THE DAILY NEWS: SPECIAL EDITION
TUESDAY, JAN. 26, 2016
VOL. 95, ISSUE 49
541 DAYS BALL STATE’S 15TH PRESIDENT RESIGNS UNIVERSITY HIRES CRISIS CONTROL EXPERT FERGUSON’S NAME REMOVED FROM WEBSITE RUMORS SPREAD AS UNIVERSITY REMAINS TIGHT-LIPPED Ferguson leaves with 3 years remaining in his contract KARA BERG, JAKE FOX AND BRI KIRKHAM | news@bsudailynews.com
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onday’s announcement that President Paul W. Ferguson will resign three and a half years before his contract is up came as a surprise and prompted calls for the university to explain what happened and be more open about the departure. “The speculation begins: ‘Why?’ ‘What happened?’” said Dom Caristi, a professor in the Department of Telecommunications. “This is very sudden, and nobody expected it. Nobody knows anything at this point.” Caristi and others said the university
BREAKING CONTRACT?
Ferguson’s contract leaves questions unanswered about his resignation PAGE 3
THE STAND-IN PRESIDENT
Provost, vice president for academic affairs will take leadership until new president is hired PAGE 4
COMMUNITY REACTIONS
Students, faculty respond to news of President Ferguson’s resigning PAGE 5
What happened during President Ferguson’s tenure? ALAN HOVORKA SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR | afhovorka@bsu.edu
After only 18 months on the job, President Paul W. Ferguson introduced several changes to the university, including bringing an emphasis on entrepreneurial education. He also moved to shift away from the “Education Redefined” years and Ball State’s identification as a school focused on immersive learning. Ferguson announced his resignation Monday with virtually no explanation, saying only that he and his wife, Grace, would miss the school. It was an unexpected end to a presidential term that had been expected to last five years. THE CENTENNIAL COMMITMENT Ferguson’s major push toward making Ball
See FERGUSON, page 2
See ACCOMPLISHMENTS, page 3
OUR VIEW
UNIVERSITY NEEDS MORE TRANSPARENCY AT ISSUE:
Ball State is withholding information about the president’s resignation
For a university that labels itself as “student-centered,” Ball State has again missed the mark on keeping members of the campus community informed. President Paul W. Ferguson’s resignation can be described with one word: surprising. The Board of Trustees announced his resignation in an email to students, but they left out an important detail — his reason for leaving.
*PAUL W. FERGUSON TOOK OFFICE AT BALL STATE UNIVERSITY ON AUG. 1, 2014, MAKING HIS TERM AS PRESIDENT 541 DAYS LONG.
In an interview with the Daily News, Board of Trustees Chairman Rick Hall wouldn’t elaborate on the reason, instead saying that it was a “mutual decision.” After head football coach Pete Lembo resigned last month, Ferguson became the highest-paid employee at Ball State, earning nearly half a million dollars each year — yet students aren’t able to get the full story, or even a part of a story, of his resignation.
He also is leaving a year and a half into his five-year contract. Ferguson made big changes to Ball State, like removing “education redefined” from university material and focusing on entrepreneurial learning. He wasn’t meant to be just a temporary president. The university seems to be purposely hiding information about the real reason for his See EDITORIAL, page 2
DN FILE PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY