June 10, 2002
Walker named AU president
Trustees approve tuition hike
AU upgrading cooling, heating
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June 10, 2002 |
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| Headlines Walker named AU president Trustees approve tuition hike AU upgrading cooling, heating |
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Trustees approve Walker as AU's 16th President
The Auburn University Board of Trustees appointed William F. Walker as the university's 16th president on June 3.
Walker, 64, whose appointment the Board of Trustees approved with a unanimous decision, had been serving as interim president of AU since Feb. 12, 2001.
"I believe this will put Auburn University in a stronger position as we address so many important issues in the next two to three years," AU Board of Trustees President Pro Tempore W. James Samford Jr., said in nominating Walker. "It is in the best interest of Auburn University to provide it with a president with the authority Š and be a visible point of strength to the outside."
The resolution praised Walker for his "demonstrated Š strength, vision and commitment necessary to address the immediate challenges," adding that the interim status "detracts from both his and Auburn University's effectiveness in addressing these challenges."
The resolution also called for forming a presidential search committee to be established next year and a national presidential search to begin in 2004.
The decision to name Walker president was not without controversy on campus, with the University Senate voting 40-21 May 29 against dropping the interim title. Senate Chair Barbara Struempler said the Senate, which is scheduled to meet Tuesday, June 11, will address the board's decision at the meeting.
Since 1988, Walker has held various positions at AU, including professor of mechanical engineering, dean of AU's College of Engineering and Provost. In addition, he has taught at Rice University.
A native Texan, Walker earned degrees from Arlington State College, the University of Texas at Austin and Oklahoma State University.
In other board business, Samford announced the formation of a trustee committee to evaluate adding a faculty member to serve ex-officio on the Board of Trustees. Earlon C. McWhorter was appointed chair of the committee, and other board members serving include: Charles Glover, Robert E. Lowder, James W. Rane, Ed Richardson and Paul Spina.
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Making improvements
Workers install a pipe near the intersection of Thach Avenue and Duncan Drive as part of improvements to AU's heating and cooling systems by mid-2003. The university is replacing individual heating and cooling systems in many campus buildings.
AU upgrading cooling, heating on campus
A major construction program on campus is virtually unseen by students and faculty, but they will feel the difference. The university is on course to complete $24 million in heating and cooling improvements by mid 2003.
"Auburn is replacing obsolete and, in many cases, worn-out mid-20th century systems with technologies designed for the 21st century," said Christine Curtis, associate provost for facilities.
Although those projects lack the visibility of large buildings, virtually every student and faculty member on campus will be affected.
"People don't think about infrastructure until they need it and it is not there; then it becomes a major concern," Curtis said. "These improvements will ensure that utility services are present without interruption. We want to ensure that Auburn faculty and students attend classes and conduct research without having to suffer through breakdowns in heating, cooling or other infrastructure systems."
Curtis recalled that failures in antiquated building cooling systems had harmed some of her past research in Chemical Engineering. In other cases, random equipment failures in some buildings had subjected classrooms of students to broiling heat in warm months and chilling temperatures in the winter.
The university is making improvements in all three parts of the delivery system. The first two, which are included in the $24 million program, involve central plants to generate the heating and cooling and the lines to circulate the heat and air conditioning throughout campus. The third element, handled on a building-by-building basis, involves the internal lines and heating and cooling systems in those buildings. Many newer or recently renovated buildings have modern delivery systems, and others are getting them during current or planned renovations.
The university is replacing individual heating and cooling systems in many campus buildings with air conditioning and heat generated by hot water from central plants that circulate heat and cooling through underground pipes.
Auburn has far more experience in centralized cooling and heating than some other universities, Curtis said. In the 1980s, AU moved toward circulating heating and cooling on a large scale through lines that connected buildings in several parts of campus. Curtis credits Stanley Drake, former associate vice president for facilities, and others in the Facilities Division with launching that effort.
Redundancy will be a major advantage of the new system, said Randy Moon, director of maintenance and operations for the Facilities Division. Chilled Water Plant II, north of Leach Science Center, will double in size, and the Board of Trustees has approved construction of a hot water plant southwest of the Hill Dorms. Chilled Water Plant I is west of Wilmore Engineering Labs. The College of Veterinary Medicine also has a chilled water plant and will have a new hot water plant.
Each chilled water plant has or will have multiple cooling generators, and all will be hooked to underground pipes that will connect most campus buildings. If a unit fails or goes offline for maintenance, other units will maintain the flow of cooling air.
"Buildings that have their own units have to do without air conditioning when the unit fails or you have to do maintenance," Moon said. "With the redundancy built into this system, that should no longer be a problem."
Auburn will also construct a hot water plant on the main campus and one at the veterinary college to replace at least some of the heat now being generated by boilers that are more than 40 years old. The oldest boilers will be retired. The improvements are financed by a university bond issue, deferred-maintenance funds and charges factored into the cost of new buildings that will be served by the new systems.
The improvements are part of a long-range program to upgrade the entire campus infrastructure. Preliminary plans for the next decade include major upgrades to water and sewer lines, storm drainage, electrical and telecommunications lines, natural gas lines, building heating and cooling systems, campus lighting and streets.
Johnson to direct Information Technology Peak of Excellence
Wayne Johnson, Alumni Professor in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, has been named to head AU's Information Technology Peaks of Excellence program.
Formerly director of the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Vehicular Electronics at AU and the Laboratory for Electronics Assembly and Packaging, Johnson has an extensive background in high-temperature electronics development, assembly and packaging techniques.
As director of the Information Technology Peaks of Excellence program, Johnson will coordinate the activities of four AU research centers: the Alabama Microelectronics Science and Technology Center; the Center for Advanced Vehicular Electronics; the Center for Innovations in Mobile, Pervasive and Agile Computing; and the Wireless Engineering Research and Education Center.
"Auburn's Information Technology Peaks of Excellence program is focused on meeting the needs of information technology, as defined by the National Science Foundation," Johnson said. "The research conducted in these multi-disciplinary centers is associated with how society develops and uses information, how we make sense of information, computing and other means of transmission and communication and decision making."
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Museum tour
Members of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art at AU recently toured the construction site and got an update on the progress.
AU museum at construction midpoint, on schedule
Construction on Auburn's Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art has reached the midpoint and continues to be on schedule for a May 2003 opening.
Michael De Marsche, the museum's director, said the construction is advanced enough that museum personnel can now conduct small group tours of the building. The first of these tours took place in March when the museum's advisory board toured the construction site on South College Street.
"I couldn't be happier with the progress of the building," De Marsche said. "It is quite satisfying to see the building's design evolve from the conceptual stage to where it is now. I think the Auburn community will be more than satisfied by the beauty and scale of the building."
Don Conner, president of Conner Brothers Construction Co., Inc., the firm responsible for construction, said the museum project has not been without its problems.
"Construction is moving along, although the events of Sept. 11th caused delivery problems with the Italian marble that comprises the entire skin of the building's exterior," Conner explained. "U.S. Customs has quarantined shipping containers at port for up to six weeks.
"Completion of the building is presently at 54 percent, although much of the most difficult work remains. We at Conner Brothers, and all those who have worked on the building, look forward to a successful completion early next year."
The Birmingham firm of Gresham, Smith and Partners designed the building. Batey Gresham, a member of the museum's advisory board, led the tour of the 39,000 square-foot building last March.
"We hope the museum will be received with as much excitement as we have had working with the design of the building and making decisions that reflect the quality and benefactors of the university," said Gresham. "The university's vision and the benefactor's generosity positioned the museum as the gateway building at the south end of campus, thereby allowing us to depart from the palette of materials and design of the other buildings on campus."
In April, De Marsche led the Dean's Advisory Council of the College of Liberal Arts through the building. After the tour, Charles D. Cole, the Lucille S. Beeson Professor of Law and director of International Programs at Samford University, said, "I am absolutely amazed and delighted that Auburn University will have such a prestigious museum of art. I have long been of the conviction that Auburn University deserves wider recognition than it currently enjoys. The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art is a giant step toward the wider recognition that I suggest as appropriate. I look forward to visiting again when the museum is dedicated for service."
Two faculty named to new professorships
College of Business faculty members Stanley Harris and Steve Swidler have been named to newly endowed professorships, Interim Dean John Jahera Jr. has announced. Harris, a professor in the Department of Management, was named the Celita Everett Professor, which was established by Brad Everett in honor of his wife. Everett is a 1981 alumnus of AU.
The endowment provides funding to support superior faculty who have demonstrated clear evidence of outreach and involvement in the business community, strong commitment to students and being positive role models for students.
Swidler, a professor in the Department of Finance, was appointed to the J. Stanley Mackin Distinguished Professorship. Regions Financial Corporation established the award in honor of retired CEO J. Stanley Mackin. The chair was established to enhance the leadership of the college, recruit outstanding faculty and support the college's strategic plan.
Road repairs continue, schedule announced
Road repairs continue in several areas of campus. Beginning Monday, June 10, asphalt demolition, patching and concrete ramp and sidewalk demolition and repair work will continue on Thach Avenue between Duncan Drive and South College Street.
In addition, paint striping work will be done on limited areas at Ross Square and at Roosevelt Drive between Mell Street and Duncan Drive.
Demolition work on Petrie Circle is tentatively scheduled to begin on Wednesday, June 12. This will require Petrie Circle to be closed until new asphalt paving is installed.
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AU grad studying in India
Dan Meadows, pictured above during a recent trip to India, will return this fall to India to study as a Fulbright Scholar.
Fulbright Scholar to study population shifts in India
Auburn's first Fulbright Scholar of the 21st century will research the effects of a relocation plan designed to combat environmental problems in India caused by dense population and an industrial base rooted in the 19th and 20th centuries
Dan Meadows of Montgomery, who received his bachelor's degree in anthropology on May 11, will be making his third trip to India. He is AU's 19th winner of the J. William Fulbright Scholarship since 1973.
Meadows will leave for India in September to spend nine months there. He'll first go to Varanasi, in north-central India, to study the Hindi language before moving to the capital city of New Delhi.
"In New Delhi, I'll be researching the ramifications of a recently enforced industrial relocation order of the Indian courts," said Meadows, who will begin a foreign language and area studies fellowship in the anthropology department at Syracuse University after completing his work in India.
"The plan addresses sustainable growth, population concerns and environmental problems of the area, primarily air and water pollution. The plan would involve relocation of some industries--both traditional and cottage industries--to an area outside the city.
"What I want to look at are the effects of these relocations on the laborers and their families. Most of them are very poor and it's hard for them to afford to go to where the jobs are."
Kelly Alley, director of AU's anthropology program, says she believes Meadows' determination and groundbreaking work proposal were key to his winning the Fulbright award.
"Dan stands out as a very motivated student," Alley said. "Dan's will be the first study to document the experiences of laborers who are caught up in a large-scale urban relocation scheme."
Interim Provost John Pritchett said Meadows' Fulbright speaks well for both the student and AU. "Primarily, Dan's Fulbright award is a testimony to the quality of his scholarship and research in his chosen field of anthropology. But, more broadly, it is indicative of the quality of instruction and research in our anthropology program specifically and at Auburn generally."
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AU Report
Editor: Roy Summerford. Contributing editors: Bob Lowry, Janet McCoy, David Granger and Roy Roberson. The AU Report is the faculty/staff newsletter of Auburn University and is published by the Office of University Relations at Auburn University. Direct correspondence to AU Report, 23 Samford Hall, Auburn University, Ala. 36849-5109. Telephone 334/844-9999. Electronic mail: summero@auburn.edu |