Tag Archives: Notre Dame

Tech Talk: Revving Up the Engine at ND

Posted on by
Reply

The University of Notre Dame is known for excellence in many things – insert your own list here. One might soon need to add entrepreneurship and innovation to that roll.

We told you earlier about last month’s IDEA Week, featuring a number of regional partners but led by the university’s IDEA Center. In the current episode of the EchoChamber podcast, we chat with Bryan Ritchie, associate provost for innovation and leader of the IDEA Center.

Before sharing a few highlights, consider this brief synopsis of his background: software industry executive, start-up founder, private equity/venture investor, 15 years of academic experience (Michigan State and Utah) before Notre Dame and consultant for Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. Navy, among others. In other words, he knows of which he speaks.

By the way, at one point Ritchie says his wife referred to the various elements of his career as “a mess.” A year later, a student termed it a “brilliant career path.” No matter, he is bringing expertise and enthusiasm to the campus, community and region.

Listen in as Ritchie describes:

  • The process that led to the creation of an expected 26 companies this academic year; previously, the high was three
  • One hundred twenty student invention disclosures in the first 60 days of the year
  • The IDEA Center closing in on a $20 million investment fund
  • Development of a broader innovation community that could compare to the likes of Provo, Utah; Boulder, Colorado; Ann Arbor, Michigan; or Madison, Wisconsin

“In the next 10 years, South Bend could be the next big data capital or the venture capital capital of the Midwest,” he shares. While money is always a factor, the “trick is to create more opportunities. We’ve tapped into a latent and stored up pool of energy around entrepreneurship.”

Listen to Ritchie and check out our new episode (out today) with Becky Skillman, former Indiana lieutenant governor and passionate advocate for south central Indiana.

Indiana Schools Earn Campus Technology Innovators Awards

Posted on by
Reply

Campus Technology, one of the top information sources for higher education news, recently presented its annual Innovators Awards. Four of the 12 national awards presented went to universities in the Hoosier state.

IT Infrastructure and Systems
Indiana University
Project: One.IU (OneCampus)
Project Lead: Eric Westfall, enterprise software architect
Vendors/technologies: Developed in-house, rSmart

Category description: IT Infrastructure and Systems (including, but not limited to): learning management systems; collaboration technologies and environments; learning space design/architecture/smart classrooms; classroom management and control systems; data security and authentication; networking; SaaS and cloud computing; telecommunications; digital repositories/digital libraries; high-performance computing; green technologies; disaster recovery and business continuity; help desk.

Student Systems and Services
Ball State University
Project: Ball State Achievements
Project Lead: Kay Bales, vice president for student affairs and dean of students
Vendors/technologies: Developed in-house

Category description: Student Systems and Services (including, but not limited to): technology for career services; advising/online advising; technology for housing; physical security and emergency planning; eTextbooks/bookstore; instructional resources and library services; recruitment/eRecruitment.

Teaching and Learning
University of Notre Dame
Project: E-Portfolios With Evidenced-Based Badges
Project Lead: G. Alex Ambrose, associate professor of the practice and associate director of e-portfolio assessment
Vendors/technologies: Credly, Digication

Category description: Teaching and Learning (including, but not limited to): learning design/instructional design; immersive technologies; social software, Web 2.0; mobile learning; teaching in the smart classroom; collaboration tools; student assessment; student ePortfolios; lecture capture; eLearning; accessibility.

Education Futurists
Ball State University
Project: The Traveler
Project Lead: Kyle Parker, senior software engineer for developing technologies
Vendors/technologies: Developed in-house

Category description: Education Futurists (including, but not limited to): visionary learning technology development; new program development; institutional reformation; trend spotters: technology and society.

STEM Jobs Becoming Larger Emphasis in Indiana

Posted on by
Reply

Hannah Rozow is the student representative on the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. An undergraduate at Indiana University in Bloomington, she is pursuing a double major in economics and political science with a minor in Spanish.

Indiana needs more workers educated in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

According to a study by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the demand for STEM jobs in Indiana will rise to 4% of the total workforce by 2018. Of those 115,570 jobs, 90% will require some postsecondary education, and 43% will require at least a bachelor’s degree. So what are colleges and universities doing about it?

Institutions across the state have launched initiatives to meet projected demand. Many of these efforts aim to meet the needs of a particular region, while some serve the state as a whole. Here are some of the projects underway in Indiana:

  • Purdue University College of Engineering introduced a plan to increase undergraduate enrollment by 10% and graduate enrollment by 25% to 30% over the next 5 years.
  • Ivy Tech Community College received a $3.1 million grant from North Central Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) to train 44,000 people of the North Central region for STEM-based careers over the next 5 years.
  • The University of Notre Dame’s Advanced Placement Training and Incentive Program in Indiana (AP-TIP IN) works to increase enrollment in AP courses – math, science and English – and increase the number of qualifying scores on AP exams at 33 Indiana public high schools.
  • In an effort to attract students at an earlier age, Ivy Tech-Northeast hosts Adventure and Imagination Summer STEM Camp for students ages 11 to 14. Similarly, Indiana University-Bloomington hosts Adventures in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math summer camp for middle school students.
  • Southwestern Indiana STEM (SwISTEM), through a partnership between the University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech-Southwest, aims to increase the number of students in STEM majors and educate those students in a hands-on, team oriented way.
  • The state funding formula for 2013-2015 includes a high-impact degree metric, meaning a portion of public research institutions’ funding will be tied to the number of STEM degrees produced.

While institutional initiatives are an integral part to increasing the number of STEM-qualified workers, their efforts are only part of the equation. Involvement from the business community is vital. By offering job-shadowing opportunities and school presentations to local students, businesses can incite student interest in STEM education at an earlier age. Additionally, businesses should partner with local colleges and universities to ensure that students graduate not only with a STEM degree but with the professional skills needed to be a good employee.

The state needs more STEM-educated workers, and if there is a collaborative effort between colleges, universities and businesses, demand will be met.

Lunch with Brinegar: The Tour Continues

Posted on by
Reply

Indiana Chamber President Kevin Brinegar is once again hitting the road as part of the statewide Lunch with Brinegar series. He will travel across the state to present information to members about major policy issues and the 2012 election. You will also learn more about Chamber offerings to ensure you are receiving the full return on your investment.

The tour kicked off May 16 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with subsequent stops in Fort Wayne and Valparaiso. Joining Brinegar is Tim Brewer, Chamber vice president of membership, with details on products and services available to you as members of the state’s largest broad-based business association.

Upcoming dates:

August 2 – West Lafayette at Purdue University, Ross-Ade Pavilion
August 16 – South Bend at the University of Notre Dame, McKenna Hall
August 28 – Evansville at the University of Evansville, William L. Ridgway University Center, Eykamp Hall

Each event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. local time. The luncheons are free to Chamber members and $25 for non-members. Register for any of the luncheons online.

Expansion Now “Front Burner” Issue for Big Ten Conference

Posted on by
Reply

How can I justify putting this post on our blog? Hmm, well it’s sort of education-related … and it’s definitely profit-related.

The Big Ten athletic conference is looking seriously at expanding to 12 teams. The last team to join was Penn State in 1990. Schools reported as top candidates to fill the current void include Rutgers, Syracuse, Missouri, Cincinnati and Louisville.

Brian Kelly’s boys in South Bend remain doubtful. The Chicago Tribune explains the rationale behind expansion:

Jim Delany never will be a contestant on "Top Chef," but the Big Ten commissioner frequently has used a cooking analogy when asked about the prospects of Big Ten expansion.

"A back-burner issue," he has called it.

Not anymore. According to a league official, the Big Ten will release a statement Tuesday saying the matter has moved to the front burner.

The first sign of change came from former Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez, who told Wisconsin’s athletic board on Friday that Delany "is going to take this year to really be more aggressive about it. I just think everybody feels [expansion] is the direction to go, coaches and administrators."

A league source on Monday cited a "growing groundswell" of support among athletic directors for expansion.

In 1990, the Big Ten became the Bigger 11 by adding Penn State. (The Nittany Lions had to wait until 1993 to vie for their first Rose Bowl.) In 1999, Notre Dame stiff-armed the league’s overtures, and that put the issue on ice.

Why is it being revisited now?

The biggest reason, as always, is the stuff that doesn’t grow on trees: money. If the league expands to 12 teams and two divisions — like the SEC, Big 12 and ACC — it would create a Big Ten title game that could be worth $5 million or more to the league. The Big Ten Network would love to televise it, and the conference has a 51 percent ownership stake in the network.

Personally, I must admit that I love the Big Ten Conference. So much so that even though I’m an Indiana man, I even root for Purdue against "outsiders." And I think the conference embodies the characteristics of many Midwesterners like myself — the competitiveness, the penchant for good sportsmanship, and the plight of being terrible at football.

So I have mixed feelings about this move (should it happen). The money would be nice, but I think mega conferences like the Big East can get so convoluted they lose their identity, so expansion should be treaded lightly. Your thoughts?

Muncie Ranks 2nd Nationally in College Town Affordability

Posted on by
Reply

If you want to live in a college town without breaking the bank, you might give Charlie Cardinal a call. Coldwell Banker released its Annual College Town Home Price Affordability Index and Muncie ranked second for the second consecutive year:

For the second year in a row, Muncie, Indiana (home of Ball State University) ranked 2nd in the nation in Coldwell Banker’s “Annual College Town Home Price Affordability Index.” Every fall, college football fans feel nostalgic for the tradition, lifestyle and spirit of their college towns as they cheer on their favorite teams. This year’s Coldwell Banker College Home Price Affordability Index comparison reveals that these school-centric areas also sport very affordable homes, in addition to the culture and economic stability associated with institutions of higher education – making them great areas in which to purchase real estate.

The 2009 Annual College Town Home Price Affordability Index released by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC provides an apples-to-apples comparison of similarly sized 2,200 SF, four-bedroom, two-and-one-a-half bathroom rooms in college markets home to the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision Schools. This year, Akron, Ohio (University of Akron) is ranked as the most affordable college town, where a typical four-bedroom home costs $121,885. Muncie, Indiana (Ball State University) took the No. 2 spot for the second consecutive year at $144,996. Ranked No. 3 was Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan) with a home price average of $148,000.

Other Indiana Division I-A Football School college towns were ranked as follows:

  • 9th Bloomington Indiana University $164,433
  • 23rd South Bend University of Notre Dame $183,938
  • 29th West Lafayette Purdue University $189,000

The top three “most expensive” college towns for the typical 2,200 SF four-bedroom home are Palo Alto, California (Stanford University) at $1,489,726; Los Angeles, California (UCLA and USC) at $1,347,125; and Boston/Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (Boston College) at $1,337,578. The top ranked “most affordable” conference in the College Town Home Price Affordability Index is the Mid American Conference with a average price of $182,322. Ball State is a member of the MAC Conference. The most expensive conference according to Index is the PAC-10 with a $747,180 average. The PAC-10 features a number of west coast schools as members.

College Rankings Off the Gridiron

Posted on by
Reply

It’s college football season. I will journey to Muncie tonight to see if Ball State can maintain momentum from last year’s glory season. IU begins its latest rebuilding in a renovated Memorial Stadium (also tonight), while Purdue and Notre Dame open up on Saturday.

No Heisman Trophy candidates (the award goes to the best player in the college game) are likely to emerge from the state schools. For those teams that do possess star individuals, the public relations machine rolls into high gear as the season evolves.

Now, I’ll get to the point. College rankings (most famously by U.S. News & World Report) are taking on the same slant, with longtime Anderson University President James Edwards noting that personal letters from colleagues and glossy magazines from marketing departments touting various college and university achievements are becoming the norm in the reputation-building game.

Edwards, in that early 2008 BizVoice higher education roundtable, deadpanned that he "developed tremendous skills as a critic of rankings until we were more highly regarded." But, like those top players or teams, high rankings are celebrated while lower evaluations are downplayed.

Getting to the point, Part II: On Wednesday, Washington Monthly magazine released its own rankings, firing away at U.S. News in the process. A press release stated in part: "Whereas U.S. News relies on crude and easily manipulated measures of money and prestige … (we) rank schools based on their contributions to society."

The three categories in the new entry:

  • Social mobility — recruiting and graduating low-income students
  • Research — producing cutting-edge scholarship and Ph.Ds
  • Service — encouraging students to give something back to their country

Top Indiana schools appear to be Notre Dame (No. 19 in the national university category) and Earlham (No. 38 among liberal arts colleges). We’d like to see your thoughts on rankings in general, as well as this latest effort.

Full rankings are available here.

On the Pitch: Indiana Stadiums on (Big) List of Possible World Cup Sites

Posted on by
Reply

If you’re like me, you’re a casual fan of soccer who gets a big kick (sorry, Monday morning is the wrong time for puns) out of watching the World Cup. USA Soccer has released a list of possible future sites, and both Lucas Oil and Notre Dame Stadiums made the list. Granted, 70 stadiums were mentioned, but it’s something to think about:

The USA Bid Committee mailed letters last week to public officials and stadium operators in metropolitan markets across the United States in an initial and important step toward preparing a formal bid to play host to the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

In all, 70 stadiums in more than 50 metropolitan markets are in consideration, ranging in market size from New York City, where the new Meadowlands Stadium will open in 2010 in nearby East Rutherford, N.J., to college town markets such as Lincoln, Neb., and Fayetteville, Ark. The outreach by U.S. Soccer and the USA Bid Committee truly represents a national campaign to welcome the return of the world’s most popular sporting event to the United States, with the comprehensive mix of metro markets and world class venues representing a chief asset of the U.S. bid.

“The United States is uniquely qualified to stage the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022 as demonstrated by the dozens of metropolitan markets with venues capable of staging World Cup matches in every respect, from the quality of their stadiums to their overall ability to accommodate thousands of fans, news media and visitors from around the world,” said Gulati. “We will soon begin discussions with officials from throughout the U.S. in the name of presenting a world class proposal to FIFA and the global soccer community.”

Gridiron Economics: Does College Football Resemble the Economy?

Posted on by
Reply

Steve Chapman of Reason Magazine waxes analytical about a perceived decline of college football, claiming its lack of defense (poor product) and gluttony of bowl games (celebration of mediocrity) has a distinct resemblance to current economic woes. His final conclusion is noteworthy as he surmises, "As the folks at Lehman Brothers and Citigroup can attest, unbridled excess can be a recipe for regret." Also, he references Purdue’s Joe Tiller in the full story, which will be fun for some of you:

Barack Obama has weighed in against the existing Bowl Championship Series as a way of determining the national title among college football’s top-tier teams. What he has failed to address are two far more grievous afflictions plaguing the game: a gross surplus of scoring and a mortifying multiplicity of bowls.

In the golden days, the game consisted of a lot of blocking and a lot of tackling. Teams marched laboriously down the field, if they moved at all. Occasionally they scored. More often they didn’t.

In those days, defense was not a dirty word. In the 1969 "game of the century" between No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Arkansas, both unbeaten, the Longhorns prevailed by 15-14, which was considered perfectly normal. In 1966, when No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 2 Michigan State battled to a 10-10 tie, the stands were not littered afterward with the corpses of fans who died of boredom…

Our forebears would have recognized this impersonation of football as a symptom of moral decline, reflecting an unwillingness to accept deprivation and a demand for instant and frequent gratification. The same phenomenon accounts for the mad proliferation of postseason bowl games.

This year, 34 of these will be played (more than double the number in 1980), creating the biggest glut this side of the housing sector. They include the EagleBank in Washington, D.C., the R+L Carriers New Orleans, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia and the Gaylord Hotels Music City.

Think of it: Half a century hence, an elderly man will dandle his grandson on his knee and regale him with stirring tales of the 2008 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl.

Ouch. Some interesting points though, although I tend to favor the higher scoring version of the game.

Moreover, since I’m an IU grad, I’d sort of tuned out on college football pretty early this year in order to focus on basketball (oooooh riiiiiight — thanks Kelvin).

Ball State, Obama and Football

Posted on by
Reply

Some family, friends and co-workers are getting sick of hearing me talk about it. Instead (or in addition to), I’ll write about it, try to come up with a way to justify it being in this space and move on — for the time being.

It is Ball State University football, the magical 11-0 season (entering Tuesday night’s regular season finale at home against Western Michigan) and where its bowl destination might be. OK, I know it’s not the Golden Domers back in their glory days, the IU hoops (see back in glory days reference, although I believe they will return to prominence in a few years under Tom Crean) or Purdue’s Rube Goldberg contest dynasty, but give us Cardinal fans a break.

Even if the Cardinals go 13-0 (a conference championship game in Detroit awaits if, and only if, a Tuesday win is recorded), the BSU faithful are looking at a return to Detroit the day after Christmas (bowl games are supposed to be a reward, aren’t they), Toronto (nothing against the Canadians, but I’m not anticipating sunny weather up north on the third day of 2009) or Mobile (better, but no New Orleans, Phoenix or south Florida).

Ball State won’t be going to one of the grander destinations because that appears reserved for Utah or Boise State, which also fall in the non-Big Boy category of college football and its allotment of "only one of you gets to come to our season-ending party."

What’s the solution? Don’t know. What’s next? Hope for three more wins, 14-0, more publicity for the university and increased alumni donations (now there’s a business angle).

Or how about this justification: president-elect Barack Obama stirred the pot the night before the election by championing a college football playoff and repeating the wish in his recent "60 Minutes" interview. If the future world leader can take time to examine the college football postseason structure, why can’t I?

Go Cardinals!