Trustees to consider new SLIS dean

The IU Board of Trustees is expected to discuss soccer, parking, and library sciences among other topics at this month's board meeting, scheduled for today and tomorrow in the Dogwood Room of the Indiana Memorial Union.\nFriday, the board will review IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis' recommendation for the School of Library and Information Sciences Dean position, former SLIS Dean Blaise Cronin. Debora Shaw is the current interim dean.\n"A university of our size has a constant turnover rate, so we rely on good recommendations from the chancellor," said trustee Patrick Shoulders, who also serves on the Academic Excellence Committee. \nCronin, whose 12-year tenure as dean saw the program rise to national prominence, announced in January 2003 he was taking a year-long sabbatical, but would stay on as a faculty member.\n"I don't think it's unusual for deans to take leave of absences," Shoulders said. "There are those that sometimes tire of administrative duties and go back to the classroom for awhile."\nCronin declined comment for this article.\nThe Academic Excellence Committee will also review a report on what IU is doing to attract promising high school seniors to the University, Shoulders said.\nThursday, the trustees will view a plan to improve the parking lot on the corner of 17th Street and Fee Lane.\nThe operation would not only call for the paving of the current gravel lot, but also the realignment of the entrance drive near Walnut Grove, and the closing of the drive near Forrest Avenue.\nBoard of Trustees President Fred Eichhorn said the new lot will be an improvement over the gravel. \n"It should improve foot traffic and get rid of some weather problems," he said. \nEichhorn said the paving was not due to any complaints from those attending football and basketball games -- or even students who park there during the week.\n"It's just one of those things you do when you have the time and money to make it more user friendly," he said.\nOn the athletic front, the board will also honor IU's national champion soccer team and retiring coach Jerry Yeagley, as well as hear a report on the athletic department's financial status.\nThe department reported a $1 million deficit to the trustees in Sept. 2002. \nThat figure is expected to have been reduced, Shoulders said.