By Michelle Kinsey—
MUNCIE, IN– Ball State University has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Ryan, Moser, Reilly Award for Excellence in Community Engagement Institutional Leadership award by the Engaged Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Awards Committee.
ESC awards recognize higher education institutions and their exemplary contributions to scholarship and the practice of community engaged scholarship.
“It’s an honor to be chosen by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Awards Committee for this recognition,” said Kelli Huth, associate vice president for Community Engagement at Ball State. “It wasn’t the result of a self-nomination, but an acknowledgement of Ball State’s commitment to engagement by national leaders in the field.”
Ball State was selected by the ESC committee as a finalist in May. Ball State’s Office of Community Engagement then worked quickly to compile the materials needed for submission.
“Ball State University’s ongoing commitment to deep engagement with community partners made us an ideal candidate for this award,” Ms. Huth said. “Considerations for the selection committee included the numerous resources provided to our faculty and staff, as well as evidence of the impact of engagement in our communities and for our students. The award reflects the hard work and dedication of faculty and staff campus-wide.”
Ball State is the fourth institution to receive this award, which was created in 2018. Other recipients were Ohio State University, University of Wisconsin, and Purdue University.
“We are in good company and should be proud that our work is being recognized in this way,” Ms. Huth said.
ESC President Laurie A. Van Egeren, assistant provost for university-community partnerships at Michigan State University, underscored the importance of the highly competitive awards programs.
“Higher education institutions do an enormous amount of work in collaboration with all sorts of communities, often with little recognition or support,” Ms. Van Egeren said. “These projects require a great deal of effort, negotiation, and thought to ensure that they are inclusive, mutually beneficial, and responsive to community needs. Through programs such as the ESC Excellence Awards, we honor the partnerships, knowledge, and impacts that emerge from these extraordinary initiatives committed to making meaningful changes for people and environments. Our awardees show the world the possibilities of exemplary engagement scholarship.”
The ESC will hold its Awards and Recognition Ceremony during the ESC Annual Conference Oct. 4-5, 2023, at Michigan State University. For more information about the 2023 ESC Conference, including registration, visit the ESC website.
About ESC
The Engagement Scholarship Consortium is the premier resource for higher education institutions and their faculty, staff, students, and community partners focused on promoting excellence in the scholarship and practice of engaged scholarship locally and globally.
About Ball State
Founded in 1918 and located in Muncie, Ball State University is one of Indiana’s premier universities and an economic driver for the state. Ball State’s 20,000 students come from all over Indiana, the nation, and the world. The 790-acre campus is large enough to accommodate first-rate facilities and 19 NCAA Division I sports, but our welcoming and inclusive campus is small enough to ensure the friendliness, personal attention, and access that are the hallmarks of the University. Destination 2040: Our Flight Path establishes Ball State’s ambitious goals for our second century. We Fly!
Michelle Kinsey is Communications Manager in the Office of Community Engagement at Ball State University.
