NEW DOWNTOWN FACILITY

306 S. Walnut Street (previously the Mark III)

CAP recently started leasing the first floor of 306 S. Walnut Street in June. This lease will continue for the next two years and provide extra space during the renovation as well as serve as a hub for community-oriented courses and activities.  The facility will be used as studio space (see separate email sent on the AB renovation), for exhibitions, and as a community resource housing the Center for Historic Preservation, a community-accessible “library” for city and county planning documents, GIS demonstration workshops, other community-oriented events.  Partners from across the university (COH, CFA, Office of Community Engagement, others) have been invited to explore programming for the space as well.  We are planning a celebratory “opening” of this space with the Downtown Muncie organization – most likely for the October First Thursday on October 2, 2025.

CAP will also retain space in MadJax for the next three years thanks to the support of the Ball Brothers Foundation.  Faculty are encouraged to consider the use of the CAP shop or other resources available in the MadJax facility.  Stipend and supplies funding is available for any faculty and staff interested in providing community-oriented design and making workshops.  Please contact the Dean’s office for more information if interested.

 

CAP DATES TO REMEMBER

CAP FIELD STUDIES:  Summer 2025 and NEXT YEAR

Two summer field studies led by professors San Miguel, Collins, and Keogh recently concluded with great experiences for all.

As shared on May 1, the Office of Study Abroad International Programs has accelerated the calendar for next year’s proposals with the following schedule…

• May 1 – express interest and schedule planning session
• July 1 – submit finalized proposal (with budget, quote/contract from provider/partner, and course syllabus)
• Oct 1 – program details are visible to students
• Nov 1 – students can begin applying to program

Currently there are 4 possible summer 2026 field study trips led by CAP faculty being developed in this pipeline.

CAP FALL 2025 FIELD TRIP WEEK: October 20 – 24

Reminder of the dates – CAP’s fall field trip week is October 20 – 24 this year.  Please work with Melanie and Kaylin ASAP to get trip budgets identified, student deposits secured, and contracts signed.

 

MORE NEWS

CAP GLS 2025-26 and EXHIBITS
As shared previously, departmental representatives are now directly engaged with recruiting the CAP GLS speakers in response to faculty suggestions.  Current lecturers are indicated on the CAP Calendar (see below).  Some fall (and spring) lectures are still TBD.

Emeritus Professor Malcolm Cairns will continue to serve as CAP Exhibits coordinator for 2025-26. While the CAP Gallery will be used for studio spaces during the building renovation, the expanded AB First Floor “Dean’s Wall” will serve as interim gallery space. Suggestions for exhibits are always welcome.

NEW CAP CALENDAR:  https://ballstatecap.com/ now holds an in-process CAP calendar of events; thanks to Valerie Morris for her work on this.  Department and college staff, and student org leaders will be invited to directly edit the calendar so that awareness and coordination can be facilitated.

ENROLLMENT:
Orientation sessions for incoming students have been hosted by April Westcott in AB (common CAPFY design program) and Jennifer Warrner and Gary Birk in AT (CM and ID).  The CAPFY common design program welcomes 195 new students, Construction Management has 86 Freshmen and 12 Sophomores starting this fall, and 44 Freshmen & 5 Sophomores join Interior Design.

ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD SUITE UPDATE:
As communicated in a recent BSU Communications Center e-mail, “Ball State is changing how Adobe software is provided to faculty, staff, and students beginning the Fall 2025 semester. As part of these changes, access to Adobe software will now require completing the new Adobe Software request form.  Please visit bsu.edu/adobe to review your software options and submit the Adobe Software Request form before you need access in the fall.” The form needs to be used for ALL Adobe products. Two of these — Adobe Express and Acrobat Pro — will be provided to faculty and staff at no cost.  Faculty and staff NEEDING the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite for their work (please review the free alternatives of Adobe Express and Acrobat Pro before choosing the Suite) can secure a year’s license through the request form.  We ask faculty and staff who need Creative Cloud Suite to use your department’s account when filling out the form (the college will ultimately cover this using part of our IT allowance).  Students also need to submit a request form as they have done in the past; all Adobe products are provided at no cost to students.

ONEDRIVE STORAGE UPDATE:
As the university has previously communicated, Microsoft has renegotiated OneDrive storage for all universities, resulting in a target of 3 GB maximum storage for everyone.  However, IT is not asking people to delete files or buy external storage for their academic needs.  There will be a second-tier system for faculty/staff who have between 3GB and 100GB of storage needs, as well as for those with terabytes of storage needs (for this latter group, there will be an alternative on-site solution provided by the university).  IT can assist in moving files as needed.  Currently those under 3 GB have been capped and those over have been capped at 10% above their current amount.  More messaging from IT on this topic will be provided in the fall.

 

FACULTY + STUDENT UPDATES

ARCHITECTURE:

Dr. Kristin Barry accepted the position of Associate Dean of Honors College.  While remaining a faculty of the college, her new office and responsibilities reside in Honors College.

Dan Overbey was appointed as co-chair of the American Institute of Architects 2030 Commitment Working Group for the next two years. The 2030 Commitment aims to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment, with a goal of net-zero emissions by 2030 and encourages project-based carbon reporting for architects and firms to track and report their progress on reducing energy use and embodied carbon in their projects.

Pam Harwood and Tom Collins led a team of architecture students in a spring semester competition (BuildingNEXT, previously referred to as Solar Decathlon Design Challenge).  The student team received one of the four national awards given for the single family/duplex design challenge. The competition attracted teams from around the world, including entrants from Korea and Australia. In addition to the design challenge win, the duplex project is part of a broader proposal in collaboration with Muncie’s ecoREHAB and the Old West End Development Alliance for a block level development infill sustainable housing strategy — a proposal that includes plans for students to participate in the construction of the unit.  Also, Dr. Tom Collins also contributed a chapter to Teaching Carbon Neutral Design in North America: Twenty Award-Winning Architectural Design Studio Methodologies, highlighting the college’s approach to design-build studios using examples from the recent Alley House Solar Decathlon project in Indianapolis.  This was published in March 2025.  The Alley House was also recently included as a Case Study in The Green Studio Handbook – Strategies for Decarbonization (4th edition) of which Professor Emeritus Walter Grondzik (architecture) is an author.

Miguel San Miguel, Sarah Keogh, and Tom Collins successfully and safely led a total 50+ students on summer field studies to Japan (San Miguel) and an array of sites in Europe studying sustainable design (Keogh and Collins) during the first summer session. Faculty and students enjoyed the transformative experience travel offers and are now recovering.

Dr. Matthew Wilson was “selected to participate in the Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad in Tanzania with the School for International Training (SIT), ‘Tuko Pamoja: Tanzanian Creativity and Perspectives in an Era of Climate Change’, supported by a grant from the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA), U.S. Department of Education. https://www.sit.edu/academics/fulbright-hays-project-in-tanzania/  The program focuses on a decolonizing approach to teaching and learning and is scheduled to run June 28-August 1, 2025.” There were six educators invited to participate in this Fulbright-Hays project.
 
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND INTERIOR DESIGN:

Dr. Shireen Kanakri was recently awarded a 2025-2027 National Science Foundation grant for her proposal — “Collaborative Research: The impact of daylighting on behavioral response of children with ASD: evidence and implementation strategies for improving learning environments.”

Tamer Breakah and Gary Birk led two Construction Management teams to strong performances in recent competitions.  Tamer led the New Builder team—comprised of freshmen and sophomores competing for the first time— and took first place in the Heavy Civil Division competition in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Gary led a student team to second place in the new Association of General Contractors (AGC) of Indiana Collegiate Cup competition, in Indianapolis.

Reza Ahmadi, Sarah Alfaro, and Dale Potts taught nearly 60 high school students at their Youth Interior Design Forum workshops this summer, including both on campus and virtual options. Students from across the campus and across the world came to campus to participate, with the farthest student traveling from India to participate.  Sarah and Dale also just finished their Summer Assessment Grant work going through the Pre-ID to ID portfolio rubrics.

Dr. Sarah Alfaro published an article with Allie Purdue and Griffin Hays, two of her Teacher-Scholar students. “Defining Sacredness in a Masonic Temple” appears in the International Journal of Education, Culture, and Society. Volume 10, Issue 3.  Dr. Alfaro is also serving as the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Scholarship Collaborative Director, AND recently finished her MadJax Faculty Fellowship where she ran three workshops with 30 elementary school children from Motivate Our Minds and 12 high schoolers from Teen Works to teach them through hands-on work about art and design

Dr. Tamer Breakah presented a paper authored by Mohsen Goodarzi and another writer at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference in Canada. The paper was on NACE Competencies in a construction course and was also accepted in the proceedings. Tamer also moderated a session there.  Tamer will also be attending the National Center for Asphalt Technology (NCAT) professor development course and the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) boot camp this summer.

Dr. Mohsen Goodarzi published three papers in top-tier journals this spring: “Mapping sustainable synergies: a network analysis of LEED-NC v3 credits in multifamily residential projects” in Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, “Beyond the Green Label: How LEED Certification Levels Shape Guest Satisfaction in USA Hotels” in Buildings, and and “Pathways to Project Effectiveness in Sustainable Communities: Insights from a Residential Satisfaction Evaluation Model” in the Journal of Architectural Engineering. He also attended two conferences, presented his research, and had papers published in their proceedings : the 61st Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Conference in Calgary (2 papers/presentations) and the CIB World Building Congress in West Lafayette (3 papers/presentations).

Dr. Mohamed Abdel Raouf Metwally was the lead author on his paper, “Revolutionizing Rigid Pavements Towards Magnetizable Concrete Materials for Charging Electric Vehicles,” which was accepted in May for publication in the Journal of Building Materials and Structures
He was also the second author on the paper, “Life cycle assessment for construction materials of an industrial building using web-based software ‘OneClick LCA’,” which was accepted in June for publication in the journal Discover Sustainability, and was also the second author on two papers presented at the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) in May

Dr. Jake Son is serving as the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Proceedings Coordinator.

Dr. Jennifer Warrner, presented at the NCDA (National Career Development Association) in Atlanta and the IIC (International Internship Network Conference) in Minneapolis in June.

Dr. Sharmin Kader published her article “Pain and Environmental Stimuli: A Review on Research Methods, Instruments, and Findings” in the American Journal of Applied Psychology.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE:

Dr. Dorna Eshrati is collaborating with City Councilor Michael-Paul Hart and community leaders on early visioning for the redevelopment of Washington Square Mall on Indianapolis’s Eastside, exploring equitable, community-driven reuse strategies like mixed-use development, housing, and walkable public spaces, guided by national best practices.  Dr. Eshrati also served as the Organizing Lead of the 2025 Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation (AHLP) Conference, Navigating the Crossroads: Preserving Historic Landscapes in a Transforming Urban America, held May 14–17 at Ball State University’s CAP:Indy Center. The conference brought together international scholars and practitioners from across the U.S. and beyond. A Historic Preservation Education Grant—awarded to Dr. Eshrati as Principal Investigator—was provided by Indiana Humanities, Indiana Landmarks, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Taylor Metz received a 2025 Outstanding Immersive Learning Faculty Award in April for an elective course offering “Landscape Architecture in the Community” looking at how landscape architecture can be positively integrated into future development in Pendleton, IN.

Craig Farnsworth and Eric Mainzer completed a summer assessment report on “Aligning LA 280 Computer Graphics and LA 281 Hand Graphics in Landscape Architecture with Professional Experience and Expectations.”

Jeremy Merrill, PhD played Richard Henry Lee in Muncie Civic Theater’s production of 1776.

URBAN PLANNING:

Dr. Michael Burayidi had an article “The Evolving Role of Federal and State Planning Legislation in Local Plan Making: Lessons Learned and Prescription for Action” accepted for publication in the Journal of Planning History.  Dr. Burayidi also developed a contract to work with Plymouth Indiana to create a comprehensive plan for new development in that community.

Catherine Reynolds and Dr. John H. West led summer planning workshops for high school students in Indianapolis and Muncie. Approximately 35 students attended the all-day event.

John H. West and Joe Blalock, Chair of Landscape Architecture collaborated to propose two multi-disciplinary, multi-year proposals for engaged studio projects in Hanover, Indiana, and Warsaw, Indiana

Lohren Deeg received two Honorable Mention awards from the 2025 ASAI competition (Rendering Award of Excellence and Observational Award of Excellence).

Lohren also had a drawing published in “The Art of the New Urbanism” book The Art of the New Urbanism, Volume 1: (1980 – 2010) https://g.co/kgs/N6VfyXg

Dr. Ruoran Liu led the Economic Development Studio, which won an Immersive Learning Outstanding Team Award in late Spring of 2025. The studio worked on an economic development plan for Warsaw, Indiana.

Lohren Deeg, Dr. Teresa Jeter, Joe Blalock, and Dr. John H. West finalized a collaborative project for the coming academic year, working with Ball State University facilities planning (Chris Palladino) to create a student competition for the development of a new public plaza in the Village, as part of the University’s Village Revitalization project.

Dr. Sanglim Yoo visited Kyung Hee University in Seoul South Korea to establish a dual degree program for Urban Planning Masters students at Ball State and Geography students at Kyung Hee. During her visit she finalized language for a memorandum of understanding and verified the compatibility of graduate school policies between the two universities. The final agreement is awaiting the signature of BSU administration and we hope to begin enrolling students in Fall of 2026!  Dr. Yoo is also partnering with former student Zach Gullion to create a map and visualization project to document community engaged studios Urban Planning Studios for the past 10 years. Their work will be continued in as a project to document the impact of BSU Planning studios in the masters Capstone class, led by Dr. Ruoran Liu and Cheryl Montgomery.

Longtime adjunct faculty Nate Howard, who also directs the Muncie Land Bank received a $50,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant “Using data for local action: Tracking the impact of the tax sale process in Muncie, Ind., to address housing instability, blight, and disinvestment”. The study will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. John H. West and the third-year neighborhood studio as part of a comprehensive effort to address disinvestment in central city neighborhoods in Muncie.

The Urban Planning Department welcomes two new faculty who will be teaching in the first year. Ralph Holmes, AICP joins the department on a full-time contract professor after over a decade working at MCCOG as a Senior Planner for Community Planning & Design. Danicia Malone joins the department as an adjunct professor. She is pursuing a PhD in Urban Studies at Temple University, conducting research on public art and planning in Indianapolis through the Big Car Collaborative.

CERES:

CERES Director David Dubois is planning a ‘Community Innovation Challenge’ event with the kick-off coming this winter for Muncie and Delaware County.  If interested in more information, please reach out to David.

INSTITUTE FOR DIGITAL INTERMEDIA ARTS [IDIA LAB]:

John Fillwalk will be presenting IDIA’s work at the Digital Heritage Exposition (DH25) in Siena Italy in September.

The IDIA team have recently completed or close to launching the following interactive projects.

• Rutgers University College of Health Professions: Inter-professional Virtual Education  Simulator
• Indiana University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. City on the River: Angel Mounds Virtual Reality Exhibition, Permanent.
• Indiana Landmarks: Black Heritage Preservation Program. Augmented Reality Walking Tour: Recreation of Historic Indiana Avenue.
• Muncie Downtown Development: Augmented Reality Walking Tour of   Downtown Muncie Lost Architectural Heritage

RECENT STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

Noah White, a 3^rd year architecture student, won the Mayer Fabrics x Venu Industries 2025 Sketch Competition.

Juliet Taiwo Oluyale (M.Arch 2025), who was awarded the 2025–2026 AIA Arthur N. Tuttle, Jr. Graduate Fellowship in Health Facility Planning and Design; Dr. Sharmin Kader (ID) was the faculty advisor and mentor for Juliet. The fellowship award is $9,000. This competitive fellowship supports graduate students and young professionals who demonstrate interest in healthcare facility planning and design. Juliet’s proposed research, titled “Developing Design Guidelines for Pediatric Primary Care Clinics for Infection Control,” explores the role of interior architecture in reducing the spread of infections and presents evidence-based design strategies to promote safer clinical environments.

Emily Dross (B.Arch 2025) won the Alternative Technologies category in the annual KROB competition (Ken Roberts Memorial Delineation Competition – https://krobarch.com/ ).  Madelyn Myers was a finalist.  Both students created their work in an elective by Associate Professor James Kerestes.

In the July 2025 issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine, the article entitled “Teachable Moment” chronicles work by 5^th year CAP LA student Ahmaud Carroll-Tubbs related to recently discovered African American remains on the site of the long abandoned Greenlawn Cemetery in Indianapolis.  Ahmaud interned with the Black Heritage Preservation Program at Indiana Landmarks, which studied the historic cemetery site.