Gros Louis to evaluate School of Informatics

IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis and committee will soon evaluate the School of Informatics and its effects on the IU-Bloomington campus, as ordered by President Adam Herbert as part of the effort to maintain the momentum of the position of IUB chancellor.\nNearly five years old, the School of Informatics was the first new school to be added to the Bloomington campus since the founding of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs 30 years ago, said Neil Theobald, vice chancellor for budgetary administration and planning. The assessment will look at how the school has met its initial goals, whether these goals are still the right ones five years later and what impact of the school has had on campus. \n"This is a committee that the president and I discussed some time ago and that I have also discussed with the (Bloomington Faculty Council's) agenda committee," Gros Louis said.\nThe evaluation committee appointed by Gros Louis consists of administration members and representatives from several IU schools. Pat Baude of the IU School of Law has agreed to serve as committee chair. Representatives from the School of Informatics will be chosen by Dean Michael Dunn. \nThe evaluation also comes to help lay the groundwork for the school's search for a new dean of informatics, as Dunn plans to retire in the summer of 2007, Theobald said. \n"Before the campus begins its search for his successor, it seems appropriate to assess the school's needs, as well as its successes, in order to determine the attributes we will seek in the next dean," he said.\nThe evaluation should be completed in the spring so it is available to the committee conducting the search for the new informatics dean, Theobald said. The evaluation will help shape the job description for the next dean. The search will begin in the fall of 2006. \nAwaiting the beginning of the evaluation, Joe Stuteville, media relations coordinator for the School of Informatics, said the school is looking forward to showing its contributions to the IU community. \n"We believe (the impact) has been pretty significant. We were the first informatics school in the United States," he said. "We have watched our \nenrollment grow from zero to 1,500 and have graduated 600 students to date."\nStuteville also believes the school's other "milestones" will bring positive feedback from the evaluation committee.\n"During our five years here at IU, we have successfully merged the computer science department into the school (completed last July)," he said. "We are also the first school in the nation to have a doctorate degree in informatics." \nWith a list of accomplishments, Stuteville feels confident that an evaluation will only reinforce the good work the school has done in the past five years.\n"The school's goal is be a leader in the information technology education field. I think we've done that," Stuteville said. "This only benefits research technology in a university environment. That's what IU has strived for -- to be a leader in research"