Topics: Administrative, College of Communication Information and Media, Emerging Media

January 28, 2011

Room and board rates at Ball State will increase an average of 2.6 percent for academic year 2011-12, following their adoption by the university's Board of Trustees at its regularly scheduled Jan. 28 meeting. The board members also approved the list of winter 2010 graduates and entertained a presentation by Dean Roger Lavery about activities within the College of Communication, Information, and Media (CCIM).

Ball State offers a variety of housing and dining options for students. Cost for a standard double-occupancy room on campus next fall will range from $7,630 with the university's 10-meal per week dining plan to $8,714 with the 21-meal per week plan, said Randall Howard, vice president for business affairs and treasurer. That represents an increase of 3.25 percent over standard rates in 2010-11.

However, because many students residing on campus participate in Ball State's popular premium housing plan — which offers them a two-year guaranteed housing agreement and some additional perks — up to 1,903 potential returnees next year will face no increase in rates, Howard emphasized. As a result, the average anticipated increase is 2.6 percent.

Housing and Dining are self-sustaining units of the university and receive no taxpayer support.  As such, they are expected to generate revenue for both operational and capital improvement expenditures. The proposed increases are set as low as possible while still ensuring a balanced budget sufficient to cover anticipated operating expenses, facility maintenance expenses, student programming needs, and other costs.  The increases still leave Ball State's rates in-line with that of its peers and less than the MAC average.

Much to celebrate

With more than 2,000 undergraduates and 200 graduate students enrolled, Ball State's CCIM already is the nation's seventh largest such program. Comprised of the Departments of Communication Studies, Journalism, and Telecommunications, as well as the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, the college added the state-of-the-art David Letterman Communication and Media Building in 2007 and never looked back, Lavery told the board members.

Whether welcoming the likes of legendary newsman Ted Koppel for a Letterman Distinguished Professional Lecture and Workshop Series appearance or putting the polish to Ball State's 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th Emmy Awards received in 2010, the college has had much to celebrate since that fall four years ago, said Lavery. That includes three straight national debate team championships (2008-10) and the growing visibility of Sports Link, another Emmy-winner that recently entered an exclusive partnership to produce professional television and Web content for national distribution by Fox College Sports.

Tapping into all of that positive momentum, Lavery said, the college now looks to pour significant energy into further implementation and enhancement of the Emerging Media Journalism program, including development of an integrated, multimedia curriculum and the resulting unified media lab that brings all the components of "the new news" — text, video, audio, digital imagery, graphics and/or animation — into a production setting that reflects the multiplicity of communication skills needed in the current and constantly emerging media marketplace.