Butler University President Jim Danko and his team have created their Shared Strategic Vision—a list of goals for the university.

Danko said he will use the vision as a “future rendering of what this campus could look like” when he is out fundraising, whether he is in the community or across the country.

“I want to find a way, especially on the academic side, to assure that everyone is thinking progressively about how Butler has to change or adapt to the evolution that’s going on in higher education,” Danko said.

THE VISION

The Shared Strategic Vision is a list of 10 goals that have been laid down while envisioning Butler’s future.

The list includes expanding the undergraduate program, increasing emphasis on research, pursuing innovation and growing the endowment in the next 15 years.

“We need to get our faculty to also think on how what is happening out there applies to Butler,” Danko said.

Chief of Staff Ben Hunter said Danko addressed Staff Assembly and said his first year was used imagining the possibilities for the university. He’s been exploring the possibilities, and now Butler is laying out the groundwork to achieve those possibilities.

“Athletics has been great for this institution, but it all comes down to the quality of academics and your degree,” Hunter said. “I don’t think Butler is getting ahead of itself. I think Butler has to explore every option to become a leader in the changing world of education.”
ENROLLMENT

Hunter said the administration is looking at enrollment and what the market would bear, capacity and what the infrastructure to hold students is, and updating Butler’s overall master plan.

Tom Weede, vice president of enrollment management, said he sees the perfect enrollment for Butler at 5,000 but only after  students can be comfortably housed.

“It’s just difficult for us to grow in class size and total enrollment,” Weede said. “My goal will be to lead discussions in what growth is right for this institution.”

After weeks of media speculation, it is now official: Butler University will be a member of the Big East.

Butler will enter the new Big East—consisting of the seven Catholic schools departing the current Big East—alongside Xavier and Creighton on July 1.

Butler President Jim Danko officially announced the school’s intention to leave the Atlantic 10 Conference after one academic year through a video in Butler’s Johnson Room this morning.

Ben Hunter, chief of staff, said school officials were delighted to receive an invitation to the Big East.

“For us, it creates long-term stability not only for the university’s athletics and academics, but it gives us greater control over the decisions that impact our sports program,” Hunter said.

Butler’s football team will remain in the Pioneer Football League, as it did when the school jumped to the A-10.

The women’s golf team will leave the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and join the rest of Butler’s athletic teams in the Big East.

“Joining the Big East is an unprecedented opportunity for Butler and represents an ideal fit for us—academically, athletically and geographically,” Danko said in a press release.

Hunter said he was unsure how much it would cost the university to leave the A-10 on such short notice.

Previous reports from the Associated Press said Butler would be forced to pay a $2 million exit fee, for not giving 27 months notice before switching conferences.

Xavier will also depart from the A-10, while Creighton will jump from the Missouri Valley Conference.

The three schools will join the ‘Catholic 7’ in the Big East after those seven schools purchased the rights to the conference name.

The seven schools already in the Big East are: DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova.

“This new opportunity to compete against Big East universities—which have a rich tradition of excellence across a wide range of sports—will enhance the Butler experience for all our student-athletes,” said Barry Collier, vice president of athletics, in the release.

This is the fifth athletic conference Butler has been a member of since 1946, excluding a yearlong independent stint.

Butler was a charter member of what eventually became the Horizon League in 1979, and the school stayed there until leaving for the A-10 in 2012.

“The A-10, like the Horizon League, is an outstanding conference, and we were honored to be a member,” Danko said in the release. “After in-depth deliberations and analyses, we determined that joining the Big East was the right thing to do for our students and our institution, regardless of the timing of past conference transitions.”

Hunter said the move is a bold moment for Butler and is a culmination of Danko and past presidents’ leadership.

“This is writing the next chapter of Butler University,” Hunter said. “This is a truly momentous change for the university. I hope there’s great excitement around this, not only for the opportunities it brings in sports, but also in academics.”

Butler University is experiencing a spike in small electronics theft from academic buildings.

On Monday, Feb. 25, four items were stolen from the Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building, Holcomb Building and Gallahue Hall between 7:15 and 8:30 a.m.

The items were taken from open lounge areas in the building and one open classroom where a student was studying.

Bruce Allee, BUPD detective, said he personally believes the thief is not a student but someone who knows the building fairly well.

“Whoever took these things had a definite route through the buildings and seemed to know his way around,” Allee said. “Although there is unfortunately some student-on-student theft here at Butler, those crimes are usually crimes of opportunity. This thief was in a hurry to get as many things as possible, which is not indicative of student-on-student theft.”

The Friday prior, Feb. 22, an iPhone was stolen from the basement of Gallahue from biology professor James Shellhaas’ office.

Shellhaas said he left his phone “semi-unattended” for about three hours when he came in early while Butler was on a two-hour weather delay.

“I wish I had been less trustful,” Shellhaas said. “I was first mad, and then I felt stupid for being so trusting. In 33 years at Butler, this is the first time I have had anything stolen from me.”

All thefts occurred when the owners left their electronic devices out in the open to go to the restroom or to move to a new location, Allee said.

“It only takes a few minutes,” Allee said. “Most of these students were gone for five or six minutes and their laptops were stolen.”

One Butler senior said she left her laptop in a classroom in Gallahue for less than 30 seconds as she moved to another room to continue studying.

“I didn’t really think my stuff would be gone in a matter of 30 seconds,” she said. “Now I no longer study in areas where there aren’t a lot of people around, and I only leave the room when my friends are seated at my table so I don’t have to move my stuff. Or I just carry everything with me.”

The same student said she would like to see the university invest in increased security, further restrict access into buildings and install security cameras.

Allee said it is too tough to say at the time whether or not the theft on Feb. 22 and the multiple thefts on Feb. 25 were committed by the same person.

Allee said stolen computers are difficult to recover because they are not showing up on Craigslist or in pawn shops.

“We think these items are being sold to small electronics stores,” Allee said.

Allee said he thinks Butler students are too lax with their electronic devices.

“We like to think that we are in such a nice bubble here at Butler, and we are,” Allee said. “But it’s not as if thieves forget that we’re here. They know how easy it is to steal from college students.”

Shellhaas said he has witnessed students leaving electronics unattended in Gallahue.

“Students routinely leave their laptops unattended down here in the basement of Gallahue while they go to the restroom or to get something to eat,” Shellhaas said. “That’s plenty of opportunity for a thief.”

Ben Hunter, executive director of public safety, said it is important for students to utilize tracking devices on their electronics.

“It’s still disappointing that these thefts happen, but students can be proactive,” Hunter said. “Most electronics have tracking devices that will make finding stolen devices much easier. I definitely urge all students, faculty and staff to install these tracking features.”

Allee said all students with iPhones should keep the iCloud feature on, as it makes phone tracking much easier.

“If you don’t know how to install Find My iPhone, come to BUPD,” Allee said. “We will be happy to do it for you.”

Allee said BUPD will be more present in academic buildings due to recent thefts, but said locking academic buildings earlier is not likely.

“We would like the buildings to be locked earlier, but we understand that professors and students like having easy access,” Allee said. “We think that we’ve reached a good compromise with when the buildings lock.”

Allee said he encourages students who think they see someone suspicious on campus to call BUPD.

“Students should never feel guilty about being curious of other people’s actions or intentions,” Allee said.

Allee urges students to think twice before leaving their belongings out in an open area.

“Ask yourself if you would leave $400 or $2,000 on the table where you are about to leave your iPhone or your MacBook,” Allee said. “If the answer is no, then just take it with you.”

A common Internet scam  targeting tutors, babysitters and nannies has reached Butler University.

Butler University Police Department sent out a timely warning email to all students with a brief description of the scam on Feb. 27.

So far two Butler students have had prolonged contact with the scammers, but neither were hurt, said Bruce Allee, BUPD detective.

“This is a huge operation,” Allee said. “Even if these people are lucky and the scam goes through only five percent of the time, they are still making a great deal of money.”

The typical chain of events for this scam begins with an initial contact by someone who says he or she is interested in a service such as tutoring, music or art lessons, babysitting or nannying. The scammer then says he or she is out of the country and is making arrangements for his or her child in the area.

After typical arrangements are made regarding time and pay, the scammer will ask the contact to cash a check worth a few thousand dollars, which is sent to the contact by mail.

The hired person is told to keep his or her pay for the month and is essentially paid up front but is told to give the remaining amount of money to a family member who is watching after the child.

The scam is finished once the check is cashed or withdrawn. The check will turn out to be fraudulent, and the person scammed is then held responsible for the full amount of the check. The “family member” takes the money, and the scam is complete.

“This scam is not new,” Allee said. “It’s just becoming more common.”

Butler student Tomás Montesinos Costa went to BUPD last Monday after he began to question the arrangements made by the father of a girl he was supposed to tutor in Spanish.

Montesinos Costa was approached by a man named “Cally,” who found him on the Butler tutoring listserv.

“Cally” is the typical alias of these scammers, Allee said.

Montesinos Costa thought the situation seemed fairly typical until payment was discussed.

“This person told me he was a father whose daughter was attending school in Indianapolis while he was abroad for a short time,” Montesinos Costa said. “He even tried to make me become sensitive to the situation and their family by telling me sad stories.”

The scammer told Montesinos Costa that his wife had passed away and he “only had his daughter left.”

“He seemed like a very concerned parent,” Montesinos Costa said. “I think he was trying to introduce me to a very complicated and sad situation so that I wouldn’t question too much.”

When the scammer asked Montesinos Costa to cash a $2,600 check, he became suspicious.

The scammer told Montesinos Costa to keep his payment of $575 and give the rest to a “cousin” of the family.

“I didn’t understand at all why someone who had never met me would give me such a large check,” Montesinos Costa said. “When I asked why he couldn’t give me cash or send the check directly to the cousin, he gave me some dumb excuses. At that point, it was so easy to tell that this was a scam.”

Allee said the telltale signs of this scam are the name “Cally,” the strange instructions with money and upfront payment.

“It’s not typical for someone desiring tutoring or babysitting services to pay upfront or in a lump sum, especially before the services have even started,” Allee said.

Allee also said multiple addresses can be a sign of a scam.

“In Montesinos Costa’s case, the person was supposed to be abroad, but the check that was received was sent from New York City and had a San Antonio address on it,” Allee said.

Ben Hunter, executive director of public safety, said this operation is common at colleges all over the nation, so students should always be mindful when applying for a job or dealing with money.

“If a job offer looks too good to be true, it probably is,” Hunter said. “Always check out the references that a job lists, and if it looks suspicious, feel free to contact BUPD. We would be more than happy to investigate to figure things out.”

Montesinos Costa’s advice to any students who think they are being scammed is to avoid dealing with money at all.

“I know I just didn’t feel comfortable with such a big check from a stranger,” Montesinos Costa said.

Montesinos Costa also said he felt BUPD was helpful in dealing with the situation.

“BUPD couldn’t take much action against the scammers because a crime was never officially committed,” Montesinos Costa said, “but they helped me stop contact and prevented the scam from happening to others.

“If any student thinks they may be working with this scam, they should definitely go to BUPD right away.”

A six-person committee is preparing to hire Butler University’s first in-house legal counsel.

Over the past six years, the university spent $2.4 million dollars on outside legal counsel, said  Ben Hunter, chief of staff.

Hunter currently manages Butler’s outside legal contracts at Butler, and he recently completed a study to see if having an in-house attorney would reduce the cost.

He compared Butler’s legal costs with various peer institutions such as Gonzaga and Xavier. He compiled research using their costs, along with articles from The Chronicle of Higher Education and the National Association of College and University Attorneys.

If a university pays more than $300,000 in legal fees per year, it is more cost-effective to hire in-house counsel, according to research article from NACUA. On average, outside counsel can cost from $250 to $400 per hour, said La Veda Howell, executive director of human resources.

“We’re now at the mark where we can use it,” Hunter said.

In-house counsel was the first major hire for Purdue President Mitch Daniels, Hunter said.

The Butler job was posted last week, and résumés have already been sent to the committee

“We’re not a maverick here,” said Bruce Arick, vice president of finance and administration and a member of the search committee. “Higher education has become much more complex.”

The legal counsel would report to the president and executives, and his or her primary role would be to advise internally on issues of compliance with federal and state laws, Arick said.

Situations at Virginia Tech and Penn State heighten the laws over universities and add more oversight.

Universities are subject to an increasing level of compliance with different federal laws, including HIPAA, FERPA, Title IX and the Clery Act, which require frameworks and specifics of how incidents are reported on a federal level, Arick said.

“A lot of it is not intuitive,” Arick said.

The research was very thorough in determining what type of person would fit the job description, Howell said.

The search committee is made up of Arick, Howell and Hunter, along with Jim White, an Indiana University Law professor and Butler trustee; Margaret Brabant, political science department chair and Provost Kate Morris.

He or she will make sure policies and procedures are delivered consistently across campus.

The committee is searching for someone who is flexible and creative, who can manage processes and relationships with different departments, Howell said. Whoever is hired will work with athletics, colleges, human resources, Clowes Memorial Hall Staff and the institution as a whole.

“This is one individual that is solely responsible for all the legalities that go on in the university,” she said.

A lot of the counsel’s work will involve employment contracts. For example, a lot may change in terms of health insurance for employees under the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act, Howell said. The counsel will also be in charge of ensuring the university is in compliance.

Hunter predicts the counsel will be on staff in the next 30 to 60 days.

“They’ll be quite busy,” he said, “learning the Butler Way and everything.”

Butler University President Jim Danko signed an open letter along with other university presidents to policy leaders that calls for discussion about gun safety.

The letter can be found at collegepresidentsforgunsafety.org and boasts more than 300 other college and university presidents’ signatures.

“We are college and university presidents,” the open letter reads. “We are parents. We are Republicans, Democrats and Independents. We urge both our President and Congress to take action on gun control now.

“As a group, we do not oppose gun ownership. But, in many of our states, legislation has been introduced or passed that would allow gun possession on college campuses. We oppose such laws.

“We fully understand that reasonable gun safety legislation will not prevent every future murder. Identification and treatment of the mental health issues that lie beneath so many of the mass murders to which we increasingly bear witness must also be addressed.”

Ben Hunter, chief of staff, spoke on behalf of Danko over the phone and said this open letter is one of three Danko was asked to sign.

“This one seemed to meet our position,” Hunter said, “by wanting a civil discussion and being open-minded following the recent tragedies.”

Hunter also said Butler is not taking a political stance.

Assistant police chief Bill Weber said he loves the idea of open discussion.

“If someone is completely polar opposite of the way I feel, I want to hear what they have to say,” Weber said, “because maybe they’ll say something where I’m like, ‘I’ve never thought of that before.’”

The letter was drafted by presidents Lawrence Schall from Oglethorpe University and Elizabeth Kiss from Agnes Scott College. It has an option for all readers to sign the letter.

The shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., renewed the attention on gun control across the United States.

Concealed-carry laws on college campuses vary by state.

In 23 states, the decision is left to the school while 21 states have laws outright banning concealed weapons.

Legislation in Indiana could allow college students to carry guns on campus. Since Butler is a private institution those laws would not have an impact.

In the months following the Sandy Hook shootings, lawmakers have been looking for effective security measures to employ at campuses around the country.
A bill proposed to the Indiana General Assembly would allow college students to carry concealed weapons.
While the bill would not affect Butler because it is a private institution, the bill still raises questions about how campuses are prepared to deal with active shooters.
A slim chance exists that an active shooter could appear on any given campus.
Most students would not know what to do in such an event, said Ben Hunter, executive director of public safety.
“Statistically, most people freeze,” he said. “No one wants to think that that kind of thing can happen.”
The Butler University Police Department conducts full-scale active shooter training in the summer, accompanied by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police and residence life staff.
Each BUPD vehicle is equipped with full-body armor and helmets in the event of an emergency, Hunter said.
“I can tell you that every Butler officer would respond with due haste,” said Bill Weber, assistant police chief of operations.
A 20-minute video called “Shots Fired On Campus” can be found on the BUPD website for students who sign in with their “My Butler” username and password.
“The video is one of the best I’ve seen,” Hunter said.
The video was shown at poorly attended events in the past, but Hunter encourages more students to watch so they are prepared in case of emergency.
The video teaches three steps to respond to a shooter: hide out, get out or call out. Much depends on the proximity of the gunman, said Andrew Ryan, assistant police chief of administration.
“You have to do what you can in order to survive,” Weber said.
It is important to be prepared to attack the gunman as a group or to barricade oneself in a room if necessary, Ryan said.
If the gunman is present in the room and it isn’t possible to talk to a 911 dispatcher, leaving an open line still alerts emergency personnel to the situation. They may be able to hear background noise or further investigate any suspicious situation, Weber said.
If exiting is the best solution, make sure to keep both hands in the air. Police are trained to assume that hidden hands could be concealing a weapon.
BUPD plans on communicating important information to students via Dawg Alert, similar to the lockdown.
“Security upgrades are ongoing,” Ryan said. “A long-term plan is necessary.”
Butler is working on a three-year plan to improve campus safety. Some efforts include having card access for all doors so buildings can be locked in case of an emergency and adding security cameras.
“I would like to see more officers on staff,” Ryan said.
Ryan is a member of the Assessment and Care Team, a committee which was formed at Butler shortly after the shooting at Virginia Tech.
The aim of the program is not necessarily to find students that are likely to be shooters, but rather to direct students having performance issues, behavioral issues or issues with BUPD to proper help, Ryan said.
“The resources keep students here and engaged,” Ryan said. “We’re making sure people aren’t missing things.”
Often times, the ACT committee will reach out to students who are missing classes frequently, not engaging much with their peers, or who have just lost a family member or loved one in order to make sure they are receiving the proper support.
Even though student behavior is monitored, students being able to conceal weapons on campus would do more harm than good, Ryan said.
“It’s a tool, but if you don’t practice, how will you be able to react?” he said.
Students would not have adequate training with their weapons, said Weber, who has sometimes used 1,200 bullets during his training.
“Even with that, I don’t hit the target every single time,” he said.
The presence of alcohol, mixed with firearms on campus, would also be a safety concern, Weber said. Students would also be more likely to be careless with their guns, and they may leave them in places where others could potentially find and use them.
“Our ability would be severely hindered,” added Hunter.
Several cases have occurred where, during the chaos of open fire, police have shot other officers who weren’t in uniform, Weber said. If students were added into the mix, shooter descriptions could be confused and someone could needlessly die.

Traffic concerns are at the top of the list for some Butler-Tarkington residents when it comes to the construction of a possible parking facility.

Butler University officials presented a proposal for the facility to the neighborhood association on Monday evening.

Ben Hunter, chief of staff, and Rich Michal, executive director of facilities, introduced the preliminary design to a room of about 20 board members and residents.

Local residents expressed concerns with the plan, which ranged from environmental issues to traffic flow.

One Butler-Tarkington resident said her concern is the traffic flow during construction and Hinkle events.

“I do agree that the parking structure is overdue,” she said, “but my immediate concern is the traffic flow on Sunset Avenue and whether or not it will pour into the side streets where I live.”

Hunter explained how priorities have changed for the university’s parking concerns.

“The original plan for a parking structure was very long term,” Hunter said, “and we want to make it a short-term plan.”

The planned parking structure could be located behind the Schrott Center on the current Clowes Hall parking lot.

Sunset Avenue would remain open because that road is much too populated to ever consider being closed, Michal said.

“The only way that would ever be closed would be temporarily for street-scape construction and creating a boulevard feel with green space in between traffic flow,” Michal said.

Both Hunter and Michal also said the plan has not yet been approved, but they hope the Board of Trustees will do so in the next few months.

The facility could add 1,000 parking spots, about 300 beds and potential retail space.

Jeremy Stewart, neighborhood association president, previously told The Collegian that his main concern was street parking near campus.

“The important thing is mostly getting concentrated parking,” he said. “If students have a spot they can park, it’s going to help neighbors keep people out of their yards.”

“Best-case scenario, the garage will be a 12-month build time,” Michal said.

If all goes as planned, the structure could be finished by August 2014.

If Butler University builds a parking structure as discussed, it will not solve the parking problem as it currently exists.

The Collegian’s analysis of information provided by Ben Hunter, executive director of public safety, shows that as many as 850 current permit holders would have no place to park if Butler proceeds with plans to build the garage and beautify campus.

At last week’s Student Government Association meeting, President Jim Danko said he hopes to move some cars out of the area near Sunset Avenue and 46th Street and into the hypothetical parking garage or other undetermined spaces, to make way for a plan to beautify campus entryways.

Butler University students took to social media Sunday—about a camel.

During the hunt for an armed man on and around campus, students received a message from Butler University Police Department stating the suspect was seen running “towrad the camel.”

I could handle a few misspellings as long as they meant I was staying informed.

BUPD is to be commended for keeping students in the loop about dangerous activity on campus.

I received call after text after email from DawgAlert, and even more information came via BUPD’s constantly-updated Twitter account.

Sure, the messages were repetitive and hastily written at times.

But I would much rather have too many warnings than not enough, a misspelled warning instead of a delayed one.

BUPD was quick to put campus on lockdown and deactivate ID scanners for buildings, preventing the fleeing man from hiding inside—or worse, taking aim at students.

And judging from the pictures and eyewitness tweets that filled my feed, BUPD posted guards and worked well with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police to apprehend the man—and more importantly, keep students safe.

Ben Hunter, executive director of public safety, said he has never faced a situation like this in his four-and-a-half years at Butler.

Still, he and his team responded admirably and did their job well.

So continue to laugh about The Butler Camel.

His tweets are great, and Assistant Police Chief Andrew Ryan is enjoying the hype, according to Twitter.

But don’t forget the serious work that BUPD did in keeping us all informed and safe.