Other executive members are executive director Ray Steele of Ball State's Center for Information and Communication Sciences; treasurer Michael Niederman of Columbia College; and secretary Scott Shamp of the University of Georgia.
Colleges and Universities participating include: Ball State University; Carnegie Mellon; Case Western Reserve University; Columbia College Chicago; Florida State University; State University of New York; Stetson University; Union University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Central Florida; University of Denver; University of Florida; University of Georgia; University of Montana; University of Warwick in England; and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Leah Snyder,
Chief Reporter
Ball State sits at the center of a new movement that aims to remove barriers among academic departments at universities all over the world.
The International Digital Media and Arts Association is an organization founded by professors from universities all over the United States and one in England on March of 2003. Their goal is to teach the understanding of digital media to educators, practitioners, scholars and organizations.
Ball State's dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media, Scott Olson, was named chairman and chief executive officer of IDMAA. Olson noticed that at Ball State different departments often use the same technologies, and if those departments would work together, they would be able to form a strong curriculum for their students.
"The reason for this association is to get professors to talk about the curriculum and the programs used," Olson said.
The group plans to teach other universities with digital media programs the development, application and understanding of digital media. They hope to set the national norms and standards for the tenure process and create targeted workshops for students and faculty.
IDMAA discussed how to evolve the digital media curriculum at a preliminary meeting held last fall at Ball State.
Just a week after the IDMAA announced its plan, 35 other colleges have contacted Olson wanting to become a part of the association. In early June, Olson plans to travel to Denver to discuss how to get these colleges started with the IDMAA President, Jeff Rutenbeck of the University of Denver.
Olson has also taken part as a co-writer of Ball State's iCommunication initiative, which was funded by the $20 million grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc.
"This is just another example of how we are using the Lilly Endowment," Olson said. "It's really exciting for Ball State to be at the heart of this revolution. We are being recognized as a digital powerhouse."
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