Professor appointed to head IU budget, will battle state funding cuts

Neil Theobald, professor of educational finance, has been named as the new vice chancellor for budget and administration, replacing Maynard Thompson after his 12-year tenure heading the University's budget.\nEffective July 1, Theobald will be responsible for developing and implementing IU's budget, administering campus-specific activities and policies, working with the heads of 26 academic and administrative responsibility centers and supervising the offices of the bursar and of space management. Theobald describes replacing Thompson in the new position as daunting.\n"(Maynard) has just done a wonderful job in that office," Theobald said. "I teach educational finance, and now I'll be responsible for educational finance on this campus. All the stuff I write about I'll actually get to try."\nPrior to his employment at IU, Theobald was a professor of educational finance at the University of Washington. He then moved to Bloomington in 1993, where he has taught educational finance for the last nine years. \nWhile in Bloomington, Theobald has worked closely with the Indiana General Assembly dealing with budget issues concerning K-12 education in the state, along with co-chairing the campus Budgetary Affairs Committee and the 1999-2000 Responsibility-Centered Management Review.\n"Dr. Theobald is very knowledgeable on financial matters," IUB Chancellor Sharon Brehm said. "He knows the current budget system and he knows it very well."\nBrehm selected Theobald following a national search by an 18-member search committee. The committee screened all of the candidates and Brehm investigated the finalists, selecting Theobald to replace Thompson, a role Brehm described as irreplaceable.\n"He's been a towering figure," Brehm said.\nThompson, forced to retire because of the University's policy of mandatory retirement at age 65, will now return to the Department of Mathematics as a faculty member.\nChief financial officer, Judith Palmer, will work closely with Theobald in his new position preparing fiscal analysis reports, budget projections, dealing with payroll and other financial operational services.\n"Neil will be in the process of learning and building upon the steps that Maynard has taken in the past years to enhance the financial management of the campus," Palmer said. "I have had the opportunity to work directly with Neil in his capacity as chair of the Bloomington Budgetary Affairs Committee. \n"I think he will be an excellent vice-chancellor for the campus."\nTheobald will begin his tenure at the start of a new fiscal year for the University, beginning administration of the new budget, recently approved by IU's Board of Trustees.\n"This is also the year that IU will make its request to the 2003 General Assembly for funding for the next biennium," Palmer said.\nTheobald will also work with current budget cuts by the state because of economic problems throughout the country.\n"It obviously adds a difficult responsibility," Palmer said. "It adds additional challenges for the campus."\nVice president and chief administrative officer, Terry Clapacs, agreed that Theobald will face additional problems with the budget because of state cuts.\n"We have more students to serve and yet finances will be very, very tight," Clapacs said. "That all comes at a time when the University wants to continue to grow."\nClapacs will also work with Theobald on budget issues concerning IU's physical plant.\n"The budget for the physical plant comes from the Bloomington campus," Clapacs said. "I think he's well-prepared for this position. Being a part of the academic environment will give him a unique insight."\nTheobald understands the constraints he'll have to face in the next few years concerning IU's budget.\n"There are many more demands placed on the state budget than there is to fund them," Theobald said. "There won't be as much money as people would like to go around. I think we need to be aware of that to operate as efficiently as possible"