Ball State faculty, students, and community partners are working together this fall on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.
Let’s Build! Community Partner: Ross Center
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Warrner, Department of Technology
Delaware County Historical Society Strategic Plan Community Partner: Delaware County Historical Society
Faculty Mentor: Robert V. Morris, Department of History
East Central Neighborhood Action Plan Community Partner: East Central Neighborhood Association
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Dunaway, Department of Urban Planning
Unmasked: The Stigma of Meth Community Partner: Ball Brothers Foundation
Faculty Mentors: Terry Heifetz, Department of Telecommunications, Juli Metzger, Department of Journalism
Narrative Contemporary Dance Community Partner: Cornerstone Center for the Arts
Faculty Mentors: Vladimir Stadnik, Department of Theatre and Dance
This project involved students taking the lead in a research project to learn about how the Muncie SportsPlex could be made to be financially viable and serve the Muncie community better. Students gathered data and wrote a report that gave Mayor Tyler actionable business intelligence to assist in improving the product, services and financial viability of Muncie SportsPlex.
Faculty Mentor: Craig Webster Department: Family and Consumer Sciences Community Partner: City of Muncie Students: Cheria Averitte, Leah Beebe, Nicole Box, Cade Carter, Jeshua Drown, Alex Hurt, Anna Johnson, Kyle Jones, Bailey Kelley, Colleen Kinninger, Sarah Kniesly, Ed Landreth, Taylor Lipinski, Michael Lorenzano, Maddie McMurray, Mike Melton: Graduate Assistant, Kim Scott, Jessica Stanton, Taylor Stiffler, Katherine Sutton, Brandi Tuzinski, Alexandria Vaden, Sarah Von Raesfeld, Ciara Whitaker
Ball State faculty, students, and community partners are working together this summer on a number of immersive learning projects.
Reading Intervention at the Youth Opportunity Center
Working collaboratively with the YOC, Ball State students will spend the summer making a real difference in the lives of young people. They will study psychological, environmental, and cultural factors that contribute to reading difficulties, develop skills in applying proven reading strategies, and ultimately implement a reading intervention program.
Community Partner: Youth Opportunity Center
Faculty Mentors: Janay Sander, Educational Psychology and Ruth Jefferson, Special Education
Virginia B. Ball Center Summer Seminar – Water Quality Indiana
Students from Ball State University, Taylor University and the Indiana Academy will blend science and journalism through testing of local waterways with community partners from the Upper Mississinewa River Watershed Partnership. Students will have the opportunity to conduct interviews with stakeholders, produce defendable scientific results, generate multimedia products, and disseminate information to a public audience of consultants, regulators, and landowners to help create a sustainable future.
Community Partners: Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District, Randolph County Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Upper Mississinewa River Watershed Partnership
Faculty Mentors: Adam Kuban, Journalism and Lee Florea, Geological Science
Muncie Public Art Master Plan
Students will work with local citizens to generate policies regarding the future of public arts in Muncie. Policies also will be informed by goals and initiatives developed by the Committee for Public Arts of Muncie and the Muncie Arts and Culture Council Board of Directors.
Community Partner: Muncie Arts and Culture Council Committee for Public Art
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Dunaway, Urban Planning
Artist rendering of Kitselman trailhead and Kitselman Pure Energy Park
The Kitselman Trailhead and Pure Energy Park is a significant project underway on Muncie’s eastside. The project, officially announced on March 31, 2016, will include the development of a trailhead to connect White River Greenway and Cardinal Greenway and a massive overhaul of the former Indiana Steel and Wire site.
Future home of substation at Corner of University Ave and Tillotson Ave.
Photo by: Mike Rhodes | Written by Erin Moore—
Indiana Michigan Power and American Electric Power (IMP/AEP) has begun construction on a new substation on Tillotson Avenue between Riverside Avenue and University Avenue. The final design, approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission, reflects years and hundreds of hours of negotiations between the Kenmore Neighborhood Association and decision makers with the City of Muncie, IMP/AEP, and Ball State.
The neighborhood association extensively researched and proposed options to influence the substation’s placement and footprint. The association advocated for gas insulated switchgear (GIS) technology, an underground retention pond, massive landscaping, and setting the substation back from University Avenue, which were all adopted in the final plan.
“Some of our recommendations were not adopted, like vertically lowering the substation, positioning the station behind McDonalds, or placing the station in buildings architecturally congruent with our neighborhood,” said Paul Spengler, neighborhood association president. “But we faced impossible odds and were able to reach a compromise.”
The station will be housed in two metal clad 25-foot buildings, the tops of which will appear as houses. An oval driveway will be accessible from University. The entire area will be enclosed by a 10 foot wall. Tony Costello, a local architect, has been retained to design the wall and landscaping.
“We fought the good fight and are grateful for the support of so many people, including individuals at Ball State and Mayor Dennis Tyler,” said Spengler. The mayor plans to attend the association’s next meeting to talk more with residents.
On a brisk Saturday morning in March, dozens and dozens of Muncie residents woke up early, streamed into Ball State’s Pittenger Student Center, and gave their entire day to attend keynote presentations and breakout sessions at the city’s first “Intentional Development and Education for Association Members” (IDEA) conference. The 130 participants represented diverse backgrounds, cultures, and every corner of Muncie, but they, along with conference sponsors Muncie Action Plan, Shafer Leadership Academy, Vectren Foundation, the City of Muncie, and Ball State’s Building Better Neighborhoods initiative, were united in their commitment to improving the quality-of-life in Muncie neighborhoods.
Mobilizing change at the neighborhood level is not a new concept. But as many rust belt cities have faced increases in poverty, crime, and drug use over the last few decades, neighborhood revitalization has increasingly taken center stage as a key strategy for economic and community development.
In 2013, the Ball Brothers Foundation granted funds to Ball State University for the development of the Building Better Neighborhoods initiative to support neighborhood development efforts in Muncie through the Muncie Action Plan and Delaware County’s VISION 2016 economic development plan. To date, 26 neighborhood associations have been established or strengthened through this collaboration. In addition to reinvigorating civic engagement among local residents, the initiative has facilitated uniquely rich immersive learning projects for hundreds of Ball State students. The Muncie neighborhoods website, www.muncieneighborhoods.org, showcases a variety of projects, resources, and neighborhood information.
“Change is most effective when it grows out of the vision and passion of a city’s residents,” said Heather Williams, program manager of the Building Better Neighborhoods initiative. “During the conference, the Student Center ballroom was a remarkable snapshot of the leadership, passion, diversity, and partnerships that have positioned our neighborhoods to be powerful agents in our community.”
Ball State Acting President Terry King, Mayor Dennis Tyler, and State Representative Sue Errington kicked off the day of sessions. “Having been here at the University for almost 10 years now, I think the partnership between the City and the University is the strongest it has ever been,” said King. “We recognize that our success as a university is closely tied to the prosperity and well-being of Muncie and Delaware County. Through Ball State’s Office of Community Engagement and scores of faculty and student projects, we will continue to pursue mutually-beneficial partnerships with the community.”
Conference sessions followed four unique tracks: Working with Government, Visioning and Development, Teamwork and Collaboration, and Association Development. Presenters included Ball State faculty, City of Muncie and Delaware County department heads, neighborhood association leadership, and a final keynote address by Eric Halvorson, former WISH-TV anchor. A mid-day resource fair featured more than a dozen local non-profits and service providers: Huffer Childcare Resource Network, ecoREHAB, Muncie Delaware Clean and Beautiful, Muncie BY5, PathStone Corporation, Edible Muncie, Bike Muncie. Logistical support was provided by Ball State’s Office of Community Engagement.
The conference ended with a $1,500 door prize awarded to members of the South Central neighborhood association. The money will be used for a special neighborhood project of their choosing.
“Through the IDEA conference, Muncie’s neighborhood associations have gained access to tools and resources to sustain effective, collaborative neighborhood networks and keep open the lines of communication between residents and city leadership,” said Aimee Fant, Muncie Action Plan coordinator.
Fant, Williams, and fellow organizers Mitch Isaacs, executive director of the Shafer Leadership Academy, and Krista Flynn, program coordinator in Ball State’s Office of Community Engagement, agreed that a key to the conference’s success was active and intentional collaboration among the conference sponsors. “So many great people and organizations were part of making the event a success,” said Isaacs. “Each sponsor contributed significant and unique resources, and of course, the neighborhood association members brought their passion and commitment for our community. We couldn’t be happier with the results!”