Faculty vote to review Herbert as IU president

The continuing tension between IU President Adam Herbert and the Bloomington campus faculty escalated Tuesday night at the first special session of the Bloomington faculty in almost 20 years as members approved resolutions to have the trustees review Herbert's job performance.\nSince only 620 of the required 800 faculty members were present at the meeting, the resolution will now be sent out in an e-mail ballot to faculty members as early as today. If a majority of faculty members approve the resolutions, they will be sent to the trustees and Herbert for consideration.\nThe resolution specifies guidelines for how the review process should be conducted. These stipulations call for: the ability of any members of the IU community, including its "external constituencies" to provide factual evidence of Herbert's job performance; that a central part of the review be to determine the accuracy of any allegations that have been expressed; and to communicate the results in a manner that respect the privacy of all involved in the process.\nAnother approved resolution compels the board to take Bloomington campus considerations into account as the primary factor in the appointment of a new chancellor. \nPresident of the Bloomington Faculty Council and chair of Tuesday's meeting Ted Miller said he hopes the voting can be finished by the Thanksgiving break. \n"There was a good bit of debate on both sides of the question (of Herbert's performance)," Miller said. "I've been a member of the Bloomington faculty for 30 years and I don't think I've seen anything quite like this. (The meeting) was well done by the members of the faculty. I was very proud of them today."\nDespite a 40-minute delay because of a tornado warning, in which faculty members were ushered into the lobby outside the IU Auditorium, several described the meeting as positive and productive. \nTwo resolutions concerning College of Arts and Sciences Dean Kumble Subbaswamy were withdrawn after a vote of those present, but Subbaswamy had expressed his wish that this be done to several different faculty members who attended the meeting. \nIU Law Professor Fred Cate said it was a very positive meeting, and it's remarkable that 620 voting faculty turned out given how many have other commitments.\n"I don't think passing a resolution calling on the trustees to review the president is ever happy news," Cate said. "I don't think anyone in the room was happy about that. But it was viewed as a positive, constructive step forward rather than just criticizing the president. It's the job of the trustees to review these allegations and to see whether they are true or false. It was as good as I think a faculty could have done in this situation."\nDuring the meeting, some faculty members suggested this was an attack on the first black president in IU's history by a group of protestors who are primarily white.\nIU Law Professor Kevin Brown spoke at the meeting and said he doesn't think the protest "is motivated by invidious racial discrimination," but said it appears that way to observers.\n"Unless you have a diverse protest, this looks like a white faculty attacking the first African-American president in the 185-year history of this institution," Brown said. "That puts it in a racial context. If you want to take it out of a racial context, diversify the protest. From the African-American community, I suspect this is going to be a disaster."\nLawrence Hanks, a political science professor, said he attended the meeting to get information about the topic so he could make an informed decision when it came time to vote, but he couldn't help but notice whether race is an issue in this situation. \n"Probably most African Americans would argue that yes, there's race involved. Most whites would say no, there's not," Hanks said. "And that's a battle that no one can convince the other of. I think faculty of all colors are here to make a decision. They want to know what the facts are, not the innuendos, not the rumors. We want to know what the facts are, and at that point decisions will be made."\nSusan Gubar, an English professor, said there was a good conversation about race during the meeting, and it's important for the faculty to keep in mind "the perspectives of our African-American colleagues."\n"We want this commitment to diversity to always be articulated and reaffirmed by your American white colleagues and that happened today," Cate said. "It's important that all sides of the story speak and speak from their perspectives and are heard and that is part of the strength of the conversation." \nIn a letter to the Indiana Daily Student, Vice President for Institutional Development and Student Affairs Charlie Nelms said criticism seems to be "personal and vitriolic," adding that positive aspects of Herbert's presidency have been overlooked because of negative discussions.\nThe meeting, which lasted more than two hours, was called in response to a petition that was signed by 131 faculty members. \nCate said he speaks for senior administrators, alumni, donors, journalists and government and business leaders who are not in a position to speak openly. \nHe aired four specific concerns: "the president's inaccessibility to important constituencies, including journalists; significant delays in getting the president to act on routine business, such as signing letters of appointment to advisory committees, sending letters acknowledging majors gifts and responding to proposals for joint activities with external constituencies; the president's 18-month delay in appointing a search committee for Bloomington campus chancellor and senior vice president for academic affairs and in appointing and charging other committees; and the president's lack of visibility in the University and with external communities."\n"It is not the responsibility of the faculty, but rather of the trustees, to review these concerns," Cate said in an e-mail.\nHerbert did not attend the meeting, citing in a statement that his "participation might have hampered the candid discussion that such serious matters deserve.\n"I have the utmost respect for my faculty colleagues and their views. The University in many ways is like a big family -- and big families often have disagreements that must be resolved through dialogue and debate. I believe that all of our IU family members -- including those who have most vehemently disagreed with me -- have the best interests of IU at heart."\nOne resolution that was considered by the BFC agenda committee, but was pulled at the request of the author before Tuesday's meeting, was a vote of no confidence in Herbert. Miller said in his opening statement it is his understanding that several faculty members expressed their opinion that a vote of no confidence resolution should have been a part of Tuesday's agenda but did not actually submit a resolution. \nThough the outcome of the vote is yet to be seen, Brown said he has little confidenc the board will take any action in regards to a review of Herbert. \n"There are certain trustees who are very close to the president who I think are unlikely to vote for this review," Brown said. "Will a majority of the trustees vote in favor of the resolution to review Herbert's performance? My sense is that I doubt it."\nTrustee William Cast said the faculty's concern is obvious and the trustees take their concerns seriously. Cast was not a part of the board that chose Herbert to be president and said race is not an issue of Herbert's opponents. \n"My vote would be yes (for a review of Herbert)," Cast said. "I think (the board) will go through the process. I think that anybody, the entire board that will include the ones who were not in on the selection process, want him to be successful. I think they will have no trouble (conducting the review)." \nIU Student Association President Alex Shortle said he knew he was not going to be allowed in the meeting, even after attempting to plead his case to Miller. Shortle said he wanted to attend to keep the student body congress informed and to hear the discussion about this issue among the faculty. \n"I just walked in the meeting," he said. "I sat with the associate faculty quietly. I learned what I wanted to learn and I walked out. This is the best decision I've made since I've been president."\n-- Staff writer Peter Stevenson contributed to this report.