IU's three newest trustees received insight into the internal structure of IU from some of its most noted officials last Thursday. \nGov. Mitch Daniels appointed trustees Dr. William Cast, Thomas Reilly Jr. and student trustee Casey Cox to the nine-member board in July. \nThe new board members joined trustee president Stephen Ferguson, alumni-elected Patrick Shoulders -- now vice president of the trustees -- and IU President Adam Herbert for an informal orientation meeting held on the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis campus to discuss building repairs, remaining on top of technological curves and increasing \ndiversity.
Building repair and \nrehabilitation\nVice President and Chief Administration Officer J. Terry Clapacs spoke about issues of repair and rehabilitation in the University's physical structures. As the University's campuses expand in admission and research capabilities, new buildings will need to be built, and old ones restored or torn down. \nClapacs asserted the value of a solid investment in good architectural and landscape planning. \n"We want IU's campuses to be the most beautiful in the country," he said.\nHe added that IU tries to choose different architects to plan each new building. Reilly and Clapacs were in agreement that buildings must be an investment that will last long into the future.
Staying on the cutting edge of technology\nVice President for Information Technology Michael McRobbie, a computer science professor, talked about IU's information technology capabilities and the obstacles IU is currently facing as it tries to reach its potential in information technology and life sciences. McRobbie said IU has more computing power than California Institute of Technology, but the problem lies not in power, but in having enough data storage -- a problem not easily solved by simply spending more money. \nIncreasing IU's potential for data storage is critical, he said, "in order to take us beyond state of the art to what the new state of the art will be."
Increasing diversity\nVice President for Institutional Development and Student Affairs Charlie Nelms spoke about IU's efforts to increase diversity enrollment in the state, an issue that clashed with Reilly's belief that IU should focus on increasing its ranking and reputation through active recruitment and stricter admissions standards based on SAT and ACT scores. Nelms argued IU must remain committed to being a broad access institution. \n"Quality has a price. I could change the profile of the institution just like that," Nelms said. "We could chop off the bottom half of students (and) recruit presidential scholars based on SATs and ACTs," he said, emphasizing he was not committed to this idea, nor did it chime with the spirit of IU. \nShoulders said conflicts such as the debate between Nelms and Reilly was one that IU has always grappled with, \n"Keeping IU both affordable and accessible, and at the same time trying to increase our excellence in our rankings, is quite a challenge," he said.
