Trustees delay decision to review president

INDIANAPOLIS -- The IU board of trustees postponed its vote Friday on whether to conduct a midterm review of IU President Adam Herbert. Trustee President Stephen Ferguson said in a prepared statement that the trustees would convene in a special meeting Jan. 14 at IU-Bloomington to decide whether they will follow the recommendations of a Bloomington faculty resolution requesting a special review of the president. \nDespite spending Thursday discussing Herbert with faculty members and others involved on both sides of the Herbert criticism, Ferguson said the board needed more time to speak with more people.\n"It would be premature for the board to act today while there are people still to be heard from," Ferguson told a packed room in the University Place Conference Center at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis.\nAt a press conference following the trustee meeting, Ferguson and Trustee Vice President Patrick Shoulders also downplayed the issue of race in the criticism of Herbert, IU's first black president.\n"Any time those types of allegations or feelings or sensitivities are raised, you have to take that very seriously," Ferguson said. "I take it very seriously."\nDespite comments from black faculty members that the Herbert criticisms might appear to be race-related, Shoulders said Herbert was selected as president because he was the best candidate for the job -- not because he was a black man -- and he will be judged based on his performance.\nTrustee Cora Smith Breckenridge said the issue of race is not one that needs to be addressed in any review that trustees conduct, but the board is aware of racial concerns. \nThe statement from Ferguson addressed the sense that the trustees believe it is important to resolve the issue of Herbert's performance review sooner rather than later. Trustees also underscored the need to act quickly when they set a January deadline for the chancellor search at their meeting last month at IU-East Richmond. \n"Time is of the essence," Ferguson said, "and we will not indulge in business as usual at the trustee or University level."\nShoulders echoed the need for urgency, saying the January special session is the first emergency board meeting he has seen in his three-year tenure. \nFerguson said the board will also consider the position of IUB chancellor itself, as faculty have complained that the chancellor, who carries the duties of senior vice president for academic affairs, cannot effectively do both jobs at once. The initial public criticism of Herbert's performance came after the president announced he found it "to be in the best interest of the University to continue the search process." One of the principle criticisms of Herbert from IUB faculty has been the lack of a permanent chancellor since October 2003. \n"In this situation, it is somewhat difficult to find an external candidate where serious questions have been raised as to the description of the job we would be asking the person to do," Shoulders said at the press conference.\nHerbert, who appeared separately at the press conference from Ferguson and Shoulders, said he wished IUB faculty members had recommended a presidential review but respected the board's actions.\n"I think the board has an opportunity to challenge not only me but my faculty colleagues as well to keep in mind our obligations of service and to re-enforce the importance of putting the University first," he said.\nBut Herbert underscored his belief that the University needs to continue moving forward despite the questions of leadership raised. \n"The challenge that I think we all have in this kind of institution is to ensure that this commitment (to IU) is not lost," he said.