During five years as president of Ball State University, Jo Ann Gora has built a reputation of getting out to sell the university.
When Gora came to Ball State five years ago, she told the Daily News that she wanted to make the university more distinctive.
"Some of it, frankly, is sheer marketing," Gora said then.
During her time here, the university has increased its profile across the state and the nation, a trend Gora said she wants to continue.
The university's capital campaign, "Ball State Bold: Investing in the Future," launched in September and has since raised more than $175 million.
In an effort to keep this momentum going, Gora has decided to forego a six-month leave of absence that was a part of her original contract with Ball State.
Instead, she will take more than $220,000 in additional pay.
When Gora began her position at Ball State, she said she immediately felt it was a unique university, but people had not "been very assertive about articulating that difference."
Gora said she sees Ball State as having a unique curriculum that is becoming increasingly selective. She said this gives Ball State a niche in Indiana.
Gora said establishing and communicating that niche has been the most challenging and rewarding part of her time here.
"I'm not shy," she said, citing her willingness to speak out as a strength that has benefitted the university.
The cornerstone of Ball State's plan is immersive learning, in which teams of students work together with a faculty member toward a goal.
Ball State's strategic plan, which includes immersive-learning projects, aims to offer these experiences to all students by 2012.
But immersive-learning experiences are more expensive than traditional classes.Gora said the capital campaign is intended to raise money to support immersive learning and other parts of the strategic plan.
Gora said she is pleased with the progress the university has made so far. Ball State is on it's way to meeting 80 percent of its defined objectives, according to the university Web site.
Gora said she's surprised how difficult it's been to increase the diversity of Ball State, an element of the strategic plan.
"Not everybody wants to come and live or study in a small town in the Midwest," she said.
She said living in Muncie does have advantages and the university just has to work harder to sell those advantages.
Gora said that while Ball State has been lucky compared to other states where there have been dramatic budget cuts, flat-lined state funding this year will make progress on some of Ball State's goals more difficult.
A goal of the university is to attract and retain quality faculty. To achieve that goal, the university's strategic plan calls for salary increases, a goal the university will not make progress on this year.
She said the university can't get all the resources it would like to have every year, but Ball State will continue to make progress without the money it was hoping for.
"That's the way life is," Gora said, "but you figure out how to do the best work that you can under the circumstances."
She said the university has reallocated money and raised tuition to help maintain the progress of the university.
The city of Muncie is facing financial problems of its own. Muncie was already struggling as its tax base dwindled. New state-mandated property tax caps coming into effect this year have caused the city a $3.8 million budget shortfall.
The city's financial struggles have caused it to cut back on basic services, including public safety.Gora said that things like road quality and retail do influence perceptions of the community, and the ease of attracting people to Ball State. But, she said, the city's cuts have not increased the obligation of the university to provide basic services.
"We have our challenges also, but we don't look to the city to bail us out," Gora said.
Gora said the university does not get tuition money or state appropriations to help provide basic services.
Gora said every city that has lost population has had to figure out how to reallocate its resources, and Muncie will have to do that to make sure it can provide the services it needs to.
Gora said that Muncie still has a lot to offer and the university tries to help people at Ball State realize what it has to offer.
"We're proud of our downtown," she said.
When she came to Ball State, Gora said athletics had the potential to increase the profile of the university.
And athletics was the first thing to put Ball State into the national spotlight after Gora arrived.Ball State hired Ronny Thompson as the men's basketball coach amid much optimism.
"We had great hopes for Ronny Thompson as a coach who could establish a fine record of accomplishment here," Gora said.
However, Thompson's time at Ball State was short and tumultuous.
Thompson resigned after one season into his five-year contract, saying he was forced out by a dysfunctional athletics department. Thompson said Ball State had a racially-hostile environment. Shortly before his resignation, several notes containing racial slurs appeared in the basketball offices.
The ordeal brought nationwide media attention to Ball State, much of which was critical.
"In athletics, you get a whole lot of visibility for every coaching hire you make," Gora said. "Sometimes you hit the jackpot and sometimes you don't. That's just the way it works in real life."
Gora said she doesn't feel the events surrounding Thompson tarnished the university's image in the long-term.
"I think all-in-all, athletics has represented the university very well," she said, adding that the university is better off because of the experience.Recently, Gora signed a letter asking Rep. Mike Pence, whose district includes Ball State, to reconsider his self-imposed ban on earmarks.Gora said that she feels this puts his district at a disadvantage.
She is especially critical of Pence's extension of his moratorium to the federal transportation bill, which she said is different than others because a set amount of money will be spent under the bill whether there are earmarks or not.
"He feels it is important to make a national statement about earmarks," she said. "These funds are going to be spent whether the congressman asks for funds for his district or not. That's a distinction that he doesn't seem willing to recognize. The congressman is not representing his district as well as he might."
But Gora said the disagreement has not damaged the university's relationship with Pence.
"We each have a right to express our own opinion. Just because we disagree doesn't mean that the relationship has strained."
Gora said she has no regrets about the last five years.
She said she tries to get a wide range of input before making decisions and then makes the best one with the data available. She said that while people may disagree with her decisions sometimes, she feels they understand that she is working for the best interests of the university.
"I'm sure others will tell you about the mistakes I've made," Gora said with a laugh. "I don't focus on mistakes. I focus on moving forward."Pressed further, she said she spent too much time her first year staying close to Muncie. She wishes she had spent more time spreading the university's message.
Overall, Gora said she feels that the past five years were successful.
She also said that if the Board of Trustees will have her, she'll be here for another five years.
"I will be here as long as the Board thinks that I'm doing a good job," she said.
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