Center for Information and Communication Sciences records

The idea for the Center, with its M.S. in Information & Communication Sciences degree, was formalized after extended campus discussion and cooperation between colleges and departments during the 1984 – 85 academic year. In early 1985, the legislature and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education provided both approvals and funding for the new academic entity and a building. Provost James Koch recruited Ray L. Steele as the founding director in early 1985. May 8, 1986, marked the official opening of the Center for Information & Communication Sciences at Ball State University. Five-hundred corporate, community, and academic guests heard the opening address by Arno Penzias, Nobel Laureate and vice-president of Bell Laboratories. Four months later, 34 students began pursuing the Master of Science degree in Information and Communication Sciences offered by CICS. The Center initially served an independent, interdisciplinary academic unit reporting directly to the Provost. The University Senate legitimized the unit and its status in January of 1986, and the new M.S. in ICS curriculum was approved. Departments directly working with the Center included Management (College of Business); Speech Communication; Computer Science, Journalism, and Telecommunications (College of Sciences and Humanities). In addition, a number of units such as Architecture, History, Music, Marketing, Practical and Applied Arts, Teachers College, and others were actively involved in a less formal manner. "Our goal is to turn out problem-solvers," said Ray Steele, CICS director. CICS’ first graduates found positions in business, communications, and education in a variety of technical and non-technical roles. To ensure that students get essential hands-on experience in addition to a sound economic base, CICS, through its service mission, is involved with providing satellite events for the campus and community, faculty conferences and workshops on technology, and project design and development for the campus and other organizations. One example is the development of "Teaching Environment Model-Campus of the Future" in 1988, a major partnership between AT&T and Ball State University that created an integrated voice-data-video network for faculty, staff, and student use. The project served to bolster the campus’ reputation as of one of the nation’s leading demonstration sites for technology in a university. After two years of struggling though the challenges of poor physical conditions, inadequate equipment, and no labs, in August, 1988, CICS moved into its new headquarters in the newly-completed Edmund F. Ball Communications Building. This 2 specially designed Information Age facility enabled CICS to extend its academic program, house and equip its Applied Research Institute (created in 1987), conduct its teleconferencing and special programs mission, and display the most promising information age technologies. Under a new academic administration, a decision was made in November, 1988, to move the independent Center under a traditional college structure and the faculty and interdisciplinary Center became a unit within the College of Sciences and Humanities. In 1996, CICS again found a new administrative home with the creation of the College of Communication, Information and Media. Since then, the Center has greatly expanded its research and development operations, creating, in addition to its Applied Research Institute (1987), the Human Factors Institute for User-Centered Design, Development & Deployment (HFI-UCD3), the Institute of Wireless Innovation, the Internetworking Academy, and the Software Testing Institute (2001).