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Two Butler University employees now will serve in expanded administrative roles in the President’s Office, President Jim Danko announced today in a memo to faculty members.
Ben Hunter, also a City-County Councilor, will serve as Danko’s chief of staff and executive director of public safety effective immediately. Formerly vice president for finance, Bruce Arick’s position was expanded to include administration over several university entities.
Danko said the changes come as he seeks to consolidate Butler’s central administrative functions.
“I’m excited for Jim’s vision for the university,” Hunter said of the announcement. “The university is in great hands.”
Danko said he is expanding Hunter’s and Arick’s roles to “ensure that our administration is organized as effectively as possible with an eye toward improving service quality and increasing attention to important public safety, risk, and compliance issues as managed from the president’s office.”
Previously serving as Butler’s chief of police and director of public safety, Hunter will continue his leadership of the public safety department from the President’s Office.
“I’ve had a long history with Butler,” Hunter said. “My goal is to learn and assist and move the university forward.”
Hunter will “advise Butler’s senior administrative leadership and its board of trustees on a breadth of high-level policy, governance, and procedural issues, as well as on safety and security issues,” Danko said in the memo.
Hunter also will continue to build relationships in the Indianapolis community and navigate different local and state issues that affect Butler, such as the city’s updated mass transit proposal, IndyConnect.
While Butler is not currently included in the IndyConnect plan, in his new role, Hunter said he will work to make sure Butler has a voice when the Statehouse considers it.
“I’ll be handling these issues in a team atmosphere with University Relations and other experts,” Hunter said. “It’s not going to be just me, but it’s going to be a consistent voice on behalf of the president.”
Arick will continue his management of Butler’s finances but will expand his oversight into facilities, human resources, information technology and Clowes Memorial Hall.
“We already have phenomenal leadership in these areas,” Arick said. “It’s always nice to walk into something that is working well. We can start with a strength and make it even better.”
Arick said an expected challenge of the change will be figuring out how to effectively manage time.
“It’s something new and a bit of an unknown, but it is helped by the fact that you have a strong team out there to help,” he said.
Danko said in the memo that Arick will better be able to manage the day-to-day duties of these departments, which previously were under the president’s direct supervision.
“This change comes with the expectation of improved service quality and efficiency,” Danko said.
