Bloomington Faculty Council discusses IU’s international presence

The Bloomington Faculty Council convened Tuesday in the Indiana Memorial Union for its biweekly meeting.

International efforts
Professor and BFC Vice President for International Affairs David Zaret announced two new development projects in conjunction with the U.S. Agency for International Development. One will focus on strengthening the education of healthcare professionals at the University of Liberia, and the other will focus on graduate-level classes in Indonesia.

Another proposed initiative will focus on working with the IU Alumni Association to engage international alumni.

“I think there’s a lot of undeveloped capacity to develop the goodwill of alumni internationally,” Zaret said.

One of the benefits of increasing the reach of IUAA would be increased recruiting of international students. The two newest alumni chapters are in New Delhi, India, and Warsaw, Poland.

Zaret also talked about the need to increase IU’s presence abroad not in the form of a branch campus but as a “gateway facility” with conference areas, an auditorium and other small workspaces.

Zaret said IU needs a base of operations to showcase faculty talent and facilitate alumni interaction. He proposed the locations of Beijing, China, and Istanbul, Turkey.

Student Services Initiative
Jim Kennedy, associate vice president for University student services and systems, spoke about the Student Services Initiative, formerly know as the “Shared Services
Initiative.”

Currently in the first phase of its long-term implementation, the initiative is intended to cut costs by consolidating various processes and services offered by the University. The plan could save the University $7.7 million, according to the initiative’s 42-page report of phase one. Implementing the plan would cut 59 University staff positions, according to the same report.

As in the prior meeting, council members raised concerns about possible layoffs.
“Of the 59 we have in scope, we’ve had some of that reduction already,” Kennedy said, adding that some of that is due to retirement and other circumstances.

Kennedy said the third phase will allow those working on the plan to closely examine where the savings will come from and that they have been looking for alternative ways to save money.

BFC Presiding Officer Lauren Robel said the council shouldn’t lose sight of the context in which the controversial initiative comes.

“We have less money coming from state support,” she said. “So we have to make more choices.”

Non-reappointments for tenure probationary faculty
At a BFC meeting Jan. 24, the council discussed the review process for faculty and librarians being considered for tenure.

The policy presented at the January meeting was criticized as being unclear and was submitted to be re-examined by the faculty affairs committee.

The policy now states candidates for tenure can request further review at any point during their probationary period. This differs from the original policy, which stated faculty could only be reviewed between certain stages in the process of obtaining tenure.

The council will convene again from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 20.