After 10 months, six open forums and two searches, Ball State University President Jo Ann Gora named Terry King as provost on Thursday.
Gora said she chose King, the dean of the College of Engineering at Kansas State University, because of his experience in several areas including developing external partnerships, working on strategic plans and communicating across colleges.
"We're looking for a full range of external partnerships," Gora said. "We're looking to not only expand our external funding but partner with firms that are excited about the kind of initiatives that our students are engaged in."
She said the initiatives might even bring some small businesses to Ball State.
One of King's first challenges will be refining and completing Ball State's strategic plan, Gora said. King said many universities have trouble actually achieving the strategic plans they have created.
Ball State should select some specific priorities and then execute them, he said.
Joe Losco, chairman of the Political Science Department and treasurer of the Ball State chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said he was pleased with King's collaborative style.
"He's also very interested in transparency," Losco said. "He likes decisions made in the open, including fiscal decisions."
At Kansas State, King said he had budget hearings where faculty would present their proposals asking for funds in front of a group.
"Every department hears what the others are asking for," King said. "There was no mystery in the budget process. ... When you do it in secret then everyone else thinks someone else is getting secret deals."
Gora said she was interested in creating a more open budget process at Ball State.
"His experience in that area I thought was very positive and gave him a unique perspective on how we might do that here at Ball State," she said.
Gora also wanted King to help develop more comprehensive experiential learning opportunities and improve the university's ability to bring in immersive learning opportunities, she said.
"In addition to his great range of experience, he really got excited by the vision that we have for Ball State and really understood the unique moment in time this is," Gora said.
King said he would start making visits to campus in April to get to know the other administrators, faculty and students.
"I want to get a sense of where they are in the development of the vision that I heard expressed by President Gora," King said. "I want to see what their thinking is and if they understand where the institution is going."
O'Neal Smitherman, vice president of information technology and chairman of the provost search, said King stood out and received the most support on campus.
"My impression is that his personal and professional style include people rather than exclude people," Smitherman said. "I think he is exactly what Ball State needs."
Former provost candidate Bjong Wolf Yeigh said he knew King through their mututal membership in a national council for engineering deans.
"I think he would be an excellent addition to Ball State," Wolf Yeigh said, "It will be important for the community to really support the new provost and President Gora in achieving Ball State's vision for the future."
Gora made her decision only one week after the final open forum.
"That's one of the things I particularly appreciate about the administration at the institution - there's no waiting around to get things done," King said.
Smitherman said the university had wanted to fill the position quickly.
"You want to move quickly enough so that some other institution that might be interested in them doesn't hire them before we get to make a decision," he said.
King said the decision to leave Kansas State was difficult, but he was pleased and ready to take on the position at Ball State.
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