IU faculty have a rich history of serving as elected officials at the local and state level. Civic engagement and public service is a core value of IU and the College, and we encourage faculty to be community leaders in these ways.
In keeping with a desire to uphold a citizen-lawmaker model, most local elected offices in Indiana are generally understood to be a part-time position. Monroe County Commissioners meet once a week for approximately two hours and hold office hours several evenings a week. Monroe County Council Members meet two evenings a month. Bloomington City Council currently meets three evenings a month, though – per statute - they are only required to meet once a month.1 Unlike a city staff member or mayor, these elected officials are not expected to be in a government office throughout the standard working day, nor do they have permanent space assignments in city and county buildings. Similarly, the Indiana General Assembly is a part-time legislature that meets 10 weeks in even years and 16 weeks in odd years.
In recent years, elected local officials have increased their salaries, sometimes doing so through changing FTE associated with their positions in order to justify their salaries in the context of the city and county employee pay scale. However, IN § 36-2-5-13(b) states that “an elected county officer is not required to report hours worked and may not be compensated based on the number of hours worked.”
Given this context, it is College Policy that:
- Elected office to local and state office (excepting positions that perform substantial executive functions that require frequent and regular office hours and supervision of employees such as Mayor or Clerk) are part-time positions, notwithstanding the FTE affixed to their salaries (which, per IN § 36-2-5-13(b) is likely an unenforceable construct).
- Faculty and staff who serve as elected officials may choose to reduce their FTE with the University but are not required to do so.
- As with all faculty and staff, the appropriate process through which to determine whether university employees who are concurrently elected officials are able to adequately perform the duties of their IU employment is the annual review process.
1 Bloomington, Indiana, Code of Ordinances § 2.04.050 (e)