Policy Statement:

University, campus, and school administrators and/or faculty may decide that a reorganization of departments and/or Schools is necessary. Such changes may be a response to: new directions in scholarship, science and the arts; changes in expectations for students entering professional careers or pursuing advanced education; financial constraints; administrative inefficiencies; declining performance or quality in/of academic programming. These circumstances may make it prudent to consider and perhaps to implement the merger, reduction, elimination or renaming of academic units, necessitating a reallocation of financial resources and the reassignment of faculty members to new academic units. This policy should be read in conjunction with ACA-41 Faculty Role Regarding University Financial Exigency Policy, and IU East’s Faculty Role Regarding Financial Crisis Policy. Faculty are reminded that all-IU policies such as ACA-41 supersede campus policies.
The Constitution of the Indiana University East Faculty Senate states that the Faculty Senate has legislative authority over the “[c]reation, reorganization, merger, and elimination of units affecting more than one academic unit on campus” (IU East Constitution, Section 2.1B), while all matters affecting the academic mission of the school that does not affect more than one academic unit are delegated to the Schools (IU East Constitution, Section 2.2B). The definition of “academic units” for this policy refers to schools and departments only.

Procedure

These procedures shall be followed except after the Board of Trustees declares Campus Financial Crisis or University Financial Exigency:
1.      Creation, reorganization, merger, and elimination of units at IU East is a faculty-driven and faculty-approved process. Faculty of affected units will initiate discussion, collect, and present evidence in support and in opposition of such restructuring, and must present a comprehensive analysis of ramifications of such reorganizations on academics, fiscal stability, and mission of the unit and the campus. If requested, the Budgetary Affairs Committee will work alongside affected schools and/or departments to negotiate a mutually agreeable and beneficial solution for all stakeholders. The voting faculty (as defined in Section 1.2 of the Constitution of the Indiana University East Faculty Senate) of each affected school must approve any merger, reorganization, and/or elimination of academic units.
2.      After approval by the affected schools, the proposal, with the proposed new organizational structure, pattern of administration, and rationale for the recommended changes, shall be presented in writing to The Budgetary Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate.
3.      The Budgetary Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate shall explore any budgetary ramifications of the proposed merger, reorganization, or elimination before approving any or all proposals for merger, reorganization, or elimination of academic units at IU East.
4.      The Faculty Senate shall approve all mergers, reorganizations, and/or eliminations of academic units that affect more than one school, or the complete elimination of a school. The Faculty Senate shall review and comment on all other mergers, reorganizations, and/or eliminations of academic units.

Special Procedures Under Campus Financial Crisis or University Financial Exigency

It is understood that when Campus Financial Crisis or University Financial Exigency is declared by the Board of Trustees that urgent action to merge, reorganize, and/or eliminate academic units may be necessary. The following shall apply during these conditions:
1.      Faculty Consultation. The Faculty Senate Agenda Committee must be apprised of the need or desirability for reorganizing academic units as early as possible in the process of deliberation, so that faculty representatives may provide informed input and play a prominent role in planning for proposed changes. The Agenda Committee shall form an ad-hoc Financial Crisis Committee to represent faculty interests in accordance with IU East’s policy Faculty Role Regarding Financial Crisis.
2.      Faculty Response. All faculty members (tenured, nontenured, clinical, and lecturers) must have a reasonable period of time to review and respond to proposals for academic reorganization, before such plans are implemented. Faculty shall be invited to send their concerns to the ad-hoc Financial Crisis Committee of the Indiana University East Faculty Senate: these concerns will be collected, summarized, and presented to the relevant dean(s), Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs (EVCAA), and Chancellor before the changes take effect, no later than 10 business day after the proposal is presented. The EVCAA and Chancellor shall provide responses to these concerns within 10 business days from the presentation of concerns and prior to any final decision.

Status of Affected Faculty

1.      Tenure and Long-Term Appointments. Except under conditions of university financial exigency, the appointments of tenured and probationary tenure-track faculty members may not be terminated as a consequence of any reorganization. Faculty with long-term academic appointments may not be terminated prior to the conclusion of their contract as a consequence of such reorganization except under conditions of university financial exigency or campus financial crisis. Necessary reductions in the number of tenured, probationary tenure-track faculty, and long-term academic appointments should be achieved where possible by voluntary attrition, reassignment, or negotiated termination.
2.      Expectations for Faculty. Faculty members affected by the reorganization of units are entitled to choose to be reviewed for tenure and/or promotion under the criteria and standards of the original home unit at the time they were first appointed or under the criteria and standards of the new academic unit. Probationary faculty members may request a one-year extension of their probationary period.
3.      Reassignment to New Academic Unit. All faculty members (tenured, nontenured, clinical, and lecturers) whose original academic unit is merged, reduced, eliminated, renamed or in some other fundamental way reorganized should first be allowed to pursue residence in a new academic unit based on the mutual fit of scholarly, scientific or artistic interests. The selection of a new academic unit must be approved by the dean of the receiving unit. If an affected faculty member is not reassigned to a new unit within a reasonable time frame, the EVCAA will make a final decision regarding the affected faculty member’s new academic unit. The EVCAA’s final decision may be subject to an appeal with the Faculty Board of Review.
4.      Compensation and Other Benefits. Reorganization of academic units and programs shall not result in base pay reductions, or in the loss of time accumulated for sabbatical leave eligibility. After the reorganization, the compensation level of faculty members new to a unit should be considered in the context of the campus goals for salary equity and salary compression.
5.      Grievances. Faculty members who object to personal consequences of the reorganization of academic units and programs may file a procedural grievance with the Faculty Board of Review.

Severability

If a provision of this policy is held in violation of state or federal laws and regulations, or contrary to Indiana University policy, or otherwise invalid, only the affected part shall be void. This invalidity shall not affect other provisions of this policy which can be given effect without the invalid provisions. To this end, the provisions of this policy are severable.