Ball State University will pay former President Blaine Brownell $350,000 over the next three years for his tenure rights.
Brownell expressed an interest in returning to the university to teach, but the Board of Trustees decided at its July meeting to buy out his tenure rights instead.
"This is a cost effective option for the university over the long term and is an arrangement agreeable to both parties," Tom DeWeese, board president, said.
Brownell said he and his wife enjoyed their experience in Muncie and have many good memories.
"We were disappointed about the fact that we won't be able to re-center ourselves into the Ball State or Muncie community," Brownell said. "On the other hand, we are grateful and now look at some other possibilities."
In May, Brownell contacted the university expressing his interest in returning to teach. The 12th president of the university announced on Oct. 20, 2003, that he was leaving Ball State to take a CEO position with U21pedigogica Limited, an international network of universities in 10 countries. That initiative ended for Brownell in March of 2005.
While he was working with U21pedigogica, he was on a leave of absence that gave him the right to return to Ball State until 2007.
Under the agreement, if Brownell returned, he would demand a salary of at least $100,000 a year, and because he had tenure, he could stay as long as he wanted.
Brownell had tenure rights in the history and urban planning departments. However, there were no faculty openings in a position he would have qualified for.
"For Dr. Brownell, the university would have had to create a position in an area where it is not currently hiring and continue maintaining that position for a number of years at a significant salary and benefit," DeWeese said.
Brownell said he would have planned on teaching about seven years, which would have taken him to age 70.
The discussion of buying out Brownell's tenure rights didn't come up until his attorney and the university's meeting to finalize the details of the agreement.
At that point, Brownell had already received his assignment and was planning a trip to Muncie to meet with a real estate agent, he said.
That all changed at the last minute, and now Brownell gets to stay at his home in Earlysville, Va., which is only two hours away from Washington, D.C., where he's considering revising a textbook he's written, among other things.
"This particular option was not initiated by me," Brownell said. "It is an acceptable option, and one that we agreed to."
Since he'll be getting paid over the next three years, Brownell said there's really no real need for him to have a full-time job.
"I could have teaching opportunities in a number of other places," Brownell said. "It's not the end of my professional live."
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