Herbert defends search delay

IU President Adam Herbert defended his decision to continue the search for a new Bloomington chancellor Tuesday, a day after he announced he would not choose any of the three finalists for the position. \nSpeaking to the Bloomington Faculty Council Tuesday afternoon, Herbert said the University was looking to find a candidate who was a strong leader, capable of propelling the University forward, yet he provided few details on what specific traits were lacking from the finalists. \n"We are committed to serving the University and we're not going to make decisions that are haphazard and we're not going to make decisions that are not within our understanding of the best interests of the University," he said. \nIU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said all candidates were qualified, but none were the "perfect fit" for the University. \n"He's looking for someone that he believes will be able to handle every aspect of the job," MacIntyre said. "It's a leadership job. It requires extensive background of academic experience. It requires someone who can communicate. Most of all it requires someone who will be a good leader."\nTrevor Brown, chairperson of the chancellor search committee and former journalism dean, could not offer reasons why the finalists were not chosen, and said he knew of no changes being made in the criteria for applicants. \n"Our understanding of what we're supposed to be looking for is essentially the same," he said. "It's certainly our hope that we can attract very good candidates ... Whether we can be successful is another matter." \nTed Miller, Bloomington Faculty Council president, said he believes a permanent leader is needed to solve many of the issues facing IUB. \n"The campus leadership has been either temporary or interim or not of long standing for quite a few years now and I think people are thinking that sooner or later this is going to start to have a negative impact on the campus," he said. \nJohn Carini, an associate professor in physics and co-chair of the Educational Policies Committee for the BFC, said a fundamental problem facing Bloomington is determining its place within the larger IU system. \n"We don't have a chancellor and that hurts in trying to define your role," he said. \nDuring the meetings, some council members suggested that the job be broken into two parts, with one person serving as chancellor and another as vice president for academic affairs. \nBut Brown said he's not sure breaking the job apart would make it easier to find qualified candidates.\n"Because it's challenging doesn't mean that people won't go for these kind of jobs," he said. "I don't think it automatically follows that if we split it into two jobs we would find it easier to find candidates of the experience and qualifications were looking for."\nThe search committee will meet soon -- possibly next week -- to continue the search process, Brown said. A candidate is expected to be named after the spring semester.