July 29, 2002
New medical clinic on board agenda
AU to present 1,119 degrees on Aug. 5
Camp War Eagle draws record numbers
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July 29, 2002 |
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| Headlines New medical clinic on board agenda AU to present 1,119 degrees on Aug. 5 Camp War Eagle draws record numbers |
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New medical clinic, parking deck on agenda for Aug. 9 board session
A new campus medical clinic may be in store for AU in the near future. The campus may also be in line for its second parking deck.
An administration proposal for a medical clinic to replace the aging and flood-prone Drake Hall is on the agenda for the Board of Trustees meeting on Aug. 9 in Dixon Conference Center.
The proposal will go first to the board's Property and Facilities Committee. Committee meetings start at 9 a.m, and the full board meets at 1 p.m.
The board on June 3 included partial financing for a new medical clinic from a portion of the tuition increase that goes into effect fall semester. Most of the 12 percent tuition increase, however, will help fund a 5 percent overall increase in faculty and staff salaries.
Drake Hall, which was built in 1938 south of Magnolia Avenue, is in a low area that has increasingly become subject to flooding as development north of Magnolia channeled more rainwater in its direction. In addition, the building has been unable to accommodate a continuing increase in student visits to the health center.
The current site has also been hampered by limited parking availability, and is in an area marked for expansion of the Ginn College of Engineering. Plans call for placing the new transportation technology center in that area. That building would miss the low area but would overlap or be adjacent to another part of the Drake Hall site.
Sasaki Associates is incorporating a new site for the medical clinic in the university's master plan, which is in the final stages of development. The planners are considering several sites in the northwest sector of campus, as well as other areas outside the campus core.
The program plan calls for construction of a 37,800-square-foot medical facility with a total project budget of $8.7 million. The funding proposal calls for allocating $6 million in unused funds from the 2002 proration reserve and the remainder from the tuition increase.
If the board approves the project, architect and site selection would be scheduled for the November board meeting, with construction to start in July 2004 and the building to be ready for occupancy in August 2005.
Among related items on the agenda for the Aug. 9 meeting are:
* A proposal to erect a parking deck on the southwest corner of Roosevelt Drive and Duncan Drive, south of Jordan-Hare Stadium. The $10 million structure would hold 650 vehicles, but the net gain would be between 150 and 450 as on-street parking is removed in nearby high traffic areas and environmentally sensitive areas such as Graves Amphitheatre.
The parking deck would be the second on campus; the first is at the library. The proposed deck is one of several suggested in preliminary reports by Sasaki Associates for the campus master plan.
* A proposed $8.7 million increase to $38.9 million in the budget for the new Sciences Lab Center to accommodate more stringent standards for science labs, offices for the College of Sciences and Mathematics administration and new standards for building size, design and appearance.
The design standards are based on guidelines recommended in the Darley study adopted last year by the Board of Trustees to ensure that future growth maintains the traditional character and scale of the campus. Revised plans as a result of those guidelines call for construction of a three-building complex totaling more than 137,000-squate-feet rather than a single, large building. The complex will be approximately the size of Funchess Hall.
* A proposal to add Cater Hall to the nine AU buildings now on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1915 as the president's home, the building was used from 1938 to 1980 as headquarters of the dean of women. Since then it has been headquarters for the Office of Student Affairs.
Benefits-boost proposal going to AU Board
Two proposed changes in employee benefits are on the agenda for consideration by the AU Board of Trustees on Aug. 9 at Dixon Conference Center.
The board meets at 1 p.m. The Budget Committee is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. to consider its part of the agenda. The Budget Committee is also scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. on Aug. 8 in Samford 107 to hear a report on scholarships from the Office of Student Affairs. Agenda items are tentative until the day of the meeting and items are subject to last-minute changes or withdrawal before the meeting.
The proposals from the university's Insurance and Benefits Committee would increase monthly disability pay and the university match for employee contributions to participating supplemental retirement programs.
Disability coverage provides financial support to any employee who has an occupational disability for two years or total disability to age 65. The proposed increase in disability pay would raise the maximum benefit for eligible employees from $3,000 to $5,000 per month. The present benefit has been in effect for 13 years. Approximately 1,050 people would qualify for the increase at an estimated total cost of $42,000 per year.
The proposed increase in tax deferred annuities would set the maximum university match for participating employees at 5 percent of up to $27,000 in salary. The university currently matches up to $1,200 per year in employee contributions to the supplemental retirement accounts. Under the proposal, that amount would be raised to $1,350 annually. The cost to the university would be about $335,000.
The Insurance and Benefits Committee is comprised of 16 faculty, staff and administrators from across campus. The administration will present the university committee's proposals to the board's Budget Committee, which will determine whether or not to take the proposals to the full board later that day.
If approved by the board, the changes would be included in the 2002-03 AU budget, which the administration is developing for final review by the board at a future session. Budget guidelines previously approved by the board would increase funding for faculty and staff salaries by 5 percent in the 2002-03 fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
AU to award more than 1,000 degrees on Aug. 5
Auburn University will award an estimated 1,119 degrees at its summer commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 5, in Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
Of the degrees AU will award, 844 are bachelorıs degrees, 219 are masterıs, 56 are doctorates and one is a specialistıs degree. The College of Business will award the most undergraduate degrees with 253, followed by the College of Liberal Arts with 227 and the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering with 87. The College of Human Sciences will award 76 undergraduate degrees; the College of Architecture, Design and Construction 71; the College of Education 60; the College of Sciences and Mathematics 37; the College of Agriculture 26; the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences five; and the School of Nursing two.
Since its founding as East Alabama Male College in 1856, AU has awarded more than 190,000 academic degrees at its main campus and more than 220,000 at both campuses.
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Camp War Eagle makes changes, sets records for students, parents
Auburn's Freshman Year Experience staff recently completed its final session of Camp War Eagle 2002, playing host to record numbers of new students and their parents.
Approximately 4,106 students attended one of the eight Camp War Eagle sessions. Approximately 5,400 parents accompanied the new students
"It just seems that Camp War Eagle gets bigger every year," said Mark Armstrong, director of Freshman Year Experience. He noted that this year's numbers were up from last year's 3,673 students and 4,100 parents. "And, as it gets bigger, it seems to get better as well.
"We had a lot of obstacles thrown at us this year," Armstrong said. "Things like Langdon Hall being closed, construction in the Foy (Student Union) lobby, moving our campers' lodging from the Hill Dorms to the Quad, and Thach (Avenue) being paved. We had a lot to work around, but, somehow, we made it happen and the camps did not suffer. That's mainly due to four great head camp counselors that we had this year."
Those camp counselors were seniors Kelly Starr and Kristy Scott, both of Birmingham, Keith Blackwood of Athens and Stephen Woodham of Montgomery.
Armstrong noted two new elements to Camp War Eagle this year. The first was the move in the campers' housing from the Hill Dorms to the Quad.
"Actually, the move to the Quad provided a much better atmosphere for us," Armstrong said. "Many of our freshmen are going to be living in the quad anyway. Plus, it's more centrally located. The change did present some issues with check-in and parking, but, all in all, we loved the quad and loved the atmosphere."
Programmatically, the most significant change was the introduction of a Learning for Life program centering on diversity.
"We began last fall to look at some changes to our programs," said Nancy McDaniel, assistant vice president for Student Affairs.
"The students really wanted a discussion format where students were sharing, talking to each other, listening and communicating. With the events of September 11 and the photos of students at Halloween, our students wanted to work to define diversity for themselves in their own words, and to begin a process whereby students actively engage in discussions about the importance of diversity in their lives -- today, and in the future."
The campers viewed a video of several Auburn students sharing their thoughts on diversity in a very informal setting. The campers were asked to define diversity and were then broken into small groups in which participants listed similarities and differences among the members of their respective groups.
"Our goal," said McDaniel, "is to sow a seed -- to establish in each student's mind that it is Auburn's expectation that diversity matters, is important, and that we want to encourage a diverse student body to interact and represent Auburn as the fine institution it is."
Former AU Senate chairs issue response to Samford statement
Six former chairs of the University Senate have issued a formal response to a published statement from Jimmy Samford, president pro tem of the AU Board of Trustees. Samford's statement was in recent issues of the AU Report, The Auburn Plainsman and The Opelika-Auburn News.
In his statement, Samford defended the board's June 3 decision to remove the "interim" from the title of President William Walker, appointing Walker to a three-year term.
Samford noted progress at Auburn in the 15 months that Walker served as interim president and cited the need to reassure potential donors of the administration's stability. He called for constituencies to put past differences behind them and to look to the future.
The response was issued by James Bradley, immediate past chair of the University Senate, and five present and former faculty members who served as chair between 1979 and 1999. The other five signers were Larry Gerber, Glenn Howze, Barry Burkhart, and Gary Mullen, all of whom served in the 1990s, and Sara Hudson, who was senate chair in 1979-80.
They restated their position that the board had not honored the concept of shared governance in naming a president without a search and denied Samford's contention that the board had consulted fully with constituent groups before taking action.
They responded that board members informed the University Senate of the pending board action, but the former faculty leaders objected that the board did consider a senate resolution asking it to withhold action.
The former senate chairs disagreed with Samford's interpretation of the closeness of senate votes before and after the board action. The senate voted 40-21 to oppose board removal of the "interim" from the president's title and 35-26 to censure the board for doing so.
Samford had cited the closeness of those votes as indicating a level of support among faculty for the action. The former chairs' letter contends that the senators in each case had polled the faculty in their departments and therefore represented the larger faculty population.
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Brewer receives teaching award from association
J. Wayne Brewer, AU professor of entomology and Alabama Cooperative Extension System entomologist, has received the NACTA Teacher Fellow Award for 2002.
The National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture is a professional society that promotes and recognizes teaching excellence in agriculture and related fields at the post-secondary level in North America.
Brewer received the award at the organization's recent conference, hosted this year by the University of Nebraska.
After earning his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1969, Brewer taught at Colorado State University and Montana State University, where he also served as head of the Entomology Department before joining the Auburn faculty. He chaired the AU Department of Entomology from 1987 to 1995.
At Auburn, Brewer has taught Insects (for non-entomology majors), Insect Pest Management, Integrated Forest Pest Management, Forest Health and The Human Odyssey. He is also an adviser to undergraduate students. Brewer developed a distance learning course through the AU Distance Learning Program. He also has contributed to the Hands-on Activity Science Program (HASP), aimed at enhancing teaching excellence among elementary teachers.
College hosts Engineering Technology Academy
AU's Samuel Ginn College of Engineering this month hosted, in cooperation with the Civil Air Patrol, its first Engineering Technology Academy.
Twenty participants were selected from more than 65 applicants, based on written applications and rigorous flight testing. The cadets examined aspects of aeronautics and engineering and the application of those fields to the field of aviation.
During E-Tech, cadets explored fibrous materials to see how those materials are linked to new technologies such as hard armor and bulletproofing. Cadets also experimented with propulsion systems, constructed rockets and participated in aviation simulation.
Penaskovic produces eight articles in two international journals
Richard Penaskovic, a professor in the Philosophy Department, recently had eight articles published in two international publications.
He had two articles published in the Biographical Dictionary of Literary Influences: The Nineteenth Century, 1800-1914, and six articles in the International Edition of the Messagerrio di S. Antonio published in Padua, Italy.
One article in the Biographical Dictionary was on Joseph-Ernest Renan, author of the seven-volume Histoire des origines du christianisme (1863-1881) and the other article was on Alexis De Tocqueville, who is famous for his work, Democracy in America.
The Biographical Dictionary is widely used by scholars in tracing the actual reading experience of important Western cultural figures. Each entry in the Biographical Dictionary provides a concise summary of literary influences and clear direction for further research in the field.
The Italian publication's articles deal with various aspects of St. Anthony of Padua, one of the most important saints in Roman Catholicism. Penaskovic writes a monthly column on St. Anthony and is listed on the masthead of the Messenger of Saint Anthony as a contributing writer.
State Arts Council awards fellowship to Hinson
The Alabama State Council on the Arts has awarded one of 14 stateside fellowships to David Hinson, an associate professor of architecture at Auburn.
Hinson said he will use the $10,000 grant to continue to work on DesignHabitat. He started in 2001 as a classroom assignment to design and build a prototype house for the Alabama Association of Habitat Affiliates.
In conjunction with DesignAlabama and the Alabama Association of Habitat Affiliates, the classroom assignment will continue with the implementation of the 2x4 Campaign, a program by AAHA to build 50 Auburn-designed homes in Alabama in four years.
The classroom project began last fall after summer meetings with officials with DesignAlabama and AAHA to design affordable, Southern-vernacular housing for Habitat. The class began by researching Habitat housing, interviewing homeowners, homebuilders and Habitat officials. During spring semester, the students participated in the dedication of the first house built with their design.
Hinson was only one of two awardees to receive $10,000. The remaining 12 received $5,000 grants.
"The Fellowship will enable me to continue my collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, specifically to help AAHA with implementation of the 2x4 Campaign over the next year," said Hinson. That campaign calls for construction of 50 DesignHabitat houses in Alabama.
Wylie named association's teacher of year
The Alabama Music Teachers Association, a division of the national association, has named Roy Wylie of AU's Department of Music, the association's 2002 teacher of the year.
The award cites the music professor for excellence in teaching of music and service to AMTA, the community and the state of Alabama. Wylie received the award in June at the association's state convention in Birmingham.
A faculty member since 1980, Wylie teaches applied piano and freshman ear training. Wylie, who earned his doctorate in music education at the University of Texas at Austin, earned a bachelor's degree in music education at Southern Methodist University and a master's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music.
In past summers, Wylie has taught at the Adamant School of Music in Vermont. This school draws students from all over the world for intensive study and performance experience. Wylie has also given concerts and judged many contests throughout the United States. He has given solo recitals in Alabama, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. This year, he is performing in concerts throughout the South and Southwest.
Professional association elects Mark Fischman
Mark G. Fischman, a professor in the College of Education's Department of Health and Human Performance, was selected in June as president-elect of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity.
NASPSPA is dedicated to advancing research in the fields of motor learning, motor control, motor development, sport psychology and exercise psychology.
Fischman will become president of the society in 2003. He is also a section editor in motor control and learning for the journal Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.
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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 |