Multiple trustees OK

The Indiana House approved House Bill 351, which would add a non-voting faculty representative and increase (from three to four) the number of Monroe County residents who can sit on the IU Board of Trustees. The bill has passed the Senate, but still has to pass a joint conference committee before arriving on Governor Frank O'Bannon's desk.\nThe bill's residency provisions were prompted by trustee Fred Eichhorn's move from Lake County to Monroe County last year, making him Monroe County's fourth resident trustee. One of the other resident trustees is the student trustee Sasha Willsey, who lives in Bloomington. The student trustee is allowed to reside anywhere in the state. The concern has been that Eichhorn will no longer promote the interests of the IU Northwest campus now that he lives in Monroe County.\nWe believe the number of trustees who live in Monroe County should not be limited. With 35,474 of 90,670 total students, Bloomington is IU's flagship campus. Trustees are important to all IU campuses, and proximity can often help them communicate more effectively. If the trustee system was based on one similar to the House of Representatives, Monroe County would hold a majority of the trustees based on population.\nWhile various campuses should certainly be represented in the board of trustees, it is only equal representation if the campus with the largest student body has trustee members to accommodate the size difference.\nHB 351 would not allow all trustees to reside in a single county, it continues to grant representation throughout the state by allowing no more than two of the trustees appointed by the governor to reside in the same county. In addition, only one elected trustee may reside in the same county as the appointed trustees. \nIn addition to the residency provisions, the bill proposes a non-voting faculty member be allowed to sit with the board of trustees at meetings, elevating the faculty's voice before the trustee's. We wrote previously that increasing faculty voice, even if through a non-voting seat on the board, is an appropriate step for the legislature to take. We stand by our statements in a Feb. 6 editorial: "One non-voting faculty member would bring an informed and different perspective to the board and be beneficial to both IU and the Board of Trustees."\nIU's Board of Trustees serves an important role for all IU campuses and the diverse interests of students, faculty and others. By allowing more of them to live in the same county, we are enhancing their abilities to accomplish more efficiently those issues which affect all campuses. And faculty representation serves to raise awareness of faculty members on all campuses. A faculty member would bring direct contact with the classroom to the board of trustees, much as the voting student trustee does.