Happy April everyone and welcome to our “Good News” outlet — the monthly rendez-vous where we all get to channel our inner Charlie Cardinal and chirp for our CCIM community’s accomplishments.

 

Alumni

  • TCOM Alumna and songwriter Tiara Thomas & singer-songwriter H.E.R. won Best Original Song at the 2021 Academy Awards for “Fight for You.” Last month, the duo also won Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards for “I Can’t Breathe.”
  • Ball State University hosted a tree dedication ceremony in recognition of the generous contributions of Quinn Shepherd, a 2004 Ball State graduate. During the ceremony, Quinn gave a moving speech about the faculty members who changed the course of his life at Ball State. These included Communication Studies professors Laura O’Hara and Peggy Fishers, and Departments of Journalism former Professor and Chairperson, Michael Holmes.

Students

  • Cyrus Green, a graduate student in CICS, has been awarded a David L. Boren Fellowship to fund seven months of language and cultural study in Tajikistan during the 2021-2022 academic year. Read more.
  • Telecommunications student Isaac Miller was named “Student employee of the year at Ball State” and runner-up for the state of Indiana. The title recognizes Isaac’s outstanding work as a student videographer for the Ball State Foundation.
  • Students and recent graduates from the Departments of Telecommunications and Journalism won 21 awards at the 2021 Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB) College Broadcasting Competition. Read more.
  • Every year, the Information and Telecommunications Education and Research Association (ITERA) holds a National Student Case Competition where teams of students are challenged to work on solutions to real-world client problems linked to cybersecurity. On April 16, the “Bulwark Consulting Team” comprising of CICS students Paul Faria, Cyrus Green, and Christopher Nouhan won first place in the competition.
  • Telecommunications students Blake Chapman, Faith Denig, Lexi Esterle, Peyton Monnell, and Andrew Willett won Indiana Broadcast Foundation College Scholarships. $5,000 were awarded to each student. You can watch the video announcement here.
  • Journalism junior and NABJ President Tierra Harris shared her perspective on how the values of inclusive excellence & diversity — symbolized by Ball State Multicultural Center— have influenced her college journey. Read her story here.
  • Communication Studies junior Jordyn Blythe took part in Ball State’s third inclusive excellence round-table discussion. The virtual event was moderated by VP of Students Affairs Ro-Anne Royer Engle. Watch the highlights below.

 

CCIM units

  • On April 5, Ball State inaugurated a brand new Esports Center on campus. The 3,611 square-foot Esports Center will house the Ball State varsity esports program and an innovative learning environment for cross-curriculum instruction.
  • Ball State was named “Television School of the Year” for the second year in a row at the 2021 Indiana Association of School Broadcasters (IASB) College Broadcasting Competition. Read more.
  • CICS engaged in a year-long research project identifying the top 10 emerging trends in technology, business, and leadership that will shape the coming decade. The Center started the process of releasing their findings at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Technology Management Professionals.
  • April 6 marked a record-breaking One Ball State Day for the University and our college specifically. Overall, CCIM raised $62,041 from 1,292 gifts! This is a massive increase compared to the last two years ($33,431 from 840 donations in 2020 and $25,742 from 390 gifts in 2019). Thank you to all the individuals who made this happen! The breakdown by unit for this year is below.
    • CICS: $13,594 from 213 gifts
    • COMM: $14,900 from 463 gifts
    • JOUR: $10,565 from 196 gifts
    • TCOM: $4,061 from 134 gifts
    • Sports Link: $5,399 from 63 gifts
    • Student Media: $5,433 from 160 gifts

 

Faculty and Staff

  • Communication Studies Associate Teaching Professor Peggy Fisher received a Ball State Immersive Learning Faculty Award for spring 2021. This year, the awards were announced by Kristen McCauliff in a pre-recorded video as a part of the 2020-21 Immersive Learning Virtual Showcase. To view the video on the showcase site, click here.
  • Journalism Associate Professor Robin Blom‘s project, “Disparities in eyewitness misidentification of same and cross-race suspects after answering misleading questions by newspaper reporters,” has been selected as the recipient for AEJMC‘s $2,500 Newspaper and Online News Division Faculty Research Grant.
  • Telecommunications Associate Lecturer Chris Flook won a Best of “Competition Award” from the Broadcasters Education Association for Decision 1865 — an educational documentary he created for the Delaware County Historical Society.

 

CCIM in the News

 

What to Watch

Cardinal Compass is a show produced, edited and hosted by CCIM students. Each month, the 30-minute program featuring President Mearns and his guests explore the connections between Muncie and Ball State. Now in its third season, watch episode 3 featuring Indiana Secretary of Career Connections and Talent Blair Milo and Ball State Associate Vice President for Community Engagement Delaina Boyd, below.

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