• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, December 5, 2008

Ball State University, the alma mater of David Letterman that has been developing a reputation for advanced media studies, Thursday unveiled a major initiative designed to advance the study of emerging media and to better prepare students for careers in a rapidly changing digital economy. The program, backed by $17.7 million in funding over the next five years from a combination of institutional and private sector sources, is another in a series of commitments the Indiana state university has made to become an area of academic excellence for the media industry.

BSU, which may be best known for a century of its so-called "Middletown Studies" observing and analyzing how average Americans actually consume media, is the home of the Center for Media Design, which is likely the first American university program to spin-out a commercialized research business for the media industry, the Media Behavior Institute, in collaboration with Sequent Partners (MediaDailyNews, June 26). It also has been working on an ambitious multi-market study for the Nielsen-backed Center for Research Excellence that leverages its proprietary observation methods to understand how consumers use media. And BSU, of course, is the alma mater of its most famous media alumnus, late-night host David Letterman, in whose name it has launched a new speaker and workshop series featuring prominent industry guests such as Ted Koppel and Tom Kelley.

Like other aspects of BSU's media-related studies, the emerging media initiative will be a combination of higher education and practical application. The goal is to attract and retain key faculty steeped with knowledge and understanding of emerging media, as well as fellows from within the industry. As part of that, the program will have an Emerging Media Faculty Fellows program, which BSU will provide incentives and start-up funding for the hiring of new faculty -across the curriculum - with expertise in the study and use of emerging media. One of the first Emerging Media Faculty Fellows is Mahesh Senagala. As BSU's newly appointed Irving distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Architecture, Senagala is working at the forefront of understanding emerging media's impact on architecture.

The initiative will add a research faculty member and laboratory - BSU's first - that focuses on the relationship between emerging media and learning. An additional hire and laboratory is anticipated each of the following four years.

"A decade ago, Google wasn't even a blip on the business radar, let alone an Internet icon and a new verb in our vocabulary," stated BSU President Jo Ann M. Gora. "Five years ago, YouTube had yet to distribute its first video. And even a year ago, if we were talking about a Surface, you would have thought we were talking about the kitchen counter instead of a breakthrough user interface.

"At the rate of change we're experiencing today, 'keeping pace' is falling behind. We don't want to just help manage the changing economic landscape or merely to try to anticipate that change. We want to create it, and with this investment, we are focusing our historic strengths in emerging media on addressing the human capital and economic needs of the state. The impact should be felt in business, communications, education, public and social services, health and medicine, and many other fields."

The initiative will be led by Dave Ferguson, newly appointed associate vice president for emerging media. Ferguson also is the director of the Center for Media Design (CMD), funded by two $20 million grants from Lilly Endowment Inc. CMD is widely recognized for leadership in applied research, interdisciplinary projects in digital media design, digital content development and media use research.