Faculty council voices concerns about consultation

Members of the Bloomington Faculty Council raised concerns about the privatization of parking and the search for Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Neil Theobald’s replacement at Tuesday’s meeting, particularly pertaining to the faculty consultation process.

BFC President Carolyn Calloway-Thomas informed members a search will soon begin for a new CFO, but it is not yet clear whether the search will be internal or
external.

“Theobald was rather unusual as a CFO for IU in that he is a member of the faculty,” one member said. “I ... would really hope the president would consider continuing on with a person of that type in that role. It’s of immense benefit having someone in the job that actually understands what we need.”

The council voted and agreed they would prefer a search dominated by faculty. Calloway-Thomas promised to pass the sentiment to IU President Michael McRobbie.
She also announced the parking operations committee has edited key terms for IU parking privatization.

The contract will be presented to the Board of Trustees at its October meeting, and a decision will be made whether to go forth with the deal.

Calloway-Thomas said she believed the contract has a good chance to be approved by the Trustees, and the committee has been extremely careful in protecting the interests of faculty and students.

“The committee has been very meticulous and dedicated,” she said. “I believe you will be pleased.”

Member John Paolillo asked if there would be an opportunity for faculty input. Calloway-Thomas assured the council that after the Trustees determine a course of action, the document will be presented to the faculty for discussion.

Associate Vice President for University Human Resources Dan Rives presented to the council an issue between IU insurance company, Anthem, and local provider Internal Medicine Associates.

IMA issued a letter demanding an increase in reimbursement from Anthem. If they did not receive it, they threatened to withdraw from the network.

The increase would be passed directly to employees, as IU is entirely self-insured, so room for negotiation is slim, Rives said.

At the current point in negotiations, IMA will no longer be in Anthem’s insurance network, effective Nov. 30.

Rives acknowledged this is a big issue for employees because open enrollment for health care plans ends Nov. 16.

Rives urged employees to make health care plan decisions based on the information currently available.

The restructuring of course evaluations was also discussed.

Implementation of the software to administer the questionnaires online is expected to be complete by spring 2015.

Faculty members expressed concerns with the response rate of an online questionnaire and with how the results will define an effective teacher.

“I have been very enthusiastic on focusing on the notion of dimensions of instruction,” School of Public and Environmental Affairs Professor Ted Miller said. “What should faculty members be trying to do? We don’t necessarily have a final answer, but it’s a very important sort of process.”