Good evening and thank you for joining us tonight.

We show a version of the video you just saw to our new faculty and professional staff each fall, and every year there is a similar response. People say, "I didn't know all of this. There is a lot going on at Ball State!"

There is a lot going on at Ball State. Seeing the momentum the university had generated in recent years was what brought me to Indiana.  Even from afar, the university was known to be engaged in some interesting and important initiatives. But this video can't even begin to scratch the surface of what I have found during my 18 months at the university. Our faculty, staff, and students are very committed to going beyond the conventional and exploring new ventures with a truly entrepreneurial and creative spirit.

Ball State has a history of helping communities that dates back more than 30 years. Over that time period, the university has engaged in more than 570 outreach projects in 64 counties and more than 75 communities throughout Indiana. If, for example, you look at our College of Architecture and Planning, it has completed more than 250 projects that have resulted in $120 million in capital improvements. This history has developed a culture that breeds innovation and success.

Several years ago, recognizing the volume and variety of our efforts, we brought all the outstanding outreach of our seven academic colleges and many centers of excellence under the Building Better Communities banner.

BBC, as we call it, includes a network of services to help Indiana's businesses, schools, organizations, and communities prosper. We want to help cities, towns, and communities answer the questions with which they struggle. Do you live in a locale where you need to:

• develop a common vision and master plan for development
• manage commercial and residential growth
• help businesses grow and remain competitive
• boost graduation rates of high school students or meet federally mandated performance standards in your schools or
• revitalize your downtown?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, consider the many ways that Ball State can help.

We believe that as a state-supported institution, an important part of the way we provide a return on the state's investment in us is by helping you find answers to those questions. This strikes at the core of a social responsibility to put the collective knowledge, talent, and resources of our institution to work for the betterment of Hoosiers.

At times, by the betterment of Hoosiers we mean their physical betterment. In 2003, Carol Friesen (Free zen) in our Department of Family and Consumer Sciences launched Operation Wellness is Wells County. This is an ambitious fitness program that is funded by $1 million in grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Caylor-Nickel Foundation and other Wells County funding partners.

When the program started, 40 percent of the county's fourth graders either were obese or were at risk of being obese. Operation Wellness has offered nutrition, exercise and healthy living programs in the schools and in the community—with amazing results. One example of an adult program is "Dump Your Plump," a team weight-loss competition among coworkers. Last spring, 108 participants shed a combined 856 pounds. This spring's competition is currently underway.

And we're reaching the children as well. At Lancaster Elementary School in Bluffton (BLUFF tun), overall daily attendance has risen to more than 96 percent. Lancaster and Southern Wells Elementary School in Poneto (puh nee tuh) recently earned Healthy Hoosier School Awards, sponsored by the Indiana Action for Healthy Kids. They were two of just 11 Indiana schools honored for improving their school health environment. Operation Wellness is changing Wells County for the better.

Universities have historically been catalysts for change, and at Ball State, we have found that one of the best ways to promote change is to share what we have discovered inside the academy by taking it outside the academy through the work of our faculty, students, and staff.

Sometimes our efforts involve just faculty or staff working on a project, but in most cases—and this is really our hallmark—faculty involve students in the work, allowing them to apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real-world project. In academe, this is commonly called applied learning. These intense, immersive experiences crystallize learning for our students and give them a leg up when they enter the job market. At Ball State, we do this more comprehensively and in a more interdisciplinary way than many universities.

Our Business Fellows Program is an excellent example. The program is backed by the Lilly Endowment and is an initiative to help stem the state's brain drain. Teams of students under the supervision of a faculty member work with a business, organization, or community agency on site. The students evaluate the problem and then work with their professors to propose solutions that will improve services, quality, or competitiveness; increase business; or develop new job opportunities. The students also build relationships with employers that will help them secure valuable internships while still in school or jobs after graduation.

One of our current Business Fellows teams is working with BAA-Indianapolis to assess the feasibility and potential applications of cluster computing at the Indianapolis International Airport. A cluster or grid computer joins personal computers together in a network to harness their cumulative power and available resources. As a result, the enhanced system can outperform traditional supercomputers at a fraction of the cost. Nine students from majors such as information systems, industrial technology, computer science and telecommunications are also getting first-hand experience working with Homeland Security issues. The students have done initial visits and assessments, and met last month with airport leadership to gather additional information. They will present their final report to BAA next month.

For those who wonder how they would engage the university in a project, we have set up a place for one-stop shopping. You can contact our Building Better Communities office, let Elaine Fisher and Dick Heupel assess your needs, and allow them to tap the right person or assemble the right team of people at the university to provide you with assistance.

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has found the right partner for ensuring some of Indiana's historic treasures are preserved for future generations. Students and faculty from our graduate program in historic preservation and our Center for Historic Preservation have taken part in the restoration of Indiana's oldest government building, the Indiana Territorial Capital building in Vincennes (VIN senns) and the First State Office Building in Corydon (CORE uh dun). They have also completed historic structures reports on part of the Whitewater Canal, the Laurel Feeder Dam, and the restored Lock 25 near the Metamora Mill, along with Locks 26, 27, and 28, which are in a state of ruins.

Students working on the canal project say it combined hands-on fieldwork with rigorous historical research, and they believe their work uncovered valuable new information about the locks and the construction processes employed during the building of the canal.

The report you will receive as you leave here tonight tell some of the stories that have resulted from the work of our Business Fellows and Building Better Communities initiatives. I think you will find them interesting and inspiring. For instance:

Our College of Fine Arts is helping Brown County devise an economic development plan intended to make the county the Midwest's premier cultural tourist destination for the arts.

Our nationally ranked entrepreneurship program in the Miller College of Business is helping rural communities—such as Jay and Daviess— determine how they can use their assets to promote economic opportunities.

Our nationally ranked College of Architecture and Planning is helping to transform the neglected Mill Race canal into an asset for Goshen,

And our Teachers College is working with public schools across Indiana to improve their quality of education. In addition, our history of educational innovation is evident in Ball State's role as the only state university to sponsor public charter schools.

At the back of the report, you will also find a list of the counties in which we have worked and the names of are community partners in those counties. Some of those partners are with us tonight. They can tell you how Ball State has helped them:

• deploy current technology for education and business
• train leaders, professionals and teachers
• preserve historic landmarks
• designate parks and recreational amenities
• and so much more.

I'd like you to hear from a few of our partners, faculty, and students, in this short video that shows you some of the work Ball State has done and continues to do to build better communities, one community at a time. 

Again, thank you for joining us tonight.