About 100 feet physically separates Ball State professor Joe Losco from the wooden table that seats Ball State's board of trustees -- about a five-minute walk.
But it's the longest walk Losco has ever taken.
A political tug of war in the state's General Assembly has kept Losco away from this table far more than any physical distance.
For four years, faculty members have pulled on one end, saying their voice has been denied on the most important governing body in the university.
"The faculty are the people who are going to be here the longest," Losco said. "Our success is connected with the university's success. Somebody needs to convince me that more input in the decision-making process is a bad thing."
Opponents, including university administrators, pull on the other end, arguing that universities' boards should represent the public, not a specific interest.
Indiana's legislators have let the opponents win the contest so far. Faculty, however, have fought harder each time. On Feb. 4, they convinced the Indiana House to pass House Bill 1359 by a 51-45 vote. The bill, if passed into law, would put a non-voting faculty member at the trustee table.
The bill could also possibly resolve exactly who the trustees should represent.
Losco said the board does not represent some ideal public. The student trustee has a vested interest in a particular constituency, he said. He also said the two alumni who sit on the board could have competing interests.
Even with faculties' ties to the universities, they are smart enough to balance their loyalties, Losco said.
"It's not 'either or,'" Losco said. "You represent both. Faculty members are tax payers. They are members of the state."
The bill awaits an uncertain fate in the Senate. Historically, the Senate has been less favorable to the faculty. In the past four years, the bill has yet to break free of the committee system.
Senate President Pro Tempore Bob Garton would not say for certain if the bill stood a chance in his chamber, but he too said the board should be free of conflicting interests.
"That's not why the Board of Trustees was created," Garton said. "They represent the public."
Currently, the bill rests in Garton's committee, where it hasn't been touched since Feb. 11.
Indiana law does not specify that the boards of Ball State, Indiana University and Purdue University serve in the best interest of the public, nor does it say the board should be free of members with specific interests.
But political science professor Dan Reagan said the law's intent is to create a board that both represents Indiana residents and provides for educated board membership.
For example, Reagan said, Ivy Tech limits its board membership to those who "have knowledge or experience" in manufacturing, commerce, labor, agriculture, economics and educational delivery systems.
Purdue University, he said, also reserves one of its trustees' seats to a graduate of the university's agriculture program.
"When Purdue...makes a decision on the engineering program or the agriculture program, do any think the agricultural people won't act in the interest of the overall well-being (of the university)?" Reagan said. "I don't."
"Our bill is consistent with state law."
The bill is not consistent with other states' laws. Nationwide, about 5.2 percent of all four-year public institutions with one campus allow voting faculty members on the board, according to a survey by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges.
Only four states have passed laws providing for faculty representation, according to the American Association of University Professors. Another five states, including Indiana, are vying for a faculty slot, the AAUP stated.
Kentucky allowed faculty members on the universities' boards, and now they are allowing staffers, Ingram said. The boards, however, do not handle any issues that would touch staffers, he said.
Ball State Associate Vice President Jeff Linder has lobbied against the bill on behalf of Ball State President Blaine Brownell. Linder echoed Ingram's concern that one bill could lead to another. Linder also said faculty already have adequate representation. They select department chairs; they played a critical part in selecting Brownell, and they have access to the board through the chairperson of the University Senate.
Whether that's enough, however, will soon be decided in the Senate. Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield, has decided to sponsor 1359, and Losco is hoping that the fourth year may be a charm.
But if it's not, he'll still fight to bridge that 100-foot gap between him and that table, regardless of how long it takes him.
"We're not going away," he said. "It may take 10 years, but we're not going away."
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