Herbert names search members

Bloomington Faculty Council President David Daleke began the last BFC meeting of the semester by announcing the 23 members of the IU-Bloomington chancellor search and screen committee Tuesday afternoon.\nThe committee has been charged with a nationwide search for the position, which was vacated by Sharon Brehm last fall. Ken Gros Louis is currently serving as interim chancellor.\n"The president is hoping to fill the position by July 1," Gros Louis said. "But when a committee starts in the middle of the year like this, sometimes the strongest candidates can be finalists somewhere else."\nSchool of Journalism Dean Trevor Brown has been chosen to chair the committee but said he won't know much more about his duties until he meets with IU President Adam Herbert Friday.\n"This is a committee in whom I have the highest level of confidence," Herbert said in a press release. "This position is the single most critical one I will fill. It has enormous consequences for the future of Indiana University." \nGros Louis has agreed to remain in the position until a successor has been chosen.\nAlso at the meeting, the BFC approved an item 30-13 to give priority registration to student athletes.\nIf the resolution also passes the University Faculty Council and the board of trustees, more than 600 NCAA-eligible students will be allowed to register for classes just after graduate students and just before seniors for the next three years.\n"What about students who work and student leaders?" asked IU Student Association President senior Tyson Chastain. "Students feel that with the problems with rainchecks, why are we making compromises? The two issues need to be addressed separately."\nThe only other Big Ten school that does not give priority registration to student athletes is Purdue, which uses a more stringent registration system based on demand for classes.\nMath Professor William Wheeler, chair of the educational policies committee, which presented the plan, said allowing student athletes to register early is different than allowing other students to register early because the University is responsible for the time constraints of athletes.\n"We can accommodate smaller groups, just not larger groups (with Peoplesoft)," Wheeler said. "Lots of groups feel like they have reasons to deserve priority. I've had freshman students in my classes taking 15 credit hours and working 40 hours a week at Old Navy to pay for college. My heart goes out to them, but we can't do anything about it besides increase financial aid."\nFinally, the BFC again read over the new policy on background checks for academic employees, which will go before the UFC next month.\nThe slightly revised policy calls for basic background checks for most academic employees and more in-depth criminal background checks for those people deemed to work with "vulnerable populations," such as children, as defined by state law.\n"There's really no reason we can see to do background checks for the academic positions," said School of Public and Environmental Affairs Professor Theodore Miller. "State law requires background checks of state employees. What we're proposing is a fairly standard background check of education, etc. -- the stuff we usually do."\nThe BFC will next meet Jan. 19. The UFC will meet Jan. 25.\n-- Contact campus editor Chris Freiberg at wfreiber@indiana.edu.