FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): The Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana’s board of directors has endorsed a state legislative study committee’s recommendation that IPFW become a campus within the Purdue University system, with an enhanced commitment to educational and research opportunities.

The study committee recommended that Purdue University assume governance over the Fort Wayne campus, while Indiana University will maintain the presence of the IU Medical School and enhance its health science and medical education programs in the region, including a commitment to create the inaugural Health Science Education and Research Center.

Regional Chamber Executive Director Vince Buchanan said the change would better align IPFW’s curriculum with the needs of Northeast Indiana’s job creators. “Businesses and manufacturers tell us a shortage of engineering school graduates, and particularly those with advanced degrees, constrains their ability to grow in Northeast Indiana,“ she said in a press release.

Buchanan cited Purdue’s school of biomedical engineering as just one example of curriculum with direct benefit to businesses in Northeast Indiana’s orthopedic implant manufacturing and supply industries.

IPFW Chancellor Vicky Carwein slammed the recommendation when it was first released, calling it “unacceptable” on educational and operational grounds.