When soon-to-be graduates and the rest of the university community visit Butler University’s historic Hinkle Fieldhouse this weekend, they’ll be seeing double.

Butler employees built a mini Hinkle Fieldhouse playhouse, complete with entrances for Butler Blue II and Trip, that will be displayed May 10-14 in Hinkle Fieldhouse before being bid on or bought as part of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis’ charity project Play It Forward.

Butler engineer Rich Michal said building the playhouse, which stands 10 feet by 5 feet by 5 feet, was a great opportunity for Butler’s staff to get involved with a cause in the community.

“Our job as staff is also to do outreach,” Michael said. “It’s a great organization I think we all believe in and support.”

Michal said most of the supplies needed to build and decorate the playhouse were donated, so Butler’s contribution was its employees’ time.

“It’s been a labor of love,” Michal said.

Michael had the help of several other bulldogs who donated their expertise and time to the planning and execution of the project:

-Jerry Carlson, director of maintenance services

-Charlie Truax, maintenance services supervisor

-Colin Moore, architectural intern

-Karen Quattrocchi, administrative specialist

-Jonathon Kunkle, lead carpenter

-Michael Goldsmith, truckpointer

-Chris Renollet, truckpointer’s assistant

-Paul Thornton, lead locksmith

-Napoleon Watkins, locksmith

Other organizations that donated services and materials to build the Hinkle playhouse include Ratio Architects, Southeastern Supply Company, Connor Fine Painting, Fastsigns, and Folletts.

President Jim Danko has imagined some possibilities of his own for Butler University after completing his first year as the university’s 21st president—and he expects “dramatic plans” for improvement to start next year.

On the horizon for Butler, Danko said, is sorting through funding challenges, beefing up enrollment for undergraduate and graduate programs, making major investments in student facilities and dorms and encouraging strategic-thinking academic colleges.

And that’s just the beginning. Danko already is looking ahead to the Butler of 2025.

“It’s an emerging picture,” Danko said. “I do have a vision. I see this shining university on a canal.”

Fundraising
The university currently is 87 percent dependent on tuition. Generating funds through new programs, increasing the enrollment and growing the $150 million endowment pose unique challenges, but Danko said he is excited to work on them.

He said when he accepted the job, he was not naïve to the university’s financial situation, but it became more apparent once he arrived.

“The reality once you’re here is more stark than I expected,” Danko said. “Our low endowment puts us at a real disadvantage relative to the types of schools that people expect us to be like.”

Growing Enrollment
When the Board of Trustees arrives in May, a goal will be to come up with a plan for growth in the university’s enrollment, Danko said, as well as to identify new programs.

Enrollment could grow by 10 to 20 percent, he said. New programs that have been suggested include an expanded physician’s assistant program, as it currently has about 1,000 applicants for 50 spots, as well as a full-time master’s of business administration program.

“We’ve asked each of the colleges to think about a creative opportunity in their areas to help us grow,” Danko said. “It could even be a non-degree program.”

Student Life
The current Campus Master Plan identifies student housing as a top priority for improvement. Danko said he echoes the importance of making these improvements.

“We have people walking into dorms that haven’t been touched in 30 years, and there’s not even enough outlets for people to plug in the electronics they bring to campus,” Danko said. “We have fallen woefully behind other schools that have made that a priority, and it means something.”

Additional soft space and the ongoing renovations to Atherton Union are also part of Danko’s vision.

Although money isn’t exactly lying around, he said now is the time to start thinking of creative ways to afford improvements, including potentially borrowing money or working with developers who might absorb some of the cost.

Empowered Colleges
Danko said one of the most exciting parts about his job is getting the colleges and their faculty to think outside the box.

“The theme of this year was to think of programs that have not existed before,” Danko said. “One of the reasons I was brought here is to raise our standards.”

The university’s newest college, the College of Communication,
may get a boost in funding, although Danko said it is important that no college receives favoritism.

“Like any good father that’s got six children, I need to be an equal-opportunity provider,” Danko said. “But I’m not naïve to the fact that our youngest college probably needs more nourishing than the other colleges.”

Danko said the first investment was hiring the first permanent dean, Gary Edgerton, who will be coming to Butler from Old Dominion University.

Keeping the college competitive is a high priority for Danko. This includes investing in internships.

“If we’re going to do CCOM right, if we’re going to be competitive, we’re going to need to make some investments,” Danko said. “We can’t keep it status quo.”

Moving Forward
The relationships that Danko created this year both inside the Butler community, in Indianapolis and across the country with alumni have been imperative, he said.

“You need people’s support as you move forward,” Danko said. “Part of that is getting to know people on a personal level.”

As he looks forward, Danko said he’s learned many lessons during his first year, including one that other university presidents warned him about when he first started at Butler.

“You have far more demands on your time and far more requests than you can reasonably meet,” Danko said. “But I have a high energy level, so I thrive on that.”

The Butler Collegian’s next head honcho brings more than two years of Collegian editing experience, a passion for investigative journalism and a spunky sense of humor to Butler University’s national-award-winning student newspaper.

Jill McCarter, who has served as the paper’s news editor for two consecutive years, was chosen April 13 as the paper’s next editor in chief by a selection committee.

McCarter, a junior journalism major, said she is excited to lead a staff of student reporters, editors and artists as they hone their journalism skills and act as Butler’s student watchdogs.

“I’m hoping to take the paper to an even higher level than it is now,” McCarter said. “There are a lot of opportunities to build off of what we’ve put together this year and add to the legacy in a different way.”

McCarter was largely responsible for The Collegian bringing home the top honors from national, regional and statewide contests during this academic year, including five individual awards for her reporting, editing and design.

McCarter brings a wide theoretical and technical skill set to The Collegian, including five semesters of Collegian experience. She will continue to hone her journalistic skills this summer in her hometown at a reporting internship at the Evansville Courier and Press.

McCarter said she wants to expand on The Collegian’s coverage area, including adding more coverage of Butler’s student organizations and looking more closely at what goes on in each of Butler’s six academic colleges.

“I want to continue shedding light on important issues that people are talking about but don’t necessarily know all about,” McCarter said.

In January, McCarter was selected as one of 75 journalism students nationwide to participate in the Campus Coverage Project, an intensive investigative reporting training program at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Expanding The Collegian’s social media presence is also important to McCarter.

“We have to continue to engage our audience in many different ways to show that we’re there,” McCarter said. “We want to reach out beyond a once-a-week newspaper and continue the conversation online each day.”

Loni McKown has worked with McCarter both in her capacity as The Collegian’s adviser and as a professional practice faculty member in the Eugene S. Pulliam School of Journalism.

“Jill’s strengths are her passion and dedication to The Collegian,” McKown said. “She is an excellent story idea brainstormer and a strong writer.”

McKown said she anticipates a strong Collegian staff next year.

“What I’m looking forward to next year is building on the achievements of this year,” McKown said. “It’s exciting that we’re going to retain many people from this year’s staff who will bring a lot of skills and talent with them.”

Sophomore Colin Likas, the current sports editor, said he is looking forward to working with McCarter next year in his new role as print managing editor.

“I’m excited to work with Jill, because I think we will make a good leadership duo,” Likas said. “I think we can make the paper even better.”

Senior Sara Pruzin, the current print managing editor, said she is confident that McCarter has the reporting and writing skills it takes to lead The Collegian.

“She’s done a really good job of running her section this year,” Pruzin said. “I feel like as a graduating senior that I’m leaving the paper in good hands.”

McCarter said she looks forward to working with next year’s staff.

“The best part about working for The Collegian is that at the end of the day, I know I work with people who really are able to stand behind what we’ve done,” McCarter said. “I don’t know what I would do without them.”

With her new staff behind her, McCarter said she ultimately is most excited about continuing to serve the Butler community through journalism.

“The Collegian is a great liaison between different colleges, students, administrators and faculty members,” McCarter said. “We’re also a watchdog to make sure that people are held accountable, to make sure people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing.”