Ball State's Music Engineering Technology (MET) program has a new name, new curriculum, and soon will be moving into its new state-of-the-art building.

Music technology has dropped "Engineering" from its name, aligning it with other well-known programs in North America. The name change coincides with improvements in the curriculum, which will blend composition, performance, computer science, and recording engineering. The program now has three options for students, including music technology with a minor in applied science, computer music technology, and music technology with a minor in digital media.

The program has established a budding national reputation since the School of Music offered its first MET degree in 1989. The program has succeeded in placing graduates in careers from composing to sound design for television, to recording, to more traditional careers such as composition and performance.

This fall, the music technology program, along with many other School of Music programs, will move into the Music Instruction Building. The $21-million facility will have 73,000 square-feet of academic space and a 600-seat hall that can be tuned for each performance.

The music technology control room will have the latest in digital mixing technology and Lucite diffusers that will allow audiences to view recording sessions without compromising sound quality.

Through the use of the room's digital sound equipment, music technology students can make recordings from the performance hall and the instrumental rehearsal and choral rehearsal rooms without having to transport equipment from venue to venue.

Indy design center moves, Regional 2020 Plan adopted

The City of Indianapolis has adopted the Regional Center Plan 2020. Coordinated by Ball State's College of Architecture and Planning's Indianapolis Center (CAP:IC), the plan will guide downtown development for the future.

In March, the center moved one block east of its former location, to 22 East Washington Street, Suite 210. The center's original site has been slated for conversion into retail and residential space as part of the Conrad Hotel development.

CAP:IC opened its doors in 2001. The center has not only played a key role in the Regional Center Plan 2020, but also has contributed to many planning projects including the Central State Reuse Study. The study will decide the redevelopment of Indiana's former Central State Hospital for the mentally ill and its surrounding 160 acres.

The center and its students have helped moderate and gather research for Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson's "War on Abandoned Housing" and the Irvington neighborhood plan.

Student radio station acquires FM license

Ball State has acquired an FM radio broadcast license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as part of a project to upgrade WCRD-FM, the university's student-managed radio station.

The FCC granted an application filed by Ball State and the Muncie Community Schools for the transfer of ownership of 91.3 FM (WWHI). WCRD has been contributing to the programming of the 310-watt station, located at Muncie Southside High School, for the past ten years.

Nearly 150 students volunteer at WCRD, which is a College Music Journal (CMJ) formatted radio station. Known as "The Bird," the station originates programming from studios in the E.F. Ball Communication Building on campus.

The station broadcasts Ball State sporting events and also produces syndicated radio programming and charitable CDs that include local and national talent. J. R. Moore, a Ball State senior from Muncie, is the station manager.

The station can be heard at 91.3 FM or on the Internet at web.bsu.edu/wcrd.

Economic center receives state award for planning efforts

Ball State's Center for Economic and Community Development (CECD), founded in 1984, has received the Outstanding Plan Award for Excellence in Planning. The award, from the Indiana Planning Association, is for the center's Elkhart County Horizon Project.

The project, a collaborative effort with Koehn Consulting and the Hudson Institute, is a comprehensive plan addressing key issues affecting the region's economic vitality and its residents' quality of life.

The Horizon Project took 18 months to complete. It sets goals for business retention, creation, and attraction. It also lays out a plan for redevelopment, tourism, workforce development, P-12 education, land use, government coordination, and social services.

Specifically, the project has helped Elkhart County and its major cities of Goshen and Elkhart develop avenues to rebuild a thriving community. Detailed goals have been set to invest in an infrastructure of innovation that builds locally owned businesses, builds a foundation for sustainable development, and creates a highly skilled workforce to keep and attract technology-rich businesses.

Other goals are to build a creative, effective system of government, and to get community members to accept the need for change, take responsibility for present and future conditions, and adopt a proactive mindset.

Graduates continue to excel on national nursing exam

Ball State's nursing graduates continue to score well on the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

The May 2003 class posted a 95.6 percent pass rate, while the graduating class of December 2002 posted a 100 percent pass rate. The combined NCLEX-RN pass rate for Ball State nursing graduates in the 2002-03 academic year was 97.7 percent.

Graduates must pass the exam to become registered nurses, and Indiana requires nursing schools to have an average first-time annual pass rate that is at or exceeds the national average.

Ball State's MBA in entrepreneurship among nation's best

Ball State's graduate program in entrepreneurship is moving up in the U.S.News and World Report rankings.

In the magazine's annual listings of top graduate programs offered by business schools, Ball State's program is ranked 16th, tied with Indiana University-Bloomington, the University of Maryland, and the University of Virginia. Ball State's ranking is ahead of such notable schools as Duke University, Wake Forest University, and the University of Notre Dame.

Over the last three years, Ball State's program has been ranked 23rd, 20th, and 19th.

The emphasis of the program is the recognition of opportunities and the conversion of new ideas into business plans with a focus on implementation. New business development, small business management, franchising, family business, and corporate entrepreneurship are all areas of study within the major.

The program is designed to help people understand risk and develop an entrepreneurial perspective by overcoming challenges and achieving success.

Ball State assists in establishing Enhanced 911 system

Emergency response personnel will soon be able to find any place or cell phone user in Adams County with Ball State's assistance.

Led by Paul Shanayda,'91, the university's Geographic Information Systems (GIS) coordinator, a team of Ball State geography students are helping to upgrade the local Enhanced 911 (E-911) system.

Across the country, an estimated 156,000 calls are made daily to 911 from mobile telephones. Now when a mobile call is made, 911 centers receive the number and the location of the cell tower carrying the call.

To meet recent mandates from the Federal Communications Commission, communities and mobile telephone companies are upgrading their equipment and services so emergency call dispatchers can pinpoint the location of mobile callers.

Ball State began working in Adams County in 2003, assembling a detailed map of the area from aerial photographs and using the university's GIS program to create a computerized photo of the county.  

Shanayda and his student team are splitting time between work in the field in Adams County and in the geography department's graphics lab, located in the Cooper Science Building.

Ball State also will use the digital mapping system to develop site maps, building blueprints and schematics, evacuation routes, and hazardous material locations.

Throughout the state, counties are struggling to create the E-911 system within the next few years to meet new Federal Communications Commission mandates.

Many Indiana counties are behind in creating such systems.