Hello everyone and welcome to the December edition of our monthly Good News outlet. This year sure has flown by, watch some of the incredible moments we’ve shared this year below!

Alumni

  • 1992 telecommunications graduate and VFX Supervisor Sherry Hitch, just earned a Clio Award with her crew for “Star Wars: Become a Jedi”!
  • 2019 SportsLink graduate Quinton Zielke has won a 2021-22 Sports Emmy for outstanding edited sports special at ESPN for the program History, Heroes and Hope.
  • Carmel-based marketing firm Firestarter LLC has hired Dakota Pennington as their multimedia specialist. Dakota graduated in 2018 after studying cinematography and film/video production.

Students

  • A story by SJSC student Thomas Deckard was recently picked up by Yahoo! News and is receiving wide readership. The article is part of an immersive learning project that partners with IndyStar to publish sustainable stories in Muncie. You can read the full article here: BSU sustainability project: Ball State the LEED in green energy with sustainable buildings.
  • After a term filled with hands-on learning and teaching, the Ross Immersive class shared the work they’ve done with their community partners in a final exhibition, titled “Visualizing Ethnographic Voices of Community Revitalization”.

CCIM Units

  • The School of Journalism and Strategic Communication was recently named an A-List school for PR and Marketing by PR News! The list recognizes schools based on their curricula, diversity, faculty composition, academic awards, and capstone courses.
  • On December 18th, we celebrated our students at Fall Commencement.

Faculty and Staff

  • Dr. Becky Hammons of CICS, along with two alumni, Rabia Daud and Yinka Ajibola were recently published in the IEEE Future Directions newsletter. Best Practices for Community Engagement in Smart Cities was a qualitative research study conducted with five city planners across the United States to learn more about how community engagement and inclusiveness are addressed in contemporary smart city initiatives. Read more. 

Upcoming Events and Deadlines

  • CCIM’s Spring SuperParty is scheduled for January 19th at 6:00 p.m. and is sure to be one of the best evening events of the semester! Explore, connect, and engage with the 35+ students organizations within the College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM). Students from all majors are welcome to join and find the organizations that fit their interests and career aspirations. In the true spirit of SuperParty, there will be free pizza and a classic cakewalk in the Letterman lobby.
  • Research shows us that 1 in 5 university students is affected with anxiety or depression.  As an institution, Ball State is offering you an opportunity to participate in a Mental Health First Aid course to help you identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders.  This training will provide you with helpful skills and resources to better serve our students.
    • Wednesday, 1/26/22     8:30am – 3pm   Registration Link   Register by 1/12/22
    • Monday, 2/14/22           8:30am – 3pm   Registration Link  Register by 1/31/22
  • Ball State University’s Office of the Provost and the Office of Immersive Learning are pleased to offer the Provost Immersive Learning Grant Program featuring two grant options. Faculty who have an idea for an immersive learning project are encouraged to apply. Funding can cover travel expenses, materials, and other costs associated with your project. This funding cycle will support projects expected to begin in fall 2022 or spring 2023. Completed proposals are due on or before 5 p.m., Monday, January 31, 2022. Visit the Pilot/One Time Grant and the Sustained Course Grant landing pages for additional information about these funding opportunities.
    • The Pilot/One Time Project Grant provides financial support for one-time immersive learning projects or projects that have never been funded before. The grants may also be utilized to support projects embedded in regularly offered immersive learning classes where the project outcomes, partners, and/or mentors regularly change over given semesters.
    • The Sustained Course Grant program is intended to support academic departments in setting up a process for ongoing Immersive Learning experiences for students.  After completing a pilot project, academic colleges and departments may apply for up to three years of support from the Provost’s Office to fully integrate the immersive class or course section into the sponsoring department or college’s curriculum and budget.
  • The Ball State University Student Symposium challenges students to present a creative or scholarly project while competing for scholarship awards and gaining valuable insight from faculty and staff judges.
    • The Student Symposium will take place on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, on campus at Worthen Arena from 1–4 p.m. The Ball State community and the general public are invited to attend to browse the presentations.
    • Registration will run throughout February 2022. The symposium team will send out a link to the registration form and a list of guidelines at a later date. All entries will require the support of a faculty mentor.
  • Ball State’s renowned journalism conference is growing! CCIM’s JDay+ will feature all the things you’ve grown to love about this one-day, in-person workshop, but will now include even more hands-on, engaging sessions taught in collaboration with Ball State’s Emerging Media Design and Development, eSports, the Department of Media, Communication Studies and the Center for Information and Communication Sciences! More info is coming soon, but until then, save the date for April 29th, 2022.

Volunteer Opportunities

  • Contact Kate Elliott for more details about volunteering with Muncie Community Schools or the 8Twelve Coalition.
  • Currently, West View Elementary is looking for student, faculty, and staff volunteers to help in various ways:
  • If you are interested in volunteering with Muncie Community Schools, you must be vaccinated, masked, and approved by Safe Hiring Solutions.

What to Watch

Did you know?

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