Indiana University Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold and Interim Provost John Ciorciari announced a strategic faculty hiring initiative March 23 to create new positions aimed at boosting Bloomington’s reputation, research and creative activity.
The initiative is a four-year campus-wide investment to support up to 18 new faculty positions, according to a memo sent to IUB deans.
Deans have the option to submit final proposals for new faculty positions to the chancellor’s office until May 15, with selected hires to begin in August 2027.
Salaries and benefits for all new hires under this initiative will be covered by the university in the first year, with that support decreasing by 25% each subsequent year. After the fourth year, the hire’s home department will assume full financial responsibility, alongside financial help gained from the new hires.
Each new hire will also receive a start-up package of up to $500,000, which may include lab or studio renovations. Deans may supplement that amount with department-level funds.
Through this initiative, the memo says, Reingold and Ciorciari seek to attract faculty who will secure grants, earn awards and fellowships, draw student enrollment and contribute to teaching and public impact.
The initiative will primarily fund new and mid-career tenure-track hires but will also consider proposals for research faculty.
It will operate alongside Faculty 100, a campus-wide initiative started in 2022 to recruit 100 new tenure track faculty to strengthen IU’s research capacity.
The faculty 100 initiative is still on-going, hiring more than 50 faculty members across academic disciplines and recruiting an additional 20 tenure-track faculty, according to its website.
In the memo, deans were asked to consult with department chairs and other academic leaders before submitting only their most promising proposals.
Proposals must address how a proposed hire would “advance IUB’s excellence in a specific academic discipline.”
Deans may also propose a cluster of three to four faculty hires spanning at least three different campus schools or departments and organized around a research theme.
Following the submission deadline, proposals will be evaluated by an advisory committee which will include the vice provost for faculty and academic affairs, vice chancellor for research and five senior faculty members who will be selected to represent a broad range of disciplines and campus departments.
The committee will also seek input from the vice president for research and the vice president for capital planning to assess proposed start-up packages and the feasibility of any space or renovation requests.
The committee is expected to deliver its feedback by May 29, with decisions to follow shortly after.
Ciorciari explained that the initiative will build on all faculty areas, with similar work happening in IU Indianapolis, in a written statement to the Indiana Daily Student.
“At a time when a lot of institutions are pulling back, IU is investing in its faculty pipeline through this initiative and others,” Ciorciari wrote. “With proposals drawn directly from our faculty and academic leaders, we want to bring in faculty that build on the strengths we already have, while becoming stronger in new areas. This investment will create new opportunities for students, help us compete for major research funding, and elevate the quality and impact of our scholarship.”
On April 8, Executive Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Rick Van Kooten wrote an email to faculty to request potential hiring ideas. Faculty submissions are due April 20 and will be used to determine the best hiring proposals for the college, which would be due May 11.
Deborah Cohn, a Spanish and Portuguese provost professor, said the initiative raises questions about whether the university is addressing its most pressing needs.
“The priorities are on bringing in stars from outside rather than focusing on trying to support what is here already,” Cohn said.
The initiative's funding model requires departments to absorb full salary and benefit costs after the first four years. For departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, which has faced sustained budget cuts, that trajectory could compound existing financial strain rather than relieve it, she said.
The College has faced cuts in recent years, including the loss of funding for the Food Institute in 2023 and broader reductions tied to increased central costs and graduate stipend increases. In 2025, IU decided to cut over $100 million in expenses by eliminating jobs and reducing operating costs to address about $60 million in reduced state funding.
“This is meant to be this big flashy initiative meant to get people excited at the same time that the upper administration and school administration are cutting budgets,” Cohn said. “Where is this money coming from, and why could that money not be made available to help those programs and initiatives that are being cut and strangled?”
The initiative comes as IUB also faces significant program reductions. Under last year’s House Enrolled Act 1001, which requires degree programs to meet minimum graduation thresholds, IUB eliminated 22 degree programs and suspended 94 others, either for consolidation or elimination. Almost 250 IU programs were impacted statewide.
Cutting the programs aimed to help students make more informed choices and focus on developing essential skills, Gov. Mike Braun said in a press release on June 30, 2025.
Among the suspended programs were bachelor's degrees in Spanish, Italian, French and art history. Around 4% of students were affected by these program changes across all IU campuses, with fewer than 0.6% of students enrolled in the closed programs, according to an IU Today press release.
Cohn also questioned whether current conditions at IU would attract the high-profile recruits the initiative seeks.
“With the university’s attacks on free speech and undermining of tenure, these damage our reputation nationally,” Cohn said. “That's going to make it harder to recruit the top people whom they want to come here.”
In his statement, Ciorciari did not answer a question about the hiring initiative in the context of the budget reductions.
The IU Board of Trustees revised its academic reorganization policy in June to include a clause further permitting the termination of tenured faculty to include compliance with state laws, such as Senate Enrolled Act 202. The legislation requires policies that prohibit faculty from receiving tenure and promotions if they aren’t promoting “intellectual diversity.”
Still, Cohn said she sees merit in the College's decision to solicit faculty proposals, noting it gives departments a voice in shaping hiring decisions.
“Make this campus and the university a place that supports the people who are here rather than trying to undermine them,” Cohn said.
