News for Ball State Faculty and Staff
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Stories of Gratitude
February 25, 2021
This month, I am grateful to the academic deans for their leadership in what has been an unprecedented year.
Throughout the year, our academic deans hire, support, and promote their faculty and staff, and they work in collaboration with faculty to ensure that our academic programs enable our students to have fulfilling careers and to lead meaningful lives. The academic deans also manage their budgets and their staff to sustain our important mission—serving our students and our communities.
For the last 12 months, our deans have had to do all of these responsibilities—and so much more.
They have kept faculty and students updated about changes, including announcements about classroom space adjustments and flexible course deliveries. They have ensured faculty, staff, and students have the resources they need. They have served on new committees to ensure safe learning and work environments. They have responded to administrative needs on short notice. And they have found a way to meet with donors and raise funds virtually.
These are just a few of the ways in which our academic deans have proven their ability to respond to the ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19. I believe that our institution will emerge stronger from this pandemic because of their steady influence and unwavering dedication.
I am grateful for their continued commitment and contributions to our University.
Sincerely,
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Ball State Response to COVID-19
COVID-19 Dashboard
In the sixth week of the Spring semester, COVID-19 cases have shown a slight decrease and remain at low levels. See the dashboard.
Ball State is preparing for possible vaccine distribution
The University is currently in discussions with local and state health officials about vaccine distribution possibilities.
We do not yet have specific information but we are preparing to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to our students and employees, and potentially the community if we are asked to
Rapid COVID-19 testing available for asymptomatic students, employees
On February 9, Ball State began offering rapid antigen COVID-19 testing three days a week at Worthen Arena for students and employees without symptoms.
Students or employees tested via the rapid antigen test will receive results within approximately 30 minutes.
There is no cost to students or employees, and appointments are not required. Anyone interested in receiving a rapid test should bring a student or employee ID or photo ID and, in advance of arriving, download the blue NAVICA app on your smartphone from the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
The rapid tests will be voluntarily administered and are part of our surveillance testing effort this Spring.
Furthermore, COVID-19 testing is currently available seven days a week for symptomatic students and employees through Ball State’s agreement with IU Health. Three days a week, we also provide on-campus testing for anyone through Open Door Health Services at Worthen Arena.
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Strategic Plan Update
On January 22, Indiana Secretary of Career Connections and Talent Blair Milo announced the East Central Indiana (ECI) Region as Indiana’s tenth 21st Century Talent Region. This statewide designation is awarded to Indiana communities that work collaboratively to attract, develop, and connect talent in the region.
Pursuit of the designation was spearheaded by the George and Frances Ball Foundation with support from the Ball State Office of Community Engagement and stakeholders from seven ECI counties–Delaware, Grant, Henry, Jay, Randolph, Rush, and Wayne. More than 70 people worked together to establish three primary goals for the region:
- Boost current population trends by 11% by 2030.
- Increase postsecondary educational attainment of more than 9,000 Hoosiers by 2025.
- Increase median household income and earnings by 7.5% by 2025.
The Office of Community Engagement will serve as the backbone organization for the new East Central Indiana Talent Collaborative, which will oversee regional progress.
“This new designation builds upon our University’s strategic efforts to serve the evolving needs of our adult learners, our communities, and our state in new and innovative ways,” President Mearns said. “We look forward to helping drive the success of our region’s efforts to enhance the impact of higher education and to bridge the critical gap between education and employment in East Central Indiana.”
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For Your Benefit
Recruitment plan updates for hiring managers and TMS users
Human Resources has made enhancements to assist hiring managers in recruiting talented and diverse applicants. We recently added several new higher education-related recruitment sites as part of our standard advertising package.
It continues to be equally important to include active outreach methods such as networking through your professional and/or academic associations. This practice enables you to further attract qualified candidates and broaden the diversity of your pool.
In order to assist you with your recruitment outreach, Human Resources will partner with you to identify additional posting sites and develop an active outreach plan specific to your unit needs.
Effective mid-February, you will be able to record your recruitment plan efforts within TMS for each search. As always, it is our goal to collaborate with our hiring managers to develop strong candidate pools in an increasingly challenging labor market.
Hiring managers and TMS users, please watch your email for communications from Human Resources with more details. If you have any questions, please contact your HR partner.
Independent investment advice with Edelman Financial Engines
Employees can use free online financial tools, or, for a minimal fee, let Edelman Financial Engines manage their investments for them. Edelman’s job is to provide you with clear, objective answers to your important retirement questions.
If you have a Ball State retirement plan account with Fidelity, you should have already received in the mail your personalized Edelman Financial Engines Retirement Evaluation. You can also review your Retirement Evaluation online.
Want to learn more about Edelman Financial Engines and how they can help you? Call (800) 601-5957, business days, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET, to speak with an Edelman advisor or visit EdelmanFinancialEngines.com/forBSU.
Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) Academy
The University has launched the Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) Academy as a pilot program in Spring 2021.
Fifteen of the University’s current and aspiring leaders are participating in the comprehensive 16-week program tailored toward leadership excellence at Ball State. The program culminates in project proposals to the President and other University leaders.
Applications for the Summer and Fall 2021 cohorts are coming soon. Watch your email for more information.
If you have questions, contact Kate Stoss, LEAD director and senior executive director of Human Resources, or Sue Godfrey, LEAD program administrator and executive project coordinator to the AVP of Human Resources.
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Stay Up to Date on Latest Statehouse News
The Office of Governmental Relations invites you to subscribe to its weekly Statehouse Update newsletter.
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R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning
CAP has a new director at Ball State Indy
Joe Blalock has accepted the position of executive director of College of Architecture and Planning activities at Ball State Indy.
This administrative role will provide leadership and oversight at the campus on the Indianapolis near eastside.
Blalock’s responsibilities will include coordinating external outreach, facilitating community partnerships, promoting connections to professionals in design and planning disciplines, and maintaining operations at our Indy facilities.
He will also be leading the outreach unit, the Center for Civic Design, which is a hub for education and advocacy about the interdisciplinary, built-environment, and construction design necessary for creating cities, towns, and neighborhoods. The City of Indianapolis metropolitan region is its primary focus area.
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Miller College of Business
Virtual Dialogue Days run April 12-15
Miller College will offer Dialogue Days via Zoom during April. The events are free and open to Ball State students. Top alumni will serve as guest panelists.
The events are:
- 10–11 a.m., April 12: Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management.
- 3–4 p.m., April 12: Financial Services.
- 11 a.m.–12:15 p.m., April 13: Accounting Career Paths.
- 2–3:15 p.m., April 13: Organizational Leadership.
- 9:30–10:45 a.m., April 15: Banking and Financial Institutions.
- 2–3:15 p.m., April 15: Sales Management and Prospect Development.
Registration information will be available closer to the event.
Students volunteer with tax assistance
With the help of accounting students, many University students, employees, and Ball State families are receiving free tax preparation through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.
VITA is a federal program administered by the Internal Revenue Service available to individuals and married couples with an income of less than $57,000 per year.
State and federal tax filings are prepared by Ball State accounting students, who have completed many hours of IRS-certified training and exams before becoming VITA volunteers. All tax filings are reviewed for accuracy by an experienced tax preparer. Read more.
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College of Communication, Information, and Media
Campus initiatives
Over 30 people representing different areas on campus met virtually from January 22 to February 26 for six training sessions on Intergroup Dialogue. The initiative is co-sponsored by CCIM and four other campus units—Inclusive Excellence, Provost Office, Student Affairs, and Human Resources—with the aim to equip participants with skills to facilitate dialogue on issues of power, identity, and fairness.
Alumni spotlight
- Jenn Renoe, 2009 Advertising graduate, is listed in this year’s Yahoo! Finance’s TOP 100 OUTstanding LGBT+ Leaders of 2020. Jenn is listed as #24. Read more.
- 2014 Telecommunications alumna Rachel Hardy produced, directed, and edited Black Unscripted — a powerful documentary short film about blackness and racial identity. The film has been accepted at six film festivals, including the Indianapolis Black Documentary Film Festival, where it won Best Documentary. Check out the article on the CCIM blog.
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College of Fine Arts
Opening February 25, this special exhibition explores the work of Pop artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein next to that of their present-day, Neo-Pop heirs, including powerhouses such as American Jeff Koons and his English counterpart Damien Hirst. Learn more about the exhibition.
School of Art faculty shows and events
Associate Professor of Art Heidi Jensen has work in Northern Illinois Art Museum in DeKalb from January 12 to February 26. See the event details.
School of Music celebrates Black History Month
The School of Music is proud to celebrate Black History Month with its new Diversity Series. The series aims to curate and share culturally diverse music, literature, and ideas as part of Ball State’s mission of inclusive excellence.
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College of Health
Learn about diabetes prevention
The Healthy Lifestyle Center’s Diabetes Prevention Program starts at 5:30 p.m. on March 1. It’s a free, 16-week virtual or in-person course. Email the center for more information or register online.
Register for substance use disorder symposium
The College of Health and the Addictions Coalition of Delaware County are hosting the second annual Delaware County Substance Use Disorder Symposium from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 2.
The keynote speaker is Doug Huntsinger, Indiana's 'drug czar’ from the Office of the Governor, and the moderator is Central Indiana YWCA CEO WaTasha Barnes Griffin. See the event listing and register online.
Kinesiology earns honors
The School of Kinesiology’s master’s degree in athletic coaching education was ranked No. 7 among online physical education programs by geteducated.com. Read the full article.
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College of Sciences and Humanities
English faculty, alumni on publishing spree
Ten English faculty and alumni have books coming out in 2021. They are:
- Somebody’s Daughter, a memoir by alumna Ashley C. Ford.
- Hillbilly Queer, a memoir by alumnus J. R. Jamison.
- Things We Couldn’t Say, a novel by alumnus Jay Cole.
- When Stars Rain Down, a novel by Assistant Teaching Professor of English Angela Jackson-Brown.
- A Dark and Starless Forest, a novel by alumna Sarah Hollowell.
- A Fish Growing Lungs, a book of essays by alumna Alsia Li Ying Sawchyn.
- Ticker, a book of poetry by Professor of English Mark Neely.
- Black Celebrity: Contemporary Representations of Postbellum Athletes and Artists, a scholarly work by Associate Professor of English Emily Rutter.
- Teaching Literature in the Real World, a scholarly work by Professor of English and department chair Pat Collier.
- Roleplaying Games in the Digital Age: Essays on Transmedia Storytelling, Tabletop RPGs and Fandom, a scholarly work by Associate Professor of English Jennifer Grouling Snider and alumna Stephanie Hedge.
Kinsella named director of Bowen Center
Chad Kinsella, assistant professor of political science, has been named the next director of the Bowen Center for Public Affairs. His research expertise in geographic polarization and partisan voting particularly suits him for the Bowen Center mission of leading the advancement of civic literacy, community involvement, and public service.
Criminal justice professor publishes two policing articles
Assistant professor of criminal justice and criminology Wendy Koslicki is achieving excellence with her ASPiRE Junior Faculty Program grant-funded project this year. She and her co-authors have had two articles published with the esteemed Journal of Criminal Justice in the past month alone.
The first examines common community-oriented policing approaches and finds no relationship between these and police use of fatal force. The second assesses the relationship between the DOD military surplus transfer program and fatal police force.
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Teachers College
Markelz earns state special education award
Andy Markelz, assistant professor in the Department of Special Education, has won the 2021 Outstanding Indiana Special Education Professor Award from the Indiana Council for Exceptional Children. This annual award goes to a professor with knowledge, skill, and sensitivity in teaching university students about persons with disabilities, and who often goes above and beyond what is normally expected in their profession and serves as a role model and inspiration to their students and colleagues.
Cassady to serve on journal board
Congratulations to Jerrell Cassady, professor of educational psychology, who was appointed to the editorial board for Educational Psychology Review.
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Honors College
Ludwig earns fellowship to explore the American Dream and diversity
Kathryn Ludwig, assistant teaching professor of English, has earned the Ball Brothers Foundation Honors College Faculty Fellowship for 2021-2023. Through her fellowship, she will develop and teach several Honors College courses during the next two academic years.
Her HONR 199 (Inquiries in Contemporary American Society) sections will interrogate the notion and challenge of the American Dream through diverse and disparate narratives.
A Spring 2022 HONR 390 (Honors College Colloquium) will use campus-community book discussions to explore how stories can impact attitudes about religious and cultural diversity. During the second year, Ludwig will mentor a team of students as they develop undergraduate theses that critically examine questions of selection, representation, and resiliency in American literature, in collaboration with the American Writers Museum.
Lawhead Award will help send student to Europe to teach
Allie Bowman, a second-year elementary education teaching major from Columbus, Indiana, has earned the Lawhead Student Enrichment Award.
The award will support her Summer internship experience in a European primary school. This experience will provide opportunities to grow as a culturally responsive teacher in a distinctive learning environment.
The Lawhead Student Enrichment Award celebrates Honors College founder Victor Lawhead, Dean Emeritus of Undergraduate Programs, and his wife, Doris. The award supports an innovative, enhanced learning experience for an Honors College student pursuing a career in education.
Two third-year students win Ruebel fellowships
The James S. Ruebel Honors Fellowships for International and Innovative Experiences celebrate Dean Ruebel’s passion to empower students to pursue innovative opportunities, through gifts from his many friends and colleagues and a significant investment by the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation.
Fellowship recipients for this year are Dayle Matheny and Samantha Turner.
Matheny is a third-year biology major from Greentown, Indiana. Her fellowship will support a Summer research experience in Tübingen, Germany, working to establish a human β-cell and endothelial cell co-culture system through the German Academic Exchange Service/Research Internships in Science and Engineering (DAAD/RISE) program.
Turner is a third-year biological and cultural anthropology major from Bartlett, Illinois. Her fellowship will support her Fall studies at Charles University in Prague, one of Europe’s largest and oldest universities, where she will be immersed in the Czech language and culture.
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| Achieving Academic Excellence
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Ted Neal
Professor of Art Ted Neal’s students leave Ball State with more than a solid understanding of ceramics.
As a national expert on building kilns, Neal knows how to harness fire for creative purposes, and he passes that knowledge onto his students.
“Kiln building is a really unique part of our program,” he said. “There aren’t many other programs that have that in their curriculum. So, to have that is one of our strengths.”
Neal has built more than 100 kilns for other universities, studios, and art centers. His craftsmanship encompasses various kiln styles, and he’s even built pizza ovens.
His ceramic work, which combines utility and self-expression, has been featured in numerous exhibitions. Neal said he was most satisfied with his vessel creations when they serve both as useful objects “and also embody loftier ideas such as beauty, connectedness and shared kinesthetic experiences.”
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