Ball State administration has often come under fire for alleged overbloating. As Political Science Chairman Joe Losco pointed out recently, Ball State has about three times the administration of Purdue, a much larger institution.
But while Ball State may need to take a good, hard look at its administration, it should not be completely closed off to creating new and vital positions.
The university made a good move recently, by creating the assistant provost for international education position. More and more, Americans must have an international perspective to prosper in our society. This position is a near-necessity to keep Ball State on the cutting edge in bringing the world to Ball State students.
Marketing associate professor John Vann told the DAILY NEWS he was trying to balance out the need to give international programs attention, versus the need to keep the administration to a minimum. Losco said last week that he has no ideological problem with the position and is simply concerned about the size of the administration.
In truth, Ball State has moved toward a smaller administration in recent years. The assistant vice president for information technology was combined with the executive assistant to the president position. When Dean of Students Donald Mikesell retired, Randy Hyman assumed the position without giving up his other title, associate vice president of student affairs.
"This is not a plus one," said Provost Warren Vander Hill. "It's a neutral."
The university will have more opportunities to "prune" the administration, as more and more administrators approach retirement age. As long as they try to do so, they should also not be afraid to create a few new positions, when an absolute need arises.
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