For the past 12 years, Ball State’s new chief of staff, Julie Hopwood has worked at four different universities from Nevada to Maine – but all for the same boss.
The senior advisor to the president followed President Paul Ferguson to Ball State this year.
She said she enjoys working with Ferguson and in the office environment he supports, compared to places she had worked at before.
“It wasn’t that I had been in unhappy offices, I just hadn’t been in one where it was okay to continue to laugh, it was okay to be human, it was okay to just find that gratification in every day,” Hopwood said.
This was one of the things that drew Hopwood to Ferguson. She wanted to work somewhere she would look forward to going to every day and be somewhere she could make a difference.
Hopwood has been working with Ferguson since 2002, when she met him at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. She was Ferguson’s graduate assistant and he was the vice president for research and graduate studies.
Ferguson said it was her law degree and different perspective on the sophistication of higher education that made him work well with her.
“I needed a partner that had that skill set that was kind of complementary to mine – law, broadcast journalism and public administration,” Ferguson said. “Those aren’t toxicology, which is my Ph.D. I’m an economic affairs and research guy.”
Along with UNLV, Ferguson and Hopwood have worked together at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, University of Maine and now Ball State.
Hopwood said because she has worked with Ferguson for so long, it made the transition to Ball State so much easier. Because they have that history, she said she knows him and knows what his vision is.
“I think when anyone starts a new position … you have to also understand who it is you’re working for and go through that awkward transition. I didn’t have that,” Hopwood said. “I didn’t need to become oriented to the person I work for. That’s critical in making sure you hit the ground running and critical in making sure that the success you’re going to generate happens quickly.”
Before Ferguson reinstated the chief of staff position at Ball State, there hadn’t been one since John E. Worthen had been president, Ferguson said. So far, he has gotten a lot of positive feedback on the position.
“I’ve had a number of people unsolicited come out and say, at the size of this university, the president needs a chief of staff,” Ferguson said.
As chief of staff, Hopwood gets involved in the aspects of campus Ferguson cannot. He said if the president wants to be engaged in the diversity of campus, he needs the chief of staff to help facilitate the connection.
Hopwood serves on committees Ferguson cannot be on. She also helps facilitate the interdivisional challenges in the cabinet.
Once she gets settled into the role of chief of staff, Hopwood said she would be working on a series of special projects, as well as answering phone calls and emails and going to meetings.
Hopwood said the best part of this job is being busy.
“I think I would have gone back and yearned for another career if I didn’t have that activity every day,” she said. “There’s so much diversity and no downtime, and I really thrive on that.”
Read More
Delta baseball defeats Yorktown in extra innings to become Delaware County champions
By Zach Carter / YesterdayThe Eagles defeated the Tigers 5-2 in extra innings to win the Delaware County baseball tournament. It's the first time Delta has won the event since 2017.
'I'm grateful and proud:' No. 6 Ball State falls to No. 1 Miami in MAC Championship title game
By Zach Carter / YesterdayThe No. 6 Cardinals fell to the No. 1 Redhawks 8-0 in the MAC title game. It's the farthest the Cardinals have advanced in the tournament since 2015.
AP: Police arrest dozens as they break up pro-Palestinian protests at several US universities
By The Associated Press / YesterdayPolice made dozens of arrests as pro-Palestinian protest encampments were dismantled Friday at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, hours after police tear-gassed demonstrators and took down a similar camp at the University of Arizona.
