2009 Alpha Luncheon
Keynote Remarks for President Jo Ann Gora
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, noon; Assembly Hall, Alumni Center
Good afternoon! I've had the pleasure of speaking with most of you since you've arrived on campus, but let me take this opportunity to officially welcome you to Ball State University.
All of us at Ball State are very glad that you are here. And you arrive at an exciting time in the life of the university--a time of great momentum. I look forward to working with you as we continue to build on our position of strength.
I will be sharing many examples of that strong momentum with all the faculty at Friday's fall convocation, but allow me to give you a sneak preview of some of the good news today, especially about topics that affect you as new members of our faculty and staff. Most of these result from our Education Redefined strategic plan, which stretches through 2012. It is a five-year plan, and we are just beginning the third year of implementation.
The strategic plan has four major initiatives: providing immersive learning opportunities to every Ball State student; raising admission standards and attracting high-ability students; increasing the number of nationally ranked and recognized faculty and academic programs; and creating a more vibrant and dynamic campus. The first of those objectives is the most important in the plan because it is the cornerstone of the other three.
Immersive learning differentiates Ball State from other colleges and universities, while it also builds on our long tradition of collaborative learning as students work side by side with professors. We are committed to immersive learning because it provides the best education for young people about to enter a global society full of constant change and technological advancement. We also do it because it provides important services to people across our state, building strong partnerships with businesses and communities and proving Ball State's value to the citizens of Indiana.
Immersive learning projects enable interdisciplinary teams of students to work with a business or community or non-profit organization to solve a problem. They work under the guidance of a faculty mentor, but the students drive the learning process and their challenge is to create a real-world solution to a real-world problem.
Last year, 35 academic departments in all seven of our colleges coordinated 160 immersive learning projects involving more than 2,700 students. More than 50 of those were conducted through our Office of Building Better Communities, which encourages economic development and quality-of-life improvements throughout the state. I'll be providing specific examples of the difference immersive learning makes in the lives of our students and of the community partners they work with at the fall convocation.
I also am happy to report that not only is Ball State attracting high-ability students, we are attracting more of them! This is also a critical objective in our strategic plan. Immersive learning presents a significant intellectual challenge to students; we need to attract students who are willing to accept that challenge.
We are welcoming a freshman class of 3,860, which approximately 500 students larger than the class that arrived in 2005. Enrollment in our Honors College increased by 17 percent over last fall, and among the freshmen who will be in your classes starting Monday, more than 61 percent have earned the Indiana Academic Honors Diploma or its out-of-state equivalent. That number is especially impressive when you consider that it is nearly double the percentage of the state’s 2008 graduates to complete that diploma.
The third emphasis of our strategic plan is on developing nationally ranked or recognized academic programs. I could cite several examples of the increasing number of Ball State’s nationally recognized faculty and academic programs, including several that have been ranked by respected publications for at least three straight years—entrepreneurship, landscape architecture, educational leadership, graduate education, and many others. Last year, Ball State was ranked 14th in U.S. News and World Report’s list of top universities for innovation. Not only are our faculty attracting national attention, but so are our students, who earned 19 major competitive scholarships and fellowships, including Fulbright, Goldwater, and National Science Foundation awards, in the past few months. Particularly impressive is the dramatic increase in the number of faculty who received external funding for their research last year--Ball State not only set a record in the number of proposals funded, but also saw an increase of more than $5 million dollars in grant funding from the previous year.
Finally, we are gathered on a more vibrant and dynamic campus than the one I saw when I arrived five years ago. The physical transformation of Ball State is worth noting, especially in light of our geothermal energy district project, which continues to attract national attention and will eventually save us $2 million annually, while reducing our carbon footprint nearly in half and providing the opportunities for new academic endeavors, including external research opportunities and innovative undergraduate and graduate programs and certificates.
Only two years ago, we opened four new or completely renovated buildings at Ball State--the David Letterman Communication and Media Building, Park Residence Hall, Scheumann Stadium, and Woodworth Commons. In coming weeks, we will dedicate two renovated buildings, Ball Honors House and DeHority Hall, that will serve as the learning and living environments for our Honors College students. Extensive renovations will be completed early next year in the Pittenger Student Center.
By this time next year, we will be opening two important new buildings--Kinghorn Hall, the new residence hall similar in style to the highly popular Park Hall, and the 400,000-square-foot Student Recreation and Wellness Facility, which will bring our students the fitness facilities and opportunities that they long have demanded. When all our projects are finished in 2012, we will be able to show off a campus featuring $320 million in newly constructed or remodeled facilities in just eight years!
At its essence, the Education Redefined strategic plan is all about Ball State's students. So, too, is Ball State Bold, our national capital campaign, which stretches through 2011 and is fully aligned with our strategic plan. You weren't here when we made our public announcement of this $200 million campaign last September, so let me invite you to watch this video that talks about Ball State Bold and what it will do for our university's future…
That video portrays a vision for Ball State that focuses on an even higher level of excellence in the future, and one that is centered on students. Particularly exciting for all of us is that as I stand before you today, we already have raised more than $176 million for Ball State Bold. I hope that you can feel the confidence of our trustees, alumni, and friends when you consider that we are more than 88 percent of the way to our campaign goal, despite all of the economic uncertainty of the last year.
Like all of us at Ball State, students are your priority as well; otherwise, you wouldn't be here. Each of you will play an integral part in building this university's bold momentum. In his "Dialogues" more than 2,400 years ago, Plato wrote, "The beginning is the most important part of the work." That is true in the sense that the beginning, which you are experiencing now, sets the tone for the rest of your time here at the university. I know you have many tasks to attend to right now, but I ask you to put one more thing on your list.
Take a few moments to review the Education Redefined strategic plan at bsu.edu/About/StrategicPlan and your role in implementing it. We have encouraged you to join us on campus because of your immeasurable creativity, expertise, and commitment, which can have a profound, even transformative, impact on our students. This is an exciting time at Ball State. Share that excitement with your new students and colleagues.
In conclusion, welcome to Ball State! It's great to have you here, and I look forward to talking more with each of you when I host the reception for new faculty at my home September 11th. See you then.