Rep. Ed DeLaney: University faculty put in their places. But by whom?

In 24 hours, the Indiana General Assembly overturned more than a century of governance for our state colleges and universities. Faculty have been reduced to a consultative role in university affairs. At Indiana University, all trustees will now serve at the whim of the governor. At the same time, tenured faculty statewide will be subjected to a “productivity review” driven by the state. Fail to grant enough diplomas, and your master’s degree program can be shut down, not just by the enfeebled trustees but also by the newly empowered Commission on Higher Education. The commission, like the trustees, is under the governor.

These important moves were made in just 24 hours after the final budget bill was posted to the House Republican caucus website. This coup against the trustees and the faculty has upended university governance and set a new low in one-party rule at the Statehouse.

How did this dramatic change come about? After all, we heard no bill with these provisions before the House Education Committee or any other committee in either chamber. No amendments were offered or allowed. These important measures were orphans. The conference committee chair, who crafted the budget bill, could do no more than repeat that the changes were the result of “several conversations among unnamed participants.” Hurried calls to the IU Government Relations team resulted only in repeated assertions that they were studying the measure.

We are reduced to using logic to understand how this came about. The Romans taught us to ask ourselves, “Cui bono?” Or, “Who gains (benefits)? Full translation is, “To whom is it a benefit]?”

The governor is an obvious answer. He is freed from the threat of a dissident board member, at least when it comes to Indiana University. Other state universities are allowed to elect a minority of alumni members not named by the governor. Those members are likely to be wary if they wish to continue to serve.

So were the university administrators the proponents of these changes? I would suggest that the administration is happy with the new arrangement since the pesky faculty are put in their place, reduced to “advisers.” I will leave it to the administrators to explain the role they had in this coup.

What difference does it make if faculty and alumni are shoved aside in the running of our universities? Remember, this is not done without context. First, the same budget bill that reorganized power in our state universities cut state support by millions of dollars. This budget bill was passed at the same time the federal government is attacking university leadership and undercutting federal research funding across the country.

Since 1945, Indiana has had a system built on state and federal support along with faculty leadership to create a system of higher education and scientific research that has become first in the world. That era is now coming to an end.

Indiana had a chance to double-down on support for study and research. It chose to double-down on top-down control and funding cuts. When we begin to see the move of faculty and top students from our state universities to private schools and schools in Canada and Europe, we will know that era has truly shuttered.

Given these new realities, I have decided I will be applying to become a professor. I hope to devise a curriculum titled “Legislative Shenanigans and Executive Overreach.” If my advice is allowed, I can devise a method to award as many degrees as are needed to prove that I am “productive.”•

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DeLaney, an Indianapolis attorney, is a Democrat representing the 86th District in the Indiana House of Representatives. Send comments to [email protected].

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