Spring 2020 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects

Ball State faculty, students, and community partners worked together this spring on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.

Academy of Model Aeronautics Video Project
Faculty Mentors: Tim Pollard, Department of Telecommunications; Suzanne Plesha, Office of Immersive Learning
Community Partner: Academy of Model Aeronautics

Assigning the Living Quality of Muncie Neighborhoods Using Remote Sensing and GIS
Faculty Mentor:  Jason Yang, Department of Geography
Community Partner:  Muncie Action Plan

Beneficence Records (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Daniel Porter, Department of Music Media Production
Community Partner:  Indiana Public Radio

Capturing “The Big Idea”
Faculty Mentor: Melinda Messineo, Department of Sociology
Community Partner: Second Harvest Food Bank

Geospatial Design Laboratory
Faculty Mentor: Jörn Seemann, Department of Geography
Community Partner: Muncie Visitors Bureau

Halteman Park Landscape Architecture Studio Project
Faculty Mentors:  Chris Baas, Jeremy Merrill, J.P. Hall; Department of Landscape Architecture
Community Partners:  Halteman Village Neighborhood Association, City of Muncie, Muncie Parks Department

Human Rights Symposium
Faculty Mentor: Ruby Cain, Department of Educational Studies
Community Partners: City of Muncie Human Rights Commission, Industry Neighborhood Association, Whitely Community Council, Muncie Public Library, Muncie Housing Authority, It Is Well With My Soul, DePaul University School of New Learning and Service Engagement Projects, Northeast Indiana Workers Project, Inc.

i-Made (Indiana Made) Muncie:  Custom Fabricated Design-through-Production (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Kevin Klinger, Department of Architecture
Community Partners:  Indiana Hardwoods (IHLA), Midwest Metals, Minnetrista, Mobile Market

The Junior Producers Club
Faculty Mentor:  Christoph Thompson, School of Music
Community Partners:  Boys and Girls Club, Buley Community Center

Muncie Neighborhood Visual Identity Design (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Shantanu Suman, School of Art
Community Partners:  Building Better Neighborhoods, Muncie Action Plan

Preserving the Past and Looking Toward the Future:  Historic Preservation and Digital Storytelling for a Muncie Landmark Church
Faculty Mentor:  Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies
Community Partner:  St. Mary Catholic Church

Renovation of Residential Structures
Faculty Mentor: Janet Fick, Department of Construction Management and Interior Design
Community Partners: ecoREHAB, Urban Light, and Brothers 2 Brothers

Sustainable Muncie Project:  Assessing Sustainability for the City of Muncie
Faculty Mentor:  Sanglim Yoo, Department of Urban Planning
Community Partner: Muncie Action Plan

Teen Dating Violence
Faculty Mentor: Ron Dolon, Department of Social Work
Community Partner: A Better Way

Tourist Maps for Muncie and Delaware County
Faculty Mentor: Jörn Seemann, Department of Geography
Community Partner: Muncie Visitors Bureau

Urban Health in Muncie, IN:  Pb in the Soils (ongoing)
Faculty Mentors:  Carolyn Dowling, Department of Geological Sciences; Jessi Haeft, Department
of Natural Resources and Environment Management
Community Partner:  United Way of Delaware County

Well Connected 
Faculty Mentor:  Jane Ellery, School of Kinesiology
Community Partners:  Muncie Action Plan, Future of Work/Sustainable Muncie, George and Frances Ball Foundation

Working with the Whitely Community to Identify Needs and Resources of Men who are Reentering the Community After Periods of Incarceration
Faculty Mentor:  Keisha Warren-Gordon, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Community Partner:  Whitely Community Council

Fall 2019 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects

Ball State faculty, students, and community partners worked together this Fall on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.

Beneficence Records (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Daniel Porter, School of Music
Community Partner:  Indiana Public Radio

Campus Sexual Assault and Rape Culture in the Age of #MeToo 
Faculty Fellow:  Jill Christman, Department of English
Community Partner:  Jana’s Campaign and The Facing Project

Computer Science for Middle Schoolers (CS4MS) (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Dave Largent, Department of Computer Science
Community Partners:  Burris Laboratory School, Muncie Central High School, Northside Middle School

i-Made (Indiana Made) Muncie:  Custom Fabricated Design-through-Production (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Kevin Klinger, Department of Architecture
Community Partners:  Indiana Hardwoods (IHLA), Midwest Metals, Minnetrista, Mobile Market

The Junior Producers Club
Faculty Mentor:  Christoph Thompson, School of Music
Community Partners:  Boys and Girls Club, Buley Community Center

Makerspaces as an Opportunity to Cultivate and Reinforce Cultural Identity in Post-Industrial Cities 
Faculty Fellow:  Laura Romano, Department of English
Community Partner:  Muncie Arts and Culture Council

Muncie Micro-Cinema
Faculty Mentor:  Maura Jasper, School of Art
Community Partner:  Muncie Arts and Culture Council

Muncie Neighborhood Visual Identity Design (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Shantanu Suman, School of Art
Community Partners:  Building Better Neighborhoods, Muncie Action Plan

Preserving the Past and Looking Toward the Future:  Historic Preservation and Digital Storytelling for a Muncie Landmark Church
Faculty Mentor:  Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies
Community Partner:  St. Mary Church

Reconstructed Early Language and Literacy Learning: Addressing school readiness through critically conscious listening centers
Faculty Mentors:  Emily Hoffman, Department of Early Childhood, Youth and Family Studies; Kristin Cipollone, Department of Elementary Education
Community Partner:  Huffer Memorial Children’s Center

Resiliency Plan for Muncie
Faculty Mentor: Michael Burayidi, Department of Urban Planning
Community Partner: City of Muncie

Sitting at the Feet of our Muncie Elders:  Stories of Resistance and Resiliency
Faculty Mentor: Darolyn “Lyn” Jones
Community Partner: Westminster Village, Muncie Delaware County Senior Center, Moth Danner and YART (Yard Sale for Art).

Spring 2019 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects

Ball State faculty, students, and community partners worked together this spring on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.

Bringing in and Branching out: Recruiting Employees and Building Community Connections (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies
Community Partner:  Open Door Health Services

The Children Facing Challenges Literature Project
Faculty Mentor:  Carolyn Hitchens, Department of Elementary Education
Community Partner:  Wes Del Elementary

Cultural Identities and Community Engagement
Faculty Mentor:  Ruby Cain, Department of Educational Studies
Community Partners: Human Library Fort Wayne, Muncie Public Library, Purdue University Fort Wayne, It is Well With My Soul, Whitely Community Council, Industry Neighborhood, Fort Wayne Urban League

DANCE! Muncie After School (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Melanie Swihart, Department of Theatre and Dance
Community Partner:  Muncie Community Schools

Developing Healthy Neighborhoods
Faculty Mentor: Jane Ellery, Department of Kinesiology
Community Partner:  Building Better Neighborhoods

Energy Assessment for Small Commercial Buildings in Muncie
Faculty Mentor:  Sherif Attallah, Department of Construction Management
Community Partner:  Muncie Chamber of Commerce

Healthy Moms, Healthy Communities:  Understanding Perceptions and Evaluating Maternal Opiod Treatment in Muncie
Faculty Mentor:  Caitlyn Leonardson-Placek, Department of Anthropology
Community Partner:  Suzanne Gresham Center

Immersive Learning Video Project (Second Harvest Food Bank)
Faculty Mentor:  Tim Pollard, Department of Telecommunications; Suzanne Plesha, Office of Immersive Learning
Community Partner:  Second Harvest Food Bank

Making Housing Advocates with the 8-12 Coalition
Faculty Mentor:  John West, Department of Urban Planning
Community Partner:  Building Better Neighborhoods, Habitat for Humanity

Muncie Neighborhood Visual Identity Design (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Shantanu Suman, School of Art
Community Partners:  Building Better Neighborhoods, Muncie Action Plan

Partnering with the Whitely Community to Establish an Understanding of Community and Police Interactions
Faculty Mentor:  Kiesha Warren-Gordon, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Community Partners:  The Facing Project, Whitely Community Council

Philosophy for High School Students (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Sarah Vitale, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Community Partner:  Muncie Central High School

Purple Cow: Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary Care for Children (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Stacey Allred, Department of Elementary Education
Community Partner:  Kidz Korner Child Care Center

Second Harvest School Pantries Study
Faculty Mentor: Melinda Messineo, Department of Sociology
Community Partner: Second Harvest Food Bank

Serious Game Design with Minnetrista (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Paul Gestwicki, Department of Computer Science
Community Partner:  Minnetrista Cultural Center

Tips and Tactics on Prevention of Human Trafficking
Faculty Mentor:  Ronald Dolon, Department of Social Work
Community Partner:  A Better Way

Unmasked: Recovery and Redemption
Faculty Mentor: Juli Metzger, Department of Journalism
Community Partner: Ball Brothers Foundation

Muncie Arts and Culture Council Video Project

Local art projects are a way for communities to create dialogue, share cultural experiences, solve problems and build relationships that enhance quality of place and local economic development efforts. Part of the Muncie Art and Culture Council’s (MACC) mission is to serve as an arts alliance that builds community among artists and arts organizations, and is a resource for professional growth and opportunity among Muncie artists. In this project, student teams created video to help MACC document Plyspace, its artist-in-residence program and promote other local art projects.


Faculty Mentors: Suzanne Plesha, Tim Pollard
Departments: Immersive Learning, Telecommunications
Community Partners: Muncie Arts and Culture Council
Students: Oscar Arriaga, Jacob Barajas, Matt Carson, Jason Franchville, Connor Hillestad, Grant Mountcastle, Benjamin Ritter, Melody Smith, Parker Stewart, Mason Whitis

Summer & Fall 2018 Ball State Immersive Learning Projects

Ball State faculty, students, and community partners worked together this summer and fall on a number of immersive learning projects in and around Muncie.

Book Arts Collaborative 2018-19
Faculty Mentor:  Rai Peterson, Department of English
Community Partner:  Tribune Community Showprint Posters

Bringing in and Branching out: Recruiting Employees and Building Community Connections
Faculty Mentor:  Peggy Fisher, Department of Communication Studies
Community Partner:  Open Door Health Services

The Brownfields to Brightfields Project Phase II:  Analysis of Solar Potentials for Brownfields in East Central Indiana (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Sanglim Yoo, Department of Urban Planning
Community Partner:  Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter

Computer Science for Middle Schoolers (CS4MS ongoing) 
Faculty Mentor:  Dave Largent, Department of Computer Science
Community Partners:  Northside Middle School, Daleville Junior/Senior High School and Burris Laboratory School

Finding Voices: Mentorship in Forensics and Argumentation
Faculty Mentor:  Dallis Pike, Department of Communication Studies
Community Partner:  Muncie Central High School

#keepmuncieweirdandwhimsical
Faculty Mentor:  Darolyn Jones, Department of English
Community Partner:  Muncie residents

Let’s Build (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Jennifer Warrner, Department of Construction Management & Interior Design
Community Partner:  Longfellow Elementary School

Muncie Action Plan 3 (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Dunaway, Department of Urban Planning
Community Partner: Muncie Action Plan

Maplewood Mansion Learning Lab (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor: Carla Earhart, Department of Management
Community Partner: Maplewood Mansion Learning Lab, Ball Brothers Foundation, IU School of Medicine-Muncie

Muncie Arts and Culture Council Video Project 
Faculty Mentors:  Suzanne Plesha, Office of Immersive Learning; Tim Pollard, Department of Telecommunications
Community Partner:  Muncie Arts and Culture Council

Old West End Action Plan
Faculty Mentor: Lisa Dunaway, Department of Urban Planning
Community Partners: Old West End Neighborhood Association, Friends Memorial Church

Preliminary Study of Lead (Pb) in Muncie (PSLM) (ongoing)
Faculty Mentors:  Carolyn Dowling, Department of Geological Sciences and Jessi Haeft, Department of Natural Resources Environmental Management
Community Partners:  United Way of Delaware County, Muncie Action Plan

Purple Cow: Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary Care for Children (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor:  Stacey Allred, Department of Elementary Education
Community Partner:  Kidz Korner Child Care Center

Reading the Wor(l)d Critical Literacy and Culturally Responsive Classroom Libraries
Faculty Mentors:  Kristin Cipolione and Susan Tancock, Department of Elementary Education
Community Partners:  Whitely Community Council, Longfellow Elementary School

Rehabilitating Houses (ongoing)
Faculty Mentor: Janet Fick, Department of Construction Management and Interior Design
Community Partner: Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity

Scenery in Space
Faculty Mentors:  Mickie Marie & Kerry Chipman, Department of Theatre and Dance
Community Partner:  Muncie Civic Theatre

School Safety, Data-Driven Evidence-Based Findings, and Recommendations
Faculty Mentor:  Bryan Byers, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology
Community Partners:  Muncie Community Schools, Burris Laboratory School

Serious Game Design with Minnetrista
Faculty Mentor:  Paul Gestwicki, Department of Computer Science
Community Partner:  Minnetrista Cultural Center

Maplewood Mansion Learning Lab

Fall 2018: Students from the IU School of Medicine complete a “clerkship” by working for 4-6 weeks in a medical establishment in one of several locations in Indiana. The Ball Brothers Foundation would like more medical students to complete their clerkship in the Muncie area, with the ultimate goal that these future doctors will return to Muncie to live and work upon graduation. Maplewood Mansion Learning Lab is a collaborative arrangement between Ball State University, IU School of Medicine – Muncie, and the Ball Brothers Foundation to provide short-term housing for these medical students. Residential Property Management (RPM) students researched ways to improve Maplewood Mansion as housing for these medical students and how to offer an outstanding Muncie experience that will attract and retain these future doctors. RPM students will share their recommendations for improvements to the physical site, management of the site, and ways to connect the residents to the area.

Fall 2017: Maplewood Mansion Learning Lab (MMLL) opened in Fall 2017 and had no policies or procedures for operations, nor did they have a promotional campaign. The Residential Property Management students (seniors and a graduate student) created all of this for MMLL. They are assisting with the operations of Maplewood Mansion as short-term rental housing for the IU Med School students doing their “clerkship” at IU Ball Memorial Hospital. They are in the process of completing internal policies and documents (emergency plan, move-in/move-out checklist and form, resident handbook, guest satisfaction survey, etc.) as well as products related to external relations (logo, career apparel, Muncie visitor information, vision/mission statement, website, Facebook page, etc.). Specific course objectives include evaluate an apartment community’s policies and procedures for marketing, management, and maintenance; make recommendations for alternative solutions; and apply professional skills to the development of a final report/presentation of project results.


Fall 2018

Faculty Mentors: Carla Earhart
Departments: Management
Community Partners: Maplewood Mansion Learning Lab, Ball Brothers Foundation, IU School of Medicine-Muncie
Students: Michael Dickens, Madison Egold, Dustin Geise, Jacob Greer, Colin Harrison, Andreas Hji-Avgoustis, Akeem Hutchinson, Mason Knox, Hayden Olszyk,Jordan Sherman, Rachael Sloan, Paige Snyder, Morgan Truhan, Cihai (Charles) Zhang


Fall 2017

Faculty Mentor: Carla Earhart & David Martin
Department: Management
Community Partners: IU School of Medicine – Muncie Campus
Students: Alex Byerly, Rachel Cox, Ronald Harrington, Amy Herron, MacKenzi Roe