IU trustees approve leadership enhancements for Bloomington campus

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Indiana University Board of Trustees voted Friday to approve two critical leadership positions brought forward by President Pamela Whitten to deepen engagement with faculty, staff and students on the university’s flagship campus, while advancing the transformation detailed in the IU 2030 strategic plan. Whitten will now move forward on reestablishing the chancellor role for the Bloomington campus and appointing a faculty fellow in the Office of the President.

The chancellor of IU Bloomington will deepen engagement with faculty, staff and students on the university's flagship campus.

“We applaud President Whitten’s bold initiative to reestablish a chancellor position on the Bloomington campus — a role that had been in place for many years and is common across peer institutions as well as other IU campuses,” said Quinn Buckner, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We also believe that a faculty fellow housed in the president’s office will further enhance engagement with faculty across all of our campuses and further strengthen our university’s academic excellence.”

During its business meeting on Friday morning, the Board of Trustees approved Whitten’s recommendation to reestablish the role of a chancellor to lead the Bloomington campus as a member of the president’s cabinet. The combination of challenges facing higher education and the size and complexity of the Bloomington campus have created an opportunity for a chancellor to enhance faculty and staff engagement and solidify Bloomington’s flagship status.

Ideally filled by a professional who is familiar with IU Bloomington, the chancellor will focus on fostering increased faculty participation in appropriate decisions related to addressing systemic challenges across the campus as a whole, as well as unique issues within schools or the College (e.g., budget constraints, resource allocation, growth strategies, etc.). As Bloomington campus leader and an executive vice president of Indiana University, the new chancellor will also devote time to developing a rich understanding of the Bloomington campus community and work closely with the president and the university cabinet members to ensure issues and opportunities are addressed with input and participation from relevant campus partners. In addition to community relations and diversity, equity and inclusion responsibilities, the chancellor will also increase the administration’s availability to collaborate with key constituents across campus. The chancellor will report to the president and oversee the Office of the Provost. In the end, the chancellor’s influence will be felt in stronger relationships, a more harmonious campus and accelerated attainment of the IU 2030 strategic plan.

The board also applauded Whitten’s plan to add a faculty fellow to the Office of the President who will engage with the president, her cabinet and faculty leaders to ensure principles of shared governance are embraced and appropriately employed. The fellow will achieve this by cultivating relationships with faculty leadership across all campuses and creating organizational opportunities to effectively accomplish the university’s goals and objectives.

“Indiana is a university simultaneously respectful of its proud traditions while addressing a series of critical issues to ensure upward momentum. These important leadership changes reflect our ongoing commitment to listen, learn and lead as we endeavor to do what’s best for our students and the people of Indiana,” Whitten said. “As these two new leaders advance the inclusive role for our faculty moving forward, I am hopeful for richer and more meaningful collaboration on the major opportunities we face and an enhancement of IU’s competitiveness in the Big Ten and beyond.”

The search for the new chancellor will begin immediately in partnership with the IU Bloomington Faculty Council.