Ball State University
PAE-19: Community Sustainability Partnerships

_____Office of Student Life: Out of the 300+ student organizations housed within the Office of Student Life, Student Voluntary Services (SVS) is one of the largest such groups. _____Student Voluntary Services: Established in 1965, SVS sends more than 2,000 Ball State students into the community to serve others. These students come from all academic disciplines and majors. Some students serve through SVS to complete service-learning requirements for their classes while others sign up with us just for fun! _____Council on the Environment (COTE): COTE includes five members of the Muncie area community; they are appointed by the Provost and serve three-year terms. _____Building Better Communities: Building Better Communities provides comprehensive services to partners across Indiana by connecting them with Ball State University’s expertise and resources. We offer practical solutions to local challenges. Our experts are here to help with community, economic, and business development. Through our Building Better Communities Fellows program, teams of students work with communities, businesses, and government agencies to develop real-world solutions to real-world problems. We call this immersive learning, the hallmark of a Ball State education. Building Better Communities is Ball State’s front door to community partners seeking to benefit from our experts' scholarship and experience or our students’ knowledge, skills, talents, and energy. Examples of projects undertaken include: 1. Regional Economic Impact Workshops – June 8, 2011 Third in a series of eight, statewide workshops designed to educate local elected officials and other community leaders on how their economic development decisions impact the regional economy. A session within this workshop with a focus on sustainability included: Community Design – this session focused on creating the optimal community design to promote a greener lifestyle and overall improvement in the quality of life for residents. Number of participants to participate: 54 2. Brownsfield Workshop: Open enrollment with the EPA held at the BSU Indy Center focused on tools and resources for Brownsfield communities. The external partner: TAB – Tech Assistance for Brownsfield Communities. Internal partner: Center for Business and Econo. Number of participants served: 25. 3. Community Partner: Indiana State Department of Health (Emerging Media)-Comprehensive Cancer Control-Social Marketing: Student research and evaluation will impact the quality of life in Indiana by creating a social marketing campaign for 8th grade students about the importance of exercise in chronic disease prevention. Spring 2011 4. Community Partner: Office of Charter Schools, Ball State University (Emerging Media)-Patterns of Innovation: A New Architecture for a New Education: Students research best practices and high performance school design to develop ways to incorporate environmentally sustainable strategies into the planning and design of charter school building. A bound text of results is being published. Spring 2011 5. Community Partner: Muncie Living Healthy Task Force and Community Health Improvement of Fort Wayne-Healthy Urban Living: BSU students will build trusted relationships with leaders and community members in two underserved communities. The Whitely neighborhood in Muncie and the Hanna-Creighton neighborhood in Fort Wayne will benefit from a student-led research and community dialogue in an effort to empower these urban and impoverished areas. Spring 2011 6. Community Partner: Blackford County Y. M.C.A. (Emerging Media) The Blackford County Youth Sport, Health, and Wellness Camp-was held in Hartford City, Indiana, July 12-15th, 2010. A team of interdisciplinary Ball State students designed and executed a wellness camp for 3rd-6th graders in the Blackford County school system. Youth campers were equipped and the health and wellness knowledge they need to live a healthier lifestyle using health science, exercise social interaction and geo-caching activities for outdoor exploration. Summer 2010 7. Community Partner: Indiana State Department of Health (Emerging Media): Comprehensive Cancer Control-Social Marketing-Student research and evaluation will impact the quality of life in Indiana by creating social marketing campaign for 8th grade students about the importance of exercise in chronic disease prevention. Fall 2011 8. Community Partner: Office of Charter Schools, Ball State University (Emerging Media)-Patterns of Innovation: A New Architecture for a New Education: Students research best practices and high performance school design to develop ways to incorporate environmentally sustainable strategies into the planning and design of charter school building. A bound text of results is being published. Fall 2010. Fall 2011 9. Community Partner: Henry County Community Foundation, New Castle, IN: Partnering for Results-Students will work with community leaders in Henry County,IN in the Hometown Competitiveness Program(HTC), designed to stimulate economic and community betterment. Project objectives are designed to help of local school administrators to redevelop a student survey instrument through a Ball State Research methods course. 10. Community Partner: First Merchants Corporation (Emerging Media): Auditing Attitude—Social Media Research: How does today’s workforce absorb and internalize technological change? This class project will help to empower a local employee culture to take a step toward a paperless office and to become more tech savvy. Class participants will assess the company’s brand position and external messaging impact. 11. Community Partner: STARS/GRI Sustainability Reporting, BSU: Sustainability Reporting for BSU—This project will result in BSU’s first Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) based on sustainability report. Students will acquire experience that puts their work in par with what has become mainstream reporting among the largest 250 companies in the world. 12. Community Partner: Ball Memorial Hospital—Health and Productivity Management: Ball State students will be helping Ball Memorial Hospital develop a strategic plan for their employee wellness program. Students will initially conduct a situation analysis to understand the current context at the hospital. This activity will be followed by developing a preliminary logic mode, collecting market-based/formative research to guide decision-making, and working with employee’s to “co-produce” a planning document to guide their future efforts. CAP Projects with Community Partnerships: 1. Title: Assistance to the RedTail Conservancy- Student enrolled in NREM 201 and provided field work in nature areas and forest in support of the RTC. 2. CAP Indianapolis Center: East Washington Street Urban Design Study (Active) Client: Indy-East Asset Development Corporation: Immersive learning project for Master of Urban Design students to expore transit-oriented urban design revitalization strategies for East Washington Street. Center for Historic Preservation 1. Adaptive Reuse Study of Weller Building (active) Client: Randolph County Commissioners A preservation plan of the c.1860 ULI building,which was a school open to all students regardless of race. The plan will help guide the building’s restoration and interpretation.

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