About
About Us
Located in Ball State University’s Art and Journalism Building, the Journalism Workshops office provides instruction for high school and middle school students and their advisers from across the country. In addition to high school and adviser summer workshops, Ball State also hosts high school and middle school J-Days in the spring and fall, respectively. These events bring in hundreds of students from Indiana and across the Midwest
Getting Here
- For a map and directions to our campus in Muncie, Ind. click here!
- For information about where to go and where to park for our events, click here!
Hours
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Who We Are
- Brian Hayes, Director
- Megan McNames, Assistant Director
- Sarah Bergsieker and Anna Kaiser, office assistants
History
A student at our very first yearbook workshop, held July 17-30, 1966 (and called The Ball Point: First Annual Ball State University High School Yearbook Workshop) studies in the Noyer Hall lounge.
Dr. Louis Ingelhart, former chair of the Ball State University Department of Journalism, brought the summer workshops to life in 1966. After sending a survey to high school newspaper advisers and journalism teachers, the results moved Ingelhart to create the workshops as a unique experience for high school students.
One hundred and fifty-nine students from across Indiana and Kentucky attended the first workshops. Eighty-nine students participated in the yearbook workshop, which ran from July 17-30. The newspaper workshop followed, running from July 31-August 13, with 60 students in attendance.
In 1966, a workshops student glances through Life magazine for inspiration in creating a mosaic layout.
Classes offered included an Editors-In-Chief seminar, Layout and Art Editors seminar, Section Editors seminar, Copywriter seminar, News Editors and Writers seminar, and Advertising and Promotion seminar.
Word of the workshops’ high quality educational opportunities spread and in 1969 students traveled from as far as New York and Nebraska to attend.
As the workshops moved into the seventies, a greater emphasis was put on photography. Attendance continued to grow as well, surpassing 1000 students in 1978. This led to an attendance cap for future sessions, ensuring students would continue to receive close attention from their instructors.
Classes also moved into the West Quadrangle Building, the new home of the Department of Journalism. And the adviser workshop was created so high school yearbook and journalism instructors could stay atop their changing profession.
Dr. Ingelhart retired in 1983 but the summer workshops continued to grow through the nineties and into the new millennium under the guidance of Marilyn Weaver, who became the workshops director in the mid-seventies and oversaw the program for more than 20 years. In 1996, Weaver became the Department of Journalism chair. She co-wrote a proposal for the workshops that brought in $150,000 in funding.
The journalism landscape has changed drastically since Ball State began offering journalism workshops, but the Ball State summer workshops still prepare students to thrive in the future while teaching the classic skills everyone needs.
After students settled into the dorms in the summer of 1966, student staff members gave a tour of Ball State's campus.
Now housed in the Arts and Journalism building, workshoppers have access to state-of-the-art technology. Classes such as editing, design and layout, magazine journalism, sports writing and editing, digital photography, and television journalism help students take their skills to the next level. The Daily News Experience also gives them a head start applying their abilities in a real-life college newspaper setting.
Currently, Brian Hayes coordinates the summer workshops. Hayes brings to the program extensive journalism and yearbook advising experience, professional journalism experience and a drive to maintain the high standards the Ball State summer workshops are known for.
