Clue given on why BSU president quit
MUNCIE — Acting Ball State University President Terry King provided a bit of an explanation on Thursday for the resignation of his predecessor Paul Ferguson after only 17 months in office.
"A person can look at what's been said and kind of figure out what's going on," King told members of the University Senate.
He then repeated what Indianapolis attorney Rick Hall, chairman of the board of trustees, said at a recent meeting, that "there is no scandal, no other shoe that's going to drop, there's no financial crisis, there's not an emergency that's going to be revealed next week."
King then recounted a meeting with a corporate executive earlier Thursday who spoke about "how his life as the CEO of a major corporation got to the point where his board and he just could not agree on policy and they split."
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Also during the meeting, King said he would reject a proposed Senate resolution calling on the president and board of trustees to ask the state Legislature to change how trustees are appointed.
The resolution was prompted by Ferguson's abrupt and unexplained resignation and a severance package that will continue to pay him a base salary of $450,000 (plus two months of paid sabbatical) over the next year even though he has been relieved of duties.
"I likened this to the politburo," urban planning professor Bruce Frankel told Senate members. "A secret process occurs and all of a sudden a new president emerges, and the removal of the president occurs in the exact same way."
The resolution calls for three of the nine members of Ball State's board of trustees to be appointed by the alumni association, one member to be appointed by the Student Government Association, one to be appointed by the city of Muncie, one to be appointed by University Senate, and three to be appointed by the governor. The governor currently appoints all nine members, one of whom is nominated by the student government association/university president and two of whom are nominated by the alumni council.
The resolution also calls on King and the board of trustees to change university policies/bylaws to prevent secrecy in employment contracts of future presidents and to conduct open searches for new presidents.
"My alarm was that taxpayers are footing about 29 percent of the bill of the university," Frankel said. "We are becoming less publicly supported."
Student fees make up $192 million of Ball State's $345 million general fund budget for 2015-16, while state appropriations fund $140 million of the budget.
"What you are doing by this is asking the state to give up control of a state university," King told the Senate, noting that the city of Muncie "makes no direct financial contribution to the institution."
King also noted that the state funds 100 percent of capital projects like the $62.5 million earmarked last year to construct a building to house the new College of Health. "So they have a big say in what's going on," he said.
The Senate voted to appoint a committee to continue drafting the resolution, which Frankel calls "a statement." If the Senate approves it and the president and board of trustees reject it, "then it becomes a bigger statement," Frankel said.
Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.