including Indiana, more people approve than disapprove of his job performance. While Trump's approval rating nationally remains historically low, a look at state-by-state survey results show a more complicated picture. Here is what we know: Trump's approval rating is above water in 27 states, according to an Aug. 12 update from Morning Consult, which gathers polls over the course of three months to get a look at state-level data among registered voters. The number of states who approve of Trump is unchanged from July's update. Morning Consult found that Trump is most popular in Wyoming, where 66% of voters approve of his job performance, and least popular in Vermont, where 64% disapprove. His approval is net negative in two states with gubernatorial races this fall: New Jersey and Virginia, according to Morning Consult. In Texas, 53% of voters approve of Trump's performance while 44% disapprove. In California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has threatened to counter changes in Texas' redistricting plan, 41% approve of Trump's job peformance while 56% disapprove. California is Trump's seventh worst rating among the states, according to Morning Consult. According to Morning Consult, 51% of Hoosiers approve of Trump while 45% disapprove. Despite recent "No Kings" and "Good Trouble" protests, Indiana is one of the 27 states where Trump's approval ratings are more positive than not. Story continues after photo gallery. RealClearPolitics Poll Average shows Trump's approval rating dipping throughout the first few weeks of July before rising toward the end of the month. Aggregated polls by the New York Times show a similar trend. As of Jan. 27, Trump had a +6.2 percentage point approval rating, but as of March 13, that flipped to slightly negative, the RealClearPolitics graphics show. His approval rating fell lowest on April 29 around Trump's 100-day mark to 7.2 percentage points. It came close to that low again on July 22 and 23 at -7.1 percentage points, as the controversy over Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted pedophile, carried into its third week. As of Aug. 12 Trump's average approval rating margin, according to RealClearPolitics, is -5.4 percentage points. The approval margin according to the New York Times aggregator on Aug. 12 is -8 percentage points. A historical analysis by Gallup shows Trump's approval ratings in July of his first years in office — both as the 45th and 47th presidents — are lower than those of any other modern president at the same time in their administrations. In a Gallup poll conducted from July 7-21, 37% approved of Trump's job performance. Here's how that compares to other presidents in July of their first year of their term, according to Gallup:
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Indianapolis Star
Southwest to launch new nonstop flight from Indy to popular spring break getaway
For the first time in history, Indianapolis will have a nonstop flight to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Southwest Airlines will launch a seasonal nonstop route from Indianapolis to San Jose del Cabo, Mexico, starting March 5, 2026, for spring breakers looking to travel to the Baja California Sur destination. The route will travel from the Indianapolis International Airport to Los Cabos International Airport, one of two airports that serve the Mexican city, once daily through April 6, 2026, the Indianapolis Airport Authority announced August 14. Without these nonstop flights, the only way that Indianapolis passengers can fly to Cabo requires connecting through airline hubs such as Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago-O'Hare. Cabo is the second city in Mexico serviced by seasonal routes out of the Indianapolis International Airport, and the third new international connection the airport has announced in recent months. Southwest and American Airlines already offer seasonal flights to Cancun while Delta Airlines will start flying there nonstop seasonally in December. The IAA also announced new flights to Punta Canta and Dublin earlier this year. "New flights like this open doors. Cabo becomes our second destination in Mexico, and every new route means more convenience, more opportunity, and more ways we're delivering on what Hoosiers want most," said Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority in a statement. When the Cabo flight launches in the spring, Southwest will offer 21 nonstop routes from Indianapolis. By March, though, Southwest flights will look a little different for air travelers, as the airline is doing away with many of its long-time perks, including two free checked bags and open seating.
Indianapolis Star
3 days ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana loses $130 million as EPA cancels low-income solar program
For nearly two years, groups throughout Indiana have been building partnerships and planning how to effectively allocate around $130 million in federal grants to help low-income Hoosiers cut their utility bills with rooftop and community solar projects. The work paid off. Organizations received signed contracts under the Solar for All program to assist as many as 7,000 homes in Indiana with renewable energy projects that would cut their electricity bills by 20%. That money also would help train Hoosiers for jobs in the solar industry. Just as the groups were preparing to find contractors for the work, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the federal agency is taking back all that money and shuttering the program — a move staff members of the Indiana organizations working on the projects likened to having the rug pulled out from under them. 'This is a huge gut punch,' said Zach Schalk, Indiana program director for Solar United Neighbors. In announcing his intent to cancel the solar program in a video posted to his social media accounts, Zeldin said the agency is adhering to the recently passed federal reconciliation bill and acting as a 'great steward' of taxpayer dollars. But he made no mention of environmental stewardship — a central tenant of the agency. 'Since being signed into law on Independence Day, EPA has been diligently working to implement President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill in accordance with congressional intent,' Zeldin said. The reconciliation bill Indiana Senators Jim Banks and Todd Young, as well as Indiana's entire Republican delegation to the U.S. House, voted to approve repealed the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund that oversaw the Solar for All program. 'EPA is taking action," Zeldin said, "to end this program for good.' Zeldin has spent his tenure as EPA's administrator rolling out an onslaught of deregulatory actions. He visited Indianapolis in July to announce the "largest regulatory action in the history of the United States" with the repeal of the endangerment finding, and earlier this year in May he announced large cuts to his own agency. When the Solar for All program was established at the EPA in 2023, two coalitions formed to bring some of that money into Indiana — one a statewide group, the other a multi-state partnership. The EPA awarded the statewide group, Solar Opportunities Indiana, about $117 million to 'solarize low-income homes while transforming the market in Indiana by creating new financial products and incentives that jumpstart solar for low-income residents, new affordable housing developments, and more,' according to an April 2024 statement from EPA. The multistate award went to the Industrial Heartland Solar Coalition. This group united 31 communities across the Midwest and Rust Belt to begin building out residential rooftop solar. The statewide Solar Opportunities Indiana program was part of the Indiana Community Action Association, a not-for-profit group assisting low-income Hoosiers, and was overseen by Alison Becker, program director at Solar for All. The group had been in the planning stages since December and was putting together proposals to hire contractors and gearing up for a marketing campaign when the EPA pulled the plug. 'We were so close to the tipping point of things happening,' Becker said. 'There was so much time, effort and energy to make it work throughout the state.' The loss of this money impacts between 6,000 and 7,000 homes, Becker said. There also was money budgeted for work force development to create and train workers for high-paying jobs to install the solar projects. The Solar for All program already had signed contracts for the grant money, and Becker said that money is considered obligated under federal law, though Zeldin said the agency no longer has the authority to distribute those funds after the reconciliation bill was signed into law. The EPA's decision to pull back these funds likely will result in several lawsuits. The termination agreement gives groups 21 days to dispute the decision, Becker said, and several states and some grant recipients are looking at potential litigation. 'All of those decisions still have to be made, or it's simply winding down operations and not continuing operations anymore,' Becker said. One group working under the SOI umbrella was Black Sun Light Sustainability, which is focused on reducing harmful emissions and advancing clean energy projects in Indiana. Denise Abdul-Rahman, founder and CEO of the group, said Zeldin's announcement was a disappointment and missed opportunity. 'It's a really sad day for communities in need of energy affordability,' Abdul-Rahman said. Black Sun Light hired staff members to help with the statewide program before federal dollars were taken off the table. They were tasked with researching resiliency hubs and were working with groups like the United Methodist Women on identifying project locations in Indiana. The hubs would have provided communities with relief during power outages and given people with medical needs such as oxygen machines and refrigerated insulin the electricity they need, Abdul-Rahman said. The City of Indianapolis was involved with both the statewide program and the wider Heartland program. Mo McReynolds, director of Indy's Office of Sustainability, said some of the federal money was going toward a 5-megawatt solar array on city property. The grant would have supported the feasibility study for that project, which would have brought rates down to help households with high energy costs. The city was also using Solar for All funds to implement individual projects on single- and multi-family homes. Indy residents benefitting from the program would have seen around a 20% reduction of their energy burden, McReynolds said. Joe Bowling, executive director with the Englewood Community Development Corporation, had sent a letter of support for Indiana winning these awards to Schalk at Solar United Neighbors. Bowling and the CDC have an affordable housing program on Indy's near east side that manages about 400 homes. "I believe we need to do all we can to create a lot more energy," Bowling said, "and if we can do that on rooftops at the point of consumption with renewables that do not pollute the air or warm the environment, that seems like a good thing." The large upswing of data centers coming to Indiana is creating an increasingly large demand for energy in Indiana, and Bowling said closing off opportunities to create more energy is a bad idea. Bowling also noted many Hoosiers are already feeling a financial squeeze by utilities as rates increase, and residents living on fixed Social Security incomes are going to have an increasingly difficult time keeping up with rent and rising electricity prices. "Solar for all was going to benefit low-income grandmas living on very little income," Bowling said. "That's whose interests we would live to see served." Schalk and Solar United Neighbors were providing technical support for the statewide program. The loss of money is a loss to struggling families as they face electric bills going up, Schalk said. A recent report from Citizens Action Coalition shows Indiana saw, on average, the largest utility bill increases this past year since at least 2005. Shannon Anderson, director of advocacy at Earth Charter Indiana, also had been working on getting this money to Indiana communities since the program began in 2023. She and other Indiana groups are wondering where they might find other types of funding, but nothing will match the federal dollars that were pulled away. 'My biggest heartbreak is that so many of us worked so long to come to a place where we cleared all kinds of hurdles and promised to use this money in a way that we feel is not just most accountable to the EPA and to taxpayers, but to our own consciousness,' Anderson said. Solar for All would have provided benefits to historically underserved neighborhoods, Anderson said, and those communities are already dealing with the some of the state's worst air quality. 'It would be wonderful to see new programs come into Indiana in the wake of this,' Anderson said. "People who often experience legacy pollution are really served beyond just financial saving with the environmental benefits of solar energy.' While Zeldin's announcement left Anderson bereft, she is not ready to give up and encourages Hoosiers to reach out to their federal representatives. 'As summers get hotter, people who might have to make financial decision to turn off their AC and that could be difference between life and death for them,' Anderson said. 'I can't underscore how important programs like this could be in that equation.' IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
