Faculty Council questions process of chancellor’s office closure

The Bloomington Faculty Council has requested further information from the Board of Trustees about the process it took in deciding to close the University chancellor’s office last spring.

The BFC voted Nov. 1 to send a letter to the trustees after several faculty members and former council presidents expressed their concerns about the office’s closure to BFC President Carolyn Calloway-Thomas and Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson, Calloway-Thomas said.

“We’re interested in learning how a decision was reached,” Calloway-Thomas said. “We’re just seeking answers.”

In spring 2011, a letter from Board of Trustees Chair Bill Cast informed then-University Chancellor Ken Gros Louis that his office would stop receiving University support beginning July 1 and that his title would be changed to University chancellor emeritus.

It is unclear who was involved in the decision other than members of the Board of Trustees. Hanson was not informed of the trustees’ action until after it had been completed, according to the Nov. 1 BFC meeting minutes.

Mark Land, associate vice president for University communications, has previously said IU President Michael McRobbie was not involved in making the decision.

“It speaks to the importance of faculty governance,” Calloway-Thomas said, expressing her concern that members of faculty were not involved in the process.

The faculty council has power in the appointment, promotion and discipline of faculty on the Bloomington campus, but it does not hold this power over administrators.

However, many faculty were concerned the board acted independently in closing the University chancellor’s office, Calloway-Thomas said.

Calloway-Thomas said the University was continuing to benefit from Gros Louis in his role as University chancellor, but the letter will request more information about the specific process undertaken.

The BFC will also explain its concerns to the Board of Trustees in the letter, according to the Nov. 1 minutes. The council will decide if it will take further action after it receives a response from the board.

“I can’t help but be pleased that people are unhappy about how I was treated,” Gros Louis said.