Trustees tackle interim issue

RICHMOND, Ind. -- IU-Bloomington administrators could be in line to step in as the interim chancellor at the beginning of spring semester after Chancellor Sharon Brehm announced her resignation Thursday.\nIU board of trustees President Fred Eichhorn said the selection would most likely be an administrator at the Bloomington campus.\nAmong the administrators who Eichhorn said could potentially be interim replacements is Chancellor-Emeritus and former IUB Chancellor Ken Gros Louis.\nOther potential candidates are Vice President for Student Development and Diversity Charlie Nelms, Dean of Students Richard McKaig and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculties Moya Andrews.\nGros Louis said Sunday he would be interested in taking the interim position if a good fit existed between his qualifications and IU President Adam Herbert's expectations. He said he would like to be more involved with the development of the other IU campuses.\n"I would want to be more involved with insuring that our University with several campuses remains just that, a University with several campuses," Gros Louis said. "It's important that the University does not become fragmented."\nHerbert said he will select an interim candidate in the next two to three weeks. He will then announce his selection to the IU board of trustees, which has the final vote in the interim decision.\nAt the trustees meeting Friday on the IU-East campus, Herbert applauded Brehm for her consideration in stepping down for the sake of the University. He also expressed pleasure in Brehm's decision to continue serving IU by accepting a position as a senior presidential adviser.\nBrehm gave her resignation to Herbert Wednesday. It will be effective Dec. 31, after which Brehm will conduct studies on women in higher education and teach psychology.\nBrehm's resignation came after Herbert discussed restructuring plans within the University, which includes re-evaluating the positions of chancellor and vice president of academic affairs -- two roles held by Brehm. In a conference call last week, Brehm said she resigned in order to provide Herbert with the necessary flexibility in the restructuring process.\nHerbert said he wants to focus specifically on restructuring the academic missions of each IU campus.\n"I want to do all we can to strengthen our capacity to respond to the most specific responsibility that we have, and that is to offer the highest quality academic programs possible," Herbert said. \nHerbert said the current structure does not place enough emphasis on the academic agenda of the University, but he stressed that his plans for restructure are not personal.\n"This is not about any one person," he said. "This is about taking a very hard look at where we are and where we ought to be going."\nWhen asked whether or not he expects to receive similarly-motivated resignations from other IU chancellors or vice presidents, Herbert said he could not speak for other administrators.\nEichhorn said he has not been given any indications that would lead him to expect additional resignations. Brehm declined to comment Friday.\n-- Contact senior writer Colin Kearns at cmkearns@indiana.edu.