Good morning and welcome to our annual fall faculty convocation.  The British economist and historian Arnold Toynbee once wrote, "Civilizations come to birth and proceed to grow by successfully responding to successive challenges.  They break down and go to pieces if and when a challenge confronts them which they fail to meet."

Similarly, we could say that Ball State must respond to the challenges of a changing world if we are to remain a vibrant and relevant institution.  The challenges are real.  Our external stakeholders expect a clearer articulation of our value and purpose.  Our students have more choices and higher expectations about learning.  These and other audiences of importance to the university are distracted by too much information over too many information channels.

Our challenge, in a word, is distinctiveness.  The health of our university, which is defined by quality students and quality faculty, relies on being known for unique qualities and attributes.

As we begin the academic year, let us pause, and take stock of how well we have met these challenges over the past year and how we will respond to them over this academic year.  How well are we responding to our challenges?

I think very well!  Since we were together a year ago, we have completed several new buildings or building renovations, opened the Indianapolis Center, developed our wellness initiative, and expanded our financial resources through both public and philanthropic sources.  Our students and faculty have won numerous awards and achievements.  We launched the new "Education Redefined" branding campaign and it is proving successful with a stronger incoming class.  Our strategic planning has moved into the implementation phase.

Our hard work last year will pay even more dividends with the opening of several new buildings in the next few days.  As we eagerly anticipate this academic year, I congratulate you on your dedication, your innovative thinking, and your sheer hard work that has brought us to where we are today. 

I've always been proud of our accomplishments as a university, but our institutional success came into sharp relief to me in June when I participated in a forum of university presidents from across the country, hosted by The Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, D.C.  As I listened to my fellow presidential panelists and answered questions from the audience, I realized that Ball State is leading the way.  Our success stands in contrast with universities that are experiencing financial difficulties, frozen salaries, and service cutbacks.  They are struggling to do more with less - to adjust to a higher-education landscape that is defined by increased competition for talent and scarce resources.

Our success has been neither quickly nor easily won.  It is the result of much forethought and innovation.  And we have only just begun…

The academic year before us marks the first under the implementation phase of our strategic plan.  At its core, the strategic plan is about enhancing our distinctiveness. 

The plan has four key strategies.  To ensure that the entire university is working toward a shared vision, it is important that we all understand why we've chosen these strategies.  Why these strategies and not others?

First, the plan calls for us to offer relevant immersive learning opportunities to each undergraduate student.  This is the cornerstone of what we do.  It is the best preparation we can give our students as they enter a world of global competition and constant change - a truly interdisciplinary world.  Our focus on immersive learning simply takes a long, proud tradition of experiential, interdisciplinary learning created by so many student-centered faculty in this room, and intensifies it.

Immersive learning is embraced by bright, creative students.  It offers a significant intellectual challenge and that is what we want Ball State to be known for.  It is, after all, why we are all here, to encourage learning and research and to transform the lives of our students.

Immersive learning is also our essential point of distinction.  Distinctiveness is critical to the health of the university in the long term.  It is the key to healthy enrollment, quality students, and external support because it allows us to clearly articulate our value, and to stand above our competition.

Second, the plan demands that we attract higher quality students.  Because immersive learning poses a significant intellectual challenge, we need students who can step up to that challenge.  As we attract and graduate a higher quality student body, our students and alumni will become our greatest ambassadors for the quality and uniqueness of a Ball State education. 

Third, the strategic plan focuses on increasing the number of nationally recognized faculty and academic programs.  The market research that set us on the path of strategic planning indicated that we were seen as average.  I know that we are not average.  You know that we are not average.  But our audiences - prospective students, parents, community leaders - didn't know what we know.  The quality of education here is outstanding.  Rankings and recognitions reinforce to external audiences what we already know - that Ball State offers academic experiences of the highest quality.   They are a means to an end, not an end in and of themselves.

Finally, the plan seeks to create a university community that is nationally recognized for a vibrant and supportive atmosphere.  Competition for high quality students has never been fiercer.  Students demand an environment that feeds their creativity both in and outside the classroom - they crave surroundings that fuel their curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit.

These are the four categories:  rankings and recognitions, a vibrant and supportive campus culture, higher quality students, with immersive learning as the cornerstone. These elements will lead us to distinctiveness. 

Last spring, we had a broad institutional conversation about immersive learning and the curriculum.  The department chairs spent half a day with Provost King and I discussing immersive learning.  In addition, departments across campus were asked in March to submit ideas that would expand our immersive learning offerings.  I want to thank everyone who participated in these exercises and submitted so many excellent ideas.

Many of you remember the immersive learning seminar Chin-Sook Pak taught three years ago, resulting in "Sobrevevir," a series of videos to examine the problems Latino immigrants encounter and to offer solutions.  That series eventually aired on Univision.  In a similar seminar last spring, Dr. Pak and her students found that Latino high school students in our state were underrepresented at Indiana colleges and universities.  Their response was to produce a 15-minute educational DVD titled "Si, puedes! Making college possible."  It covers issues these students and families encounter when considering higher education: the benefits and costs, how to qualify and apply for college, where to find money to pay for it. Already, nearly 200 copies of the DVD have been sent to Indiana high schools and Hispanic organizations.

Faculty from the College of Applied Sciences and Technology have developed the Health Fellows project, which begins this fall.  Students from all across campus and in a variety of majors will work on consulting teams to perform health, wellness and safety audits for participating companies.  These students then will produce an action plan for their company, prioritizing steps to improve workers' health, organizational productivity, and quality of life in the community. 

Students from the Muncie Urban Design Studio have designed and are building the Jerry L. Thornburg Park and Park Pavilion in the Millennium Place neighborhood on our city's south side.  The Pavilion is about 90 percent complete and will provide a seating area for parents and other family members as children play in the water park, also designed by MUDS students.  The pavilion is being constructed through donations from many city organizations and individuals.  This continues the Studio's decades-old community outreach in design and construction to assist those who are less fortunate.

Also adding to the richness of Muncie's cultural environment was the wonderful summer dinner theatre produced downtown by the faculty of our College of Fine Arts with the work of students from Fine Arts and the Miller College of Business.
 
We also can cite several examples of immersive learning extending beyond the curriculum.  Ball State's speech and debate team took first place among all Indiana colleges and universities this year, and The Daily News won 57 Gold Circle Awards at this year's Columbia Scholastic Press Association convention, the most for any student newspaper in the country.  Both of these efforts involve students from a variety of majors, working collaboratively and with distinction.  This has led us to consider the formation of similar competitive "teams" in every college - groups that embrace this interdisciplinary, co-curricular approach and also serve as symbols of academic quality.  To have each college sponsor at least two competitive teams of this nature is part of our strategic plan and adds to our distinctiveness.

Our immersive learning opportunities also stretch beyond the campus through our Building Better Communities efforts.  We connect student-driven projects with needs in local communities throughout Indiana, and in so doing, we find new and exciting ways to build strong partnerships with the larger community.  These projects vary widely from a unique information technology solution that saved the Indianapolis Airport big money, to creating new software that makes police officer training more effective in Logansport.

Last winter, our students from the College of Architecture and Planning traveled to Reynolds, Indiana - BioTown, USA.  They worked with the residents of that community to help them plan for an influx of new agri-business.  The students worked to help this tiny town, which is pursuing an ambitious economic development agenda, think through the planning, zoning, environmental, and quality-of-life issues that come with such sweeping and fast change in that community.

Each of these examples, whether new or tried and true, set in a studio or in a fire station, demonstrate the kind of interdisciplinary, community-based, student-driven learning that we want to intensify and expand.  The true value of immersive learning is that it is transformational.  Students work as a team under a faculty mentor to develop real-world solutions to real-world problems. 

While we could regard today as the "official" start of the implementation of our strategic plan, our strategic direction is already producing results.  We start this year with real forward momentum.  Resources are critical for making our plan a reality.  I am delighted to announce that we are succeeding in bringing new resources to the table. 

Some of the biggest and most important steps were taken last spring, in the form of various funding proposals we put before the Indiana General Assembly.  When the legislative session closed, Ball State emerged with approximately $48 million in new base budget appropriations, capital bonding authority and restored disbursements withheld from previous fiscal years.  We also have the honor of being the only state university to receive legislative investment in enhancement of its curriculum.  State lawmakers agreed to provide $1 million for immersive learning and our related efforts to establish Ball State's identity as Indiana's "Entrepreneurial University."

More than $33 million approved for Ball State this past legislative session will be directed toward our Central Campus Academic Project aimed at renovating and rehabilitating three principal buildings on campus - Teachers College, North Quad and Applied Technology.  A number of important campus utility improvements also will be completed as part of the project addressing one of our major strategic goals, that is improving the university community's overall quality of life.  Most of the work is scheduled to be finished by 2011.

Ball State's Board of Trustees approved a university budget in May that designates at least $3.5 million in reallocated support for the strategic plan.  These funds will be aimed at raising admissions standards, developing immersive-learning experiences, increasing international enrollment, expanding our already impressive library holdings and heightening the university's profile in Indianapolis and beyond, among other objectives.

As you know, the budget also allocates sufficient resources for the university to expand base funding for faculty and professional staff by four percent.  In some respects, this is an acknowledgement of the fine work being done by so many already in Ball State's employ.  Nevertheless, these additional salary resources required extensive reallocation on our part, given that the legislature increased our base operating budget for salaries by less than two percent. However, they are an important component of the strategic plan.  We are focusing our resources on attracting and retaining highly productive faculty of national prominence.

High-achieving students of the kind we seek to bring to Ball State in ever greater numbers expect access to top-flight professors both inside and outside the classroom.  Our commitment to provide competitive salary increases and benefits for our faculty members is absolutely critical to our long-term success.  I pledge to you that in every budget year, providing competitive salary increases will be my top priority as I make our case to the legislature.

While we continue to maximize legislative support, I am very pleased to report that private funding for our initiatives is stronger than ever.  We are deeply appreciative of the support of many individuals and organizations that, while not directly a part of the campus community, are certainly part of the Ball State family.  Our benefactors believe deeply in our mission to advance Ball State to a new level of distinctiveness, and have demonstrated their confidence through generous gifts to the university.

I'm pleased today to announce that Ball State will receive a $10.5 million gift from the George and Frances Ball Foundation.  It is the largest single contribution to any organization in the foundation's history.  These new funds will be invested in both our immersive learning initiatives and scholarships for high-ability students.

Moreover, an additional gift of $1 million from the Ed and Virginia Ball Foundation is destined for the Honors College, where - along with supplemental donations from alumni - it will be used to create a beautiful new home for the College in Ed and Virginia's residence on Riverside Drive.  Another $200,000 will be used to support the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry.

Meanwhile, our good friend and Ball State Foundation board member "Oz" Nelson has directed another $1 million gift to his beloved alma mater, with instructions that it is to be used to help address the university's greatest need.

Mere financial figures must never and will never become the leading measure of our success.  At the same time, resources are needed to bring our plans to life.  We are well on our way, but there is much more work to be done.  That is why, as I speak, planning discussions are under way regarding the university's next capital campaign, to support further implementation of the strategic plan and to advance us toward the goals of attracting higher quality students, providing each of them with a unique and meaningful immersive learning experience, and boosting the number of nationally-ranked academic programs on campus.  Vice President Hancock, Provost King and I will be talking to the colleges this semester about their priorities as we develop the capital-campaign case statement, which should reflect the strategic plan.

I also have good news to report about impressive strides being made in the areas of student retention and recruitment.  Retention of first-year students who are returning as sophomores stands at 76.85 percent for this fall, an impressive increase of more than 2 percent from the same figure last fall.  In part, this is because we are providing many new programs that enable freshmen to be academically successful, to bond with faculty and staff and to get involved on campus.  In fact, I am delighted to report that just this morning, Ball State's freshman-year experience is cited in the annual America's Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World Report.

Going forward, the Foundations of Excellence project, which almost 100 faculty and staff members worked on last year, provides the foundation for building an even stronger freshman-year experience.  As recommended by the project report, we need to more precisely formulate the goals and objectives of our freshman-year experience and more carefully assess current practices with an eye toward strengthening and refining them.  That will be the focus of the efforts in 2007-08 of a small task force, chaired by Marilyn Buck, associate provost and dean of University College.

While the news is good regarding retention, it is even better in recruitment.  Applications for admission to this fall's incoming class topped 13,000, a 21 percent increase over last year and 32 percent since 2005.  Even more striking than those numbers is the 22-point gain in average SAT scores for this freshman class over its predecessor in 2006.  In addition, the Honors College will welcome a larger class - a 19.1 percent gain over their 2006 enrollment.  Our efforts to attract and retain high-achieving students are indeed paying off.

At the same time, our track record for attaining national recognition continues to grow, a point that will be emphasized in our upcoming television commercials and billboards.   A number of university departments and programs are making their mark and advancing Ball State's reputation both within higher education professional circles and the national media.  To cite just three examples out of many:

• Our already well-regarded landscape architecture department was ranked as the nation's fifth best undergraduate program by the respected professional journal, Design Intelligence, in its annual edition examining America's top architecture and design schools.
• For the second consecutive year, the educational leadership department rates among the best in the eyes of the editors of Leadership Excellence magazine, a publication co-founded by business and administrative effectiveness guru Stephen Covey.  It ranks the department 11th nationally, where it keeps company with Harvard, MIT and the University of Pennsylvania.
• For the fourth straight year, U.S. News & World Report places Ball State's undergraduate entrepreneurship program among the top 10 in the country.

Clearly, our academic agenda is flourishing.  And so, too, are our efforts to provide a vibrant and supportive campus.  Perhaps you have already had the chance to enjoy a meal or a cup of coffee at the dramatically remodeled Woodworth Commons dining area, which opened earlier this week.

In the dizzying span of the next 21 days, we all will celebrate the opening of three new or renovated buildings.  On Wednesday, we will dedicate Park Hall -- the first new residence facility on this campus in almost five decades.  Shortly after that, we will enjoy an enlarged and improved Scheumann Stadium.  This flurry of activity will conclude September 7th, when we dedicate the beautiful new David Letterman Communication and Media Building that completes the university's journalism and telecommunications complex along the west side of McKinley Avenue.  How wonderful that we will be able to welcome David Letterman and his mother back to campus for this event!

Taking only a slightly longer view, we envision an extensively renovated student center - plans which now are entering the design phase -- as well as another new residence hall on the north side of campus.  Several other projects are on the drawing board - our $40 million, 200-thousand-square-foot student recreation and fitness center, and improvements to Riverside Drive, including parts of Fraternity Row as identified by our new Greek Life Strategic Plan.

Given all of this construction activity, it's only natural that you should ask if the overall objective here is to expand the campus and increase our enrollment.  The answer to that question is, "No."  Rather, our focus is on providing facilities that bright, creative and high-achieving students expect - indeed, demand - of a leading American university in the 21st century.

We are clearly a leading American university in our use of information technology.  Among all universities, Ball State was named the number one business innovator in CIO magazine last year, which builds on our 2005 ranking by U.S. News and World Report as the nation's top wireless campus.  We were the first site in the country for implementation, testing and evaluation of WiMax technology.  Even as these accomplishments make headlines, however, our staff continues to make faculty and students its primary emphasis, as evidenced by the 21 e-classrooms completed and more than 2,300 TechTime requests handled just last year.

As we look forward to this academic year, allow me to review our priorities and update you on some initiatives.  Our primary goal for this year is to improve Ball State's external funding.  We have come a long way in this area, but there is more work to do, both in the public sector and in raising philanthropic dollars.  We have many pressing needs, including the investment dollars needed to reshape, among other things, our administrative information systems to improve the quality of data available for financial transactions.

There are many other exciting challenges we will face this year.  We want to establish the Ball State Innovation and Commercialization Initiative.  This initiative, as the provost described earlier, provides us with a more organized structure for transferring technology from our campus to the larger community, something we have already had some success doing.  The initiative will strengthen the state's economy, enhance our own research infrastructure, and generate financial returns to the University and its researchers through the commercialization of intellectual properties.

As you know, we are still operating with a core curriculum instituted in 1984.  Assessments of that curriculum, by North Central Association and others, show that its goals no longer describe the knowledge necessary for a student to live and work in the 21st century.  Our new core curriculum incorporates immersive learning, core courses that better integrate with their majors, and interactive learning through technology.  Its adoption is essential for both our students and this university.  I urge the Senate to take action on this proposal this fall.

I will be following the success of the monthly academic leadership roundtables Provost King is hosting this year.  Discussing topics of immediate interest for academic leaders - everything from implementing immersive learning to reviewing our disaster preparedness plan - can only make them more effective and strengthen our community.  Our ongoing campus conversations about diversity also are important, as they are key to preparing our students for a world getting smaller daily with the use of technology and the lowering of cultural and language barriers.  I support all of these efforts, critical to Ball State's future.

You will recall that at this event last year, I discussed our campus initiative aimed at promoting healthier lifestyles and reducing health-care premium costs.  Studies by the Center for Disease Control show that daily decisions by individuals are the primary determinants of their health.  After a series of focus group meetings, some of your ideas about wellness made their way into our strategic plan.  Now those ideas are beginning to take shape as programs.  To that end, it is my pleasure to welcome Patty Hollingsworth to Ball State.

Patty is the Director of our new Employee Health Enhancement Program and in just two months, she has made great strides in implementing the plan developed by the faculty and staff committee last year.  I invite all of you to join me - and the University Marching Band - September 4th at 3:30 p.m. at LaFollette Field.  There, we will begin Ball State's Start Where You Are walking initiative.  The route, which we have dubbed The McKinley Mile, will end in the Quadrangle, and it will be marked, so you can follow it on future walks - albeit without the marching band.

At the end of our walk, a health fair will provide information about employee health programs including comprehensive screenings, Weight Watchers at Work, nutritional counseling, tobacco cessation, and many others. We also are providing a nurse practitioner on campus for employee primary health-care needs.  You can count on hearing more details from Patty and her committee members at future faculty meetings in your college.  This is an initiative of tremendous importance, and it will take all of us working together to succeed.

Finally, we soon will be launching our new web site, new billboards, and a new set of TV spots -- the latest step in the "Education Redefined" marketing initiative that began almost exactly one year ago - efforts that have played a large role in our enhanced student recruitment and our increased external funding activities.  Tom Taylor and his staff will be visiting with you during the provost's retreat later this month to answer questions about the latest developments in "Education Redefined."  Our marketing initiative is important.  "Education Redefined" has been warmly received and people around the state - indeed, around the country - are more aware of who we are and what we do here at Ball State.  They are more aware of our distinctiveness.

I've provided many examples of accomplishments for which we should be quite proud.  I've set out an ambitious agenda for the coming year.  But the best way to know that we are succeeding is when I talk with audiences outside the university and they "get it."

I know we're succeeding when the Indianapolis Star writes a positive editorial about our J-Ideas program and its role in researching First Amendment issues.  I know we're succeeding when I describe our role as the state's entrepreneurial university and how immersive learning supports that role - and see legislators nodding their heads in agreement.  I know we're succeeding when I describe Ball State's increasing selectivity in undergraduate admission in terms of our becoming the William and Mary of Indiana - and the alumni audience greets that comparison enthusiastically.
 
Together, we have accomplished much; we should be proud.  As we implement the strategic plan, there is much work left to do.   But let us not forget why we do these things.  We do what we do to have an impact on our students - to transform their lives.

Let me give you an example.  I'd like to read from a letter written by a parent.   The author is the father of Katie.  He had experienced an injury that at one time had put his ability to see Katie graduate in question.  The letter is addressed to one of our colleagues, Professor of Modern Languages Christopher Luke.

For a number of reasons, being able to witness Katie's graduation was a dream at best.  Well, the dream came true. . . . Katie has spoken of you admirably in our conversations.  She speaks of you as a professor, mentor, and special friend.  In tough times, she said you continued to keep her focused, working toward her goal, and helped her be a better person.  What impressed me the most however is that Katie said, "Dr. Luke is the type of person I hope to be like."  You have impacted my daughter's life in a great way, encouraging academic growth while being conscious of [her] social responsibilities.  All of the professors in the department have given Katie the platform for the next step in her life. . . To graduate is one thing, but assisting Katie to grasp for intellectual and social capital is another.  I am forever grateful to Ball State and the Department of Modern Languages.

All of us have spent a lot of time thinking about what it takes for this university to deliver a world-class education.  That is important, but it can make it easy to miss the forest for the trees.  Never underestimate the ways we touch our students' lives.  The impact of our work is very real and it lasts a lifetime.

These students are why we focus time and effort on remaining relevant and distinctive.  The work we do here is important and the impact we have is far reaching.  We must constantly adapt to new challenges to ensure that our ability to make a difference is secured for years to come.  We are well on our way.  We have a vision.  We have a plan.  And it is already producing results.

As I stand before you today, I am again reminded of your passion, your creativity and your determination.  Because of your efforts and their impact, I can say with great pride that I have the privilege of leading Ball State University.  Thank you for everything that you do to make this a great university.  My best wishes for a great year!