Colleges

The R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning brings together professional degree programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, interior design, and construction management alongside interdisciplinary education in historic preservation, real estate development, and urban design. Each program shares a common goal—to prepare students for leadership in sustainable environmental design and planning. Gifts to the college this year will support scholarships and programs for deserving students, including financial aid for first-year students.

Priorities

• College Travel Fund: $250,000 annually
  The College Travel Fund supports travel opportunities that are an integral part of each student’s educational journey during their time with the college and University.

• Undergraduate Scholarships: $250,000 annually
  The cost of attending college continues to be financially straining for many students, and programs within the Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning are some of the most expensive programs at Ball State. Undergraduate scholarships allow the college to offset those costs and allow the college to recruit highly qualified students out of high school.

• Capstone Faculty Program: $25,000 annually
  By recruiting world class faculty for executive in residence programs, CAP students will spend time with the best and brightest in the field. These interactions with leading experts will enhance the student experience and create memories that last a lifetime. 

• Firm in Residence: $500,000 endowment 
  CAP students already have opportunities to spend time working directly with the best firms populated by our outstanding alums. Support for the firm in residence program will cut student costs for participation as well as ensure every student has access to this unique opportunity. 

To advance the Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

CCIM students are nimble, critical thinkers with a strong work ethic and exceptional skills—characteristics formed from layers of real-world, entrepreneurial experiences paired with rigorous instruction in technology-rich environments. Among the nation’s top communications programs, CCIM houses the departments of Communications Studies, Journalism, Telecommunications, and the Center for Information and Communications Sciences. Your gift can support scholarships for deserving students, supplement travel and recruitment for CCIM’s award-winning forensics team, and fuel operations of the cutting-edge Unified Media Lab.

Priorities

• Day One Scholarships: Putting Your Education to Work
  Day One scholarships fund high-impact experiences for students. From Day One, CCIM invites all students to engage in high-impact learning experiences. Day One scholarships provide financial support to empower hard-working, driven students with financial need to engage in high-impact experiences, such as completing an internship, engaging in immersive learning, or studying abroad. These experiences ensure our students are Day One ready for their next job or experience.

• Empower Minority Media Educators and Professionals
  Your support of the Emerging Media Minority Scholars Program empowers students from underrepresented groups to assume leadership roles in media education—ensuring the next generation of storytellers and stories reflect the diverse and interconnected world in which we live. Your support of this program is a direct investment in bright, deserving students who are eager to pursue graduate study. Your gift makes a difference in the lives of these future media leaders.

• Elevate Sports Link to Global Leaders
  Ball State Sports Link students have become the students to watch and hire. This preeminent student-run immersive learning experience creates multiplatform sports media content for local, regional, and national media outlets. When you direct your gift towards these scholarships, student activities, and transatlantic cultural experiences, you are investing in students who are the national—and now global—leaders.

• Spark Meaningful Dialogue: Forensics Team Fund
  Ball State’s Communication Studies competitive forensics program is comprised of a debate and speech team. Students who have the opportunity to participate on these state- and nationally recognized teams build the communication skills that they will need in today’s rich and diverse communication environments. The practice and travel schedule is intense, but the awards students win every year allow them to feel confident in their skills and their ability to impact the world after graduation. Your support funds student travel costs, including transportation, food, and housing so students are ready to compete—and win.

• Innovate Leadership in Technology-Rich Fields: CICS
  Our fast-paced, globally-connected world requires innovative, thoughtful leaders to guide and develop secure and progressive business practices and technologies for the future. We apply original thinking within technology-rich facilities to achieve results for industry leaders. This relevant, hands-on approach draws national attention and builds lasting professional connections. Your support helps the program attract top graduate students driven to make a lasting impact on our world and advance the mission of the college.

To advance the College of Communication, Information, and Media and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

Students in the College of Fine Arts believe in the power of expression, the beauty of interpretation, and the possibilities of material. Professionally-connected faculty artists nurture each student’s creativity, curiosity, and collaborative skills through individualized training that challenges, motivates, and inspires. Our nationally-recognized programs prepare students to be thinkers, responsible citizens, and motivated artists, driven to succeed in competitive industries. Gifts will directly benefit students through need and talent-based scholarships. Gifts can also support and establish professorships that draw industry leaders to campus.

Priorities

• Theatre and Dance Complex
  In order to further unify the Department of Theatre and Dance, a new complex would move numerous classrooms, programs, and performance spaces into one building. Currently scattered across campus in multiple buildings, this joint complex would give the students appropriate spaces to rehearse, learn together, and help the department continue to grow together. Students would learn in a multi-disciplinary space, further instilling real-world experience within them.

• Student Scholarships
  • School of Art Scholarships
  • School of Music Student Scholarships
  • Department of Theatre and Dance Scholarships

Scholarships draw top students from across the nation and help these deserving, driven students achieve their dreams—forever grateful for your support of their passionate purpose. Nurturing a student’s creativity is a lasting investment in their life, the lives of those they inspire, and in the arts as a whole.

• Student Travel Fund
  The Student Travel Fund supports travel to shows, conferences, showcases, and various events across the nation. Giving our students the chance to experience, participate, and present at these activities allows them to learn not only from Ball State but from renowned professionals in their industries throughout their entire college experience.

• Distinguished Professorships
  • School of Art Distinguished Professorship
  • School of Music Distinguished Professorship
  • Department of Theatre and Dance Distinguished Professorship
  • David Owsley Museum of Art Curator/Professorship

Competitive professorships attract leading artists and educators, who enhance the reputation and reach of our programs, broaden our networks, and increase our exposure on the national scene. Our professors foster lasting relationships with students and develop challenging curriculum and innovative programs that draw top students and outfit them with the training and perspective needed to succeed. The joint curator/professorship will enhance teaching, research, and academic work by facilitating firsthand experiences between students and original works of art in the museum’s collection and special exhibits.

• School Of Music Naming
  Ball State’s School of Music is an academically and artistically rigorous program that presents more than 250 concerts, recitals, master classes, and lectures throughout the year. Our students perform with award-winning ensembles and develop creative recording engineering and professional songwriting skills. Our students prepare to teach music in a variety of settings, and compose music for a variety of performers and media. There is an opportunity for the school to be named in honor of a person, family, or organization that values meaningful arts education and performance.

To advance the College of Fine Arts and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

Launched in 2016 and housed within the $62.5 million state-of-the-art Health Professions Building, the College of Health supports interdisciplinary learning that integrates expertise and discovery across seven health-related disciplines: counseling psychology, health science, kinesiology, nutrition/dietetics, nursing, speech pathology and audiology, and social work. Gifts to the college will elevate the reach and reputation of our programs, support innovative instruction, and bolster external partnerships that prepare students to adapt and excel in demanding roles. Naming opportunities are available.

Priorities

• Student and Faculty Travel Fund
  College of Health faculty and staff greatly benefit from educational conferences and workshops which promote learning, networking, and work sharing with industry peers. A Student and Faculty Travel Fund gives those who are interested, but lack funding, the chance to spread their wings and take advantage of these stimulating growth opportunities. 

• Equipment/Maintenance Fund
  The Health Professions Building houses cutting-edge simulation and clinical equipment for many areas including speech pathology and audiology, athletic training, and the Healthy Lifestyle Center. An expendable and endowed Equipment and Maintenance Fund safeguards this expensive state-funded equipment, assuring these high-tech teaching tools remain state-of-the-art for years to come. 

• Distinguished Lecture Series
  A College of Health Distinguished Lecture Series Fund will broaden the educational experience for students, faculty, and our community by bringing influential, interdisciplinary speakers to campus to highlight industry trends, topics, and thought-provoking ideas.

• Named Spaces
  As the Ball State College of Health building has shifted from an idea to a reality, many spaces within the building have emerged, fresh and new, for students to cultivate from empty rooms into learning environments with endless possibilities. Space naming opportunities will make this cultivation possible, as funding goes towards each department’s upkeep, staffing, and daily operations within the clinics and classrooms. Fostering one of these named space opportunities will directly impact the quality of education each student, who steps within your named space, will receive for generations.

• Graduate Assistantships
  Hiring graduate assistants is a win-win. These students are not only crucial for help with our research, but this work also enhances their education by offering hands-on experience which elevates their knowledge, expertise, and involvement in the industry. Stipends are needed for MA and DOC level students within all disciplines.

To advance the College of Health and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

Students in the College of Sciences and Humanities explore cultural and scientific truths that advance our world. The College is the heart of liberal arts education and the university’s largest college, with 17 departments that span the humanities; the natural, mathematical, and computer sciences; and the social sciences. Your gift can help alleviate financial burdens for deserving students eager to participate in competitions, community projects, and conferences. Your support will also fuel professional development for faculty, supplement community outreach, supply leading equipment, and draw top thought-leaders to engage and inspire students.

Priorities

• Scientific Equipment Acquisition Endowment: $1 Million
  Ball State prides itself on exposing undergraduates, as well as graduate students, to the latest scientific and computing equipment. We want them to develop “good hands,” in the lab and a confident ability to use the latest techniques and technology to solve problems and to create products and services. We also share. Users from different classes, laboratories, even departments, share the same equipment. This promotes an appreciation for the cost of equipment, but also permits an awareness of the relationship among disciplines, as they tackle related aspects of the same questions.

• Undergraduate Student Scholarship Fund: $250,000
  In addition to providing outstanding programs, taught by high quality faculty, passionate about their disciplines, Ball State needs scholarship funding to attract and retain to timely graduation talented students, many of whom lack the resources to fund their education. Financial accessibility ensures that Ball State will nurture the creative and entrepreneurial spirit of the next generation of students.

• Otis Bowen Center for Public Affairs: $100,000
  Invest in this critical Indiana resource, which serves the state through applied research in public policy, professional education for public servants, and civic education that inspires citizen involvement. Your support will ensure continuation of the center’s nationally recognized programs to advance civic literacy, community engagement, public service, and nonpartisan government research.

• Geographic Information Systems Program fund: $50,000
  Whether you are locating a police precinct, designing a legislative district, or following racial or religious diaspora, GIS is a key tool to analyze and display the geographical distribution of variables with a spatial component. A diverse group of disciplines all benefit from an understanding of the spatial distribution of relevant variables. Investment in this program can yield manifold benefits across the campus and stimulate beneficial collaborations in the creation of new knowledge, as well as in the perfection of marketable skills.

• Planetarium Show Production Support Fund: $100,000
  With the new Charles Brown Planetarium and the conversion of the old planetarium to a Full Dome Media site, we have the opportunity to be national leaders in planetarium show production (student and faculty partnerships). However, we are underfunded and need to increase our support for the planetarium, particularly in helping with staffing issues.

• Planetarium Show Production Support Fund: $100,000
  With the new Charles Brown Planetarium and the conversion of the old planetarium to a Full Dome Media site, we have the opportunity to be national leaders in planetarium show production (student and faculty partnerships). However, we are underfunded and need to increase our support for the planetarium, particularly in helping with staffing issues.

• Environmental Sciences Program Fund: $100,000
  The Environmental Sciences Program has brought together existing expertise to capitalize on our early successes. Our inquiries all reflect 21st Century concerns. We have a critical mass of talent on campus that needs to be supported with instrumentation, post-doctoral fellowships, and graduate assistants, as well as teaching/research space commensurate with a combined field/experimental research agenda.

To advance the College of Sciences and Humanities and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

The Honors College focuses on nurturing informed citizens, critical thinkers, and responsible leaders. Students collaborate with faculty mentors to develop individualized degree programs. Junior peer mentors guide first-year students. Seniors present capstone projects. Gifts to Honors College can directly benefit dedicated, deserving students. Support will expand scholarship offerings and alleviate financial burdens for travel to competitions, projects, and conferences. Another focus is developing professorships that will draw and retain leading faculty experts driven to elevate the national reach and reputation of our most influential programs.

Primary Priorities

• Honors College Scholarships for Field Experiences (need based) - $500,000
  Studying afield, whether domestic or abroad, can be a powerful, enriching experience for Honors College students. This need based scholarship will enable current Honors College students the opportunity to participate in such an experience through the generous support of alumni who participated in such a study experience and others who recognize the impact of such an opportunity. This endowed fund would annually support ten to twenty students at $1,000 to $2,000 per award.
• Honors College Scholarships for Transfer Students - $500,000
  Students transferring to Ball State from another school represent an increasing proportion of our undergraduate population. The Honors College must ensure that these students are recruited and retained. We currently have no scholarship tools specifically allocated for this purpose. The proposed scholarship would equip us to target and recruit students with high potential for success in a manner similar to our current Whitinger Scholars program. This endowed fund would annually provide half tuition and fees (approximately $6,000) for an exceptional transfer student, which would be renewable for that student for three years.
• Named Honors Faculty Fellowship - $500,000
  Named Honors Faculty Fellowships would strengthen the educational experience for students across all disciplines in Honors College. The Faculty Fellowship would last for two years where the faculty member would receive funding to engage in a unique program, class, or project with students in Honors College. This endowed fund would provide four faculty members with $5,000 in resources per year for two years to engage their students in a new and unique program, class, or project.
• Honors Distinguished Professor - $350,000
  As the second professorship dedicated for Honors College, this faculty member would deepen connections for students in the Honors College. This position would create campus-wide collaboration and recognition advancing a meaningful honors curriculum, much like the Reed D. Voran Honors Distinguished Professor of Humanities. This endowed fund would provide $15,750 annually to support a distinguished professor in Honors College.
• The James S. Ruebel Honors Fellowships for International and Innovative Experiences - $400,000
  We have students passionate and poised to transform knowledge, analysis, and ideas into innovative action that will have a direct benefit on the Honors College, Ball State University, our local community, and beyond. These Fellowships will empower two groups: 1) exceptional students poised for an impactful international experience; and 2) exceptional students poised to establish a new innovative program or project that will have a direct benefit on a local community.

Pledged and received gifts will fund the first Ruebel Fellow in the 2018-19 Academic Year. When fully funded, each year six competitively selected fellows would receive substantial support ($3000 each) toward a distinctive international experience, a distinctive innovative community experience, or perhaps a distinctive experience that combines both elements. To our knowledge, such fusing of innovative exploration and impact provides an opportunity unique amongst our sister honors programs and colleges.

Secondary Priorities

• Junior and Senior Scholarships for Professional Conference Presentations - $225,000
  These scholarships for students in their junior and senior year would reward students for making continuous progress towards completing their Honors Diploma and would provide students opportunities to resent original work at local, regional, and national conferences, further enhancing their research and scholarly activity as undergraduate students. This endowed fund would annually provide at least 10 students with awards at $1,000 per award.
• Completion Scholarships for Thesis Expenses - $175,000
  Completing a thesis may require students to take on additional costs (travel, supplies, equipment, etc.) to complete their project. This award would help defray those costs thus encouraging students to complete the thesis requirement and expand the scope of their projects. This endowed fund would annually provide at least 10 students with awards of up to $750 each for assistance in completing their thesis work.
• Honors First-Year Mentored Research Program - $125,000
  Faculty members will mentor Honors College second-semester students in research methods and processes. This endowed fund will provide roughly $5,000 per year to supplement costs (equipment, materials, etc.) for various departments associated with the mentored research.
• Peer Mentoring Program - $50,000
  This fund would strengthen the Peer Mentoring program providing mentors with resources to engage their mentees in purposeful support, guidance, and personal development activities outside of the classroom. While currently not funded formally, this fund would provide roughly $2,250 per year to support the activities of the peer mentors.
• Honors Undergraduate Associates - $50,000
  This fund would increase leadership opportunities for Honors College students by establishing the Honors Undergraduate Associates who would be tasked with training and supporting all peer mentors and reviewing the content of HONR 100 and HONR 300. This fund would provide support to four undergraduate associates at $500 per year.
• Outstanding Honors First-Year Award - $100,000
  This award recognizes first-year students who have been active and made recognizable contributions in the life of Honors College, including the honors curriculum. This fund would annually provide at least nine awards at $500 per award.

Honors College Champions

• Tim Berg - Assistant Professor of Honors Humanities
• Don Gilman – Professor of French, Emeritus
• Tony and Joanne Edmonds – Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus/Assistant Dean of Honors College, Emerita

To advance the Honors College and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

For more than 50 years, the Miller College of Business has been molding students into adaptable, critical thinkers and responsible, informed citizens. A nationally, top-ranked business school, the Miller College of Business is known for its student-centered, professionally-connected approach. Gifts to the college will support scholarships and internships for deserving students.

Priorities

• Named Faculty Scholar: $150,000 each
  To provide the best education possible to our students, we require the very best in faculty. To recruit the country’s leading scholars to our campus and to retain our finest faculty, we are establishing a set of named scholars in each of the six academic departments. These individuals will be recognized for their excellence in knowledge discovery and the sharing of that scholarship to students in their classes and seminars.

• Dean’s Innovation Fund
  This is a new endeavor that will provide funding for innovation across the range of college activities. Investments to this fund will be focused on supporting innovation in the curriculum, creativity in faculty discovery and scholarship, and new ways for the Miller College of Business to engage with the civic, business, and non-profit communities. This fund will serve
  as a venture capitalist to launch new initiatives in the college that will enhance student success, assist in the professional development of high performing faculty, and strengthen our ability to serve our community of supporters.

• Student International and Internship Support
  Real world experience and global exposure distinguish a Miller College of Business education. Internships as well as study abroad opportunities are vital for students to gain the skills and worldwide experiences they need to achieve professional success in today’s business environment. Supporting student internships and global engagement experiences is an investment in students’ lives — supporting the experiences that shape their capabilities and potential for career accomplishment.

• Named Spaces: $25,000+
  During the summer of 2018, the first floor of the Miller College of Business was renovated. These new spaces within the building emerge, fresh and new, as student learning environments with endless possibilities. Space naming opportunities will provide funding for daily operations within Miller College. Fostering one of these name space opportunities will directly impact the quality of education each student will receive for generations to come.

• Centers of Excellence
  The various Miller College of Business academic centers are a vital part of our students’ education. Our centers are intensive tools that allow our students real-world opportunities that strengthen the college experience, and helps make them more fully prepared for life after Ball State. Funds to these centers, below, support collaboration with corporate and external partners, internships, scholarships, software maintenance, and funding for local and national competitions.
  • Entrepreneurship Center
  • Professional Selling and Sales Management Center
  • Center for the Advancement of Digital Marketing and Analytics
  • Risk Management and Insurance

To advance the Miller College of Business and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.

Ball State’s Teachers College, which consistently ranks among the best in the nation, prepares professionals and leaders committed to educating and supporting our future. Top-notch classroom training is paired with meaningful experiential learning and critical research opportunities for the next generation of counselors, psychologists, technologists, administrators, researchers, and those involved in curriculum development and special education.

Priorities

• Student Support (Scholarships and Student Research)
  Scholarships attract today’s brightest and most creative students driven to make an impact on the lives of their students and communities for years to come. The opportunity to engage in meaningful undergraduate and graduate research also draws top students to our programs. Support of scholarships and student research helps us to recruit bright and curious students
  from the nation’s high schools, colleges, and universities. It can also inspire current scholars and professionals to explore and promote the best methods of educating the next generation.

• Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder
  By working to elevate the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder to a nationally recognized program, we can help close critical gaps in services for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) so that these daughters and sons can live productive and fulfilling lives. Your investment in the center continues operations and research in the areas of parent and teacher training, research training for professionals and students, workforce development, employment assessment, and a summer camp.

• The Alliance for Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation
  This national hub for innovation—housed within the Department of Elementary Education—provides research, consultation, and training to faculty, universities, schools, and communities seeking to develop or refine teacher preparation programs to be more culturally relevant and community engaged. Funds raised will establish an endowment to support the Alliance’s mission to educate and empower teachers and communities throughout the world.

• Dean’s Fund for Excellence
  Support of this fund promotes excellence in teaching, scholarship, research, and service. The fund fuels community outreach efforts, student scholarships, student and faculty research, educational technology, educational policy modifications, and promotion of the college both nationally and internationally.

• Teachers College Diversity Scholarship
  It is our shared responsibility to prepare professionals who recognize, reflect, and embrace the diversity of a global community. We are committed to recruiting, supporting and retaining a diverse community of students dedicated to inclusivity, equity, and educational opportunities for all. Investment in this fund allows Teachers College to pursue a core component of our mission.

• Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities
  The academy is a distinct two-year, public residential high school for 300 of the state’s brightest juniors and seniors. Driven to ensure access, the institution strives to keep costs low, but the combination of fees for housing, technology, and dual credit are increasingly burdensome for some Hoosier families. Contributions will directly support student aid and fund enriching educational experiences abroad and international student exchanges, as well as technology updates.

• Burris Laboratory School
  The Teachers College established Burris in 1929 to provide valuable teaching and learning experiences for Ball State students while steadfastly guiding each K-12 learner toward realization of his or her full potential. Your support will enhance Burris’ exemplary educational experience, including the areas of technology, the arts, athletics, and the library, while helping to alleviate financial burdens of students in need.

To advance Teachers College and support deserving students, complete our online giving form or explore your other options.