Fall 2016 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects
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
Elementary Maker Workshops: Making an Interactive STEAM Exhibit with Elementary Pre-service Teachers and Children
Community Partner: Burris Laboratory School
Faculty Mentor: Kate Shively, Department of Elementary Education
Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders: Character and Leadership Development at the Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Community Partner: Boys & Girls Club of Muncie
Faculty Mentor: Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies
Families for Forward Thinking: Partnering with Parents in the 21st Century
Community Partner: Wee Wisdom Nursery School and Child Care Facility
Faculty Mentor: Stacey Allred, Department of Elementary Education
Sustainability Park for Northwest Muncie
Community Partner: Red-tail Land Conservancy
Faculty Mentor: Dave Ferguson, Department of Landscape Architecture
Jacket Copy Creative: Covering All Your Communication Needs
Community Partner: Whitely Community Council
Faculty Mentor: Eva Grouling Snider, Department of English
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
Preventing Financial Exploitation of Older Adults
Community Partner: Muncie Delaware Senior Center
Faculty Mentor: Ronald Dolon, Department of Social Work
Riverside-Normal City: Portrait of a Middletown Neighborhood in a Post-Industrial Age
Community Partner: Riverside-Normal Neighborhood Association, Building Better Neighborhoods
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Erickson, Department of Anthropology
Shafer Leadership – Community Needs Assessment
Community Partner: Shafer Leadership Academy
Faculty Mentor: Melinda Messineo, Department of Sociology
Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Action Plan – Fall 2015
The Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Action Plan (RNAP) is a citizen-generated policy regarding the future of the neighborhood, containing initiatives that were developed by the residents of the neighborhood with the assistance of 14 Ball State students. The RNAP will fall under the umbrella of the Muncie Action Plan, which is a strategic guide for the city to create an action agenda for the future. Students researched historical facts, compiled and analyzed census data, and designed and conducted a survey for neighborhood residents. A RNAP Handbook was also produced as a document to aid citizen planners when they begin to enact initiatives from the Plan.
This project follows the Spring 2015 Project, Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Survey and was led by Faculty Mentor, Lisa Dunaway in the Department of Urban Planning. View the video created for the project below, or visit their website for more information.
Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Survey – Spring 2015
Melinda Messineo (Ball State University) in partnership with the Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood Association will work with a group of BSU Sociology capstone students during spring 2015 to create and administer a Neighborhood Survey. These capstone students will work with the association to survey the neighborhood in an effort to:
- Help residents describe the benefits of living in the neighborhood (to assist with branding and campaigns)
- Identify goals that the neighborhood has for the next 3 years
- Identify the perceived boundaries of the neighborhood areas to help with getting people together
- Identify untapped participants and resources.
The neighborhood association hopes to learn how to successfully leverage the strengths of the neighborhood and increase shared identity among diverse pockets of the neighborhood. The students will kick-off their efforts at the January 28th meeting of the Riverside/Normal City neighborhood association to begin designing this project.
January 28, 2015 – To help design the survey, the students conducted a brainstorming conversation with active members on Wednesday night. Resident’s were asked to consider the strengths and weaknesses of the neighborhood. Also, discussed at the meeting were opportunities for the neighborhood in the next three years and whether there are any risks or “threats” that we need to be considered.
April 21, 2015 – The students presented the final results of the Riverside/Normal City survey at the monthly Neighborhood Presidents Council meeting. The final report includes the survey results as well as the student’s interpretation of the resident responses.
Riverside/Normal City Neighborhood
Neighborhood Association Meetings
Riverside/Normal City meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm at the Holy Trinity Lutheran church at 900 W White River Blvd. Please check the RNC facebook page for updates to meeting dates, times and locations. All are welcome.
In Spring 2015, neighborhood residents participated in a survey conducted by Ball State sociology students. Information about the class as well as the survey results may be found here.
Bylaws (pdf)
Want to get in contact? Email RiversideNormalCity@gmail.com
Neighborhood Action Plan
Residents of Riverside/Normal City worked with Ball State University Urban Planning students in the Fall of 2015 to develop a Neighborhood Action Plan. This plan will help the neighborhood focus its revitalization efforts on the opportunities identified within the RNAP. In addition to the website, a Neighborhood Association Handbook was also created as a guide for strengthening community and creating neighborhood change.
On the Web
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Riverside-Normal-City-Neighborhood-Association/751764798190909
BSU Ethnographic Methods project: website | video
Neighborhood Maps
Riverside Normal City map (pdf)
Assigning the Living Quality of Muncie Neighborhoods Using Remote Sensing and GIS (Immersive Learning Project)
Newsletters
2016 Spring Newsletter (pdf)
2016 Summer Newsletter (pdf)
2016 IDEA Conference Poster
(click the image to view the full poster as a pdf)