The futures of two top administrative positions are uncertain as President Paul Ferguson continues to shift the Ball State hierarchy.
The university is not looking for any replacements after two resignations. Instead, Juli Hopwood, Ferguson’s longtime advisor, is serving as the interim vice president of enrollment management, marketing and communications, and filling two positions.
The two people who resigned are Tom Taylor, former vice president of enrollment management, marketing and communications and a member of the president’s cabinet, and Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president of marketing and communications and spokesperson for the university.
Hopwood will maintain her role as Ferguson’s adviser while she fills Taylor's position. This will leave Proudfoot’s old position empty. Her appointment as interim VP will continue as necessary throughout 2015, President Ferguson said in an email to the university on Jan. 2.
Hopwood is working with enrollment management, marketing and communications to review the structures, budget, staff and other components of these offices. By the end of Spring Semester, she will be making a recommendation to the president on how to revise and reshape these departments, she said in an email to The Daily News.
“From working with the leadership team in enrollment, marketing and communications, we will submit a strategic plan recommendation related to divisional organization and structure,” Hopwood said. “After review of that recommendation, the president will decide how and when to move forward in division leadership.”
These recommendations and possible revisions will fit into the president’s refocused vision for the university. However, his vision has not been formally announced. But, Ferguson has emphasized increasing the university’s research focus on numerous occasions. The president will be giving his “State of the University” address on Feb. 6.
Hopwood filled the same interim role at the University of Maine two years earlier where she focused on the reorganization of UMaine's enrollment management, marketing and communications departments and divisions at Ferguson's request.
In 2011, UMaine's director of university relations resigned and Ferguson placed Hopwood in this position, Margaret Nagle, senior director of public relations and operations at the University of Maine, said.
“Under Julie's leadership, the division created and implemented a long-term strategic plan mirroring the top priorities of ... the university’s five-year strategic plan,” Nagle said.
The following year, UMaine’s enrollment management, marketing and communications went through a comprehensive reorganization. It then launched a branding and marketing campaign, started an athletics engagement initiative, a campus-wide Communicators Network and UMaine’s first written marketing and communications policies and procedures.
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