On Friday, President Blaine Brownell said he welcomed the "foreseeable future." Monday, he announced that the future is coming to an end on Jan. 31.
"I'm leaving the presidency of Ball State University," Brownell said at a press conference in the Alumni Center. "I'm leaving not out of any unhappiness whatsoever. I believe I have done my best work here ... and I believe circumstances have never been better."
Brownell will work his last day as president on Jan. 31. He'll then begin as CEO of U21pedagogica Limited, an international network of 17 universities in 10 countries, including Sweden and Australia.
As CEO, he will coordinate the efforts of the universities and try to extend their resources into areas with little or no access to higher education, he said.
"It was an opportunity I simply could not refuse," Brownell said. "There is no reason that we have to leave here, other than this is a great opportunity."
A nationwide search for Ball State's new president will begin as soon as possible, Heather Shupp, the executive director of University Communications, said.
By Feb. 1, the Board of Trustees will name an interim president to fill in for Brownell until a permanent replacement can be found. Board President Tom DeWeese, who has known for about two months that the president might be leaving, said he hasn't given thought yet to candidates or qualifications for the interim slot.
"We've got until Feb. 1," DeWeese said. "That's three months away."
Brownell's last three months begin after about a week of speculation in Muncie and Indiana.
Rumors have permeated the campus since last Saturday -- rumors that the board was displeased with the president's performance.
Brownell addressed the rumors Friday, when he reportedly told a reporter from WISH-8 that he was at Ball State for the long haul.
Monday, the same reporter asked why he said that if he knew he was leaving.
"I meant it in the spirit, even though I knew ... the long term wasn't very long," Brownell said.
Brownell was first contacted for his new position in July, but he didn't seriously consider it until after his wife asked him to take a second look, he said.
He was formally hired last weekend, Brownell said.
The board has known about the job opportunity since about August, DeWeese said.
Trustee Kimberly Hood Jacobs said she first heard about the press conference at about 10 a.m. Monday, when the board's secretary called her.
"The news conference was news to me this morning," she said. "I didn't know what the announcement was going to be."
But Jacobs also said that when she knew doesn't matter. What matters, she said, is the process to fill his office and supporting the administrators and staff below him.
"There are ... administrators who have been doing progressively wonderful things, and this is not going to stop that."
Jacobs and other board members wouldn't comment on the rumors last week, and DeWeese wouldn't comment on the rumors Monday, except saying that some board members had different opinions on whether Brownell traveled too much.
He said he could make an argument both ways.
Brownell said in a later press conference that he received a general communique that the "board would appreciate it if I stayed close to home," but no one has questioned the appropriateness of his travels, he said.
"To be honest with you, I don't know where this travel thing came from," the president said. "I do not know of any person out to get me or why they would want to do so."
DeWeese confirmed Monday that trustees have discussed Brownell's travels, and he again confirmed that they discussed his contract, which is nothing out of the usual, he said.
Brownell's contract expires in June 2004. According to it, the president is "expected" to give a written notice 12 months before he resigns, but DeWeese said he did not ask for one because it wasn't necessary.
Though Brownell is leaving, the board isn't severing his ties completely. He will be on a leave of absence until 2007-2008. In that time, he can return to teach in the history and urban planning departments.
During his leave, he will receive no compensation from Ball State, Greg Schenkel, the secretary of the trustees, said.
The board's executive committee -- comprised of DeWeese, Schenkel, Vice President Frank Bracken and Assistant Secretary Hollis Hughes -- will meet this week to take action on Brownell's leave of absence.
Brownell became Ball State's 12th president on July 1, 2000.
He leaves a university that has witnessed unprecedented levels in freshmen retention, a boom in enrollment and a boom in tuition. Ball State's tuition for incoming students increased this year by about $1,200, or 26.1 percent, second only to Indiana State University, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
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