At the end of her first year at Ball State University, President Jo Ann Gora has seen major changes in the top administration. However, she said she isn't worried about filling the five positions.
"I'm not at all concerned about the openings," President Jo Ann Gora said. "This is a natural part of the way a business operates."
During the 2004-05 academic year, Ball State University has started the search for provost and vice president for academic affairs, vice president for markeing communications and enrollmnt management, director of student affairs, director of the Center for Middletown Studies and director of The Entrepreneurship Program.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Beverley Pitts, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will resign in June to become president of the University of Indianapolis.
H. O'Neal Smitherman, chairman of the search committee for a provost, said the search process for a new leader is moving forward.
The committee has had meetings and put together advertisements that have been placed in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Black Issues in Higher Education and Hispanic Outlook.
Smitherman said he had seen at least 12 applications for the position, but the review of candidates does not begin until May 1.
"Our hope is we will be able to identify over the summer a number of candidates to interview by conference calls," Smitherman said.
After the phone interviews, Smitherman said the committee wants to select three or four candidates to come visit Ball State's campus for interviews and student open forums in September.
"If everything goes well within literally just a few weeks after the interview, we start negotiating with the candidate," Smitherman said.
Anyone who may be applicable for the position, however, will probably be committed to finish out the year at another institution, Smitherman said.
With this in mind, he said he still hopes to have the position filled by January 2006.
Vice President for Marketing, Communications, and Enrollment Management
When President Gora asked Doug McConkey to resign in January, she changed his former position of vice president of student affairs to vice president for marketing, communications, and enrollment management.
"There are not a large number of applicants because there are not a lot of people in the United States who have experience in the combination we're asking for," Norman Beck, secretary of the search committee, said.
The candidate must be able to maximize enrollment at Ball State as well as raise the academic standards, he said. He said the goal for enrollment is 19,500 students.
"They absolutely must have a knowledge of and experience in enrollment management, and we also want both the marketing and public relations communications areas," Beck said.
Two candidates are expected to visit sometime in May to be interviewed and participate in open forums.
The committee is trying to fill the position as soon as possible.
"If we could have it done by the first of June, I'd be delighted," Beck said.
Director of Student Affairs
Because the position of vice president for student affairs is to be eliminated, a new position is needed to head the office of student affairs.
Gora said this new director position would be filled internally, with someone who already works for the university.
The internal search for head of student affairs will not begin until after the vice president for marketing, communications, and enrollment management has been filled, she said.
Director of the Center for Middletown Studies
When long time director of the Center for Middletown Studies Bruce Geelhoed stepped down to become chairman of the department of history, he left an opening in the well-known program.
Jacquelyn Buckrop, chairwoman of the search committee, said acting director James Connolly is a candidate for the position.
He has been interviewed and presented his open forum for students, faculty and staff.
Buckrop would not comment on the status of the committee's search.
Director of The Entrepreneurship Program
Ball State University's nationally ranked entrepreneurship program is also seeking leadership since its director stepped down.
Donald Kuratko, former director of the entrepreneurship program and the Midwest Entrepreneurial Education Center, resigned from Ball State to work for Indiana University's Kelley School of Business.
The search for the new director is already underway, Brien Smith, chairman of the department of marketing and management in the Miller College of Business, said.
"This process is a little different from a typical search," Smith said. "We're doing a nationwide search where we are targeting individuals who we think have the appropriate skills we're looking for."
Because the program is approaching people who might not necessarily be looking for a job, it makes finding the right candidate more difficult, Smith said.
"I have to essentially sell Ball State," he said. "We are looking for individuals that are from ranked entrepreneurship programs. We're looking for someone with an experienced background and national prominence."
Two people have already come to campus but because of personal issues, could not take the job, he said.
Three applicants are showing a strong interest in Ball State, Smith said. They are planning to have these three candidates visit campus during the summer, with the hope that the director position will be filled by the beginning of the next school year.
"We're doing what we can to make sure we continue excellent programs at Ball State," Smith said.
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