BSU's new faculty hires 'undermining academic freedom'
Ball State added 81 faculty this year but most aren't eligible for tenure
MUNCIE — Ball State University addressed concerns over the loss of 92 full-time faculty to buyouts last year by adding 81 new hires effective at the start of the 2022-23 school year.
But only about a fourth of the new faculty members are tenure-track or tenured positions — those that can be terminated only for cause or under circumstances like a financial emergency or a program’s demise.
The rest of the new hires are mostly lower-paid contract appointments with little job security whose titles include assistant teaching professor, assistant lecturer and assistant clinical professor — positions that “quietly undermine the tenure system,” one BSU faculty member said.
By comparison, about three-fourths of the 92 veteran positions that were lost to voluntary severance had tenure.
(See a list of the new hires at the bottom of this article).
Addressing faculty/staff during a convocation last August to kick off the current school year, Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns noted the 92 faculty departures, which included “some of our most experienced full-time faculty.”
“I understand that some of you wonder how — or even whether — we will replace this expertise,” he went on before announcing:
“I will share two statistics in response to this concern. First, on Monday, 81 new full-time faculty will join our university. These new colleagues have excellent educational credentials from outstanding institutions all across the country and all around the world …
“Second, based on the recommendations from the academic deans, the provost and I have already authorized 77 searches to be conducted this academic year for full-time faculty who will join us in fall 2023. I hope that these statistics will demonstrate that our deans, our provost, and I — we are all committed to recruiting and retaining our ‘Faculty of the Future.’ “
Based on the first round of new hires, most future Ball State faculty will receive less pay and benefits, teach more, research less, and enjoy less job security than the veterans who took the buyout.
“If Ball State University replaced full-time tenure-line positions with non-tenure-track ‘professor of practice’ positions — that is, teaching faculty — that is a serious threat to academic freedom at the institution,” Glenn T. Colby, senior research officer
at the American Association of University Professors in Washington, D.C., told me.
Without academic freedom protected by tenure, faculty members can lose their jobs because of their speech, publications, or research findings, according to AAUP. “Tenure provides the conditions for faculty to pursue research and innovation and draw evidence-based conclusions free from corporate or political pressure,” the organization says.
When I asked the local AAUP chapter for its thoughts on the new hires, I was told, “BSU AAUP reiterates the questions posed by AAUP national regarding how the loss of tenure-track faculty impacts academic freedom and shared governance.”
Meanwhile, BSU spokesperson Greg Fallon replied, “I don’t have anything … to provide on this inquiry,” when I asked him to explain the rationale behind hiring mostly non-tenure track faculty.
In an email sent last semester to BSU employees, Mearns cited Claire Grellier, originally from Nice, France, as an example of new hires bringing in excellent experience and educational credentials.
An assistant teaching professor in the school of music, she previously taught in Los Angeles at the L.A. Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, the French Conservatory of Music, and at Occidental College. Grellier completed her doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Miami in May 2020.
Like many of the new hires, her salary starts at $51,500.
The highest-salaried new hire that I found was Panayiotis (Peter) Theodossiou, chair of the department of finance and insurance and professor of finance, who was granted full tenure and a salary of $219,700.
Some BSU faculty last year questioned the intent of the buyouts, suspecting the real reason or at least part of the reason was to cut costs and get smaller. Concerns were expressed that the voluntary severance packages would result in fewer tenured faculty and less research. One faculty member doubted that replacements would be hired.
Mearns explained at the outset that the school’s strategic plan, adopted before the pandemic, addressed changes confronting higher education, including the need for innovative new teaching methods and practices; new graduate programs; new micro-credentials and short-term learning modules for non-traditional students; and a new incentive-based budget model that aligned investment in faculty with achieving those objectives.
The university was making progress on implementing the new strategies, he went on, but during the pandemic “we had to make some immediate adjustments,” such as converting all spring 2020 courses to remote instruction, followed by offering more hybrid courses to address the ongoing threat from COVID.
“Most significantly, the pandemic has accelerated the demand of our current and our future students for new modalities and for additional alternative learning experiences,” Mearns wrote. “As a result, our faculty will have to continue to adjust their instructional techniques, and we will also have to recruit new faculty with different experiences and skill sets.”
The university had said that the buyout offers, which included a separation incentive payment equal to 125% of a faculty member’s base salary, recognized that “the changing expectations and the news skills needed for faculty may prompt some faculty to decide to retire sooner than they had planned.”
Regarding the new non-tenure track faculty, one BSU professor recently told me for example that after seven successful years at Ball State as an assistant teaching professor on a year-to-year contract renewal, you can apply for promotion to associate teaching professor.
A departmental committee and your college dean's office must approve. If you pass muster, then you receive a three-year contract, renewable based on performance and the university's situation. After five more successful years, you can apply for promotion to teaching professor and the possibility of five-year contracts, renewable.
For promotions, candidates must exhibit excellent teaching through a portfolio of some sort (observations by faculty, student evaluations, teaching materials and so forth). They should also exhibit something extra (publications, service), although that is not in stone.
Another faculty member recently said of the new hires, “In my opinion, it’s not just budgetary concerns, but if they say budget has nothing to do with it, then I wouldn’t believe them.”
Non-tenure line faculty are lower paid and generally teach four courses per semester, whereas tenure-line faculty generally teach only three. “So more teaching bang for the buck even before you account for the pay differential,” the faculty member said.
Non-tenure line faculty have no research requirements so they don’t get even the small amount of research support that tenure-line faculty receive.
”But they also give the administration more flexibility,” the faculty member went on. “Got too many faculty in one discipline and not enough in another? If they are NTL, then just don’t renew their contracts and hire what you need.
”People also tend to be more compliant on a one-year contract. Faculty with tenure can speak up, bitch, moan, and be a general pain in the ass.”
This faculty member heard a dean say that the average at “peer institutions” is 60% non-tenured to 40% tenured faculty — and that the opposite is the case at Ball State, and that “this needs to be corrected.”
The proliferation of contingent faculty appointments in United States colleges and universities is well documented. In fall 2020, about three in five (61.5%) faculty members were on contingent appointments, according to AAUP.
At Ball State, however, only 49.9% in fall of 2020 were employed on a contingent basis, AAUP’s Colby told me last year. Thirty-three percent were tenured and 17.1 percent were tenure-track.
Based on tenure, Ball State appears to be an “above average” institution in terms of academic freedom, but judging from its new hires, the school is headed in the direction of “average” in that regard.
NEW HIRES
Here is the list of new hires I was able to obtain through an Access to Public Records Act Request. This list contains only 76 new hires, so I couldn’t account for five others:
Acquaviva, Brittany L. M.S. Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice $61,000
Adegoye, Grace A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics $58,000
Aiken, Ashley L. M.P.A. Assistant Lecturer of Criminal Justice and Criminology $52,000
Bautista, Beverly J. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Dance $51,500
Cabus, Mark L. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Acting $51,500
Cardona Sepulveda, Tatiana A. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management $75,000
Carey, Dominyse N. D.N.P. Assistant Clinical Professor of Nursing $64,000
Diekhoff, Ladelle A. M.S. Assistant Lecturer of Computer Science $62,500
Dwyer, Zachary N. M.A. Assistant Lecturer of English $39,000
Espahbodi, Reza Ph.D. Department Chair of the Paul W. Parkison Department of Accounting and Alumni Distinguished Professor of Accounting $215,800. Full tenure granted.
Fernandes, Brigitte M.B.A. Assistant Lecturer of Marketing $60,000
Field, Clint H. M.D. Assistant Clinical Professor of Medical Education $80,000
Fisher, Joshua A. Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Emerging Media, Design, and Development $70,000 Two years granted toward tenure.
Fleming, Ana V. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art-Foundations and Drawing $51,500
Gearhart, Colton R. M.S. Assistant Lecturer of Mathematical Sciences $60,000
Golobish, Laura M. M.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art History $51,500
Goodman, Makenzie L. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art-Foundations and Photography $51,500
Gray, Andrew C. M.A. Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice $61,000
Grellier, Claire A. D.M.A. Assistant Teaching Professor (Clarinet) School of Music $51,500
Grisanti, Diana M.F.A. Assistant Professor of Playwriting $55,000
Gurlea, Michael P. Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History $60,500
Gussin, Jeremy C. D.M. Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre Voice $54,000
Gwinn, Kevin M. D.M.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Music (Voice) $51,500
Hammock, Chad C. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of English $40,000
Harmon, Jeremy D. D.M.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Music (Band) $51,500
Hill, Deborah M. M.M. Assistant Teaching Professor of Musical Theatre $51,500
Himes, Brooke M.A. Assistant Lecturer of Journalism $40,000
Hong, Younkyung Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Elementary Education $67,000
Hutchison, Caitlin M. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art History $51,500
Ileleji, Reiko H. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Japanese $46,000
Jenkins, Janet L. M.A. Assistant Lecturer of Elementary Education $48,000
Khan, Zahida M. Assistant Teaching Professor of Architecture $65,000
Kim, Dahye Ed.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art-Foundations and Intermedia $51,500
Kinsey, Rebecca M. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Counseling Psychology $65,000
Kossler, Nina E. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Musical Theatre Dance $51,500
Kuruppuarachchi, Lakshika N. Assistant Lecturer of Information Systems and Operations Management $60,000
Leduc, Andree M. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art-Foundation Specialist $51,500
Lee, YoungKyoung I. M.M. Assistant Teaching Professor of Music (Percussion) $51,500
Li, Tong Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Emerging Media, Design, and Development School of Journalism $65,000
Long, Jordan T. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science $54,000
Lowe, Natalie E. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Art-Foundations and Metals + Jewelry $51,500
Malviya, Sugandha Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Computer Science $68,000
Mannix, Joshua P. M.S. Assistant Teaching Professor of Mathematical Sciences $56,000
Mathieu-Frasier, Lauren N. M.S. Assistant Lecturer of Psychological Science $46,500
McCree, Courtney B. M.N. Assistant Clinical Lecturer of Nursing $55,000
Menke, Jenna K. M.A. Assistant Professor of Mathematical Sciences $67,500
Mitchell, David T. Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Political Economy and Director of the Institute for the Study of Political Economy $135,000. Full tenure granted.
Moreno, Amanda M. M.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Music Education (Choral) $51,500
Mortimer, David Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychological Science $46,500
Page, M. M.A. Assistant Lecturer of English $39,000
Peltier, Marliese R. Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Elementary Education $68,000
Penate, Cary Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Music History $51,500
Porter, Tenelle J. Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Educational Psychology $69,000
Reichard, Ruth D. S.J.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science $56,000
Robbins, Gregory A. M.M. Assistant Teaching Professor of Music (Orchestra) $51,500
Sanchez, Natalie A. B.S. Assistant Lecturer of Construction Management $50,000
Sapkota, Bima K. M.Ed. Assistant Teaching Professor of Mathematical Sciences $58,000
Simko, Jamie M. M.S. Assistant Clinical Lecturer of Nutrition and Dietetics and DPD Program Director $58,000
Srinivasan, Raghavan Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Information Systems and Operations Management $75,000
Stewart, William S. M.B.A. Assistant Lecturer of Marketing Marketing $60,000
Sullivan, Shawn P. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Visual Communications/Graphic Design and Graphics Arts Management $51,500
Szymanski, Alan T. B.A. Assistant Lecturer of Media and Assistant Director of Sports Production $57,000
Taylor, Katie M. M.A. Assistant Lecturer of Special Education in Deaf Education $53,000
Theodossiou, Panayiotis T. Ph.D. Department Chair of the Department of Finance and Insurance and Professor of Finance $219,700. Full tenure granted.
Thieme, Laurynn J. B.L.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Landscape Architecture $65,000
Tuttle, Kristy L. Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Biology $52,000
Varner, Betsy R. Ph.D. Postdoctoral Fellow Counsel Psych, Social Psych & Counseling $50,000
Westcott, April B.L.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of Landscape Architecture $65,000
Whelchel, Summer D. M.S. Assistant Clinical Lecturer of Nursing School of Nursing $55,000
Whitaker, Brian G. Ph.D. Associate Professor of Management $135,000. Full tenure granted.
Williams, Steve K. M.F.A. Assistant Teaching Professor IU/UX Interaction Design/Game Design School of Art $51,500
Yang-Heim, Gui Ying Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Elementary Education $57,000
Yao, Lan Ph.D. Assistant Teaching Professor of Health Science and Undergraduate ProgramDirector Dept of Nutrition & Health Science $66,000
Yun, Sehyun Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction Elementary Education $69,000
Zhang, Weiwu Ph.D. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student Relations Associate Professor School of Journalism $123,500. Full tenure granted.
Zhang, Xiaoxi M.A. Assistant Teaching Professor of English $46,000
PREVIOUSLY, IN GREATER MUNCIE:
Yes—Ball State seems to be paying lip service to the research component. Many of us were insulted by the president’s email message that suggested that we “old geezers” were not technically proficient, so they have to hire younger faculty. It takes years—a career—to build a research agenda. And with heavy teaching loads, it has to be worked in around classes, service work, professional development, office hours, and other drains on our time. Ball State increasingly resembles Ivy Tech, which has shown great improvement and does not try to be an academic institution. This is Ball State’s capitulation to the Indiana General Assembly. Hard to watch. Jayne
Unfortunately Claire Grellier left shortly after being hired in the School of Music. It is also clear from your information request that every new hire in the College of Fine Arts was limited to $51,500, regardless of the scope of their position. Faculty retention needs to be prioritized.