Herbert to leave IU when contract expires in 2008

IU President Adam Herbert will retire when his contract expires in July 2008, he announced a day before the emergency meeting of the board of trustees and after months of controversy surrounding his administration.\nIt was the general consensus among faculty and trustees interviewed that the announcement, coupled with a recently unveiled restructuring plan, helps put to ease questions of leadership surrounding the president.\nHerbert said he always planned to serve for his entire five-year contract, but that a decision about whether to continue was made during winter break with the help of his wife Karen. They decided retirement was in their best interests so Herbert could spend more time with his family and with his writing, he said.\n"My wife and I, every December, think about the past year and give some attention to the coming year and talk about what we're going to do," Herbert said. "She pointed out that when I complete my term here it would be 18 years as president of two universities and a university-system chancellor."\nMany questioned if Herbert's decision wasn't motivated by recent controversy. In November, Herbert decided to extend the search for the next IU-Bloomington chancellor after a two-year vacancy. A group of faculty members held an emergency meeting where they passed resolutions by a two-thirds margin asking the IU board of trustees to review the performance of Herbert and consider restructuring of the chancellor position.\nThe trustees, along with IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis, all profess that it was always assumed Herbert would retire after five years and that the controversy did not affect the decision.\n"To spin this any other way is really missing a lot of what we have done here today," said Patrick Shoulders, vice president of the board. "You can strap me up to a lie detector and I would pass. It was a five-year commitment. This is no sign of any surrender or exit strategy."\nThe trustees acted on the faculty's request to restructure the chancellor role but decided not to review Herbert's presidency since they already review him on an annual basis. Herbert urged the board to make its annual evaluations more public with specific University guidelines and increased faculty input. Stephen Ferguson, president of the board of trustees, said the trustees plan to follow such directions.\nAlthough there wasn't any direct response to the attacks on the presidency, Herbert said he expects many of the issues of leadership to be resolved with a change in the University structure.\nDuring his statement to the board of trustees, Herbert said the issues surrounding the role of president aren't anything new to the University.\n"The question I posed is: Why would this University be the only one in the Big Ten that has experienced a scenario that four consecutive presidents would have to deal with the issues we have?" Herbert said. "I am convinced that these challenges can be characterized in the context of some fundamental challenges facing the University."\nHerbert said it's clear the Bloomington faculty want the president to be more visible, and by eliminating the chancellor position and creating a provost role, it will allow the president to do so.\nStill, Herbert downplayed the controversy during his press conference and emphasized the impetus for change.\n"I wouldn't call it conflict. I'd say we've had a little family dispute," he said. "The issues raised probably would not have been if we had this structure in place." \nHerbert also added that controversy is expected with the job of president and that all you can do is move on to continue to accomplish great things.\nTed Miller, president of the Bloomington Faculty Council, said he thinks all of these issues wouldn't have come to light if Kumble Subbaswamy, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, was picked as chancellor. Still, he said he thinks the changes are good ones.\nLaw professor Fred Cate said he thinks the issues surrounding Herbert's presidency have been somewhat resolved by the announcements.\n"I have been very critical of Herbert in the past, but I think that this is a good decision," he said.\nSome faculty questioned Herbert's massive restructuring changes if he won't be there to see the changes through, but Gros Louis said that shouldn't be a problem.\n"His legacy could be a restructuring of the University, even if he doesn't fill all of those positions," he said. Gros Louis added that his new title of University chancellor could mean he can assist with stabilizing IU through its changes.\nHerbert said he made his decisions about the presidency and his future after talking with former IU presidents Myles Brand and John Ryan. Herbert said though some trustees, such as Shoulders, asked if he was even going to be here as long as five years, Herbert wanted to stick to his commitment because of his love for IU.\n"I think it is an exciting institution," Herbert said. "It's been a privilege to serve it as president, but there does come a time in everyone's life when you have to address the question about what's important in that time"