"I think this will be one of the most sought-after positions in the country," then-Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Beverly Pitts said in a June 9, 2003 article.
She was speaking of the College of Communication, Information and Media's search for a new dean, following the departure announcement of Scott Olson when he left for a job with Minnesota State University just under a month later.
"We will be working from an outstanding pool because the university's program is so well known," Pitts said.
It is now Jan. 2005 and the college is still in the midst of its search; its second attempt, to be precise.
What went wrong?
That's what we would like to know.
"Sometimes when we'll have an unsuccessful search year, the next year we'll have outstanding candidates, so if that's what's best for the college, that's what we'll do." Pitts, then-acting president of the university, said last April. Pitts later terminated the first search effort after the mere two candidates who visited campus proved to be unsatisfactory.
"Speaking as faculty, both candidates had strengths in particular areas, but neither had general strengths," said CCIM Acting Dean Michael Holmes last May.
So much for a giant, outstanding pool.
It may be easy to blame the candidates on not living up to Ball State's increasingly hope-based standards, but who is to say Ball State is not living up to theirs? That is to say, the lack of interested candidates may say more about CCIM than the college and the university is willing to admit.
With the recent cut of convergence based and Lilly Grant funded NewsLink Indiana, as well as its four staff members; perhaps candidates are seeing CCIM in the beginning stages of distress. The harsh reality for the college is that its bragging rights are slowly dissipating.
"I think lots of schools are looking for deans of colleges of communication ... so we've got lots of competition." Nancy Carlson, chairwoman of the department of telecommunications said last May. Holmes added that other communication colleges were unable to find deans this year, as well.
Is the competition really that tough, or is the national standard slowly being raised beyond Ball State's head?
Only time and a few lengthy interviews will tell.
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