Because only about one-fourth of the student body remains in Muncie over the summer, a popular notion is that Ball State University administrators have little to do during this time.
However, school staff is as busy as ever during the break, some faculty said. It is not always business as usual for administrators, but they stay busy despite the reduction in students.
"During the summer, your job changes in regards to not necessarily the amount of work, but the type of the work," Lynda Wiley, director of the Office of Student Life, said.
Wiley, who works with students on a regular basis during the school year, uses summer as a time to do "some of the more mundane but very necessary pieces" required to stay organized for the upcoming academic year. Such a transitional stage is necessary when the key component of her job - students - is lacking, she said.
Still, administrators such as Wiley and Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs and dean of students, continue to work with students on a more limited basis.
"Believe it or not, we do still have students that come in every day," Bales said. "We're trying to wrap up this past year and make the necessary changes to plan for the upcoming year."
Bales said she called this time an evaluation and planning period, which she assured "keeps a lot of us busy looking for what is the next thing we can do for students."
Additionally, Bales said the school liked to use the summer as a time to organize search committees for job openings, which often included at least one student in the process.
"Early summertime is a great opportunity for us to fill any vacancies," Bales said.
While Student Life has its hands full preparing for the upcoming school year, Bales and other administrators also keep occupied with the thousands of incoming students visiting for orientation.
Michael Haynes, associate dean of University College and director of academic advising, has different responsibilities during the summer as he coordinates the orientation process.
"People say now that the school year is over it's more relaxed or something, and no it isn't," Haynes said. "My job just morphs into another kind of thing here during the summer with a little more speed and pressure because there are families around."
Haynes and his advising staff of temporary and full-time personnel work tirelessly with as many as 180 students at a time during the six-week cycle every summer to ensure a smooth transition for incoming freshmen, he said.
"We're fully involved in orientation, which just began [Monday]," Haynes said. "In this two-day orientation process advisers have a presentation they give, and on the second day we have a staff of advisers who guide students on their schedules."
Despite the hectic nature of orientation, Haynes said he did not feel much different during the summer months.
"Other than the fact it might be a little easier to find a parking place, the summer doesn't seem a whole lot different to me," Haynes said.
"It's not even easy to find a parking place anymore because they are placing families back here in the parking garage."
Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Tom Collins said the summer change was practically unrecognizable during his daily duties.
"The only big change we have is that we don't have competitions going on, but other than that our goals are fairly constant," Collins said. "It's pretty consistent. It is a time when coaches and administration staff can get out and take some vacation time, do evaluations and visit summer camps all across the country."
While many of those trips relate to recruitment, Collins said most of the incoming athletes for next year had already committed to Ball State. As a result, these trips focus more on finding upcoming talent.
"That's the time [coaches] can actually get out and see kids play, especially younger kids that have been sitting on the bench waiting for a senior to graduate before they get a chance to shine."
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