University might increase tuition at faster rate

The cost of an IU education could increase at a faster rate, said Interim Provost Michael McRobbie.\nIn the Provost's Report on the State of Academic Affairs at IU-Bloomington at the bi-weekly Bloomington Faculty Council meeting, McRobbie spoke on the importance of keeping top faculty at IU but said their salaries would be paid with higher tuition fees for students.\n"We must always remember other institutions want our best faculty and will pay more," he told the crowd of more than 100 faculty members gathered in the law school's Moot Court Room Tuesday afternoon.\nMcRobbie did not give an exact amount for a future tuition increase, only saying it needs to be "greater than 4.9 percent," which was the tuition cap imposed by the Indiana General Assembly for the 2006-07 school year.\nIU Student Association President Betsy Henke said IUSA understands the University needs to offer faculty members competitive wages but hoped IU would look for additional money from other sources.\n"We hope the administration looks for more creative ways to fund the growing needs of IU," she said. "The state is in a better financial situation, and I think this is an opportunity to capitalize on that to meet some of our needs."\nMcRobbie also spoke about the importance of creating more research space in order to keep more faculty members at IU. He mentioned Simon Hall, which is due to be completed by next summer, and several other life science buildings that will hopefully break ground next year if funding is approved by the General Assembly.\nMcRobbie announced the formation of a task force to review the use of older buildings currently occupied by administrative offices such as Franklin Hall. Depending on the findings of that task force, he said such buildings could be converted for academic and research purposes.\nThis was the first time McRobbie addressed the state of academic affairs to the BFC, following a restructuring of Bloomington's administration in January.\n"I think this is a sign of change, one that will no doubt lead us to having a greater campus-level focus on the academic portion of this campus," BFC President Ted Miller said in his introduction of the provost.\nIn his speech, McRobbie mentioned the draft report of a panel appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Education that referred to higher education as an "increasingly risk-averse, frequently self-satisfied and expensive enterprise" in need of reform and emphasized the importance of meeting these high goals so that IU doesn't get left behind.\n"We cannot stand still because our critics and competitors are not standing still," McRobbie said.\nSince the board of trustees approved higher admissions standards that will go into effect with the incoming class of 2011, McRobbie said University officials must recruit more aggressively in high schools around the state.\n"We are in a battle for brains," he said. "We want IU to be the institution of choice for outstanding Indiana students."\nOnce those high school students arrive at IU, they might find the curriculum more broad than it is today. McRobbie emphasized the need for more general education requirements that would make it easier for students to change majors but still keep the length of their stay at IU to four years or less.\n"Such curriculum is a way to ensure all students receive the liberal education this University represents," he said.