Twenty-two years

For 22 years, every incoming freshman class has been inducted by Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis. For 22 years, every graduating senior has been bid farewell with Gros Louis' annual valedictory speech. For 22 years, every major campus administrator but one has been appointed by Gros Louis -- including four deans of the College of Arts and Sciences and three deans of the School of Education.\nAfter 22 years of speeches filled with 17th century poetry, 22 years of fighting for increased faculty governance, 22 years of watching over the Bloomington campus, IU will say goodbye July 1 to the person who has shaped it over the last quarter century.\nGros Louis is one of a select few to be compared to former University Chancellor Herman B Wells. \n"Herman defined much of what IU is about," psychology professor James Sherman said. "And, in my opinion, next to Herman is Ken."\nDuring his tenure as chancellor and vice president for academic affairs, he oversaw all the operations of the Bloomington campus. \nGros Louis will be replaced by current Ohio University Provost Sharon Brehm, an administrator described by him as impassioned about the University and "very interested in students." \n"I really am ready to retire and am delighted that Sharon has been the person chosen," he said. \nLeadership for students\nSeniors Mike Gosman and Philip Roessler worked closely with Gros Louis during their college careers -- Gosman as 2000 Union Board president and Roessler as a Board of Aeons member. Both have discussed student concerns about the University with him, and both have sought his advice on topics ranging from graduate schools to great works of literature.\nThey agree Gros Louis is a rarity among administrators, most of whom they say are not as open to student interaction.\n"I will miss the conversations we have had in his office -- about current events, about books we have read, about my graduate school opportunities, about his retirement," Roessler said. "I have looked to Chancellor Gros Louis for more than advice about campus issues, but have taken away insights and wisdom on a broad array of subjects."\nThe 20-member Union Board of Directors recognized Gros Louis' support of students by unanimously voting him as an honorary life member, one of only 16 in Union Board's 90-year history.\n"When I would leave his office, it always struck me how lucky IU students were to have such a strong advocate of student initiatives serving as chancellor," Gosman said. "My favorite part about meeting with Ken is getting through with the business at hand so he could tell stories about the history of the campus or just share what was on his mind. He is the best storyteller I think I have ever met."\nRoessler said he felt honored after every encounter with Gros Louis.\n"I will never forget the feelings I have every time I leave his office -- enlightened, inspired, grateful -- that Indiana University has administrators of his caliber, who generously make time for students," Roessler said.\nFaculty members said they look to Gros Louis' interaction with students and try to imitate it.\n"Ken has been one of my models," said James Ackerman, religious studies professor emeritus. \nHe said that when Gros Louis bridges the gap between students and the administration, "IU is not the large, impersonal place that many fear it will be when they first come here."\nFaculty ties\nGros Louis has taught a class almost every semester since becoming chancellor. An English professor by discipline, he taught an 8-week senior Wells Scholar class this semester. His first position at the University was as a comparative literature professor, and many say he never lost his faculty roots.\n"He was always a faculty member first," said Sherman, who is president of the Bloomington Faculty Council. "He shared our values; he stood up for us always. He's truly the academic leader of the Bloomington campus."\nThis closeness to the faculty population was enhanced during his years as an administrator, especially when he presided over the Faculty Council meetings. Budgetary affairs dean and vice chancellor Maynard Thompson, a member of the BFC, said Gros Louis always cared about faculty concerns.\n"One of the most important characteristics of his administration is the extraordinary relationships he developed with the faculty, students and staff," Thompson said. "He consistently involves them in campus decision making in meaningful ways."\nUnresolved Issues \nAlthough Gros Louis is leaving his position, he stressed the need to continue plans he began as chancellor. Some still unresolved issues include:\n• Development of the School of Informatics and other capital projects\nGros Louis wants to ensure the completion of several prominent projects underway at IU. He stressed continued growth and support for the School of Informatics, as well as for the proposed multidisciplinary science building. Gros Louis said that if an insufficient amount of state money is appropriated for the School of Informatics, it will have trouble attracting faculty. \nBut he said progress has been made. Next year, the first informatics degree will be awarded to an IU student.\n• Growth in diversity \n"This year has been a very good year for hiring faculty from under-represented groups," Gros Louis said. "We have to continue that."\nThe chancellor included in his proudest moments his assistance in the creation of the Asian Culture Center and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Support Center.\n"I was very supportive of both," Gros Louis said. "Both have proven there was a need for them."\nHe was also honored on Martin Luther King Jr. Day by William H. Wiggins Jr., chair of the Afro-American studies department, who presented Gros Louis with a videotape of Gov. Frank O'Bannon thanking him for his service.\n• Responsibility Centered Management\nWhen the RCM budgeting system was implemented, many faculty members protested, leaving Gros Louis in the middle of the debate.\nUnder RCM, each academic school's budget is determined by how many students it has, how many credit hours are taken and the size of its faculty. These factors determine how much money each school "owes" the campus for services such as libraries and computing. After paying these "taxes" to the University, schools get back their cut of tuition and state-appropriated money.\nRCM has been evaluated twice, in 1995 and in 2000, but the chancellor said he is still working to quell misinformation.\n"There has been no evidence of grade inflation or duplication of classes or part-time faculty," Gros Louis said. "But now, 10 years into this budgeting mechanism, there are still a lot of misconceptions out there."\nLast four months as \nchancellor\nAfter 22 years of administrative matters, it all came down to this last semester.\nSherman, who worked closely with Gros Louis during his final semester as chancellor, said he displayed little regret during the last four months. The two characteristics regularly attributed to Gros Louis are his optimism and wry sense of humor.\n"Although it was often sad for me, it never seemed sad for Ken," Sherman said. "Not because he is unmoved by retiring, but because he always looks forward and sees the best.\n"He wants Sharon Brehm to succeed. He wants the University to keep its memory of what is here and why it is here. I think he knows that what he has left will continue to have a great impact."\nGros Louis is retiring two years before reaching the mandatory retirement age and will travel for a year, then return to teaching English at IU.\nIn Gros Louis' office sits a meticulously-kept calendar, chronicling his appointments and commitments. As the last weeks of this spring semester approached, Gros Louis said he began to feel a sense of finality.\nThere were only work obligations written on the calendar for the next 15 weeks, which became 13, "then 12, then 11, then 10," Gros Louis said. "It will be an odd feeling as that calendar gets shorter and shorter. Twenty-one years has gone extremely fast. It's hard to believe that it's been that long"