Good morning and welcome!  I am pleased to preside over the Fall 2007 Faculty Meeting of Ball State University.  Last year at this time I was like a wide-eyed freshman coming to this campus for the first time.  And just like a freshman, I was on a steep learning curve.  Throughout this past academic year I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet every academic unit on campus, and I have gotten to know many of you.  I've learned about your programs, your many successes, and your deep commitment to this fine university.  I was attracted to Ball State because of its excellent leadership and sharply focused vision for its future.  Now I find that I am equally attracted to the institution's excellent faculty.

As most of you know, we gather at the beginning of the academic year to welcome new colleagues, recognize those who have achieved recognition and honors, hear about recent accomplishments, and learn the strategic priorities of the university leadership.

And so I begin by recognizing some special people in our audience.

First, are there any emeriti faculty or professional personnel here today? If so, please stand. 
It is good to have you as part of this gathering.  We do appreciate your continuing interest in Ball State University.

I want to extend a special welcome also to the visiting scholars on our campus.  Currently we have 11 international scholars in residence from China, Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Turkey -- and there may be others.  Would these visitors please stand to be recognized?

I welcome next our new faculty members and professional personnel, who began their work Wednesday and Thursday of this week with a number of Alpha activities.  Our 182 new faculty and professional staff come to us from 22 states representing all regions of the United States and from four foreign countries.  Would all new members of the Ball State community please stand so that we may greet you with a round of applause. 

To returning faculty, welcome back.  Although summer '07 may have flown faster than any summer in history despite the heat, I hope you found some time for appropriate "R and R."  Last year was a time of great accomplishment for so many of you and your students.  I appreciate your good work, as well as your support of the institution.

In a few minutes I will highlight specifically some of the priorities for the coming year as I see them, but first I'd like to recognize two faculty who were recently named to Distinguished Professorships.  They are: Dr. Michael M. O'Hara, Sursa Distinguished Professor of Fine Arts, and Dr. Ray L. Steele, Distinguished Professor of Information and Communication Sciences.

Would Drs. O'Hara and Steele please stand so that we may congratulate you? 

Last year at the Fall Faculty meeting I presented three priorities.

1. Complete the strategic plan for the university.
2. Make progress on improving diversity on our campus.
3. Agree on the framework for the new core curriculum.

I am pleased to report that collectively we have made tremendous progress with Ball State University's strategic plan that that guides our actions for the next five years.  Through the hard work of the Strategic Planning Task Force, the President's Cabinet, the Board of Trustees, the Deans' Council, departmental leadership, and all of you, we are now well into the implementation phase of the plan.  We are deploying significant resources to implement a number of actions, many of which were proposed by you.  There is a lot of work yet to do, but we are well underway.

Last year I charged us all with a second priority--working on diversity across our campus.  I appointed a task force, chaired by Dean Lavery, to look at diversity issues in Academic Affairs and to give me a short list of recommendations that I could implement immediately.  The task force did a wonderful and thorough job, giving me recommendations in three broad areas.  Those recommendations were to:

A. Institutionalize and raise the status of the Diversity Policy Institute.

B. Educate administrators and faculty about the meaning and importance of diversity; and

C. Commit to actions that promote faculty diversity.

Based on these recommendations and the objectives embedded in the strategic plan, I initiated the following actions:

• One, the Diversity Policy Institute, under the direction of Dr. Charles Payne will report directly to the Provost, and Dr. Payne will hold the title of Assistant Provost and sit on the Deans' Council.  This action is an important symbol, but it is also more than symbolic.  Now the provost and other senior academic leaders will be directly involved in decision-making for diversity-related activities in Academic Affairs.
• Two, I have asked a nationally renowned diversity coach, Dr. Joann Moody, to work with our academic leadership this semester.  She has a strong track record in helping institutions to diversify the faculty.
• And finally, my office will create a financial incentive for departments that are successful in hiring underrepresented minority faculty.  The financial incentive will be in the form of a modest boost in the departmental budget as recognition of the initiatives needed to recruit, successfully hire, and retain underrepresented candidates. 

It may take some time for these measures to make a difference, but in the meantime I urge all of you to join me in improving the climate for diversity for all persons on this campus.  Ball State has long held a reputation as being a friendly, welcoming university, but we must remind ourselves that this may not hold true for everyone.  Your efforts in identifying and addressing the needs of the colleagues and students you meet-regardless of color or  background-will go a long way to improving the climate for diversity.

The third priority that I mentioned last year was directed at you, the faculty.  I encouraged you to implement the new core curriculum known as UCC-21, which was developed by a faculty task force chaired by Dr. Juli Eflin.  The form of UCC-21 that came from the task force is comprehensive and innovative with built-in accountability requirements.  Because it will naturally lead to a core curriculum that can evolve with time, I strongly support it, and our students deserve it.  Let's get the job finished this year! 

So, that's the update on the priorities of last year.  Now let's turn to three more priorities that I want to promote this coming academic year.   They are:

1. Strategic Plan Implementation;

2. Research, Engagement, and Economic Development; (in the form of the Ball State Innovation and Commercialization Initiative) and
 
3. Academic Leadership Development.

We have essentially completed the strategic plan, a priority goal for last year.  Now implementation becomes the highest priority, and in a few minutes President Gora will articulate how important it is for the future of Ball State University.  Last spring semester academic departments and colleges submitted action plan proposals for the parts of the plan for which Academic Affairs has primary responsibility, namely immersive learning and program quality improvement.  There were many outstanding ideas proposed.  The president will mention some of the many immersive learning initiatives funded by the university. 

But let me just add that the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry and its director, Dr. Joe Trimmer, are a marvelous resource for assistance in developing immersive learning plans.  In addition to recruiting VBC fellows for four seminars in 2008-2009, Dr. Trimmer, at my request, will expand his efforts this year in working with interested departments and colleges on developing mechanisms to help faculty understand and implement immersion learning in their disciplines.  I encourage you to contact him.

In the area of program quality improvement,  we have funded growth plans for international programs (both importing and exporting students), growth in our award-winning nursing program, expansion of Indy Center programs, diversity hiring incentives that I mentioned earlier, and research and scholarly production incentives in which the university will match external funding for new graduate student support and course buyouts.  And in answer to many questions I have received, yes, we will support the planning for a new and improved UniverCity celebration we hope to have in the 2008-2009 academic year. 

There are other efforts funded by the university as well as efforts supported by internal reallocation and external funding within many academic units. 

Besides implementation of the Strategic Plan, a second 2007-2008 priority for Academic Affairs is to create the environment that will accelerate research and other scholarly output and accelerate innovation and commercialization to improve the economy of the state (and of course, have an enormously positive impact on the university as well).  There are four parts to this effort that we are calling the BSU Innovation and Commercialization Initiative. 

First, consistent with the strategic plan, we wish to enhance the scholarly output of our faculty through bringing in greater levels of external funding.  I have asked Interim Associate Provost for Research and Interim Dean of the Graduate School Dr. Robert Morris (from the Department of Chemistry) to work diligently with all of you to accomplish this.  (As a side note, most of you know that I have combined the positions of Dean of the Graduate School and what was called the Assistant Vice President for Research.) 

Secondly, we must revise our intellectual property policies and procedures.  Last year Professor Nancy Carlson chaired a task force that came up with many timely recommendations that will update our badly outdated polices and procedures.  I will bring forth my recommendations for approval very soon. 

Thirdly, we are about to create a subsidiary structure to the university, associated with the Ball State Innovation and Commercialization Initiative.  This entity will be a vehicle for university inventors and entrepreneurs to develop their intellectual property for the betterment of Indiana, the university, and of course, themselves. 

This leg of the strategy to accelerate innovation and commercialization will also include a focused effort in economic development around a specific business sector.  You may recall that Indiana University has promoted the "life science" initiative.  Purdue is currently pushing an "advanced manufacturing" initiative.  Ball State University will initiate and champion the "new media business cluster" initiative based on our undisputed leadership and expertise in the area of "new media" in teaching, business, communication, and personal information technology.  Two key new hires will play important roles in this effort to enhance our impact in innovation and commercialization.  Dr. Michael Hicks has just joined us this week at the Bureau for Business Research in the Miller College of Business.  He has held similar positions in the past, and he has outstanding credentials as an economist. Joining the staff of the Office of Academic Research and Sponsored Programs as our new Technology Transfer Officer is Michael Halbrook.  He has tremendous experience helping IT startup companies.  This is a new position for the university, and under the leadership of Interim Director of OARSP Kristi Koriath, Michael will get out to meet the faculty and see what exciting ideas you have that could be turned into commercial entities. 

The fourth leg of this priority is to play a larger role within the state in economic development and community engagement.  The new media business cluster plays a role here, too.  Also, in addition to his role as Dean of the School of Extended Education, I have asked Dr. Frank Sabatine to take on responsibilities as Associate Vice President for Economic Development and Community Engagement.  His background in state government makes him ideally suited for this role.  Already he has been talking with the deans about how we can get more faculty members engaged in Building Better Community projects by supplying departments with "course release" money so that faculty will have the time needed to develop and execute projects.

Besides implementing the strategic plan and enhancing our efforts in research, engagement, and economic development, I plan to work with the deans on the third priority for the year--to offer many more opportunities to improve leadership abilities in Academic Affairs.  Let me mention just two ideas that will be translated into action starting this semester.  First, we will begin monthly Academic Leadership Roundtable discussions for all chairpersons, directors, deans, and associate deans.  Each of these roundtable discussions will focus on a single topic of interest to academic leaders, such as dealing with troubled students, diversity hiring, creating more Building Better Communities projects within colleges and departments, and other items.  David Jackson, chairperson of the Department of Art, has agreed to chair a steering committee to plan the discussions and solicit suggestions from the academic community. 

Also, I will be starting an internship program in the Office of the Provost, where we will engage one or two faculty members part time to help with the many projects that need attention.  This can be a wonderful opportunity to gain leadership experience for anyone who may have an interest in giving back to the institution by serving as a departmental, college, or university leader.  I will encourage colleges to create similar opportunities.

There are many other initiatives that will affect all of you.  Among those are the results of the Foundations of Excellence efforts that many of you worked on this past year.  This report, which reviewed the effectiveness of our programs for first year students, produced many recommendations.  I applaud the work of all who participated, and now we must roll up our sleeves and get to work implementing the recommendations to improve our programs.  They will have a tremendous impact on attracting and retaining excellent students. 

Another item from the strategic plan that we want you to consider is the question of creating a smoke-free campus.  Already the Staff Council has given a strong, positive recommendation to do so.  The students will weigh in on this very soon.  We want a faculty statement on this issue by December 1st of this year so that we can make a considered decision early next year.

Now, at the beginning of my remarks, I introduced some people to you.  Besides the new distinguished professors, the new roles for Drs. Morris, Sabatine and Payne, and the new additions of Dr. Michael Hicks and Michael Halbrook that I mentioned earlier, there are still a few other introductions that I wish to make.  I am pleased that Dr. Marilyn Buck has been appointed as Associate Provost and Dean of University College.  I'm sure that you have noticed that I have structured this position differently than in the past.  Essentially, Dr. Buck is associate provost for academic operations.  Our College of Architecture and Planning has a new dean, Dr. Guillermo Vasquez de Velasco.  Please take the time to welcome him soon.  Two of our colleges have interim deans.  Gwen Robbins is the Interim Dean of the College of Applied Sciences and Technology and Rod Davis is the Interim Dean of the Miller College of Business.  We certainly wish them well in these important positions.

And finally, I wish to add a word about the campus United Way campaign.  Ball State has a long and proud history of caring about the community of Muncie and of Delaware County.  In the past, faculty and staff have given generously to community agencies to provide a better quality of life for others.  The 2007-2008 campus United Way campaign is an important vehicle for our contributions.

At this time I want to thank Drs. Mary Kite and Brien Smith, who have consented to be co-chairs for faculty and professional personnel in this year's campus drive.  Likewise, our appreciation goes to Emeritus Professor Steve Bell for coordinating our retired personnel and to Kirby and Kristi Koriath for leading the Pathfinders campaign.  Finally, we thank Marta Stephens and her colleagues in University Human Resource Services, who are providing administrative support.

In closing, I want to express my commitment to the priorities I have mentioned today and to other needs of Academic Affairs as I see them unfold.  I also want each of you to know that you are important to this university's success, and I wish you well as you return to your classroom, laboratory, studio, or office as we embark together on the work of this institution.  May you have a very good year!

And now it is my distinct pleasure to present to you the president of Ball State University, Dr. Jo Ann Gora.

Presentation of Awards:

At this time, it is my privilege to present the awards to those professors designated as "outstanding."  First, the Lawhead Teaching Award in the University Core Curriculum and the 2007-2008 awards for Excellence in Teaching.

Those persons are Professors Mellisa Holtzman, Christopher Luke, Chin-Sook Pak, and Lynn Sousa.  Would the recipients come to the stage so that we may recognize them officially? 

More than a decade ago, through the generosity of Vic and Doris Lawhead, a teaching award was established to recognize annually a professor who makes outstanding contributions to general education and who consistently meets the goal of the University Core Curriculum, that is, to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and values that all graduates of the university are expected to share.

This year that award goes to Mellisa Holtzman, Associate Professor of Sociology.  Dr. Holtzman, on behalf of Ball State University, I am pleased to honor you with the Lawhead Teaching Award in the University Core Curriculum.  I extend our gratitude and congratulations.

You will read more about the work of Dr. Holtzman in an upcoming Campus Update.  Also, a reception will be held this fall to honor her and present her with a monetary award.

The Excellence in Teaching awards recognize faculty members selected by students and faculty peers for outstanding teaching.  The tangible rewards for the Excellence in Teaching designation are a small addition to the base salary, a summer stipend to develop a "dream course," and released time to teach the course itself.

Christopher Luke, Associate Professor of Foreign Language Education, will you please step to the podium?  Dr. Luke's dream course will be devoted to local high school juniors and seniors who are interested in pursuing a career in the teaching profession.  The course will focus on the duality of being both a critical student advocate and a future teacher in the U.S. education system.

Professor Luke, Ball State is pleased to recognize you with an Excellence in Teaching Award.  Congratulations!

Chin-Sook Pak, Associate Professor of Spanish, is the second recipient.  Will you please come forward?  Dr. Pak's dream course is a service-learning seminar.  Dr. Pak and her students will develop mentoring partnerships with Latino high school students and their families in order to make the college preparation process more accessible to them.  While immersed in the Spanish language and engaged in community service and critical reflection, students will study the educational, social and economic realities of working-class Hispanic immigrant families.  Chin-Sook Pak, Ball State University honors you with an Excellence in Teaching Award.  Congratulations!

Lynn Sousa, Professor of Chemistry, will you come forward?  Professor Sousa's dream course will investigate how and why concepts and understandings have changed from antiquity to the present.  Students will search for evidence and beliefs that influenced how intelligent people through the ages have understood concepts such as the mind, illness, fire, matter, the elements, heredity, or the universe. 

Professor Sousa, Ball State is pleased to honor you with an Excellence in Teaching Award.  Congratulations!

The second group to be honored is announced for the first time today.  These are individuals who have been selected by their peers to receive the outstanding faculty awards.  In recognition of this honor, they will receive a cash award and a plaque generously provided by our Alumni Association.  As each winner is announced, I request that the recipient come immediately to the stage.

This concludes the meeting.  Would the award-winners return to the stage at this time for photographs. 

To all of you, I offer my best wishes for a productive and personally satisfying year.  We stand adjourned.