After two years working at California State University, Fresno, Melissa Ginotti thought it was time to move back to the Midwest.
Ginotti will be serving as the new director of student life and assistant vice president for student affairs effective Nov. 17.
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Her biggest goal in her new position is to form positive relationships early on to learn about what students need, she said.
“I think Ball State, [from] what I can tell, is doing a tremendous job in engaging students,” Ginotti said. “How can we build on that, go farther, go deeper? What that shapes to be, I don’t know yet. We will figure that out once I get there.”
Ginotti said she believes in finding solutions that are student-centered in a way that students want and deserve to be served.
“I’m pretty engaging and bring a fairly high level of energy to my work,” Ginotti said.
Ginotti said she has gotten a great deal of feedback welcoming her to the university.
Ginotti began her career at her alma mater, Eastern Michigan University, where she worked for 18 years. She worked in the student activities office, focusing on arts management and theater.
In college, she had planned to focus more on arts management, but she ended up in student life, where she has been for 20 years.
Her position at EMU taught her about the context of student affairs and developing students, she said.
“I also learned a lot about opportunity to take initiative and make things happen,” Ginotti said.
When Ginotti decided to transition from working at EMU to California State, it was because she thought it was time to find new challenges and gain new experience.
Ginotti was the director of student involvement at California State and immersed herself in the student union operation. She supervised student operations and student activities and collaborated both. She also helped launch Welcome Week program activities and a new-student convocation at the university.
Her relationships and family are in the Midwest, which factored into her decision to work at Ball State.
“What I was really looking for this time was to have a place where I can make a huge change as a professional, but also where I can be able to engage on a regular basis with my relationships outside of work,” Ginotti said.
Ginotti said she supports Ball State’s strategic plan and the direction the university is headed.
“I felt like, 'Wow, these folks are really making a difference,'” Ginotti said.
Lauren Berger, assistant director for student affairs, and Kari Murphy, associate director of student life, declined to comment on Ginotti's appointment.
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