IU leadership set to transform

There were no sit-ins or demonstrations in the streets. But since the beginning of this school year, the faculty -- perhaps an unlikely agent for change in the view of students -- has brought about near-revolution at IU.\nUnder pressure from professors unhappy about the leadership of President Adam Herbert and other issues, IU has seen sweeping changes in its administrative structure, personnel and faculty-administration relations. And Herbert has announced he will step down in two years when his contract is finished. \nThe trustees and administration chose to make a large number of changes in some of IU's most important leadership positions, whose job descriptions were brought into question.\nKen Gros Louis, who will leave his post as Bloomington chancellor to become IU's second University chancellor Wednesday, said, "What is made clear is that the president is the president of the Bloomington campus, as well as the president of the University. Candidates (for a new president) will know that they will have some responsibilities in Bloomington, and since Bloomington is the flagship campus, I think that will make it an attractive job."\nHe added that the provost position will also be attractive, because it has very defined responsibilities.\nFaculty members, including those who spearheaded the effort to hold a special review of Herbert, appear content with the changes made by the trustees.\nBloomington Faculty Council President Ted Miller said most faculty members were satisfied.\n"If you had asked me two months ago whether the trustees were going to be able to satisfy the faculty, I would have said no way," he said after the Jan. 14 meeting. "But after the meetings we've had, I believe the Bloomington faculty will see what the trustees have done as effectively addressing the concerns that have been raised."\nStudents, on the other hand, will see few immediate changes, Gros Louis said.\n"I don't think students are going to notice much of anything," he said. "The one thing that might affect them is the president's push for general education requirements."\nBut that doesn't mean that all the personnel changes will not have a substantial impact on IU in the long run -- and ultimately, students as well as faculty could feel the impact of the changes.\nGros Louis said that more changes are coming at IU, because the trustees will need to find a president to replace Herbert in 2008, before finding a permanent provost.\n"My guess is that Michael (McRobbie) will be in place for at least 18 months," he said.\n

How it began: Oct. 31, 2005

\nOut of sight, some long-simmering tension was building to a boil. A 10-month chancellor search had produced three finalists, including College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy, a faculty favorite. But Herbert deemed none of the candidates right for the job, and said the search would go on.\nFour days after the announcement that the chancellor search would be started from scratch, members of the Bloomington faculty held an emergency meeting -- the first in 34 years. The emergency meeting would spark a series of accusations and complaints about Herbert, and would send the University into an unprecedented period of turmoil.\n

The resolutions: Nov. 15, 2005

\nSome 1,060 members of the Bloomington faculty voted on two resolutions to be sent to the IU board of trustees.\nOne resolution asked for a comprehensive review of Herbert's performance as president. Faculty members listed several allegations about Herbert in the resolution, stating that he had not been visible enough on campus, had dealt poorly with donors and had taken too long to find a permanent Bloomington chancellor and senior vice president for academic affairs.\nThe other resolution asked for Bloomington considerations to be paramount in selecting a new chancellor.\n

The changes: Jan. 14, 2006

\nThe trustees had to act. The University was bleeding some of its top academic and management talent, including Subbaswamy and COAS Associate Dean Joseph Steinmetz, who will move to other universities next year.\nThe board of trustees on Jan. 14 approved a set of changes in IU's leadership that would change the job descriptions of the University's senior leaders.\nThe position of IUB chancellor was eliminated, and the position of provost was created.\nThe trustees -- saying they didn't want to add to the "animated state" of the University -- decided against a special review of Herbert, in part because of Herbert's announcement that he would step down in 2008. Herbert urged the trustees to begin searching for a new IU president as soon as feasible.