By July 2005, the College of Communication, Information and Media will have lost the $20 million grant that has provided money for research, programs and the faculty that support them. With this in mind, the college looks to provide alternative sources of money.
"The most difficult parts of losing the grant are the research and projects that are dependent on the faculty who teach them," Michael Holmes, Interim Dean for the College of Communication and Information and Media, said.
He said the loss of the grant would hinder the faculty and student research and creative works. Such as "Squeakers," a film produced by Jim Shasky, a telecommunications instructor. He took a production team around the world talking with teachers and students about computer software programs.
"The grant was intended to change the way of thinking and the culture of the institution," Holmes said. "It has kindled interest in digital media and a renewed interest in Ball State as a leader in higher education."
The improved curriculum in the college has allowed for the creation of a digital media minor, he said. The interdisciplinary curriculum involves five departments and two colleges, with more than 100 students claiming it as a minor. He also said the telecommunications master's program had become dormant until it was revived by offering an emphasis in digital storytelling.
"The technology is an important resource for all students, not just in the college," Holmes said.
The grant also supports a number of contract faculty in journalism and telecommunications. Holmes said the grant brought in faculty to support the improvements to the curriculum. Contract faculty members are subject to renewal from year to year. He said some of the faculty positions that are funded by the iCommunications grant will be replaced by three tenure-track positions. The positions will staff the new demands in journalism and telecommunication courses.
"Everyone under the iCommunications grant is under the contract for the duration of the grant," Holmes said.
A distinguished professorship position will have the primary role in supporting the master's program. Also, an entry level position in telecommunications and an additional tenure-track position in journalism will be created, Holmes said. Later in the year, he hopes to find out if the college will be able to retain the contract faculty.
"We are hoping to retain as many as we are able to afford," Holmes said.
Holmes said the fact that so many faculty have benefited from the grant should be a catalyst for others to write grant proposals. He said this opportunity was encouragement to experiment with different grants outside of the university. Some new costs that come from expanding curriculum and programs have been absorbed in the regular budget, Holmes said. He said the college has looked for money with external support with grants and development.
Lori Demo, a journalism assistant professor, is part of the contract faculty provided by the grant. She said students who use the integrated media lab learn about computer programs outside of the classroom, so professors can focus on the experience in class.
"It's an exciting opportunity to look at new media and how we use it and the effect it has on people," Demo said.
The grant has provided money for a number of research projects that have been recognized nationwide. Demo, along with Mary Spillman and Larry Dailey, who are also employed through the grant, conducted a nationwide study of newspaper-television partnerships. The study surveyed editors at daily newspapers at all circulation levels about their practices of newspaper convergence.
"We knew what to do; the grant has given us the tools to do it," Demo said.
The grant also made provisions for the creation of the Center for Media Design, which is one of three programs from the iCommunications curriculum, David Ferguson, center director, said. He said iCommunications is a "synergistic" campus-wide initiative that involves every college on campus. He said students, faculty and the university reputation benefited from this grant. The projects are research in nature but are also a learning tool for students, Ferguson said.
"We have already made vast strides in digital media opportunities; this just accelerated our progress," he said.
Ferguson came to the university a year and a half into the use of the grant. He helped determine the expenditures for the proposals to the Lilly Foundation. He said more the grant initiated more than 100 projects across campus, such as the telecommunications department's "Squeakers" film. Some of the projects created by faculty and students have been matched by external grants.
"It is an ongoing exercise for research oriented faculty, they do it as a matter of course," he said.
He said this type of money used for research ebbs and flows. Some additional funding has been identified and plans to work with partnership cooperation, working with industry as clients, and providing testing and assessments with projects for a fee.
"Streams of income for support are in use," Ferguson said. "Throughout the duration of the grant, we will continue to move forward and continue to exist," he said.
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