The following topics and issues were under discussion during the executive committee’s conference call on September 20. Many of them will probably be addressed at an upcoming UFC meeting. President McRobbie and Vice President Applegate attended the last half of the session.
Leaning Committees
There is a need for a speedy response to some initiatives that come from the administration. As a result, four so-called “leaning” committees are being formed. Not quite standing committees because they may not have any work for stretches of time, but already formed and ready to leap into action when a time-sensitive issue or proposal is on the table: not standing but leaning!
- Ad hoc committees are sometimes still appropriate but take time to form, time that is not always available.
- The four committees are: Budgetary Affairs, Technology Policies, Faculty Affairs, and Educational Policies.
- Membership are proposed to be two faculty from IUB, two from IUPUI, and two from the regional campuses. The UFC Executive Committee assembles these committees.
- Are members of the IUSB faculty interested in serving on any of these committees? Contact Ken Smith at 520-7381 or by email: ksmith@….
Responsibility Centered Management
President McRobbie recently announced a review of IU’s RCM or responsibility-centered management and budgetary system. A UFC leaning committee, the Budgetary Affairs committee, will aggressively engage with this issue. Two faculty members of that committee are needed from the regional campuses right now. Interested? Contact Ken Smith at 520-7381 or by email at ksmith@….
IUB/IUPUI School of Education
Likely the single School of Education operated by IUB and IUPUI will be divided into two schools, one for each of those two campuses. At first glance, there do not seem to be issues for the regional campuses in this process. If, however, you see reasons to believe otherwise, please let me know: Ken Smith at 520-7381 or by email: ksmith@….
Sexual Misconduct Policy
Revision of this body of IU policy continues and a small working group is being formed by UFC. One representative from the regional campuses is sought for this group of three faculty members, and for the time being individuals who have most recently worked on this issue are being asked if they might serve, not including any member of the IUSB faculty.
Nepotism
Two IU policies on nepotism, one for staff and one for faculty, are being aligned and revised into a single policy needing, at this point, only small refinements for clarity, it appears.
Transfer Credit
A policy is being clarified that is meant to prevent credit for 100/200-level courses being transferred to IU at the 300/400 level. Exceptions, meant to be rare, are left to the judgment of the appropriate academic department and appear primarily to keep us from asking a student who took, say, RT 250 Intro to Ring Theory at another university being asked to take RT 320 Intro to Ring Theory at IU, if the faculty are satisfied of the content of the other university’s course. Comments and concerns?
Fire Drills and Other Alarms
President McRobbie asked that all people in leadership roles work to build a culture of compliance with drill and alarm procedures. He expressed concern that ignoring drills and alarms could someday lead to a tragedy on an IU campus.
Standardizing Faculty Orientation
President McRobbie asked that elements of new faculty orientation that would reasonably be seen as needed at all campuses become standardized. This seemed to imply, also, that they in one form or another become centralized, but this was not clear. Would everyone at the various campuses see a video presentation on retirement plans and another on sexual harassment policy, for example? Not sure. It was asked that work begin to create a list of what these standard items should be.
Barriers to Success
President McRobbie’s new committee devoted to the task of removing administrative barriers to success for students and faculty at IU was said to be deluged with notes of concern and suggestions.
Faculty Networks
President McRobbie committed to building more networks among IU faculty, more community.
Engagement with Students
Both administrators expressed a need to build a much stronger culture among faculty of meaningful presence among and engagement with students. This seemed to be only the beginning of a discussion of that topic.
Comments, questions, concerns about any of these? Leave a note for the IUSB Senate Executive Committee here or contact Ken Smith at 520-7381 or by email: ksmith@….
