Trustee provison fails

University faculty will not send a nonvoting member of the IU board of trustees to meetings that take place around the state this year. \nLast week, the state senate education committee voted against a provision to create a nonvoting faculty trustee position. The clause was part of a bill that did pass -- one to allow three of the nine IU trustees to live in the same county. Trustee positions had previously been limited to two members per county. \nHouse Majority Leader Mark Kruzan, D-Bloomington, introduced the provision to add the tenth member. Kruzan has introduced this bill or helped other legislators with it for the past 12 years. \n"At first, it didn\'t even pass the house," Kruzan said. "Then it passed the house but wasn\'t heard in the senate. Now a senate committee narrowly defeated the proposal. It's been slow going, but it\'s progress."\nKruzan said the bill was defeated because of party differences. \n"The issue boils down to a philosophical difference of opinion between the political parties about the role of faculty in University governance," Kruzan said. "I continue to believe faculty should have more formal input in that process. My Republican colleagues disagree."\nThe bill passed the Democratic-controlled house, but was defeated by the Republican-controlled senate. \nThe board of trustees is the University's main governing body that decides matters such as tuition hikes and the hiring and firing of Myles Brand and Bob Knight, respectively. \nSome IU faculty members have expressed a desire to see a faculty trustee position created.\n"I think a faculty trustee would be a good idea," said Geoffrey Conrad, professor of anthropology and member of the Bloomington Faculty Council. "Faculty have a view point on the University that is different from the ones that are represented now. Having a greater variety of view points would be a good thing. It is the same as having a student trustee because students have a unique view on the University." \nBob Eno, president of the Bloomington Faculty Council and a professor of Eastern Languages and Cultures, said the faculty would serve as specialists to the trustees in order to better inform them on issues dealing with education.\n"Improving communication and feedback between faculty and trustees is important," Eno said. "Boards have to make enormous and important decisions."\nCurrently a liaison exists between the statewide faculty and the board of trustees, but the position is informal and not officially on the books. \n"Trustees invite the faculty member," Eno said. "The thing we are working for is to formalize this."\nEno said President Brand is now working with the faculty to create a model of communication between the trustees and the faculty. \n"We've always had informally an arrangement where the faculty leadership have participated in trustee meetings and often times in trustee executive sessions," said Bill Stephan, IU vice president for public affairs and governmental relations. "President Brand has asked that we formalize that and bring more structure into that process so that we ensure we have faculty opinion in trustee discussions."\nEno and Stephan said the IU faculty and board of trustees have a good relationship. \n"We've been fortunate in that we've enjoyed a very good relationship with faculty and the board of trustees," Stephan said. "This issue hasn't been quite as significant as it has been on other universities."\nStephan said the trustees were receptive to the idea of creating an official liaison to the trustees. \nCurrently, a committee is being formed to explore the issue, and Stephan said Brand is hoping to hear recommendations later this spring about how to structure this issue. The issue will then be presented to the trustees.\nEno said IU has really taken a leadership role in forming positive relations between the two parties -- more so than other state universities. \n"We think we can make progress in this area without new laws being enacted," Stephan said. "While we've had a productive relationship and a very healthy exchange in the past, I think President Brand in bringing more formality wants to ensure that there is ongoing input from the faculty."\nAll parties said they want to encourage communication between the faculties and the trustees.\n"Faculty, and all employees of all institutions, for that matter, deserve an opportunity for input in the development of policy they have to work within and are most expert about in their day-to-day lives," Kruzan said.