Nearly two years ago, IU President Adam Herbert discussed in his inaugural speech the challenges the University commonly faces.\n"In responding to these challenges, we must remain focused on who we are, even as we engage in the institution-building that will determine what we become," Herbert said.\nIn his two years at IU, Herbert said he has overseen many accomplishments, but not all of the goals he outlined in his inauguration speech have been achieved. IU-Bloomington Interim Chancellor Ken Gros Louis said Herbert inherited many problems upon coming into office, which have made his job difficult.\nUnforseen to Herbert, he has had to deal with many administrative changes, including a chancellor and several deans, as well as governmental relations. In addition, state appropriations have decreased by $5 million since last year. Reacting to these difficulties while implementing his plans has been a slow process for Herbert.\n"It takes a long time to get things done in a University," Gros Louis said. "Some things are slow because faculty governance takes time for policies to go through. It's a legitimate criticism of the University that we are not very nimble. We cannot react quickly. The president or the chancellor are not like CEOs of a company."\nHerbert is currently tackling issues such as increasing private support and raising IUB's academic standards to attempting to stay on top of technology and appointing a new IUB chancellor.
Filling vacant positions\nNearly two years ago, Herbert created a search committee and a deliberative process to hire the next IUB chancellor. The process is time consuming, but is intended to give all stakeholders a voice when filling this critical position, according to Herbert's Major Initiatives Report.\nFormer chancellor Gros Louis came out of retirement in January 2004 to serve as the interim chancellor. \n"It was very important that we have a distinguished academic leader to help me during the first few years to enhance the academic enterprise," Herbert said. "For a new president coming in, it has been helpful to have Ken Gros Louis to help me understand the history, traditions and challenges confronting the University."\nHerbert expected the process of finding a new chancellor to take up to two years to complete, he said.\nHerbert wanted to conduct an aggressive search for the chancellor in the hopes someone will be appointed to the position by this Thanksgiving.\nAlso, after a nationwide search, Herbert appointed Dan Smith as the dean of the Kelley School of Business. Smith had served as interim dean since January 2004.\nThis was vital to Herbert because of Kelley's national and international prominence, according to Herbert's report.\nIn order to prevent scrambling to fill vacancies in the future, Herbert created a Leadership Development Council which will outline a comprehensive succession plan for the University. According to Herbert's report, in the next 10 years, 90 percent of IU's leadership will retire.
Raising IUB's academic standards\nAcross the state, residents are watching IU's mission to heighten current academic standards for acceptance into IUB, including average SAT scores.\nHerbert initiated a plan to increase admissions standards at IU to at least the average of the Big Ten, according to his report. At IUB, the 2005 average SAT for undergraduate students was 1,147, an increase of 2 percent over 2004 and 140 points above the state average. Herbert would like to accept primarily Honors Core 40 program high school graduates and set Core 40 for a minimum requirement to gain admittance at IU.\nHerbert outlined an increasing role for IU's satellite campuses in his inaugural speech in April 2004.\n"We take enormous pride in the high levels of accessibility to post-secondary education the University provides," he said. "With a campus within a fifty-mile radius of 80 percent of the state's population, IU enrolls nearly 100,000 students annually."\nIn the future, many students who currently meet IUB's academic standards might not have the opportunity to attend the school, but Herbert said students should look to IU's other educational institutions.\n"Students on all campuses want to earn an IU degree," Herbert said. "(IUB) is a Big Ten research University, and some students like being on a smaller campus. (IUB) is not a realistic option for them."\nHerbert said the other IU campuses can give students who cannot get in to IUB a small-college experience. \nDespite the increasing role of satellite campuses across the state, IUB is still the flagship campus of the University.\n"The quality of IUB drives the overall value of an IU degree," Herbert said. "Students on all campuses want to earn an IU degree and students at all the IU schools are proud to be a part of Indiana University."
Increasing private support\nThere is always room for improvement when it comes to private support because the state does not have resources for supplemental support, Herbert said.\n"The private external sector support is important," Herbert said. "It's fundamental to the achievement of higher education as we increase the quality of education and standards to compete with the Ivy League."\nThe IU Foundation was ranked first in the Big Ten and 13th in the country for private-sector support, said Herbert's report.\nThe report said IU ranks among America's top 15 public universities in the market value of its endowment -- which totals over $1 billion -- and the endowment grew by $71.6 million, or 7.6 percent, since the previous fiscal year.\nWhile this may seem to be a significant increase in private support, Herbert stated in his inaugural speech that "the University must increase private support each year by at least 10 percent over the previous year."\nIU continues to increase private support each year, but has failed to meet Herbert's initial goal of a 10 percent increase each year.
Prioritizing academic schools\nLife sciences, Herbert said, is a field at the top of his priority list. In approximately 40 other states, life sciences is also a top priority, Herbert said. \nNearly half of IU's sponsored research supports life sciences research and clinical trials, said the initiatives report.\nIn Herbert's inauguration speech, he stated the University will become one of the top five cancer research centers in America and the best in the Midwest within five years.\nThis will allow IU to hone the school's valuable research and resource potential, but Herbert said the mission to make IU an elite cancer research center could take five to seven years.
Continuing to stay at the top of information \ntechnology\nLast spring, IU took another step to stay at the top for top information technology access.\nIU was named one of the top wired research universities in America, but today IU is joining the race to become one of the top wireless campuses across the nation.\nAccording to a survey published by Intel in April 2004, IU ranked No. 1 as "the Most Unwired College." \nForbes magazine published a similar survey, the "25 Most Connected Campuses," in October 2004, in conjunction with The Princeton Review. The survey stresses that to keep up with technologically-savvy students, universities need to provide more than just high-speed Internet access -- they need to be wireless. \nHowever, IU did not rank on Forbes' "25 Most Connected Campuses" list. \nBut Herbert said IU continues to make major technological investments every year through fees and contributions.\n"We are as good as it gets in America, and it's our intention to remain at that level," he said.
