IU might add provost

The Bloomington Faculty Council will consider whether to endorse the creation of a new campus-wide position of provost at its meeting Tuesday.\nIf approved, the current position of IU dean of faculties will become provost and vice-chancellor of academic affairs.\nAt the Oct. 1 meeting, Chancellor Sharon Brehm will propose a reconfiguration of the position.\nBrehm said the new post will keep all of the current responsibilities of the dean of faculties position, but will add the responsibilities of budget planning for Bloomington's faculty.\n"It's not as though it's a brand new position," Brehm said. "If you go and look at the other Big Ten schools, you see every single one of them has a provost."\nOnce a provost herself at Ohio University, Brehm believes this position is more than needed at IU.\n"This would be the next step administratively," Brehm said. "This is a person who would work very closely with the dean and very closely with me."\nBrehm said the current Dean of Faculties Moya Andrews will be replaced in the new position, with someone who has more budget experience.\n"She and I have had some preliminary talks," Brehm said. "She's been a superb dean of faculties. I don't think Moya herself has decided what her plans are."\nAndrews could not be reached by press time.\nBrehm said Andrews has the option of staying with the University because she is a tenured administrator.\nIU Spokesman Bill Stephan said the administration has been talking about the establishment of a provost position for some time.\n"It's something (the administration) wants to give serious consideration," he said.\nThe search for the new provost will begin with the BFC appointing a search committee comprised of mostly Bloomington faculty and at least one IU student.\nThere will be a national search for the position, which includes any internal candidates already involved with the University interested in the position.\n"This is really a very typical, standard kind of approach for large campuses like this," Brehm said. "This is very typical in American research institutions."\nThe search will look for a candidate with considerable academic administrative and budgetary experience. The provost will also work very closely with the Chancellor and will keep roughly the same salary as the current dean of faculties.\n"My office needs a person with this kind of experience," Brehm said. "That would allow me to work on some of these broader campus initiatives."\nRobert Eno, president of the BFC and a professor, said the position will only be discussed at this week's meeting and will not be voted on by the council.\nBrehm said the position will not have to be voted on at all by the BFC but will eventually need approval by the IU board of trustees if the new provost is selected from outside the University.\n"I want everybody to be comfortable about the transition," Brehm said. "I think it will be good for the campus and good for the University, but it is a transition."\nThe new provost will begin his or her term in the fall of 2003.