Accountability: Too high a price?

By creating the Office of University Planning, Institutional Research and Accountability, IU President Adam Herbert has the right idea. But having a bright idea might not be enough to create a successful system of accountability at a University already pressed for funds. \nAs a public University and recipient of funding from the state, IU already stands accountable not only to students and faculty members, but also to state standards and Hoosiers at large. By the same token, students and citizens, as well as publications like the Indiana Daily Student, have an obligation to hold IU accountable for its actions. But our voices are less effective without a representative office on campus actively addressing those concerns. The new office will be exactly that. \nThe office will be guided by the missions and goals described in the recently released Mission Differentiation Report, commissioned by Herbert to summarize the "mission" of each of IU's eight campuses. IU-Bloomington's mission is in part to retain its central role as the "flagship campus." According to one of the report's recommendations, initiatives to create and build upon graduate programs of study should be limited to IUB or IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis. \nThe idea of creating a University mission and sticking with it is not a new idea but one that favors common sense and consistency. \nAn honest desire for improvement might have motivated the creation of the new office. Idealism untempered by fiscal responsibility, however, could cause a train wreck for students and Hoosiers whose money funnels into the University. \nHerbert has allocated $900,000 per year for the new office ( "New office aims to bring money to IU," Thursday). The office brings in more employees with high salary positions even as IU lets go of employees by choosing not to replace retiring professors in an effort to save money. In establishing an office on campus when IUB is strapped for funds, Herbert takes a risk. The new office will be responsible for monitoring funds associated with the missions of departments and campuses in an effort to more efficiently use funds for the greatest possible good. But IU students and Hoosiers should keep a close eye on the development of the new office to ensure that this new instrument for financial accountability does not become yet another roll of expensive red tape.\nThe Office of University Planning, Institutional Research and Accountability was officially established in early September, but the press releases for the new office trickled out of administration Oct. 6, more than a month later. This failure to push publicity for the new office is indicative of the administration's anticipation of protests on the part of concerned students and employees. \nHerbert, in attempting to implement a consistent and up-to-date system of accountability, has his priorities in line. But IU students at all eight campuses would do well to keep an eye on this office in the years to come, to do our part in holding the administration accountable for its promises.