Now that Ferguson is resigning, it's time for the university to start the hiring process again.
Neither Board of Trustee Chairman Rick Hall nor Joan Todd, university spokesperson, would comment on how Ferguson's replacement will be chosen.
Picking a new president isn't cheap.
In each of the last two instances, the university hired the search firm Baker and Associates. The firm got $150,000 to conduct the search that resulted in Ferguson's hiring.
A closed search means that the list of candidates is not released, often because many are sitting presidents or chancellors for other universities.
In 2013, Gora defended the closed search process.
“In the end, you want the best candidate pool possible, and a closed search is ultimately the best way to get that,” she said. “In the end, it is the Board of Trustees who select the president, so their opinion is what matters.”
To hire Ferguson, the paid search firm worked with a Ball State search committee, which was made up of 16 people, including trustees, administration and representatives from other areas of the university.
Only one student was involved in the process — the student member of the Board of Trustees.
Five finalists were chosen and interviewed from a pool of 22 applicants. The Ball State search committee interviewed the finalists. Each had the opportunity to visit Ball State anonymously.
The committee made a "short list" of candidates who met with the Board of Trustees. Then the board hosted a public meeting to vote on the new president. The board then voted Ferguson as university president.
The process to hire Ferguson took about seven months, from Gora's resignation on Oct. 26, 2013, to Ferguson's hiring on May 22, 2014.
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