As faculty, staff and students get reacquainted with the Indiana University Bloomington campus this fall, or experience it for the first time, there are some changes to be aware of. Here is a look at some of them:

New web and app hosting at IU

This summer, UITS rebuilt IU’s web hosting platform Sitehost from the ground up in response to security vulnerabilities. As part of this transformation, IU has officially launched Sitekube for websites and Appkube for applications.

These new services — more secure, scalable and user-friendly — are now available to support IU’s evolving digital needs.

Many websites have already been moved, and work continues on the remaining migrations. For questions or help with your site, contact webhelp@iu.edu.

Dining changes

Bookmarket has reopened as a food-court-style concept, similar to the casual restaurants at the Indiana Memorial Union. The six options at Restaurants @ Bookmarket offer distinct dining concepts, including pastries, espresso, King’s Hawaiian hand-breaded chicken sandwiches, international dishes, salads, smoothies and bowls. The employee meal plan works at any Bookmarket restaurant.

The Globe, which offers international dishes from local food trucks and restaurants at three campus locations — the IMU, Bookmarket and Eigenmann Hall — features two new vendors: Mama Duke’s Hawaiian BBQ and Top Notch Filipino.

Starbucks has added a third location at Read Hall in addition to the IMU and McNutt locations.

Poke by Sushi King has added a second location in Read Hall in addition to the Hodge Café location.

O’Neill Café now offers breakfast sandwiches all day.

Reminder: Faculty and staff can use the employee meal plan to eat in campus dining halls, restaurants, cafes and other eateries, including The Vault Pub for carryout lunch combos and the Tudor Room for weekday lunches.

The Vault Pub in the IMU is offering a variety of entertainment and specials:

• Thursdays: Jazz from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., followed by trivia at 8:30 p.m.
• Fridays: Live music from 7 to 9 p.m., on the patio when the weather is nice.
• Saturdays: Kids eat free all day.

The Vault also has new dessert and drink menus.

New bike registration system

IU Transportation has launched a new, free registration system that is required for all bikes and e-scooters on the IU Bloomington campus.

The upgrade is in response to feedback and findings from the 2024 IU Bike Theft Survey, which revealed that only 36% of stolen bikes had been registered and only 58% reported the theft.

The registration system allows the IU Police Department and the Bloomington Police Department to easily access bike data, and gives IU Parking Operations the ability to notify bike owners before moving or impounding a bike.

Bloomington Faculty Council changes

The Bloomington Faculty Council’s leadership changes each year on July 1. William “Bill” Ramos, an associate professor in the School of Public Health-Bloomington, is the new president and will also serve as co-chair of the University Faculty Council.

Former Bloomington Faculty Council President Danielle DeSawal, a clinical professor in the School of Education, has moved into the position of past president. DeSawal will chair the Long-Range Planning Committee.

Heather Akou, professor and program director in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, is the president-elect for 2025-26 and will become president of the Bloomington Faculty Council in July 2026.

Also new to the Bloomington Faculty Council office is Virginia Hojas Carbonell, who was appointed as the council’s new director, effective Aug. 1. Hojas Carbonell is the former assistant director of the Basic Spanish Language program and teaching professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU Bloomington.

Bloomington Faculty Council leadership has been working throughout the summer with the Nominations Committee to set members for the upcoming year. Member orientation is Aug. 19, with the first meeting of the council scheduled for 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at Franklin Hall.

Additional and updated information can be found on the Bloomington Faculty Council website.

Bloomington Staff Council updates

Every July, the Bloomington Staff Council holds executive board member elections. The 2025-26 board members are:

• Jen Berry, president.
• Jeff Heerdink-Santos, vice president.
• Sarah Chavez, secretary.
• Margot Burke, treasurer.
• Chris Roush, parliamentarian.
• Dani Doyle, staff engagement and outreach liaison.

The past president position is currently vacant. Berry was re-elected as president.

The staff engagement and outreach liaison role is new to the executive committee. In this role, Doyle will help identify and strengthen connections between the council and other staff councils across campus, fostering collaboration and a welcoming environment. She will also guide the council in designing and implementing programs and events that reflect the broad range of staff experiences and perspectives, ensuring initiatives are community-driven and impactful.

The staff council has standing and ad-hoc committees that support various aspects of staff-related life. It is composed of 30 elected representatives for employees coded as appointed staff. The council also has ex-officio members from the Bloomington Faculty Council, IU Bloomington Academic Advising Council, Human Resources and other representative bodies.

Contact the council with questions, feedback or suggestions through its Contact Us page.