BSU Finalist in US-Russia Partnership Program Competition

Ball State University is a finalist in the US-Russia University Partnership Program’s (UPP) Contact Project Funding Competition.

The Contact Project Funding is the first of two stages in the UPP’s partnership funding process. In this stage, three pairs of institutions will be chosen to receive up to $2,500 to facilitate the development of their proposals for the second stage. Ball State’s pair institution is Novgorod State University in Russia.

“Contact project funding covers expenses for the establishment of communication channels, conduct of preliminary research or other information-gathering, and organization of meeting(s) between partner institutions.”

The second stage is the Linkage Project Funding competition. In this stage, the “UPP invites pairs of Russian and US higher education institutions to submit jointly-developed proposals for mutually-beneficial projects that build partnerships between institutions in both countries.”

“The US-Russia University Partnership Program (UPP) is an initiative for mutual cultural and academic collaboration that connects higher education institutions in Russia and [the] US with one another and supports the launch of new bilateral partnerships,” according to the UPP website. “It provides professors, researchers, administrators and other higher education professionals in Russia and [the] US an opportunity to broaden the scope of their activities and learn from the vast wealth of knowledge and experience the counterpart institution brings to the partnership.”

First Annual Keys to L.E.A.D. Award Presented to Professor Olon F. Dotson

By Holly Rittenhouse

“We have come a great distance, but we have a distance to go.” – Dr. Linda D. Keys

Olon Dotson

On behalf of members of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS), College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) Professor Olon F. Dotson received the first annual Keys to L.E.A.D. Award for his leadership in the areas of social change, environmental awareness, and design.

The Keys to L.E.A.D. award is named after the late Dr. Linda D. Keys who served as an advocate for social and environmental awareness. Keys’ legacy extends throughout the College of Architecture and Planning, Ball State University, Muncie, and beyond. On Thursday, April 9th, friends, family, colleagues, and students of Keys spoke about her lasting impact.

John Bailey

John Bailey, Dr. Keys’ brother, spoke during the presentation. He said, “She considered Muncie to be a treasure. I could live one hundred years, and I never could have done as much for Muncie as she did.”

Sarah Mitchell, a 2006 CAP graduate and city planner for Richmond, Indiana was “very grateful and honored” to speak on Dr. Keys’ behalf. She said, “I wasn’t a perfect student, but I did learn so much from her. She showed tough love. She definitely encouraged me.”

Those who spoke about Keys portrayed her as dedicated, passionate, intellectual, and loving. Bailey said, “I want you to remember her for her love.” According to Bailey, Keys held the philosophy that “You can do more for people when you love them.”

“So share the love,” Bailey said, “and when you think of Linda, think of love.”

Sarah Mitchell

Like Dr. Keys, Dotson’s impact expands throughout Muncie and around the world as he pushes for design accountability and social justice. His work lays a firm foundation for generations to follow.

Dotson’s work has inspired countless CAP graduates of all races and ethnicities to initiate change in their own communities. “He opened my eyes to the design inequalities” that exist today, one of Dotson’s students said.

Presenters said that Dotson “has displayed an unwavering commitment” to the students in the College of Architecture and Planning.

Dotson believes in the “pay it forward” philosophy in which the beneficiary of a good deed repays it to other people instead of to the original benefactor. One student felt that speaking on Dotson’s behalf was his “opportunity to pay it forward” after Dotson had done so much for him.

Dotson closed the presentation with a call to do more. He said we should “celebrate” the progress we have made thus far in the areas of social change, environmental awareness, and design, “but not be satisfied.”

Olon Dotson receiving the first annual 

Keys to L.E.A.D. award from 

John Bailey, Dr. Linda D. Keys’ brother.

2015 Junior Faculty Aspire Program Awardees Announced!

The Sponsored Projects Administration is pleased to announce the 2015 Junior Faculty Aspire program awardees. With competitions in research and creative arts the Aspire Junior Faculty Program is available to faculty members in their first five years of a tenure-track appointment. The purpose of this program is to provide seed funding for research and projects that will lead to further support from external sponsors and funding agencies. This year thirteen proposals were funded through the program: two in creative arts and eleven in research.

Aspire Creative Arts Competition Awardees 

Jeanette Castillo
Telecommunications 
"Jennifer" 

Jennifer Halvorson
School of Art 
"Press Glass Integration" 

Aspire Research Competition Awardees 

Robin Blom
Journalism
"Believing factual (mis)information: Cognitive perceptions of news source trust and expectancy" 

Chrysostomos Giannoulakis
School of Physical Educations, Sports and Exercise Science 
"Social impacts of an action sports-for-development project on Native Americans" 

Qiannong Gu
Information Systems and Operations Management 
"A strategic analysis of information sharing in global supply chain management"

Angela Hampton
Elementary Education 
"Accessing Science Through Literacy Instruction: Who has access and to what?" 

Shireen Kanakri
Family and Consumer Science 
"Acoustics and Autism: The Effects of Acoustics Environmental Design on the Behavior of Children with Autism" 

Kristine Kotecki
English 
"From the Ashes of the Archive: Cultural Memory and the Politics of Access in Ex-Yugoslav Collections" 

Youngah Lee
Journalism 
"University Reputation Management Research" 

Tamara Montag-Smit
Management 
"Reducing the gender pay gap: Examining the role of pay secrecy" 

Alexander Montoye
School of Physical Educations, Sports and Exercise Science 
"Prediction of free-living energy expenditure using accelerometers and machine learning" 

Robert Phillips
Anthropology 
"Gay Jews, Social Media, and the Production of Embodied Orthodoxy" 

Ayesha Sadaf
Educational Studies 
"Teachers’ Beliefs, Intentions, and Actual Integration of Digital Literacies into their Classrooms"

April 21--Graduate Community Research Colloquium: Former SPA GA Maggie Cude presents "Welcome to Your Graduate School Experience: Graduate Student Orientation and the Need for Evaluation"

The Department of Journalism Graduate Community will continue the monthly research colloquium series this April with our annual graduate student research colloquium. Three graduate students will speak about their creative projects and theses, and answer questions after their presentations. This is a great opportunity to learn about research, support fellow students and get inspired for your own creative project.

Date and time: Tuesday, April 21, 2-3 p.m.
Location: Arts and Journalism Building (AJ) 384

Speakers:

Natalie Demarko

Title: Athletes on Social Media: A Social Media Crisis Management Plan for Division I Institutions
Description: This creative project resulted in a student-athlete social media policy and crisis communications plan for Ball State University's Athletics Department. This particular research focused on the crisis management practice developed by W. Timothy Coombs. A content analysis of social media policies from Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) Mid-American Conference (MAC) universities was evaluated and combined with a previous qualitative research project that examined BSU Athletics Department's role in monitoring student-athlete social media. These documents are in the works of being analyzed and evaluated by the BSU Athletics Department for possible implementation in the future. 

Tierney Edon

Title: Ball State Child Study Center Media Strategy: Relating to Millennial Parents
Description: This creative project has developed a media strategy for the Ball State Child Study Center based on research that explored the impact of parental involvement in schools as well as millennial parents' needs. Child care center websites are a developing feature of child care facilities to provide digital communication methods for parents. This study is based on Grunig & Hunt's two-way symmetrical model and Epstein's Model for Parental Involvement. A WordPress Blog, Facebook account, and Twitter account were created for the Ball State Child Study Center. Through this media strategy, parents are encouraged to interact rather than observe as well as participate in the way they choose.

Maggie Cude

Title: Welcome to Your Graduate School Experience: Graduate Student Orientation and the Need for Evaluation
Description: Issac, Pruitt-Logan, and Upcraft (1995) called the graduate students' experience "the great unaddressed academic issue in higher education" (p. 13). This study seeks to fill that gap by applying a standard evaluation to three universities from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and assessing the successes or shortcomings of these orientation programs as a means of socialization. This study's overarching question asks to what extent is orientation a successful means of socializing graduate students to their respective universities. Results from qualitative data analysis revealed that post-orientation, on-campus connections contributed more often as a measure of effectiveness at socializing students to graduate school.

Click here to check out the Ball State Department of Journalism Graduate Community's Facebook page.

Join us in Celebrating Professor Olon Dotson and the late Dr. Linda Keys

Greetings CAP Faculty, Friends, and Fellow Alumni,

You are cordially invited to the first annual Keys to L.E.A.D award presentation where we will be recognizing Professor Olon F. Dotson for his leadership in the areas of social change, environmental awareness and design.  We will also be remembering the legacy of the late Dr. Linda D. Keys.  This celebratory event is part of the CAP 50 Year Anniversary Symposium and will take place on Thursday, April 9th from 9am - 10am (College of Architecture and Planning, Rm AB101).  

We hope that you can join us!  Please forward the attached invitation on to anyone else who may be interested in attending.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.  I can be reached on my cell phone at (317) 410-1087. 

Thank you,

Brittany Rasdall

The 2015 Student Symposium at Ball State University

The 20th Annual Student Symposium at Ball State University took place on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. The event was held on the second floor of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center and included a poster display session, moderated paper presentations and an award ceremony.

Setup for the Student Symposium began on Monday when students participating in the poster session had an opportunity to set up their displays that afternoon. Poster set up continued early Tuesday morning at 6 a.m. As setup came to a close the 15 faculty members who served as this year’s judges gathered in the Pineshelf room. They received binders containing scoring sheets for each project they were responsible for evaluating. Each judge was given approximately 30 projects to score and each project was scored by three individual judges. The judges evaluated each project display based on numerous criteria, including the clarity of the project’s objectives, methodology, conclusions (or, in the case of projects still in process, potential impact), originality, intellectual merit, organization, visual appeal of the display and clarity in writing. The judges’ scores were then tallied by Student Symposium staff. At 1 p.m. the ballroom was opened for public viewing of the posters displays. By the end of the day more than 400 people (including Symposium participants, students, faculty/staff, and members of the public) had visited the ballroom to view the poster displays.

For the second-year, the Student Symposium included moderated paper presentations, which took place in various locations on the second floor. The number of paper presentations rose from nine entries the previous year to 19 paper presentations registered for the 2015 Student Symposium. The six paper sessions were Studies in Speech and Language, Physical and Health Sciences, Spaces and Environment, Issues in Higher Education, Issues in Business, and Peace Ethics and Social Issues. Ball State faculty members and doctoral students moderated the sessions.

At the conclusion of the poster and paper sessions Student Symposium participants and guests made their way to Cardinal Hall for the presentation of the Keys/Litten/Smith awards. Dr. Robert Morris, Associate Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, gave remarks thanking everyone who had participated for making the 2015 Student Symposium at Ball State University a success. Dr. Morris then presented the Keys/Litten/Smith Awards. These awards honor Linda Keys, Jeffrey Litten and Sandra Smith. These three Ball State University staff members served in the Sponsored Projects Administration (formerly the Office of Academic Research and Sponsored Projects) for a combined total of thirty years. They were instrumental in developing the Symposium as the premier event for students to highlight their work and were avid supporters of student research and creative endeavors. The awards recognize students for their outstanding research or creative endeavors presented at the Student Symposium. Listed below are the 2015 award winners.

Display Award Winners: 

Natalie Abell (Biology)
The Influence of Saltwater Intrusion on Georgia Tidal Freshwater Forests 
Faculty Mentor: Melody Bernot (Biology)

Nick Harmes & Joey Klahn (Biology)
RiverPACE: Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in The White River Compared to National Data 
Faculty Mentor: Jesse Becker (Biology)

Jack Omstead, Erin Moreno, Alyssa Reese & Tyreese Love (English)
Representing Religion in Comics 
Faculty Mentor: Jeffrey Brackett (Philosophy and Religious Studies)

Content Award Winners: 

Koby Bluitt (Theatre and Dance)
Peace for the Youth Through the Works of Theater 
Faculty Mentor: Gerald Waite (Center for Peace and Conflict Studies)

Riley Carswell (Biology)
Mating Defense in the Long-Clawed Hermit Crab (Pagurus longicarpus) 
Faculty Mentor: Tim Carter (Biology)

Kimi Dahl (Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science)
Load Distribution and Postural Changes When a Traditional Backpack Versus the BackTpack 
Faculty Mentor: Clark Dickin (Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science)

Jason Doll (Biology)
Estimating Capture Probabilities of Common Stream Fish in the Eastern Corn Belt Plain Faculty Mentor: Thomas Lauer (Biology)

Lilly Gu (Biology)
Light and Temperature Interact to Regulate the Response of Algae and Heterotropic Bacteria to Elevated Nutrient Levels in a Boreal Peatland 
Faculty Mentor: Kevin Wyatt (Biology)

For the official 2015 20th Annual Student Symposium at Ball State University Program (PDF) CLICK HERE.

Photos from the 2015 Student Symposium will be posted shortly to the website, blog, and Facebook.
If you are interested in registering for next year’s Student Symposium, in January 2016 make sure to check out the Student Symposium homepage, the Research Blog, or the Sponsored Projects Administration Facebook page. There you can find out more information about the annual Student Symposium, as well as helpful grant-funding information, research, and educational events.

Upcoming External Grant May 2015 Deadlines:

The following external grants have deadlines in the month of May, 2015:

American Honda Foundation Grants Program
May 1

State Justice Institute Grant Programs:
May 1, 2015
(Multiple Grants Available)

VentureWell (Formerly NCIIA):  Course and Program Grants, Sustainable Vision (SV) Grants
May 8, 2015

Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Grants Program:

5:00PM CST May 15, 2015

Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Grant Opportunities 2015

(Multiple Deadlines and Grants Available) May 1, 2015

RSVP: Researcher of the Year & Outstanding Creative Endeavor Awardee Lecture - April 9

Faculty, staff, and students are invited to attend the Researcher of the Year and Outstanding Creative Endeavor Lecture on Thursday, April 9 at 12:30 p.m. in the Arts and Journalism Building, AJ 225. A reception follows the lectures.

2014-15 Researcher of the Year
Melody Bernot, Associate Professor of Biology
Department of Biology
Lecture Title: "Understanding human influence on freshwater ecosystems"

2014-15 Outstanding Creative Endeavor
Christie Zimmerman, Associate Professor of Dance
Department of Theatre & Dance
Lecture Title: "Narrative in Motion"

RSVP here: http://goo.gl/xKYqRT

Fulbright info sessions on Wednesday & Thursday

Juniors, seniors, and graduate students:

Don't forget that on Wednesday or Thursday you can learn about Fulbright grants. A Fulbright makes it possible to see the world after graduation or to conduct thesis or dissertation research in any one of 150+ countries!

Attend one of these student Fulbright info sessions:
. April 1, 4-5 pm
. April 2, 4-5 pm

Both sessions will be held in Bracken Library's Schwartz Digital Viewing Room.

For more info, visit http://us.fulbrightonline.org. Contact Dr. Dom Caristi at 765-285-1493 or dgcaristi@bsu.edu if you're interested but unable to attend.

Ball State's ASPiRE Internal Grant Program is pleased to announce the Hollis Fund opportunities available for summer and fall projects 2015

Sponsored Project Administration (SPA) is pleased to oversee the Joseph W. and Marcella S.
Hollis Fund for research in fields of psychology. Professor Joseph W. Hollis served Ball State from 1954-
1984 with his service culminating as Chairperson of the Department of Counseling Psychology and
Guidance Services. This opportunity is supported by the income arising from the endowment.

Hollis funds can be provided to assist in psychological research project costs such as travel or supplies.
Dr. and Mrs. Hollis also recognized that research in psychology might occur in a number of departments
and programs across the campus. Thus, proposals from any department are eligible, as long as the
project is psychology based.


Eligibility:
.    Applicants must be Graduate students or Junior Faculty Members (first 3 years of appointment).

.    Ball State students are limited to one Hollis award. Additionally, Jr. Faculty members are limited
to one Hollis award during their term as a Jr. Faculty member.


Types of Funding Available
Research related travel, supplies, payments to subjects (excluding gift cards), and presentations of work
at professional meetings (proof of presentation acceptance must be submitted at the time of
application).


Questions pertaining to the ASPiRE Program can be directed to aspire@bsu.edu or by calling the Sponsored Projects Administration at 765-285-1600.