While Ball State University worked to raise about $13.6 million, surpassing the original goal of $12 million, to make improvements to the football stadium, Vice President of University Advancement Don Park was the man behind the scenes.
However, Park will be retiring this June after a total of 25 years of service to Ball State, and on Wednesday, President Jo Ann Gora named Ben Hancock as his replacement.
Hancock, vice president for institutional development at Albion College in Michigan, will begin at Ball State on July 1.
"I think it's a terrific opportunity," Hancock said. "From my first visit to campus I was excited about the people I met and the enthusiasm on campus."
Hancock said he wanted to work at Ball State because he was an advocate of public higher education, and he had experience that would benefit the university. While at Albion College, Hancock helped with three fundraising campaigns, which earned more than $255 million.
As the vice president of university advancement at Ball State, Hancock would work with alumni and university development. The position also serves as a liaison with the University Foundation, which manages monetary gifts to the university.
Park said fundraising was also a big part of the job, and the university always needed more money.
"Basically, what we do, we do as a team," Park said. "No one person does it all. Everyone's job is to build relationships and engage people with the university as volunteers or financial supporters."
The network of alumni that Park helps manage continues to grow by about 3,000 every year as more students graduate. "I try and position the university in a positive way with our alumni and friends," Park said.
Park thought Hancock was successful, experienced and a good person for the job.
Hancock has served as the vice president for institutional development at Albion College for about 17 years, so Hancock said he had much experience in a senior management role.
"I think one of the first things I'm going to do is meet as many people as I can, and do a lot of listening," Hancock said.
He said he had some ideas, but he said it would be premature to have a specific plan of action for his new job.
"The first thing I want to do is definitely build on the success that's already been done at Ball State," Hancock said.
Park said he would continue to do some work with Ball State after his retirement because Gora asked him to. He said he'd probably be engaged with major gift prospects that he had been working on over the years.
"I have a long historical knowledge of the university," Park said. "I know a large portion of our donors and alumni leaders."
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