The Senate’s Executive Committee was invited to speak to Executive Vice President John Applegate during his recent half-day visit to campus. Suggestions for topics to explore in this meeting were solicited at the September Senate meeting, and members of the Executive Committee also suggested questions and topics. Nearly all of these questions were shaped into a progression of topics for the meeting, and during the meeting we were able to spend a bit of time on all but one of them.
The Executive Committee wishes to share the handout, the question list, from the meeting. All attendees, including the EVP, were given a copy, including several members of his senior team who were also attending. Teaching and meeting schedules allowed more than half of the Executive Committee to attend. We were also joined by Chancellor Allison and Philip Iapalucci, our Vice Chancellor of Administration and Finance.
I expect that the Executive Committee will have more to say about this meeting very soon. The handout we shared with EVP Applegate and his team begins here:
Meeting with Executive Vice President Applegate
October 4, 2016
- Congratulations to all who have made voter registration such an active part of the Canvas and other IU websites this semester. We would also like to express gratitude for supporting the very important step promised for 2017 of making IU ID cards voter-ID compliant.
- A note of optimism and urgency about the new initiative headed by Vice President Cate to review and streamline administrative functions for the betterment of the university and its teaching and research mission. This has special implications for regional campuses. Some examples of special interest to IU South Bend and our community.
- The responsiveness of central offices. For example, the difficulty we are having replacing the architect’s picture of the Administration renovations, which has ten white people in the image on the large sign facing Mishawaka Avenue.
- The difficulty of central offices recognizing local conditions as important factors in actions such as purchasing. For example, movement of gently used furnishings from one building to another rather than waiting for funding to purchase new furnishings. Or, for example, attempting to meet renovation budgets under guidelines created at more affluent campuses.
- The reduction of our ability to use purchasing as a form of engagement with our community, sometimes hindering our mission to educate for democracy, advance social justice, promote economic development, and build positive relationships with our neighbors.
- The threat standardization sometimes poses to other values. It is not clear, for example, whether the recent discussion of standardizing new faculty orientation is going to lead to remote video sessions rather than the interactive, in-person relationship-building work we are used to.
- GIven examples such as these and the experience of EVP Applegate’s team, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the centralizing process at IU?
- Two levels of decision seem to have been involved–first, having fewer offices handling particular functions and, secondly, moving those offices downstate. Why not have some of those offices at regional campuses?
- We look forward to an update on several issues:
- The progress of the same-sex partner benefits deliberations.
- Early indications about the fitness of banded tuition for the variety of students we serve.
- A rationale for continuing to give IUB and IUPUI a larger increment each year.
- An assessment of the impact of the Blueprint on the regional campuses and long-term implications for the regionals.
- Growth opportunities for regional campuses, such as professional specialized programs.
If you have questions or comments about the content of this blog post, please contact the Executive Committee through the Google Form link located at the top of this page’s right sidebar, or by email at ksmith@… or by phone at 574-520-7381.
