Indiana University trustees Friday approved the final criteria for how faculty will be judged in annual reviews. If they fail to meet those criteria, even tenured professors can be fired.
Under a state law passed this spring, professors must undergo an annual performance review. The state recently added productivity requirements for faculty at public universities, based on their number of students and workload.
The board voted unanimously in South Bend to approve BOT-24, the university’s policy for how to handle the reviews. Faculty who don’t meet the new standards are put on a performance improvement plan before they can be fired.
The General Assembly passed the changes as a last-minute addition to the budget in April.
”These changes are not only required by Indiana law but they also are going to help the university recognize and reward our truly effective and productive faculty,” Board Vice-Chair Marilee Springer said.
But critics say the changes erode longstanding tenure protections that let researchers work on long-term projects that sustain scientific discovery.
In other action, the trustees approved a new Code of Conduct for its members.
The code has been rewritten since it first came up for a vote in June, when newly appointed trustee James Bopp Jr. objected to the hasty process by which it was introduced.
It binds trustees to follow the university’s principles of ethical conduct, maintain confidentiality around executive sessions and entitles them to information related to their duties. It also asks trustees to disclose any possible conflicts of interest, as is required by Indiana law.
The board also voted to establish an Executive Committee made up of trustees that could act on behalf of the entire board between sessions. The committee can’t appoint a new president or amend bylaws, but it can perform most of the board’s other functions.
Trustees are next scheduled to meet February 19 in Indianapolis.
