Herbert criticisms few outside IUB faculty

Professors at IU's satellite campuses believe concerns of IU President Adam Herbert raised by IU-Bloomington faculty are important and say the criticisms are far less prevalent on the other campuses.\nFaculty members at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, IU-Northwest Gary and IU-South Bend said they have concerns about the dual-role position of Bloomington chancellor and senior vice president for academic affairs, as well as about Herbert's visibility.\n"It is very natural that we want the president to be more visible on all campuses," said Bart Ng, president of the IUPUI Faculty Council and co-secretary of the University Faculty Council.\nHerbert lives and works on the Bloomington campus and is frequently more visible in Bloomington than on the satellite campuses.\nProfessors on other IU campuses said presidential attention is important, but the accompanying controversy is not always wanted.\n"The perspective of a regional campus over the years kind of swings between being grateful for staying under the radar of the politics and (between) concerns of the larger campuses and sometimes wishing that we had more attention," said Dave Vollrath, president of the IU-South Bend Academic Senate.\nFaculty members from satellite campuses say they, like members of the Bloomington faculty, have concerns about the dual position of Bloomington chancellor and University-wide senior vice president for academic affairs. While members of the Bloomington faculty said they believe a Bloomington chancellor might not be able to focus solely on Bloomington because of vice presidential duties, those at satellite campuses said a Bloomington chancellor might be too focused on Bloomington and might not be able to give full attention to other campuses in his or her role as senior vice president for academic affairs.\n"While the job might distract someone from being totally focused on Bloomington, it also might distract them from academic issues on a University level," Vollrath said.\nIn general, satellite campuses have not been as critical of Herbert as the Bloomington faculty has been.\n"We tend to separate what's going on in Bloomington," Ng said. "We are not as critical of President Herbert because there was no event to cause us to feel critical."\nHowever, events in Bloomington have been a topic of discussion.\n"There were a lot of e-mails going around, and all the articles from the Indiana Daily Student and the Indianapolis Star were being circulated," said George Bodmer, president of the IU-Northwest Faculty Organization. Though faculty criticism is not as prevalent as in Bloomington, professors are aware and interested in Bloomington events, he added.\nMembers of the Bloomington faculty criticized Herbert after he decided to continue the search for a Bloomington chancellor and senior vice president for academic affairs Oct. 31. The Bloomington faculty held a special meeting Nov. 15 and voted for several resolutions to be sent to the IU board of trustees. Two are close to being passed. One asks for a special review of Herbert by the board, and the other asks for Bloomington campus considerations to be the primary factor in selecting a new chancellor.