Black Student Union to protest trustee meeting

When members of the IU board of trustees walk into the Indiana Memorial Union Friday morning to convene for their March meeting, they will be met by members of the Black Student Union who want to let the board know they hope more blacks are hired for administrative and other University positions.\nThe students will gather at 7:30 a.m. and hope to catch the trustees' eyes before their Academic Affairs and University Policies Committee meeting.\n"With (IU President Adam) Herbert and Mike Davis' resignations, we don't want the board of trustees to adopt the attitude that it is OK to stop hiring blacks for IU's administrative positions," said BSU secretary Ta'Vonna Robertson in an e-mail to BSU members and supporters. "We need more diverse leadership at Indiana University."\nBSU representatives and trustees were not available for comment by press time Thursday.\nThe trustees will discuss several issues at Friday's meeting. At the Academic Affairs and University Policies Committee meeting, they will discuss search and screening processes for academic appointments, as well as ideas for changes in admissions standards.\nThe search and screening process has been in question since a 2005 search for an IU-Bloomington chancellor and senior vice president for academic affairs failed to find acceptable final candidates. Faculty members and potential candidates said the process was flawed. IU is currently undertaking searches for a new dean and a new associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and will begin a search for a new president in the fall.\nAt the business meeting, where all monetary appropriations are approved, the trustees will consider a $10 million increase for the Multidisciplinary Science Building Phase II. The building, which was scheduled to cost about $42.5 million, is now projected to cost about $52 million. Rising costs are attributed to the need for a tunnel between the building and the psychology building and the need for fume hoods for various laboratories.\nThe meeting will conclude with academic appointments for all IU campuses.\nFriday's meetings will be held in the Frangipani Room at the IMU. They are open to the public and will begin at 8:15 a.m.\nOn Thursday, trustees approved several facilities changes, including plans for the IUB central heating plant, plans for the IUB Research Teaching Preserve Building, changes to the design for the Multidisciplinary Science Building Phase II and plans for the IU-Northwest sculpture garden.\nThe trustees met in executive session Thursday night to discuss IU matters in private.