Spurred by an unprecedented amount in cash gifts, a matching grant program and an increased number of benefactors, private giving to Ball State reached new heights during the 2002-03 fiscal year.

The university received a total of $23,732,282 in private gifts from 25,305 benefactors during the fiscal year ending in June. That amount of gifts outpaced the previous record set in 1999-00 by more than $207,000.

"Above and Beyond: The Campaign to Advance Ball State University" exceeded its goal of $90 million by raising more than $113 million by the time it ended in June of 2002.

The university also reached a new one-year high of nearly $17.9 million in cash gifts in 2002-03, up from nearly $9.3 million during the previous record year.

Ball State supporters provided more than $6.4 million for scholarships and created 21 new scholarship funds during the past year. Besides scholarships, gifts have been designated to enhance academic programs, encourage innovative faculty, improve the Ball State Museum of Art's collection, and other uses.

One factor contributing to the amount of cash gifts is a matching grant program, offered by Lilly Endowment, Inc.The endowment matched more than $800,000 given by the university's trustees and foundation directors between March and December of 2002.

The Endowment also will match up to $3.5 million in gifts by the end of December, so long as the gifts are not for athletics and are broken down in the following manner: $3 million from alumni; $250,000 from parents and students; and $250,000 from faculty and staff.

As of June, the university had raised $2.1 million from alumni, $197,193 from parents and students, and $512,803 from faculty and staff.

Trustees take steps for communication media building

The next phase in the evolution of Ball State's educational and physical landscape has been set in motion, to eventually benefit students, faculty, staff, and the state of Indiana.

The university's board of trustees has approved a financing plan and the choice of an architect for its $21 million Communication Media Building. The building will adjoin the existing Robert P. Bell and Ball Communication buildings, the latter of which is connected to the Art and Journalism Building.

The design will bring all departments of the College of Communication, Information, and Media under one roof.

CCIM is the seventh-largest communications college in the country. The new building will allow for the admission of more students into the college, the collaboration of faculty on research projects, and the designation of more space to the iCommunication initiative.

The university must still obtain final approval from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the state budget committee before construction can begin.

Foundation to invest $2 million to help Indiana's future

The Ball State University Foundation will invest $2 million in an Indiana-based venture capital fund to support the growth of the Central Indiana Life Sciences Initiative.

The investment in the Indiana Future Fund is part of a private equity allocation of endowed funds managed by the foundation.

The Indiana Future Fund will select capital funds to receive commitments. Investments will be targeted toward the life sciences field, and a mix of Indiana-based or Indiana-focused venture capital firms are expected to receive funding.

Since May, state universities have announced $12 million for the Indiana Future Fund.

CAP procures $4.7 million software licensing grant

The College of Architecture and Planning has procured a $4.7 million software licensing grant from the Intergraph Corporation, the largest software grant in university history.

Intergraph Corporation is a leading producer of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. GIS is a growing industry that has many applications for professions managing spatially based information, such as urban planning, geology, biology, political science, and marketing.

GIS software can be used by urban planners to manage the growth of a town, tracking everything from property owners to maintenance records of light posts; by geologists to track soil composition and erosion; biologists to catalog vegetation; politicians to track their constituency; manufacturers to identify marketplaces; and economists to track from where products come and where they go.

College of Business revises MBA program

The College of Business has created a new 30-hour master of business administration program that became available in August.

The MBA program was revised to reflect the changing needs of Indiana students. The updated program provides a practical, rigorous academic business foundation and the flexibility to choose electives relevant to individual career interests and lifestyles.

Ball State's MBA program can be completed in one year full-time, two years part time. Classes will be Monday through Thursday evenings, with early-morning electives.