Ball State resolution brings end to Ferguson saga
MUNCIE — As the end of the 2015-16 academic year approaches at Ball State University, the controversial Paul Ferguson saga also appears to have been put to rest.
The University Senate on Thursday adopted a resolution "supporting a campus community united in its mission" and elected a new senate chairman who said he has "great pride and respect for our institution" over a reform candidate who had compared the board of trustees to the politburo.
Kourtland Koch, an associate professor of special education, was elected chairman of the senate, whose members represent faculty, staff and students (the president is also a senator).
"I am no stranger to changes," said Koch, who earned a bachelor's degree in social studies from The Citadel while it was headed by four different presidents, including ex-POW Vice Admiral James Stockdale.
Ball State's trustees were criticized by many faculty and students for the lack of transparency in the unexplained resignation of Ferguson in late January after only 17 months in office.
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"I have been told that serving on this senate, it's supposed to be informative and fun," Koch told senators before he was elected. "I have great pride and respect for our institution … That's the reason why I appear before you today. I assure you I will embrace all challenges with the utmost commitment, fidelity and dedication as your leader of the senate."
Koch also demonstrated a sense of humor. When The Star Press asked him to pose for a photograph, he snapped, "I will not let you steal my soul" and stomped off before returning a short time later to say he was just kidding.
In a secret-ballot vote, Koch was elected over urban planning professor Bruce Frankel, who at an earlier senate meeting had said: "I liken this to the politburo. 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."
During his speech to senators on Thursday, Frankel, a former student body president at Rutgers University, said, " … don't get the notion that I'm bullheaded … but I have been described as being fearless."
As the board of trustees has solicited comments at public forums on the search for a new president, Frankel has heard people say they want a president who can take the university to the next level.
"I don't believe we've gotten to the next level over the course of the last couple of decades," he said. "I'd like to be able to do so. I think we're stuck in tier 3 and need to carve out an excellence for ourselves …So what I'm proposing here, my agenda here, is a reversal of relationships, a new voice for the senate, one that hasn't been heard before. We represent a power base that is not attendant to either the cabinet or the board of trustees. I would think our influence cannot be ignored."
He proposed curricular, organizational and other reforms.
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Meanwhile, after weeks of acrimony between faculty/students and the board following Ferguson's resignation, leadership of the two sides met privately and crafted a joint resolution approved recently by the board and on Thursday by the senate.
It calls for Ball State to function "collaboratively and transparently, welcoming the expression of opinions, encouraging the collective development by the campus of the best ideas, and maintaining open discussion and communication of policy decisions, all with the purpose of supporting a campus community united in its mission to propel the university to a second century of success."
Koch also earned a master's degree in learning disabilities and an education specialist degree in school psychology from The Citadel, while completing his doctorate in curriculum and instruction at the University of South Florida.
Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.