Ball State AAUP

09/04/2026

Faculty Friday: Congratulations, Max Van Dongen!

There are numerous reasons to support higher education, and here's one of the best: the extraordinary teaching happening in Indiana classrooms every day.

This week, we're celebrating Max Van Dongen, Assistant Lecturer in Ball State University's Department of Media and recipient of CCIM's 2026 Outstanding Teacher Award.

In each of his first three years at Ball State, students nominated Van Dongen for the University's Excellence in Teaching Award, and he became a finalist all three times. His courses pair meaningful academic expectations with hands-on, project-based experiences that prepare students to create, collaborate, make decisions, and solve real-world problems.

He has even turned the department's social media presence into another learning laboratory where students can practice their craft, and that's faculty impact: scholarship and expertise translated into experiences students carry beyond the classroom.

Congratulations to Max and to Indiana faculty everywhere beginning another year of teaching, mentoring, creating, researching, and helping students discover what they're capable of.

09/02/2026

What does college affordability require? Indiana students attending public colleges and universities will once again see in-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees held at 2024–25 levels this academic year.

Making higher education affordable is an important goal. But tuition is only one side of the equation.

As institutions are expected to do more with constrained resources, faculty should be part of the conversation about what comes next:

- How do we protect course access and reasonable class sizes?
- How do we adequately support faculty and staff?
- How do we preserve research, advising, libraries, student services, and academic programs?
- And what level of public investment is necessary to make affordability sustainable?

Affordable higher education should also be excellent higher education. We need policies capable of protecting both. What should Indiana prioritize?

Read the Indiana Capital Chronicle coverage: https://indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/08/26/indiana-in-state-tuition-freeze-continues-for-second-year/

08/26/2026

Feeling powerless in the face of attacks on higher ed? Not sure what you can do as the new school year begins?

Read this guide and join us at one of our upcoming events to find out how faculty, professional academic staff, and students can work together to transform higher education for the better!

A new academic year always begins with a familiar rush: new students, new schedules, revised syllabi, committee meetings, overflowing inboxes, and the optimistic fiction that this will be the semes…

08/25/2026

Colleges and universities have always existed in conversation (and sometimes tension) with the governments, communities, donors, and students they serve. Academia tends to live within the understan…

05/29/2026

INAAUP strongly opposes SEA 199, which allows degree programs to be targeted based on narrow enrollment thresholds and early-career earnings metrics. Read our full statement below. 2026.05.28 INAAU…

05/28/2026

Ball State spends $225,000 plus lawyer's fees (President Mearns retained a Jones Day partner out of DC) for the termination of Suzanne Swierc. Mearns defends his decision to fire her and calls this "a modest monetary payment" (https://www.thestarpress.com/story/news/local/2026/05/27/ball-state-president-stands-by-decision-to-fire-employee-over-posting/90273691007/).

This just a month after university-wide budget cuts were announced. This settlement money could have been used to restore nearly all of the cuts from Student Affairs for next year. Or reopened the Office of Inclusive Excellence. Or halved the budget hit taken by CCIM.

It seems that the lesson Mearns is hoping BSU faculty and staff will learn from this is that $225,000 plus legal fees is an acceptable price for improperly firing and violating the constitutional rights of an employee who becomes inconvenient.

It is noteworthy that in his statement defending the settlement, Mearns seems to A) misunderstand how Facebook works and shifts responsibility for the publicity of this post from Todd Rokita, the Indiana attorney general who made it national news, to Suzanne, who shared it to a limited audience in a non-public post; B) not understand Suzanne's job; and C) be most concerned about donors and recruitment.

All of this could have been avoided if Ball State had abided by its own policies and statements, pointed to them when conversing with angry donors, and used that time to let cooler heads prevail. This is literally what such policies are for--to guide action in fraught circumstances and provide guiding principles to strengthen your resolve in the face of outside pressure. They clearly had the ability to do so--they did so with another employee caught up in the same controversy at the same time. We again would like to point to our Faculty Council Resolution from this fall in calling for BSU to adhere to its own policies and procedures when a similar issue arises in the future: https://bsuaaup.com/fc-resolution-on-freedom-of-expression/

Ball State University in Indiana has agreed to pay $225,000 to a former administrator who was fired for her Facebook post saying Charlie Kirk spread fear, the latest legal settlement awarded to a worker dismissed over their posts about Kirk after he was assassinated. https://nyti.ms/49tjtmq

05/22/2026

As the recent cyber ransom threat by hackers via the Canvas learning management system illustrated, digital security is a real and growing concern.

Check out the AAUP and Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom's resources on digital security and a short video at the link in comments.

05/14/2026

The May Indiana AAUP newsletter is now available, and it is filled with evidence that faculty across Indiana are not only concerned about the future of higher education, but also about the current state of affairs. We are organizing!

This issue highlights the Spring Meeting, where faculty from across the state gathered to share their observations, challenges, and responses. It also includes updates on SEA 199, the 2026 legislative session, national academic freedom and DEI developments, chapter activity from IUB, IUSB, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Purdue West Lafayette, plus a faculty feature on Sarah Vitale and coverage of IU Bloomington AAUP’s independent financial analysis event.

Read the newsletter, share it with a colleague, and stay connected as we continue defending academic freedom, strengthening shared governance, and helping chapters across Indiana stay informed and ready to act.

Read the May newsletter: https://inaaupnews.org/may-2026-general

05/02/2026

We are proud to spotlight a scholar, teacher, organizer, and friend this Faculty Friday - Sarah Vitale, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Philosophy at Ball State University!

Dr. Vitale’s work explores critical theory, labor, gender, and power, bringing rigorous scholarship into conversation with real-world impact. She is also a leader across campus and statewide, serving as Secretary of Ball State AAUP and a member of the Indiana AAUP Executive Board, while leading community and academic initiatives in Muncie and beyond.

Faculty leadership like this strengthens higher education for all. Thanks for all you do, Dr. Vitale!

05/02/2026

We had a wonderful time with our end of semester social at The Guardian!