By Diane Watters, Associate Director, E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center, Ball State University—
MUNCIE, Ind.—After a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19 concerns, the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center has reopened.
The Center on Minnetrista Boulevard has been a Muncie landmark since it was built in 1907 by Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Ball. In 1975, the Ball Brothers Foundation gifted the residential property to the Ball State University Foundation with the provision that it be used by the university as a continuing education facility. The Center has had long history of offering cultural and personal enrichment programs in the areas of art, health, history, languages, literature, and science.
To honor and extend the legacy of its founders, the university used the downtime to ensure that the facility continued to fulfill Goal 2 of the university’s strategic plan, Destination 2040: Our Flight Path. One of the main focal points of Goal 2 is serving lifetime learners.
To explore the ways in which the Center could expand the university’s reach and impact related to Goal 2, a forum was held on October 28, 2020, with key community members. The participants discussed how the university could better serve the diverse needs of not only adult learners, but employers and organizations.
Key messages from the forum included:
- It is important to preserve the legacy and historical relevance of the Center and to stay true to its mission of providing lifetime educational opportunities to members of our community.
- Programming should complement, not compete with, other local lifetime learning providers.
- The Center should continue to provide a signature venue for university-sponsored events for campus and community groups and for hosting distinguished guests and honorees.
- Educational programming should be appropriate to the size and physical features of the Center.
- Re-imagining the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center provides a significant opportunity to closely collaborate with Minnetrista and other Ball family legacies.
“We at Minnetrista Museum & Gardens look forward to enhancing our collaborations with the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center to provide our community with engaging, informal learning experiences, furthering the legacy of the Ball family,” noted Betty Brewer, President & CEO of Minnetrista Museum & Gardens.
As a result of the forum, the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center Community Advisory Group was formed, which now includes the original forum participants, along with a few other key community members.
The advisory group determined that a survey was needed to identify the core functions and learning opportunities that would be best suited to the Center. The survey was emailed to former patrons and partners on March 19, 2021. The results echoed the key messages received in the initial forum and provided insight on additional programming.
A few survey highlights included:
- The Center is well suited for alumni engagement events or college specific community engagement/outreach programs.
- In terms of career/technical skills, respondents indicated that leadership skills is one of the top three workforce gaps in terms of importance, followed by analytical skills and management skills.
- Respondents also indicated that critical thinking skills is one of the top three most important workforce gaps in personal/career skills, followed by professionalism/work ethic, and communications skills.
The feedback from the forum, advisory group, and the survey helped shape the reopening plan for the Center. A variety of programs are planned this summer and fall including Introduction to Grant Writing, Marketing Your Small Business, Presenting with Confidence, Selling on eBay, Sign Language, French, Creative Collages, Needlepoint, House History 101, Celebrating the African American Women in Muncie’s History, and Preserving Family History to name a few. The full schedule can be viewed at www.bsu.edu/ebball.
For more information about the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center or to share your programming ideas, call 765-285-8975 or email ebball@bsu.edu.
