Creation, Reorganization, Elimination, and Merger 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. Specific procedural requirements will vary based on the nature of the CREM action under consideration.

For matters related to naming, see BOT-31: Institutional Naming.

A foundational principle of Indiana University is its enduring partnership across its units, including faculty and librarians, to collectively advance the institution's mission. The establishment, revision, and retirement of academic policies will occur with consultation and input from the University Faculty Council.

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

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

Pursuant to IC 21-18-9-10.7, Indiana University will comply with requirements imposed by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) 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 make necessary and reasonable efforts to honor the collaborative and consultative processes set forth herein. However, regulatory deadlines and/or requirements of applicable state and federal law may impair or prevent university administration from adhering strictly to the processes of this policy, and the university reserves the right to take any steps necessary to comply in a manner that may be inconsistent with the requirements 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 follow the creation, reorganization, elimination, and merger (CREM) processes set forth below. The university will consult with faculty governance organizations through CREM processes.

Approval

Any request to initiate a CREM must be approved by the Chancellor or Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of the relevant campus or campuses. Requests initiated by faculty or chairs must be approved by the appropriate Dean before advancing to the Chancellor or CAO for their approval. Once a CREM is approved at the campus level, it will be forwarded to the Academic Leadership Council (ALC) when additional approvals are required, consistent with the ALC’s purview over academic programs and with any other approval requirements established by the ICHE. Final recommendations of a CREM will be forwarded to the President for approval.

Consultation

In recognition of the significant impact on faculty and students when academic units are merged or eliminated, faculty and student governance organizations will be informed, where practicable, of the need or desirability for reorganizing academic units and programs appropriate in the CREM process of deliberation, so that their input can be sought. Recognizing the advisory role of faculty governance organizations, the relevant campus faculty governance organization will, where practicable, be invited to convene an ad hoc CREM review committee.

Faculty Response

CREM review committees are expected to solicit and consider feedback from faculty and staff in affected units. University administrators will, as applicable and if available, provide any of the following to the ad hoc CREM committee: documentation describing the proposed reorganization; the rationale for it; and/or a financial forecast. The CREM committee shall 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 CAOs. The report shall also be sent to the executive committee of the applicable campus faculty governance organization.

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 CREM action. Reassignment of tenured or tenure-track faculty shall not be construed as termination and must preserve rank, compensation, and academic freedom to the fullest extent practicable.

Expectations for Probationary Tenure-Track Faculty

Faculty members and librarians who are reassigned to a new academic home 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.

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 has the responsibility to make necessary and reasonable efforts to find a new academic 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 academic home as may be required to meet the university’s operational and business needs. While the current academic home 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 academic home of the faculty member or librarian.

Principles Governing Reorganization

The following principles shall be honored in all CREM activities at Indiana University:

1. Compensation and Other Benefits. The university will minimize, where practicable, the impact on base pay reductions, alterations of negotiated agreements, contractual rights, or loss of time accumulated for sabbatical leave eligibility during the reorganization of academic units and programs.
2. Continuity of Degree Programs. Necessary and 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 minimize, where practicable, the impact on the appointment rights and obligations of faculty, administrators, and student academic appointees.

Appeals

Academic appointees adversely affected by CREM actions may request a campus Faculty Board of Review under ACA-17: Faculty Board of Review. However, a Faculty Board of Review cannot alter or overturn a CREM action.

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Reason for Policy

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 creation, reorganization, elimination, or merger 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 creation, reorganization, elimination, or merger 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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Definitions

Academic Home: Typically, the primary location of teaching and/or research responsibilities, departmental affiliation, strategic institutional needs, and academic supervision. In the case of tenure-track faculty and librarians, the academic home may be referred to as ‘tenure home.’ While faculty may teach or perform duties at multiple campuses, the academic home is typically determined by the faculty member’s academic reporting line. 

Merger: A structured process in which two or more academic degree units or programs are integrated into a pre-existing host academic unit or program. 

Reorganization: A structured process in which two or more academic units or programs are consolidated into a single academic unit or program.

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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.

In June 2025, Responsible Office and Responsible Administrator were updated.

In February 2026, substantive revisions were made.

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