Great
Expectations
ADAM UNGER
RO-ANNE ROYER ENGLE
Investing in Muncie’s Future
Preparing Citizens of the World
A
R
dam Unger, ’02, president of Muncie-based Accutech Systems, sits at the helm of a rapidly growing company. In recent years, he’s heard some well-meaning advice: “If you want that growth to continue, you need to move the company to the Indianapolis area.” His response speaks volumes. Accutech, a leading software company for the wealth management industry, recently invested $5.5 million to purchase and redevelop the former Sears Building in downtown Muncie. Employing 85 people at its new location and 30 remote workers across the country, the company has grown five-fold in the past 10 years. Unger is optimistic that growth will continue. The decision to remain in Muncie shows his confidence in the renaissance and economic viability of the area and in the bright future he envisions for his alma mater. “I believe that God puts us in places to make an impact,” he said. “There’s a fantastic talent pool right in this area for our business, and Ball State has a lot to do with that. Our decision to stay here and expand was in no small part based on Ball State’s growth and what we saw as a tremendous, forwardlooking University strategic plan.” This year, Accutech received the University’s Community Partner of the Year award for the company’s work with senior-level computer science students. “Currently, approximately 40 percent of our team has a degree from Ball State,” Unger said. “We love working with current students as interns or in other capacities so they can experience our culture firsthand and see if we might be a career match for them. That’s proved invaluable for us, both in terms of giving back and helping us grow.” Unger, who graduated from Burris Laboratory School and majored in Telecommunications at Ball State, also holds a graduate certificate in Business Administration. “Accutech runs on the singular principle of making great things happen for other people,” Unger said. “And from my time at Burris until I graduated from Ball State, that’s what so impressed me about the University, the desire to help other people succeed. “Ball State operates on our very same core principle, and I know that will never change into the future. The University will continue to provide the blueprint for fulfillment to its students, and Accutech will always know it has a tremendous talent pool right in its own backyard.” — Dan Forst, ’85
30 Summer 2021
o-Anne Royer Engle, who played a crucial role in organizing Ball State’s response to COVID-19, is grateful for online options that helped the University continue operating during the pandemic’s most challenging months. The experience also laid bare an unshakable truth for Royer Engle, vice president of Student Affairs: “If there is one thing the pandemic taught us, it’s that the residential college experience will always have a place in higher education.” Students engaging in on-campus activities gain essential soft skills that include teamwork, critical thinking, interpersonal communication, leadership, citizenship, the ability to empathize, and intercultural fluency. “For so many students, it’s through engagement outside the classroom that they figure things out about themselves. They discover their passions and interests they didn’t know they had. For some, that turns into a career.” Student Affairs supports student co-curricular engagement and fulfillment in many areas, including Housing and Residence Life, Student Life, the Multicultural Center, Student Center Programs, the Career Center, Counseling and Health Services, Disability Services, and Health Promotion and Advocacy. Since arriving at Ball State in 2000, one key question for Royer Engle has been: “Are we creating spaces and a place where people feel they belong and have a voice?” Her answer can be seen in her leadership on Inclusive Excellence, including work on several aspects of a new strategic plan guiding Ball State’s current and future efforts. Inclusive Excellence “should be our way of operating. We have a moral obligation to include Indiana residents who face challenges accessing higher education and to support them in the best ways possible.” To help fulfill that obligation, Student Affairs expanded its support for growing numbers of Black and Latinx 21st Century Scholars. It also began utilizing digital technology to identify at-risk college students early and help all students achieve fulfillment. Royer Engle sees Ball State providing even more opportunities for all students to connect with people of different backgrounds and to learn from those who hold different views. “That is what makes the residential college experience so special,” she said. “That’s what prepares our students to become citizens of the world.” — Susan DeGrane
Ball State University Alumni Magazine | WE FLY
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