Faculty pleased with provost post

While some faculty members are pleased with the new provost position, others are frustrated after being left out of the discussion to shift some of the University's major administrative roles.\nFaculty members voiced their concerns Tuesday during the first Bloomington Faculty Council meeting held since the IU board of trustees voted to approve President Adam Herbert's restructuring plans. \n"This is a rather unusual meeting following a rather unusual period," BFC President Ted Miller said. "I have been a faculty member here for 30 years and there is no doubt in my mind that what happened was the most dramatic change I've seen."\nWith newly appointed Interim Provost Michael McRobbie present to engage in the group's discussion, the members of the BFC had questions concerning tenure, academic and research space, and budgeting decisions. But a majority of the questions involved the newly created positions and shifts in the chain of command.\n"What I see is a basic contradiction: We have a vice president for finance, but now we also have a provost in charge of budgeting," BFC member Robert Kravchuk said. "Either the roles are complimentary or one has to go.\n"Are they going to walk around with a three-foot string tied to one another?" \nFinding it difficult to give opinions on a subject that still provided so much confusion for them, some members said they found it frustrating that they were not consulted prior to the approval of Herbert's plans.\n"Changes should be made with due sensitivity to the impact they will have on academics," Kravchuk said. "These decisions were made entirely without consultation." \nMiller attempted to address faculty concerns during the meeting.\n"It's clear that there are lots of questions but there just aren't a lot of answers right now," he said. "So we need faculty point of view." \nProfessor Herbert Terry told fellow council members that a successful University-wide change would not be possible without proper input from faculty.\n"While we debate these issues, the board of trustees and president will be moving forward," he said. "Remember that we shook the president and trustees into leverage, but these things won't come out well if (the administration) doesn't have faculty input."\nThough faculty gave a mixed analysis of restructuring plans, one opinion appeared almost unanimous -- the position of provost as an officer completely focused on the Bloomington campus is an excellent investment to the University.\n"Because the other regional campuses have a say in who the IU president is, it's so hard to find someone totally focused on the Bloomington campus," BFC member Craig Bradley said. "At least now we have a say in who our provost will be; the other campuses don't."\nFinding optimism in the rapid changes, Miller said that in spite of unknowns, he believes the trustees are working to create a clear administrative operating system.\n"I think that these are very positive changes, but there are still questions that need to be asked," Miller said. "We hope to be very active in discussion with the administration regarding these changes"