A Butler Collegian staff member wrote an opinion column that was posted Nov. 27 on The College Fix, a news and commentary website run by the Student Free Press Association, unaffiliated with the Collegian or the university.

In the piece, the student explains his reasoning for dropping one of Butler’s political science classes.

The class syllabus asks its students to use “inclusive language,” a concept that Butler University President Jim Danko said in a campus-wide email that the university supports.

The syllabus asks students to “do your best to write and speak in a way that does not assume American-ness, maleness, whiteness, heterosexuality, middle-class status, etc., to be the norm.”

The piece went viral and was picked up by national conservative talk-show commentators. It stirred up a variety of emotions and opinions from various sources, including their audiences.

“Some responses we have received from individuals not associated with Butler University who read the article online have targeted various individuals at Butler in ways that have involved personal (verbal) attacks and hateful language,” Danko wrote in the email.

On campus, the controversy revolved around whether the reporter identified the publication for which he was writing.

Other controversy revolved around a possible misinterpretation of the syllabus’s wording.

In the email, Danko reaffirmed the university’s support of “professors’ desires to promote inclusive and positive classrooms” while also supporting “our students’ rights to express concerns about their educational experiences at Butler.”

The question still lingers as to why Butler University made the decision to move to the Atlantic 10 conference a year earlier than planned, regardless of whether it was for the best.
President Jim Danko announced on May 2 that Butler was moving to the A-10 from the Horizon League.
“We considered many aspects and came to the conclusion that this was the best move for the athletic program and the university as whole,” Danko said.
Just a month after the initial announcement, the decision was made to switch conferences immediately, rather than wait until the 2013-14 academic year like originally planned.
“When you decide to leave for another conference, you obviously think that’s a benefit to you, and this way we are only benefitting a year early,” athletic director Barry Collier said.
The fact remains that the decision was made quickly–a month after the initial decision to play an additional season in the Horizon League before moving.
Virginia Commonwealth, or VCU as it is more commonly referred to, was in a similar situation.
VCU announced it was moving from the Colonial Athletic Association to the A-10 just two weeks after Butler did.
The university petitioned for early entrance into the conference as result of a CAA bylaw that would prohibit any Ram’s sport from participating in conference championships.
This could potentially hinder VCU’s chances of appearing in the NCAA tournaments, which was a concern, considering its men’s basketball team has played in four of the last six NCAA tournaments, including five since 2004.
There was speculation from a source with knowledge of the situation that Butler would have faced similar penalties.
However, a contractual agreement between Butler and the Horizon League prevents details of the exit from being revealed.
After the announcement was made last May, Horizon League commissioner John LeCrone said that the league does not have a bylaw preventing a departing member from competing in conference championships like the CAA does.
President Jim Danko did hint, however, that other Horizon League presidents wanted an immediate departure.
“I don’t think the presidents wanted us to have a swan song in their arenas,” Danko said. “It was like a divorce—the quicker we get out of the house, the better.”
Bill Benner, senior associate commissioner for external affairs for the Horizon League, had no further comments regarding the move, citing the agreement between the league and Butler to keep any information confidential.
Butler had been a member of the Horizon League since 1979. The league was previously known as the Midwestern Collegiate Conference and the Midwestern City Conference prior to that.
Collier said that both parties had discussions about what would be best for everyone and that the decision was made to separate immediately.
A-10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade said Butler contacted the A-10 with a petition for early entrance.
“We were made aware of a challenging situation that would have made it difficult (for Butler) to remain in the current conference,” McGlade said.
McGlade said she could not comment on the specifics of the situation.
“The unexpected circumstances that precipitated Butler’s request to move immediately were unfortunate, but the decision to accept Butler was an easy and unanimous one,” McGlade said.
The relationship between Butler and the Horizon League will continue, however.
There is a chance that Butler fans could still see rivalry games being played between Butler and members of the league.
“We are open to the possibility of continually scheduling those teams, but there is no formal agreement between us,” Collier said.
All Butler teams will begin competing immediately in the A-10 with the exceptions of football, which is remaining in the Pioneer Football League, and women’s golf, which will participate in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

Butler University President Jim Danko created a new position in his office and filled vacancies in two others, he announced in an April 2 memo.

The university now has an executive assistant to the Board of Trustees, a role filled by Carol Wroblewski.  Wroblewski is a former associate provost at Butler.  She will communicate with trustees  and work to involve them in university events, tasks previously left to the president’s assistant.

Danko hired Heather Vaughn, a former Rolls-Royce official, as his executive assistant. Vaughn replaces former Bobby Fong aide Ellen Clark, who retired after Fong left to become president at Ursinus College.

Cate Marshall replaces the departed Velinda Bennett as office assistant.  Marshall was a board administrator for the Indianapolis Department of Public Safety.

“What is common when you had a president in place as long as Bobby, you have staff changes,” said Ben Hunter, Chief of Staff and Executive Director of Public Safety.  “This restructuring increases our flexibility.”

Hunter moved his office from the Butler University Police Department to the president’s office in January.  Although most of his duties haven’t changed, Hunter assumed one major new one: direct oversight of compliance with state and federal regulations.

“By heart, I’m a policy wonk,” Hunter said. “Now that the staff is in place, it affords me the ability to get to those projects and those issues.”

Hunter said priority must be given to following the Clery Act and Title IX law, and he can now do that by working more closely with Danko.

“It’s a good fit,” he said. “It works out well with my background.”

Wroblewski, approaching 15 years of experience at Butler, said her position is a work in progress since she started work March 19.  She remains in the process of meeting the Board of Trustees.

“It’s fascinating to get to know this diverse group of people so intimately involved with the university,” she said.

Wroblewski holds weekly phone conversations with Chair John Hargrove.

Vaughn is in her fifth week at Butler, and Marshall is in her fourth.  Each said working with Danko is exciting.

“I can appreciate his perspective,” Vaughn said. “He’s business-minded. I have a similar mindset.”

Marshall said the Butler community has been very welcoming.

“I’ve been thrilled with people just stopping by to introduce themselves,” she said.  “I couldn’t be happier.”

Danko was out of town and unavailable for comment.

Hunter said Vaughn, Marshall and Wroblewski fit Danko’s innovative style of leadership.

“You want a president’s office that’s inviting and has great dynamics,” Hunter said. “President Danko has achieved that. It’s nice to have outstanding people who will offer a great atmosphere when people walk in the door.”

Hunter also said having a liaison to the Board of Trustees is a critical step.

“You have the board guiding our university in so many ways, having so many meetings a year, so it is important strategically,” Hunter said.

Wroblewski, who holds a doctorate degree in counseling psychology from Ball State University, said she doesn’t know how Clark managed board relations on top of other
duties.

“I am more than busy,” Wroblewski said. “That leads me to believe she was doing an incredible amount of work.”

Wroblewski said the trick, though, is to decide what information is need-to-know.

“That’s the core issue this first year,” she said. “I would hate to waste these busy peoples’ time.”

Vaughn said her biggest job is managing Danko’s calendar.  She said her new position applies many skills used in a 15-year career at Rolls-Royce.

“I just like helping people,” Vaughn said. “I feel that’s what my purpose is. It’s me.”

Vaughn said she has enjoyed Danko’s sense of humor.

“I don’t know if we’ll end up doing practical jokes,” she said, “but we’ll keep it lighthearted.”

Vaughn applied to be Danko’s aide after serving with Hunter on Indianapolis’ Super Bowl Host Committee.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard Butler is a wonderful place to work,” Vaughn said.  “I felt I made a very good decision. It’s proven so.”

When student leaders apply, campaign for and put hours into their roles, they should also be able to defend themselves on their own.

It’s time to take the training wheels off of Student Government Association.

While I believe that faculty advisers for Student Government Association have good intentions, some of the actions in assembly leave me thinking they are overinvolved.

Last Wednesday, Dean of Student Life Irene Stevens’ announcement at the student assembly is a prime example.

In reference to The Collegian’s recent push for data from SGA’s recent elections, Stevens inferred that the push for this information has caused a sort of chaos on campus.

“There’s a tone that (SGA adviser) Caroline Huck-Watson or (SGA President) Al Carroll would do anything dishonest,” Stevens said. “I wish the tone was more civil.”

Executive board members were appointed to these positions by fellow students.

When a staff member—meant to serve the entire university, not just SGA—makes an announcement like this, it undermines the trust fellow students put in their leaders to make informed, grown-up decisions.

SGA assembly is a place for students to take the initiative, so staff advice simply isn’t warranted.

Administrators should take a hint from President Jim Danko, who has emphasized his belief that faculty should have supreme reign over Faculty Senate.

I would like to see advisers take a back-seat role in SGA.

If the Collegian can independently put out a newspaper each week, SGA leaders should be able to do their jobs all by themselves, too.

For a short-staffed faculty like Butler University’s, the hiring of a person with a doctorate degree is a good idea.

Unless it’s to be an aide to President Jim Danko.

The level of qualification for the hiring is ironic because the university is dropping its internship coordinator in the College of Communication.

This seems to come at a time when CCOM is becoming more popular on campus.

Yet, the university is losing qualified teachers and struggling to foot the bill for some programs, like the core.

On a broader scale the school could hire more well-qualified professors instead of hiring more administrative personnel.

I have interned as a secretary for a boys and girls club.

The work wasn’t easy but compared to the office of the president; it had less responsibilities.

With that said, I feel confident that someone with a bachelor’s or even a master’s degree could handle the responsibilities of executive assistant to the Board of Trustees.

From my experiences, organizational skills are the most important for any administrative assistant.

Certainly anyone with a lot or a little education can be extremely organized.

The most important thing college teaches a student is the ability to prioritize, yet our school hasn’t learned this.

I am sure the person Butler hired is well-rounded and everything they looked for in a candidate, but my issue is that we should put someone with that background in a classroom to educate students.

We should not put them behind a desk, where their skills will be under-utilized. Butler’s administration has this continual problem of wrongly prioritizing important resources.

If Butler wants to employ more people with doctorates, they should do so.

Employ those doctors as teachers.

Administrative assistants and advisors play vital roles.

But without educators, the university ceases to exist.

Published April 10, 2012

OUR POINT THIS WEEK: Hiring unnecessary staff while vital positions are being cut is not the way to help Butler students succeed | VOTE: 27-0-4

A core curriculum program  $400,000 in the red. Four percent increases in tuition.

Recent controversies whirling around campus seem to be following the tone of money, money, money.

Despite all of these fiscal mishaps and concerns, Butler University’s administration stands unfazed with its hands on its wallet. Butler President Jim Danko will be hiring three “advising staff” for the sole purpose of “mitigating student concerns.”

While these three overqualified individuals fill up space in the administrative offices, several committed, necessary faculty and staff are being undervalued.

From faculty put on constant one-year contracts—deservedly or not—to the elimination of the College of Communication’s internship coordinator, people on campus directly involved in “student concerns” are being removed while Danko stuffs his office with unnecessary positions.

Even worse, when approached about the elimination of CCOM’s internship coordinator, Interim Provost Kathryn Morris said it was simply a CCOM problem.

The problem is that some CCOM majors require an internship in order to earn their degree, not to mention that internships guarantee an increased likelihood of scoring a job after graduation.

The provost’s job is to oversee the university and ensure that students recieve the best education possible, and that includes involving herself in the grimy issues of the individual colleges.

By writing off the administration-mandated termination of a position that greatly benefits students as a college problem, the administration makes itself appear callous to the concerns students have about their education.

This administrative tendency to appear and act out-of-touch affects more than just CCOM. It stretches campus wide.

This becomes especially clear when looking 15 years back, during a financial crisis. Despite the severity of the situation, the administration found ways to retain and fund crucial positions, including the internship coordinator.

Students, staff and other community members have voiced their worries about widespread issues including parking, hiked tuition, financial aid and underfunded classes and programs.

But the administration has not proposed a long-lasting solution or, rather, not prioritized its spending in a way that reflects student concerns.

Instead of finding ways to work with the current budget to fund the core or save some vital positions, Danko’s administration has taken money from the same “underfunded” system to pay for three positions.

Instead of making pay equitable or expanding swamped departments, money is spent on installing fireplaces in Atherton and purchasing a Charger for the Butler University Police Department.

Instead of concrete, honest solutions and outlooks on Butler’s multitude of issues, we have more evasive answers and mixed messages about Butler being a “community of care.”

Enough politicking.  Enough unclear goals and innovation funds.

Butler administrators, if they really believe we live in a community of care, should prioritize spending to improve the very reason for their existence: the students and their educations.

Students again will shell out more for their Butler University college experience next year.

The Board of Trustees voted to increase tuition 3.75 percent, room fees by 3.4 percent and board by 6.1 percent next year.

While it is lower than last year’s tuition increase of 4.6 percent, it is more than 2010’s 3.5 percent increase.

Tuition was $31,110 in 2011 and will total $32,280 in 2012.

Butler University President Jim Danko said it was his hope going into the Board of Trustees meeting to have the lowest percentage tuition increase in history and keep the hike less than 3 percent.

With the realities of the university budget, though, he said a that raise of 3 percent would have the university operating in the red.

“While this does not provide Butler with any additional discretionary resources to address a whole range of strategic opportunities—and in fact we have had to tighten our belts—I believe we’ve worked hard to keep our tuition increase quite reasonable,” Danko said in an email to The Collegian, “especially when you consider the fact that we continue to provide serious financial aid bringing the net tuition paid well below the posted price.”

Danko said that there are currently not other ways to cover those costs.

“A driving factor in our deliberations was the reality that until Butler University dramatically increases its endowment, we will remain highly tuition-dependent,” Danko said in an email to the Butler community.

Alex Bristol, a sophomore business major, said the raise may have been necessary, but it may be a burden to students.

“I understand it’s a hard time economically, and I’m sure how even Butler would be suffering in its own way, but it puts a lot more strain on students,” he said.

Addressing the 6.1 percent increase in board fees, Vice President for Student Affairs Levester Johnson said that students are actually going to be seeing more of those funds come back to them because of
an increase in flex dollars in the new meal plan and the addition of guest passes.

“The numbers actually come out a lot better,” Johnson said.

Danko said in the email to the Butler community that to mitigate these raises, the 2012–2013 budget will include nearly $50 million in student scholarships and grants,
which he said is $11 million more than when the economic downturn began four years ago.

Butler University’s Board of Trustees has decided to table  the topic of equity raises once again.

The Trustees decided to withhold equity raises until a later date due to other concerns.

President Jim Danko recommended as much last fall.

While business concerns play a vital and practical role in the university, Butler must prioritize moral concerns first.

Equity raises are short-hand for a broad number of pay adjustments to eliminate discrimination.

These raises sometimes refer to gender equality.

If a male professor has a higher salary than a female of the same degree and experience level, the raises attempt to remove that difference.

At Butler, most tenured faculty members are men.

That gap has shrunk with the most recent announcement from the Board of Trustees.

Hopefully progress will continue, but the university needs to take more direct action.

The university maintains that equality is important but that other concerns demand immediate fixes.

In today’s world, even academic institutions cannot ignore the costs and concerns of business.

Carefully planned projects could solve the equity problem with future profits.

The university faces a number of different concerns at this point, all of which carry price tags.

Butler continues to grow and must continually adjust its focus between professional and academic focuses.

One only needs to glance at the rest of this paper to see a variety of ways to spend the university’s money.

Yet this issue stands out as one defined not by practicality but principle.

I’m certain that gender and other forms of equality are important to the administration.

However, this issue cannot be postponed indefinitely.

And to treat Butler purely as a business will not reward the university monetarily or otherwise.

The market demands constant expansion, and potential success or failure colors every investment or project. No matter how careful.

This uncertainty is the nature of the economy and perhaps explains why the endowment cannot continue to support Butler in its current expansion.

So to wait for some future situation where the university has comfortable stores of cash to spend on equity raises is to wait for a day that will never come.

Butler presents itself as a liberal arts university with strong values that help prepare students not just for the business world but for lives of purpose.

For many students, emphasizing liberal arts means taking a stand for principles beyond mere profits—enriching lives through education, understanding other cultures and making responsible and sustainable choices.

If Butler wishes to present itself as a true liberal arts institution, it should strongly consider sacrificing something other than equity raises.

In an age where every institution seems to focus on profitability, Butler can and should stand out by making the principled decision.

President Jim Danko announced the newly promoted and tenured faculty at Butler University on March 22 through a campus wide e-mail.

Tenure is a virtually permanent guarantee of employment that has a long history in universities around the world.

Although it is exciting to welcome professors to a permanent spot at Butler, tenure presents some challenges.

It allows professors who are no longer as passionate about teaching to remain at the university.

It is frustrating that the university may dismiss students for failing academic standards but does not do the same to faculty members.

As class evaluation season draws near, students might wonder how much these surveys really matter—especially in light of the tenure question.

Deans and students should be allowed to review tenure status in extreme circumstances.

The overall impact of education is lost when faculty lose sight of their role in the classroom.

Professors who may otherwise consider moving on might stay.

And non-tenure track professors may have less motivation to go above and beyond their expectations.

Others settle on one particular teaching style, not choosing to review the class surveys.

And non-tenure-track faculty cannot become tenured even with amazing reviews.

The university should not consider removing tenure since the frustrating cases are rare.

But this infrequency makes it all the more important to have options.

Butler as a whole employs amazing, passionate individuals who give a huge amount of their lives to our education.

That emphasis on teaching is a major deal-maker for prospective students.

The majority of faculty takes teaching incredibly seriously and works hard to keep  classes engaging and informative.

Butler needs to do everything it can to prevent them from losing out to faculty who hold tenure.

Reasons to review tenure should not include  demanding standards for students or a reputation as a tough grader.
Those aspects can make a good professor.

But some sort of recourse is necessary when advisers and other faculty members recommend avoiding certain professors’ courses.

When common knowledge dictates that some professors have arbitrary standards, something needs to be done.

Avoiding the problem does not solve it.

Potentially tenured faculty members find themselves accountable to the Board of Trustees.

Obviously, tenured positions are vital.

Professors have jobs that shouldn’t be subject to the market or whims of administration.

They should instead have the ability to focus on their purpose: educating the students.

However, if tenured professors have no accountability to their students, administrators or peers, they may sometimes lose their willingness to adapt.

Solutions include taking evaluations more seriously or having a defined and publicized process through which complaints can be brought.

Students have a unique perspective of professors and see them at work constantly.

Students should be pushed and challenged but not subjected to an ineffective professor.

Men significantly outnumber women in the tenured ranks of Butler University.

Institutional data released in the fall of 2011 indicates that 61 percent of Butler’s tenured full-time faculty is male and 39 percent is female, but university officials said that may change in coming years.

Typically, professors and associate professors are tenured while assistant professors are un-tenured, interim provost Kathryn Morris said.

Because Butler has more male than female professors and associate professors, the number of tenured men is higher than tenured women.

But at the assistant professor level, there are more female than male faculty members — almost none of whom possess tenure. In other words, a great deal of faculty on track to earn tenure are women, who upon achieving tenure will offset the current imbalance.

Morris said as time passes, the percentage of male and female tenured faculty should balance out.

“My sense is 60 to 40 is not atypical, and in the next five to seven years we’re likely to see that even out even more,” Joel Martin, associate professor of psychology, said.

Institutional research from Creighton University, a private university of comparable size located in Omaha, Neb., shows a wider gap between male and female full-time tenured faculty members—65 percent to 35 percent, respectively.

Creighton also has 33 percent of its total full-time faculty tenured, compared to Butler’s 51 percent.

Margaret Brabant, professor of political science, said what causes the gender imbalance is difficult to determine.

“There are a whole host of variables— social, economic, political variables—that come into play,” she said. “We see this historical shift in the number of women who have gone into the professoriate, into the academy, and with time’s passage we may be seeing that gender imbalance minimally begin to balance.”

Martin said that as times change and senior (tenured) faculty members retire or leave, junior (un-tenured) faculty, of whom women are the majority, are brought up to replace them.

While these statistics highlight male and female tenured faculty, Jason Goldsmith, associate professor of English, said they don’t take into account women who are in positions of power, such as deans, the provost and various chairs of departments and programs.

Brabant said eliminating the tenured gender imbalance may not be a realizable goal for the university.

“You can often have equally desirable but ultimately incompatible moral goals,” she said. “And sometimes you just can’t hit all of your variables and take care of all of the problems all at once. That would be a perfect world.”

To achieve tenure, faculty members must submit tenure dossiers, which is a file of detailed records, to their department or program in the beginning of the fall semester, Morris said. The candidate’s dossier is then reviewed at the departmental or program, college and university levels, and the Board of Trustees chooses whether to give final approval at its meeting on March 1.

According to the academic affairs calendar on Butler’s website, President Jim Danko then will provide written notice on April 1 of the board’s decision to the faculty member being considered for tenure.