BOARD OF TRUSTEES COMMENTS BY GEOFFREY S. MEARNS DECEMBER 15, effort included a refreshed logo, which continues to feature our beloved

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1 BOARD OF TRUSTEES COMMENTS BY GEOFFREY S. MEARNS DECEMBER 15, 2017 Last month, we launched a more visible and vocal marketing campaign. This effort included a refreshed logo, which continues to feature our beloved Beneficence, and our new theme: WE FLY. I want to thank you, our Board, for your support of this endeavor. Our refreshed brand captures our University s remarkable ascent and the great potential we have for a bright future. I am also grateful to Kathy Wolf and her team in Marketing and Communications for their hard work and dedication to the brand s successful development and launch. The reveal of our brand on November 6 capped off what has been a very good year for our institution. In August, our University had its largest total enrollment in history, our most academically-qualified and diverse freshman class ever, new construction across campus, and our smallest tuition increase in more than 40 years. This is all wonderful news that deserves to be celebrated. And it 1

2 speaks to the momentum we have built for what promises to be an even better 2018 for Ball State for our students, faculty, staff, and alumni. As Kay Bales reported today, our preliminary application figures for Fall 2018 are on the rise. We are seeing an increase in out-of-state applicants, as well as continued increases in the diversity and academic quality of students applying to our University. This is a testament to our outstanding academic programs. It s also a reflection of the hard work of our admissions officers, as well as our strategic efforts to keep tuition affordable and to offer more financial aid to our students. We also enter the new year having successfully completed two of our four searches for senior leaders for our University. Rebecca Polcz has accepted my offer to serve as our Vice President for Government Relations. Becca presently works in the Office of the Vice President for Government Relations at Indiana University, where she earned her undergraduate and law degrees. I am impressed by her work ethic, and I am confident that she will represent our University effectively, developing legislative and policy strategies that will align with our goals and interests. Becca will join us on January 2, 2018, in time to assist us when the General Assembly convenes later next month. 2

3 In the coming weeks, we also will welcome Sue Hodges Moore as our University s first Chief Strategy Officer. I restructured a pre-existing position to focus on two principal responsibilities: assisting us with the development and successful implementation of a new strategic plan; and assisting divisions, colleges, and units with developing and successfully implementing their own individual plans, while ensuring that those plans align with the University s plan. I worked closely with Sue at Northern Kentucky University, where she presently serves as senior vice president of administration and finance. I believe her extensive experience in strategic planning, which includes substantial experience implementing those plans and using institutional research to provide actionable insight to guide their implementation and to assess their effectiveness, will enable her to make many valuable contributions to the development of our own comprehensive strategic plan. I look forward to welcoming Sue to Ball State and to working with her professionally again. I also look forward to tomorrow s Fall Commencement ceremony. Thank you for approving my recommendation that we honor Martha De Laurentiis with an honorary degree. Martha is one of our own. We are proud of her illustrious career in the entertainment industry a career during which, with her husband, Dino De Laurentiis, she has produced, executive produced, or co-produced more 3

4 than 40 films and mini-series. It is our privilege to recognize her success as an alumna, a major figure in the film industry, and a caring and effective humanitarian. It is also a privilege to recognize those graduates who have completed their degree requirements this Fall. Tomorrow we will honor more than 1,250 candidates for doctoral, master s and bachelor s degrees. I am proud of their accomplishments and offer them best wishes for their future endeavors as alumni. Finally, I am excited that our University is ending this year on a high note for our men s and women s basketball teams. Our women s team is off to its best start in history at 9-0, including wins over Vanderbilt, Butler, and Purdue. I look forward to watching them play Monday against Austin Peay in Worthen Arena. I will be back at Worthen on Tuesday evening to watch our men s team compete against North Florida. It s been an impressive month for the men, with our point guard Tayler Persons being recognized nationally for his role in the team s recent wins over Notre Dame and Valparaiso. After the Notre Dame game, a very knowledgeable person spoke about how Ball State was a really good team, a team that could win its league and be an NCAA tournament team. A team that is well coached, and one he ll be rooting for as the season progresses. That 4

5 someone was Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. And he knows a good basketball team when he sees one. It is a great time to be a Ball State basketball fan, and I am proud of our athletes who are proving both on and off the court that, at Ball State, We Fly. Go Cardinals! Thank you. 5