Gov. Mitch Daniels discovered how involved Ball State University is with the small communities throughout Indiana during his visit to campus Wednesday.
"I didn't know how long or how widespread Ball State's engagement in some of our communities had been," he said. "In our bountiful network of public and private schools, Ball State sets a great example."
Daniels said he "learned a ton" of information from a presentation given to him by faculty and staff about the Building Better Communities initiative and other programs working to bridge the gap between Ball State and small towns.
"Ball State tries to build Indiana's economy one community at a time," Ball State President Jo Ann Gora said.
Ball State students have an opportunity to help local communities while gaining hands on experience. Areas heavily involved in the initiative include the entrepreneurship program, community-based projects, Business Fellows, charter schools program and advancements in technology.
"In every one of these projects, what we try to do is help our students have an experiential learning opportunity," Gora said.
Elaine Fisher, director of the office of Building Better Communities, spoke first about the goals of the initiative and how it works to involve all seven colleges of the university.
The program's purpose, she said, is to help small communities create a plan and get started on carrying that plan out.
Michel Mounayar, associate dean of the College of Architecture and Planning, presented information about the community-based projects in CAP.
"We never go to a community unless we are invited," Mounayar said. "We use the community as a classroom. It's a life-changing experience."
Jeff Hornsby, distinguished professor of management and entrepreneurship, spoke about Community Entrepreneurship Assessments Initiatives, and Marty Dezelan, director of the office of charter schools, presented information about Ball State's 14 charter schools around the state, which enroll about 3,400 students.
O'Neal Smitherman explained the benefits of Ball State being a testing ground for wireless technology and the university's recent ranking as the "Most Unwired" college in the country.
"Ball State is one of the premiere assets +â-óGé¼" and I don't mean just education," Daniels said. "As we were just seeing illustrated, it's already playing a large role, already deeply engaged in the business life and the improvement in the quality of life in our towns to an extent even beyond what I knew."
Daniels later answered students' questions about the future of the state's economy in the combined management and urban planning classes.
"We are hard at work at creating economic activity," Daniels said. "I highly believe that if it ever gets turned around, the brain drain will solve itself."
He called Ball State's entrepreneurial students some of the best in the nation and encouraged them to work to pursue their career goals in starting economy-building businesses.
"I intend to be a little bit of a publicist, a marketing assistant for the school so more communities can take advantage," Daniels said.
For lunch on campus, Daniels ate with students in the Atrium, and he said he especially enjoyed this interaction during his first visit to the campus since becoming governor in 2004.
"One of our strengths is our universities like Ball State," he said. "We are very blessed in Indiana, so that's one thing I took away today and always have. The intelligence of young people here has given me a lot of confidence that we can build a better state over the next few years."
Leslie O'Brien, senior and University Singers company manager, said she enjoyed having an opportunity to get to know Daniels better.
"He was very interested in where we were all from, our families," she said. "He just seemed like a very family-oriented, personable guy."
Daniels was already familiar with many of the group members because they performed for his inaugural gala in downtown Indianapolis last year.
"I think that Gov. Daniels was able to meet the faces of Ball State," Danielle Frazier, junior and student trustee said. "There was a wide variety of majors sitting at the table, so it was great opportunity for him to interact with the students."
Daniels had the opportunity to see students' pride reflected through their immersion experiences. For example, students from the "Building of a Charter School" Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry 2005 Project shared their experiences with building a charter school in Marion.
"We talked a lot about immersion and students getting involved in something other than school ... and Ball State becoming involved in communities instead of just expecting communities to come to us," Frazier said.
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