Research VP is IUB's first provost

IU Vice President Michael McRobbie was announced as IU-Bloomington's interim provost Saturday after a special meeting of the IU board of trustees yielded sweeping changes in the structure of IUB's leadership.\n"What I'm really looking to do is to give major academic leadership to the campus," McRobbie said in an interview after the meeting.\nMcRobbie told the Indiana Daily Student he will focus on improving IU's profile and national standing.\n"In my view, the biggest single impediment holding us back from reaching our full potential as a research university is lack of research space," he said, "and that problem is particularly severe on this campus."\nThe provost position was created Saturday following a recommendation from IU President Adam Herbert as part of a major overhaul of University leadership. The position of chancellor was eliminated and provost was created in its stead. A new permanent provost will serve as the Bloomington campus' chief academic officer.\n"We need a very effective organizational planner and change agent for this leadership position, who is decisive (and) strategically focused," Herbert said at the meeting. "We need someone who is prepared to work with faculty colleagues in a collaborative manner. It is my belief that Vice President Michael McRobbie demonstrates these skills."\nMcRobbie will serve as interim provost until a search committee submits candidates for a permanent provost to Herbert and the trustees. He was approved unanimously by the trustees, who were eager to leave behind a tumultuous fall semester that included a faculty uprising and a failed chancellor search.\nMcRobbie has been at IU since 1997, after leaving the Australian National University.\nIUB has not had a permanent chief academic officer since Sharon Brehm resigned as chancellor in October 2003.\nMcRobbie, who has a daughter at IU, said he also wants to improve the quality of student life for undergraduates.\n"We have to be offering the best environment for students," he said. "I was struck by the fact that when (my daughter) moved into the dorm room when she was a freshman, that the dorm room I moved into in 1968 was a better dorm room than she had. This indicates to me that we haven't been giving enough attention to the quality of student life on this campus."\nMcRobbie said he has a lot of work to do to transition into his new job. With a background in information technology, McRobbie is not familiar with all aspects of the provost position.\n"(Former IUB Chancellor) Ken Gros Louis and I have known each other for over 10 years, and we'll work together on a whole range of problems," he said.\nMcRobbie served as University-wide vice president for research, vice president for information technology and chief information officer. His new job is set to begin Feb. 1.\nBrehm considered creating a provost position in addition to chancellor during her tenure as IUB chancellor, but Herbert vetoed the idea.