Acting BSU president to retire
MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State University's board of trustees on Friday approved the retirement of interim President Terry King and the awarding of an honorary degree to spring commencement keynote speaker Teresa Lubbers, the state's higher education commissioner.
King, who kept the university's momentum going after the ouster of President Paul Ferguson in January 2016, will not be returning to his longtime post as BSU provost. Instead, he will be leaving the workforce permanently to "climb mountains," he told The Star Press.
"It's time," he said. "I'm at that age (65). Actually, I had been … thinking about this for some time, but this opportunity to lead the university came up, and so it was a real interest of mine to help out in this transition."
Geoff Mearns, the current president at Northern Kentucky University, was named BSU's next president in January, but he doesn't start until May. King's last day will be June 9.
What are King's retirement plans? "I like to climb mountains," he said in an interview. "I like to hike. I have a lot of things I want to do like that. I'm not going to work anymore. I have colleagues I've known for years who retired years ago. They worked at Microsoft."
Chairman of the board of trustees Rick Hall said in a statement: "We are appreciative that Terry King delayed his intention to retire a year ago to step forward and provide leadership to Ball State during a critical time of transition. Such a personal sacrifice is consistent with the loyalty toward Ball State he has exhibited for more than a decade. We will miss Terry and wish him the best in his retirement."
In the wake of Ferguson's apparently forced resignation, for which the board of trustees offered no explanation, King quashed a movement by some faculty for a vote of no confidence in the board of trustees.
LOOKING BACK: BSU lost its president, not its momentum
Two months after taking office, King defended the university's decision to accept a $3,250,000 donation from Papa John's Pizza founder John Schnatter and libertarian billionaire Charles Koch's foundation to establish a center at Ball State to promote free enterprise.
Freshman enrollment and retention increased while King was president, and the university created a new College of Health that will include a $62.5 million Health Professions Building. Groundbreaking is planned for this summer. King previously called the new college "momentous," "monumental" and "generational."
"These new colleges don't get created very often," he said. "If you look back in the history of Ball State University, you will look at some momentous decisions to create a College of Fine Arts, or a College of Architecture and Planning, or a College of Communication, Information and Media."
LOOKING BACK: U.S. News rates BSU 4th best in the MAC
Also Friday, the board of trustees approved an honorary doctor of laws degree for Lubbers, commissioner for the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. Lubbers will be the commencement speaker at Ball State on May 6 at the Arts Terrace.
Lubbers was appointed to the commission in 2009 and as commissioner has worked to increase college completion rates, ensure academic quality and student learning, and align post-secondary credentials with meaningful careers. She is a past chair and a current member of both the State Higher Education Executive Officers and the Midwestern Higher Education Compact. Before her work with the commission, Lubbers served in the Indiana State Senate for 17 years, leading on education and economic development issues as chair of the Senate Education and Career Development Committee.
Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.