Return to Table of Contents
Related Link: Bloomington Faculty Council home page.
By Rose McIlveen
At the Sept. 17 meeting of the Bloomington Faculty Council (BFC), Edwin Greenebaum, council president, gave the members a brief view of the coming year. Issues of faculty governance, and the promotion and tenure process will be considered during the year. Also, he told the council that there will be search and screen committees appointed to find a new dean for the School of Music and a new director for the Office of Admissions.
IU Vice President and Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis reported to the council on the major decisions that affected the budget for the 1996-97 academic year. He explained that although new financial resources to the campus totaled nearly $13.5 million, there were the unavoidable expenses such as group insurance, early retirement costs, energy, debt service, plant expansion, increases in the system service and IU Foundation charges, totaling $5.5 million.
Greenebaum gave the council a rundown on the status of resolutions passed during the 1995-96 year, including direct loans to students, child care, the Strategic Directions Charter, grade distribution, intellectual property policy, weapons on campus, clinical ranks, role of the faculty, student conduct code, student schedules and procedures for complaints of misconduct against faculty.
The council received a report from the University and Bloomington Faculty councils regarding the creation of the Advanced Research and Technology Institute (ARTI). The report proposes a joint UFC/Research and University Graduate School (RUGS) committee.
Faculty Council members also received a copy of A Vision for Indiana University Bloomington Strategic Priorities, presented by Robert Arnove, education, and David Nordloh, English, of the Long-Range Planning Committee.
William Burgan, English, talked to the council about the proposed Teaching Excellence Recognition Awards (TERA) now under discussion. The university-wide award would be a one-time supplement, rather than an addition to base salary. Eligibility, amount of money, frequency of receiving the awards and other stipulations would be determined by appropriate committees on each campus.
Librarian Julie Bobay reported on faculty/librarian salary minimums recommended by the Budgetary Affairs Committee. The suggested starting salaries were for 3-, 6- and 10- percent increases, ranging from $27,901 (3 percent) for assistant professors, to $45,725 (10 percent) for full professors.