Merger, Reorganization, and Elimination of Academic Units and Programs

Scope

All schools and colleges, programs, departments, centers, institutes, and other units on all core and regional campuses of Indiana University.

This policy supersedes all other campus, school, college, program, department, center, institute, and unit policies on any core or regional campuses of Indiana University. 

Notwithstanding the following provisions of this policy and pursuant to IC 21-38-11, faculty governance organization actions are advisory only.  

Pursuant to IC 21-18-9-10.7, Indiana University will comply with requirements imposed by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education by all established deadlines.  

To the extent any contents of this policy conflict with Indiana law, applicable statutory requirements shall supersede the provisions of this policy. 

Where this policy and/or Indiana law imposes certain obligations on university administration, university administrators will endeavor to honor the collaborative and consultative processes set forth herein. However, regulatory deadlines may impair or prevent university administration from adhering strictly to the processes of this policy.  

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Policy Statement

Consistent with Indiana law and the advisory capacity afforded to a faculty governance organization, university administrators will endeavor to follow the merger, reorganization, and elimination (MRE) processes set forth below.The university will strive to engage with faculty governance organizations through MRE processes.

1. Initiation. Any request to initiate an MRE process, including but not limited to creation of a school, college, program, department, center, institute, or unit on any core or regional campuses of Indiana University, shall first be submitted to the Academic Leadership Council Executive Committee. No MRE process, including creation of any of the units described above, may proceed without the express approval of the Academic Leadership Council Executive Committee. 
2. Consultation. Faculty and student governance bodies may be apprised of the need or desirability for reorganizing academic units and programs appropriate in the MRE process of deliberation, so that their input may be sought. For the relevant campus, the applicable faculty legislative body may be invited to constitute an ad hoc MRE review committee for each such proposal, comprised of faculty and including representation from other affected units.
3. Faculty Response. Faculty and staff from affected units may provide feedback to the ad hoc MRE Committee. University administrators may, in their discretion and as applicable, provide any of the following to the ad hoc MRE committee: documentation describing the proposed reorganization; the rationale for it; and/or a financial forecast. The MRE committee may prepare a report summarizing concerns expressed to it and offering its own comments on the proposed reorganization. The report shall be sent to relevant Deans, Chancellors and/or chief academic officers, and the University President for their review. The report shall also be sent to the executive committee of the applicable campus faculty legislative body.
4. Tenure. Except under conditions of financial exigency (cf. AAUP 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure: “Termination of a continuous appointment because of financial exigency should be demonstrably bona fide.”), the appointments of tenured and probationary tenure-track faculty members and librarians shall not be terminated as a consequence of such MRE reorganization. Necessary reductions in the number of tenured and probationary tenure-track faculty shall be achieved instead by reassignment, which may involve transfer of tenure home, transfer to a different campus, or attrition. Despite these principles and expectations, the university may be required to act in a contrary manner pursuant to Indiana or federal law as well as the mandate of any regulatory entity. In the event of financial exigency, the university will proceed under BOT-26, Financial Exigency. 
5. Expectations for Probationary Tenure-Track Faculty. Faculty members and librarians who are affected by a MRE during the tenure probationary period may choose to be reviewed for tenure under the criteria and standards of the original home unit at the time they were first appointed or under those of their new home unit.
6. Reassignment to New Academic Home. Faculty members and librarians (tenured and probationary tenure-track) whose academic home unit is merged, reduced, eliminated, renamed or in some other fundamental way reorganized may be reassigned to a new academic home based on criteria which may include, but not be limited to, the mutual fit of scholarly, scientific or artistic interests. The university will endeavor to find a new tenure home that is agreeable both to the affected faculty member and to faculty members in the receiving unit, but reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to assign faculty members and librarians to a new tenure home as may be required to meet the university’s operational and business needs. While the current tenure home campus of the faculty member or librarian has the primary responsibility for finding a position, reassignment of the faculty member or librarian by the university to another IU campus may be a necessary solution, especially in cases where the program as an academic entity continues in existence elsewhere while terminated on the home campus of the faculty member or librarian. Faculty members and librarians remain obligated to perform customary research/creative activity, teaching and service responsibilities throughout the period of reorganization and to comply with all laws and university policies.
7. Principles Governing Reorganization. The following principles shall be honored in all MRE activities at Indiana University:
   1. Compensation and Other Benefits. The university will endeavor to minimize the impact on base pay reductions, alterations of negotiated agreements, or loss of time accumulated for sabbatical leave eligibility during the reorganization of academic units and programs, but reserves the right in its sole discretion to make any necessary alterations to such contractual rights as may be required to meet university operational and business needs.
   2. Continuity of Degree Programs. Reasonable efforts shall be made to enable students enrolled in degree programs at the time of reorganization to complete the requirements for those degrees unless the university is otherwise directed by Indiana law or state or federal regulatory authorities to discontinue a degree program prior to student completion or teach-out.
   3. Appointments. The university will endeavor to minimize the impact on theappointmentrights and obligations of faculty andstudent academic appointees, butreserves the right in its sole discretion to make any necessary alterations to such contractual rights as may be requiredto meet university operational and business needs.

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Reason for Policy

From time to time, the university, may determine that a reorganization of campuses, schools and colleges, programs, departments, centers, institutes, and other units on all core and regional campuses is warranted via merger, reorganization, or elimination of academic units. Such changes may be a response to: regulatory or legal requirements concerning continuation of campuses, schools and colleges, programs, departments, centers, institutes and other units; new directions in scholarship, science and the arts; new expectations for students entering professional careers or pursuing advanced education; financial constraints; administrative inefficiencies; declining enrollment, performance, or quality, or other unforeseen or unforeseeable circumstances. These and other circumstances may make it essential to evaluate and implement the merger, reogranization, or elimination of academic units and programs, necessitating a reallocation of financial resources and the reassignment of faculty members and librarians to new academic homes where practicable.

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History

Approved by the UFC April 24, 2012. This policy was adapted to the university policy format April 2015. In July 2024, references to the renamed IU Indianapolis campus were updated in this policy.   

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