Council discusses budget

In IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis' first time back heading the Bloomington Faculty Council since June 2000, IU President Adam Herbert sat down for an hour and a half discussion about administrative and budget issues.\nGros Louis announced administrative changes first, as he brought the BFC up to speed on the search for Dean of Faculties Moya Andrews' replacement. Gros Louis received a list of possible search committee members and should have a final search committee compiled within the next few weeks. One point made very clear, however, was the search would be strictly internal.\n"We will look for someone with a faculty point of view because the Dean of Faculties has always been seen as an advocate for the faculty," Gros Louis said. "It's an office and a person they can turn to with promotional issues, or just problems in general. Since the position was created, they were always someone from the Bloomington campus."\nAndrews is set to retire from IU at the conclusion of this school year. The replacement will take a role where faculty interaction is key, and the ability to listen plays a major role, Andrews said.\n"It takes a broad knowledge of the University and requires knowledge of the faculty council," she said. "It is helpful if the person has good people skills. The only real power that the position has is the power of persuasion, so they have to enjoy working with other officers and groups."\nPresident Herbert spent the rest of the two hour meeting discussing budget and funding issues for all walks of life around the IU campuses. Herbert made sure the BFC was caught up on legislative issues that could affect IU, including the state's higher than expected budget and proposed bills that could limit tuition increases significantly.\nAnother area highly stressed by Herbert was the appropriation funds IU will be asking for from the government. This past year, IU received $8 million in appropriations, but Herbert has set his sights on trying to gain closer to $30 million through creative and strategic proposals.\n"What I want to do is to ensure that we are asking for dollars that further enhance what it is we are trying to do in building better academic strength within the university," Herbert said.\nMany faculty members were able to speak directly to Herbert and get their individual questions answered. The discussion allowed BFC members to clear up inquiries about the different areas of the University they represented.\n"We have a very large structure at Indiana University and there are other faculty-based committees that deal with the issues that (Herbert) addressed today," BFC President Dave Daleke said. "I think it is very helpful for a broad-based faculty group like the faculty council to sit down and have an hour and a half long, very in-depth discussion about issues that are important"