September 28, 2020
Dear Colleagues:
I often talk about how Ball State is committed to a bright future. This sense of dedication is an extension of our seven enduring values, especially innovation, social responsibility, and inclusiveness. Furthermore, it guides everything we do on and off campus, from how we welcome students from underserved communities to how we design our infrastructure and buildings.
Last month, several national organizations affirmed our hard work, recognizing Ball State for a variety of initiatives that all share one common theme—a brighter future for everyone.
For the fifth consecutive year, our University received a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity magazine and website in higher education. The streak reflects well on our Office of Inclusive Excellence and proves that we are fostering a welcoming environment with enhanced opportunities for students to excel. Read more about the HEED Award.
We are also proud of our University’s long history and reputation for accessibility for people with disabilities. Recently, College Magazine ranked Ball State sixth in the nation among “ten colleges that truly support students with disabilities.” Read the College Magazine article.
Finally, an element of our commitment to a brighter future includes serving as stewards of our natural resources so that our children and grandchildren inherit a healthy Earth. The proof is in our Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certifications. Recently, we received confirmation that our Health Professions Building, completed in 2019, is certified LEED Gold—the seventh structure on our beautiful campus to achieve LEED Gold recognition. Learn more about this certification.
As Dr. Marsha McGriff, associate vice president for inclusive excellence, said when accepting the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award, our job is not done, and we are all partners in this work of creating a brighter future for everyone.
Below are a few more stories that I hope you will enjoy and then share. Let your friends and colleagues know how “We Fly” at Ball State.
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Sincerely,
Geoffrey S. Mearns
President
Ball State University
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Better Retention, Stable Enrollment
Efforts to encourage students to persist into their sophomore years are paying off, with a retention rate up six percentage points over last year. That improvement, along with increased graduate-level enrollment, helped keep the overall number of students stable in an unprecedented year.
Examples of those retention efforts include more faculty engagement, proactive advising, and increased support for 21st Century Scholars of color and commuter students.
If you break the retention rate down into categories, improvements among traditionally underserved students are even more impressive. Retention rates among minority students, students from lower-income families, and commuter students each experienced increases in the range of nine to 12 percentage points.
Our comprehensive plan is still evolving, but I am encouraged by the progress we are making.
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Lilly Grant Funds First-Year Experience Program
The University is developing a comprehensive program to improve the experiences of first-year students thanks to a $2.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment.
The program, called First-Year Flight, aims to use innovative methods to enhance student engagement in the critical first year. The goals are varied and they include improving on-time graduation rates, closing the achievement gap with underserved students, and preparing more graduates for fulfilling careers and meaningful lives.
We are grateful to the Lilly Endowment and its Charting the Future for Indiana’s Colleges and Universities initiative for helping make First-Year Flight possible. Read the news release.
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Two New Institutes in Miller College
As a result of two major gifts, Ball State University is enhancing its efforts to prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators for leadership roles by reimagining an existing center and creating a second one to focus on how organizations promote prosperity.
The University has received $5 million in grant funding from the Menard family and $1.55 million from the Charles Koch Foundation to support the Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute and the Institute for the Study of Political Economy.
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University to Launch Ball State Public Media
The University will bring its public television under the umbrella of the newly created Ball State Public Media and collaborate along with various student media.
The launch of Ball State Public Media on October 31 is part of Ball State’s strategic mission to provide meaningful learning experiences for students and to give back to the community.
One of those learning opportunities is a monthly program on WIPB called “Cardinal Compass: Campus and Community Conversations.” This month, Provost Susana Rivera-Mills and I sat down with student-journalists to talk about how the University is handling COVID. Watch the episode.
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Ball State Connections to the Indy 500
Some Ball State alumni have connections to this year’s Indy 500.
David Letterman, ’69, is co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, whose driver Takuma Sato won the race. Craig Dobbs, ’86, helped sponsor a car driven by Conor Daly through a vodka company he co-owns called Monkey in Paradise. And as lead sponsor of the race through his company, Gainbridge, Dan Towriss, ’94, waved the green flag.
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Celebrating 21st Century Scholars
Ball State has graduated more than 4,600 21st Century Scholars during the 30-year history of the program. As part of the state’s celebration of the program, we are sharing stories about our alumni, including Caroline Everidge, ’16.
As the health and human sciences educator for Purdue Extension in Huntington County, Everidge provides coordination of community programming and development in health, food, money, and family. For her story and others, visit bsu.edu/21stcenturyscholars.
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Improving Behavioral Health in Indiana
Dr. Sharon Bowman, professor of counseling psychology and chair of Ball State’s Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and Counseling, has been appointed to the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission by Governor Holcomb. Dr. Bowman is part of a new 19-member commission that will spend the next two years working on a comprehensive approach to providing integrated behavioral health services for all Indiana residents.
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Muncie Wins All-America Award
The National Civic League has designated Muncie as an All-America City, which recognizes our community’s work in inclusive civic engagement to address health and well-being and create stronger connections among residents, businesses, and nonprofit and government leaders.
The presentation by the Muncie Action Plan included two partnerships with Ball State connections, Schools Within the Context of Community and the 8twelve Coalition. Read an article about this well-deserved honor and see why we are all Better Together.
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