President aims to improve facilities, bring top faculty to IU

Newly inaugurated IU President Michael McRobbie unveiled his master plan for the University on Thursday. \nAt the forefront of his plan are commitments to remodel all dorms on the Bloomington campus, allocate $1 billion for construction of new buildings and continue a dedication to hire the world’s leading faculty.\n“By early next decade, our goal is nothing short of having nearly a billion dollars of new construction underway, providing the essential space and facilities to support world-changing and life-enhancing research, education of the highest quality and innovations to fuel the state’s economy,” McRobbie said in his inaugural speech.\nSuch an ambitious plan will require a huge amount of funding, especially given the decline in state appropriations over the last three decades – state funding accounted for about 47 percent of the budget in 1975, but according to the 2006-2007 IU factbook, state funding only made up about 23 percent of IU’s total operating budget for the 2006-2007 school year.\nMcRobbie said that about $500 million in buildings have already been funded and planned, and that the rest will be paid for with alumni donations and a matching program that will ease the strain on the state and IU’s endowment.\nHe also established a new program for recruiting top professors: the Herman B Wells Presidential Professorship, which is designed to recruit outstanding faculty, especially Nobel Laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and other professors who are the very best in their fields.\nThe plan calls for renovations or rebuilding of all of the Bloomington campus’ dorms. Residential Programs and Services Executive Director Pat Connor said after the ceremony that he isn’t sure of the exact remodeling plans yet, but that there is space for both expansion of current buildings and construction of new ones.\nMcRobbie said during his speech that new living space for students is crucial to attracting the brightest young minds to IU.\n“Today’s students have more choices than ever before in pursuing a college education,” he said. “A crucial element in these choices is the quality of the student learning and living environment.”\nMcRobbie’s decision to focus on building expansion and top-quality faculty is a marked departure from the policies of the previous IU president, Adam Herbert, who came into IU with the missions of finding a new Bloomington campus leader and balancing the athletics budget. McRobbie has also worked to distance himself from the problems that plagued Herbert’s presidency, namely a huge divide between the administration and IU professors that led to a faculty revolt in the fall of 2005.\nThe plan calls for a number of new initiatives, including a $1 million “intercampus research fund” that will help researchers on different IU campuses collaborate and a $4 million program to increase graduation rates.