Dear Colleagues:     

     The last several weeks have been extremely busy at Ball State University, with good things happening all over our beautiful campus. Here are some of the highlights:

    These highlights and more are featured in this issue of News to Use.

    With Summer approaching, I hope you are making plans to spend quality time with family and friends. And please share news about all the great things happening at Ball State University.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey S. Mearns
President
Ball State University

On May 6, Ball State University celebrated its Class of 2023 with a traditional Spring Commencement ceremony held on the Old Quad. Commencement exercises concluded with individual college ceremonies at Emens Auditorium and Worthen Arena.

The University conferred nearly 3,000 doctoral, specialist, master’s, and baccalaureate degrees for its Spring 2023 graduates. Ball State President Geoffrey S. Mearns, speaking from the stage on the Fine Arts Terrace, encouraged the graduates to seek fulfillment and to pursue a life of meaning as they joined the ranks of more than 200,000 graduates who came before them.

The Spring 2023 graduates also heard words of wisdom from Randy Pond, ’77, who, on May 5, was bestowed by Ball State the President’s Medal of Distinction—one of the University’s highest honors—in recognition of his professional achievements and his generous service. Mr. Pond, who graduated from the Miller College of Business with degrees in Accounting and Economics, is currently serving as corporate vice president, finance at AMD.

In his speech to the graduates, Mr. Pond shared his transformational experience at Ball State and encouraged students to lead engaging, fulfilling lives as they begin their next chapters.

Read more about the Spring 2023 Commencement in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University graduate David Letterman, ‘69, returned to his alma mater for the premiere of an original documentary—created by Ball State students and featuring Mr. Letterman—about the art of glass.

The University presented the documentary, “Clear Reception,” on May 1 at Ball State’s Emens Auditorium. Following the screening of the film, Mr. Letterman participated in an on-stage discussion with two Ball State graduates who served as director and producer of the piece, respectively. Mr. Letterman was also joined on stage by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville for a discussion with the graduates. 

Students from Ball State’s College of Communication, Information, and Media‘s Department of Media, led by Chris Flook, senior lecturer of media, collaborated with Mr. Letterman during the 2021-22 school year on the documentary. The 25-minute production shares the story of Mr. Letterman’s interest in Ball State’s Glass Art program and his request for a unique sculpture created by students studying and working at the University’s Marilyn K. Glick Center for Glass. As part of the David Letterman Learning Experience, the project also included graduate students from the Center for Emerging Media Design & Development (EMDD).

A trailer for “Clear Reception” is available on Ball State’s YouTube channel. Read more in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University’s R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning (ECAP) students—with faculty leads, design advisors, and interdisciplinary consultants—earned the grand prize in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon® 2023 Build Challenge. Ball State’s ECAP was named the 2023 Build Challenge Overall Winner during the Solar Decathlon Competition Event in Golden, Colo., April 20-23. The Department of Energy announced the 21st Annual Solar Decathlon Winners on April 24.

An international competition, Solar Decathlon challenges student teams to design net-zero energy homes that generate at least as much energy onsite as they consume annually using “green” building techniques and renewable energy technologies.

To participate in the Build Challenge portion of the Solar Decathlon, the ECAP student team planned, designed, and helped build the Alley House—an affordable, energy-efficient, eco-friendly duplex home in Indianapolis. Located at 201 N. Temple Ave, in the Westminster/St. Philip Neri neighborhood on the city’s Near Eastside, the duplex will eventually be home for two families. 

In addition to earning the grand prize, Cardinal Studio, ECAP’s Build Challenge Team won awards in several other contest areas. Read more in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University has partnered with Coursera, one of the world’s largest online learning platforms, to offer two flexible online master’s degree programs in the high-demand fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Starting in the Fall 2023 semester, Ball State and Coursera will together offer Online Master of Science programs in Computer Science and in Data Science. The programs will be developed and taught by faculty from Ball State’s College of Sciences and Humanities, and will feature a performance-based admissions process with no prerequisites or application required for admittance. In an effort to provide affordable access to STEM degrees in these high-demand fields, students taking these programs will be charged only in-state tuition and fees.

This partnership is another example of Ball State responding to workforce needs in Indiana and beyond by offering affordable, advanced degrees in high-demand fields. For more information about these online degree programs, visit Ball State’s Computer Science and Data Science web pages. To learn more about the 100 additional online degrees, certificates, and educator licenses available at Ball State, contact Ball State Online at 1-800-872-0369 or at online@bsu.edu.

Read more about Ball State’s partnership with Coursera in this Ball State press release.

Ball State University has seen significant sports victories and a milestone during this year’s Spring season.

The University’s women’s track & field team won the 2023 Mid-American Conference (MAC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 13. This is the Cardinals’ fifth MAC Outdoor Track & Field Championship title in program’s history, and the first since the 2001 campaign. Read more in this Ball State Athletics press release.

The women’s tennis team, for a second straight season, clinched the Mid-American Conference (MAC) championship April 30 and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

Also in April, the men’s volleyball team won this year’s Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA)’s regular-season championship and headed into the MIVA Tournament as the No. 1 seed. Ball State shared the MIVA regular-season championship with Ohio State and Loyola Chicago—the first three-way tie for the MIVA regular-season championship since 1996 and only the second one in the conference’s history.

And Rich Maloney, Ball State’s head baseball coach (1996-2002 and 2013-present), earned his 600th win on April 22. The 5-2 Ball State victory over Northern Illinois University was in game one of a doubleheader.

Follow Ball State’s Athletics news online year-round.

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