Trustees defend controversial raise

Many observers were skeptical after the IU Board of Trustees announced a tuition increase and a 12 percent raise for President Michael McRobbie this
summer.

Trustees, however, deemed it necessary because McRobbie has improved IU, making it a more competitive university among the Big Ten.

In 2004, IU tied for the lowest ranking Big Ten school in the U.S. News and World Report ranking of national universities and had the highest freshmen acceptance rate of Big Ten schools.

A March 2005 article in Indianapolis Monthly questioned IU’s academic success and progress and expressed concern about the institution’s future.

The articles were published after former IU President Myles Brand stepped down from office abruptly in 2002.

Adam Herbert replaced Brand in 2003, 18 months before the Indianapolis Monthly article was written.

“This is not to blame any particular person ­— it was just a time when things were not going well,” said William Cast, the chairman of the Board of Trustees.

On July 1, 2007, McRobbie became IU’s 18th president, and he has changed the tone of IU’s campuses, IU Trustee Patrick Shoulders said.

“President McRobbie came at a time when IU was ready to take the next step forward,” Shoulders said. “He’s a dynamic and decisive leader, willing to take risks and make decisions.”

McRobbie began at IU as the vice president for information technology
for Brand.

During the next five years, he advanced through the positions of vice president for research, provost, and vice president for academic affairs.

IU faculty confessed a lack of confidence in the administration, at which point McRobbie was elevated to the presidential position, Cast said.

Many people believe the reorganization of IU and the realignment of the
administration can be attributed to McRobbie’s selection for the presidency, Cast said.

The athletic program has developed competitively, particularly due to a new athletics director, Fred Glass, who was selected during McRobbie’s tenure, Cast said.

IU athletics have benefited from their inclusion in the Big Ten Network on television as well.

The academic standards for admissions have increased with McRobbie’s leadership as well.

Cast said prior to McRobbie’s presidency, an SAT score of 900 out of 1600 might have been acceptable. Now, the low end of the average SAT scores is
about 1200.

“We’re a big school and to have that average for the size of our freshman class is a great improvement,” Cast said.
McRobbie has carried out projects significant to the Bloomington campus, Shoulders said.

He led and funded the completion of the IU Cinema, initiated the
construction of the new Cyberinfrastructure Building at 10th Street and the Bypass and modernized IU’s residence halls to remain competitive with other universities.

An initiative for a School of International Studies is also in the works under McRobbie’s direction, Cast said. 

In December 2009, The Daily Beast selected Indiana as one of the hottest schools of the decade, citing IU as having the largest percentage of out-of-state students among Big Ten schools.   

“That perception across the country that Indiana is on the move means that things have gone well under President McRobbie,” Cast said.

Cast explained that there are not enough qualified people in the market for presidents in research universities such as IU, and money will be offered elsewhere to tempt presidents to leave current positions.

“I think he’s exactly the right leader at the right time,” Shoulders said.