GRADUATE SCHOOL GAZETTE
Graduate School News & Updates
A WORD FROM OUR DEAN
IT’S AN EXCITING TIME TO BE A GRADUATE STUDENT AT BALL STATE
When we last reached out to you in the Fall 2024 term, we were full of the excitement of a new academic year as we welcomed 1,528 new graduate students to Ball State This incoming group became part of the largest graduate enrollment in the history of our university, with nearly 6,000 graduate students enrolled this academic year.
Now, as we are quickly moving through our Spring 2025 semester, we are getting to my favorite time of the year for the Graduate School, when we highlight and celebrate the amazing achievements of our students One of my favorite events of the year, the Three Minute Thesis competition, took place throughout the month, with the finalists presenting at our featured event on February 20 Nothing highlights the fantastic work of our students more than hearing them present an overview of their capstone research projects in a three-minute format with one PowerPoint slide Our students’ dedication and enthusiasm for their research is infectious and highlights how our graduate education community is fueling the research mission of Ball State
One Ball State Day is fast approaching! Make plans to support the Graduate School Research Fund!
Later in the year in April, we will celebrate our students’ accomplishments at our annual Recognition Ceremony, where we will announce the winners of all of our major teaching and research awards for graduate students as well as the second group of awardees for our new Graduate School Capstone Completion Summer Fellowship These fellowships are made possible by donors to the Graduate School and directly support students heading into their final year of graduate school to help them complete their dissertations, theses, and creative projects in a timely manner
hope you enjoy reading about our students in the pages that follow. We are so proud of our graduate education community at Ball State, and we are excited by the dedication of our alumni as we continue his important work. We could not support our current students in the ways we do without our proud amily of alumni, and we thank you for your continued engagement.
Chirp chirp!
3MT Winners (left to right): Juliet Oluyale, David McFarland, Aidan Harmer, and Jennifer Stefanovski Dr. Adam Beach
3MT: THREE MINUTE THESIS
2025 WINNERS
In the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, graduate students convey the essence and importance of their master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation research in an engaging way to a non-specialist audience in just three minutes using one static PowerPoint slide Congratulations to the finalists and winners who competed in the Three-Minute Thesis Competition and many thanks to the faculty and program directors who came out to support our amazing students! Check out our Instagram for videos and pictures!
PAIRED FOR PROGRESS
Dr Somanita Kheang (Assistant Professor of Educational Studies) and Innocent Ugochukwu (Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education Master’s Student) are working on a research project focused on immigrant experiences in ESL classes in local Midwest churches. According to Innocent, “This project will be a valuable learning experience for me, and I am grateful for the mentorship and guidance from Dr Kheang ” Dr Kheang is excited to help Innocent through the research project, which will prepare him for doctoral school and, in the long term, help Innocent reach his goal of becoming a faculty member
First Place:
David McFarland, PhD in Environmental Science
Second Place:
Aidan Harmer, MS in Kinesiology
Third Place:
Jennifer Stefanovski, PhD in Counseling Psychology
People’s Choice:
Juliet Oluyale, MA in Architecture
PATHWAYS MENTORING PROGRAM PROVIDES PATH FOR SUCCESS
The Pathways Project is a Graduate School initiative for students, faculty, and staff designed to foster equity and mentoring in graduate education at Ball State University The Pathways Project features three distinct programs:
The Pathways Mentoring Program - for undergraduate and graduate students interested in collaborating with a faculty/staff mentor.
The Pathways Undergraduate Research Fellowship- for undergraduate students interested in research and scholarly experiences through the support of a faculty mentor.
The Action Research Collective - for graduate students interested in conducting research
At publication, 149 undergraduate and graduate students have applied to be Pathways mentees with an 86% placement rate with a faculty, staff, or alumni mentor
Notable Accomplishments:
Benjamin Konnor’s mentor, Dr. Megumi Hamada, helped him identify professional goals and the necessary steps to help achieve them.
Ayrice Rice’s mentor, Dr Cynthia Smith, introduced her to a new singing technique that will help her as a voice teacher
Mentor, Megan Jessup, helped Aubree Ellis get a spot in the Personality and Psychopathology Lab
Benjamin Kwasi Gyamfi’s mentor, Dr Firoz Khan, helped him prepare to present at the 2024 Annual Civic AI Symposium.
Tavyn Smith is excited to return to Ball State and work alongside her mentor, Dr Robin Phelps-Ward
Nisha Rana Magar’s mentor, JP Hall, is helping her through the research process.
GRADUATE STUDENTS DOING INCREDIBLE WORK
Recently, the Graduate School put out a call to advisors, program directors, and faculty to share the amazing work our students are doing We had an overwhelming response and are excited to highlight students here and on our Graduate School blog!
Dr. VJ Rubenstein shared that student Emmanuel Akoto (Biology) is a research assistant and is teaching an introductory biology lab class He is making fantastic progress on his thesis research project, which will very likely result in a peerreviewed publication On top of his primary project, classes, and teaching, he has assisted the lab in two other projects, resulting in two peer-reviewed publications in Molecular Biology of the Cell. For this most recent paper, Emmanuel completed the necessary experiments to submit a paper in October. “It was favorably reviewed but required revisions and additional experiments. Emmanuel handled all of the revisions including completing many experiments over the holiday break Based on his outstanding efforts and contributions, we resubmitted the paper, with Emmanuel as first author of the paper The paper was officially accepted and published online!” ***
Dr. Paul Venturelli shared that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IN DNR) is funding Josh Hrabowski (Environmental Science) to apply market segments to fishing license sale data for Indiana The idea behind market segments is that the overall market that buys fishing licenses is actually made up of many market segments Josh is identifying the most important market segments to address the loss through targeted marketing and ensuring that they are serving their core markets well. The IN DNR is also funding Josh to use data from a popular app to save the state money. Josh is identifying lakes and years for which there is enough app data to generate the same information as a survey, but for much less money
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Christine Rhine shared that student Lauren Shank (Urban Planning) accepted a job as a planner in her hometown, Fort Wayne Lauren came to BSU with undergraduate experience in sociology and anthropology and is a superb example of blending undergrad study with a master's degree that provides a solid career pathway Lauren is a great reader and thinker, and she is able to connect this strength with the practical work of professional planning Shank has a deep interest in understanding and explaining the lived experiences of neighborhood residents, while considering how planning can help serve their interests and needs. Her qualities as a student will make her a successful neighborhood planner in her new job in the City of Fort Wayne.
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Dr. Elsayed Zahran shared that student Gbemisola Bamiduro (Environmental Science) is graduating this semester with several high-impact publications and awards
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Dr. Molly Ferguson shared that her student, Kaitlynn McShea (English), is a teacher in Indianapolis who just got a new job in Instructional Technology at Marian University while working on her doctoral exams She is running for the position of Graduate Representative in our national conference, ACIS.
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Dr. Jon Truitt sent us an article about graduate student Ethan Atterson (Fine Arts) who is researching ways for students with disabilities to conduct music and be leaders in the music industry
BLOGS & SOCIAL MEDIA
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