October 30, 2013

Ball State University Instructor Photographs Indiana's Historic Courthouses

With the aid of Chris Flook, a Ball State University telecommunications instructor, photographs of Indiana's 92 historic county courthouses are now showcased online for Indiana's Courthouse Squares website. Historically, county courthouses served as iconic fixtures for a community's identity and recently several Indiana communities have taken significant strides to revitalize both the courthouses and their surrounding squares.   

As the website's project photographer, Flook spent many summer days traveling throughout Indiana to photograph the iconic fixtures. As quoted in an article from ABA Journal, Flook states, "I like the idyllic idea of town squares but its relatively rare to have the courthouse at the center of town squares in the United States. Only a few regions and states have this." The gathered historical information will be used in preparation for Indiana's 2016 Bicentennial Celebration

Please visit Indiana's Courthouse Squares website to view Chris Flook's photos and historical courthouse information. 

October 18, 2013

NIH Resumes Funding Process

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Deputy Director for Extramural Research, Dr. Sally Rockey, posts in her Rock Talk blog that October grant application submission deadlines will be rescheduled to dates in November. This will allow applicants time to access NIH staff, help desks, and electronic systems. The specific revised due dates will be published in the NIH Guide at a later date. The eRA Commons and other NIH extramural electronic systems are also expected to be accessible to the public on Monday, October 21.

Click here for more information. 

October 15, 2013

Ball State University Hosts Midwest Writers Workshop

This year Ball State University hosted the Midwest Writers Workshop conference which is a yearly gathering of agents, editors, and publishing professionals with a mission of helping individuals become published authors.

After applying for a grant through the Discovery Group, Ball State University Associate Professor of English, Cathy Day was able to bring the two day event to Ball State's campus. Many Ball State English students were capable of attending the two days of panels, presentations and forums by industry professionals as either a paid intern or scholarship winner.

During the conference, students were educated on how to create and format an e-book as well as build an author website. Conference attendees had an opportunity to schedule a free, 50-minute social media consulting session with the goal of recommending ways to improve online literary citizens. They were also able to spend an hour and a half talking to literary agent Brooks Sherman.

Please visit Cathy Day's Website to learn about all the exciting work that took place during the conference.

October 03, 2013

Discovery Award Grant Application Now Available

Discovery is a women's collaborative philanthropic group established to support projects and programs at Ball State University.  

Discovery members are volunteers who pool annual contributions and work with university administrators to select the projects they support.  

Discovery members encourage projects that significantly impact Ball State students, offer immersive learning opportunities, and have potential for other external funding in the future. The maximum grant request amount is $20,000.00.  

Discovery will consider funding for: specialized equipment, student assistant wages, graduate assistantships, program administrative costs, and summer stipend (salary is capped at $2,500; plus additional fringe benefits).  

Discovery will not consider funding for: faculty release time, computer equipment, general office equipment, or indirect costs.

For guidelines, cover page, and application please visit the Discovery Award webpage: http://cms.bsu.edu/giving/opportunities/discovery/discoveryawardsnominations

October 01, 2013

Federal Government Shutdown Contigency Plans

The White House has created a webpage with links to the contingency plans for many agencies across the Federal Government. The page will be updated as more plans become available.