April 28, 2003
Large enrollment seen for summer
Interviews set for provost candidates
Family Fun Day set for May 15
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April 28, 2003 |
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| Headlines Large enrollment seen for summer Interviews set for provost candidates Family Fun Day set for May 15 |
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High enrollment seen for summer
This summer could be a busy time at Auburn, with enrollment likely to challenge the summer 2002 record of 10,532, says Stephen McFarland, AU's acting associate provost for academic affairs.
"Based on numbers so far, we will be about the same as last summer, when we had our largest summer enrollment ever," said McFarland. "It could be a little above or below last year, but, in any case, we should have far more students on campus than we were seeing just a few summers ago."
Although most universities see a drop in summer enrollment following conversion of their academic calendars from quarters to semesters, Auburn avoided that problem following its conversion in 2000.
McFarland credits the increased interest in summer studies to an informational campaign by the Provost's Office and the Enrollment Management staff in Student Affairs. "We have been getting word out to the students and their parents about the advantages of going to school in the summer, and the campaign seems to have been very successful," he said.
The campaign conveys the message "Get Ahead, Stay Ahead" to encourage students to improve their academic standing through summer studies. This year's "Passport to Success" theme reinforces the message with authentic looking passports that detail the advantages of summer school.
Summer term advantages include availability of many classes, such as those in the core curriculum, that are in heavy demand in the fall. An extra bonus, McFarland said, is that students who take the first course in a sequence in the summer may find it easier to get the second course in the sequence in the fall than they would in spring semester, when demand is heaviest for those classes. "In a lot of cases, it is easier to get ahead of the pack by taking classes in the summer," he said. "That's what we mean by 'Get Ahead; Stay Ahead.'"
With fewer distractions than in the fall and spring semesters, the summer program has long been popular with students who want to boost their grade point average. "Many students will take lighter course loads in the summer so they can concentrate on one or two areas where they need to put forth extra effort," said McFarland. "And you have others who work part-time during the summer and schedule classes around their jobs."
He noted that many students remain in Auburn through the summer because of 12-month leases for rental apartments off-campus. "We encourage students who are going to be here anyway during the summer to take advantage of the opportunity to take some courses so they can bypass some of the congestion in the fall curriculum."
The university is encouraging local merchants to offer incentives to students who remain in Auburn this summer. "Merchants will get increased business during the summer, when they need it the most, so it is to their advantage for the students to have a pleasant experience."
AU to graduate 2,282 on May 10
Auburn will award an estimated 2,282 academic degrees at two spring semester commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 10.
Graduates of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences and the colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences and Mathematics will receive degrees at 10 a.m. Those in the School of Nursing and the colleges of Agriculture, Education, Business, Human Sciences and Architecture, Design and Construction will receive their degrees at 2 p.m. As usual, the College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Pharmacy will have separate ceremonies.
AU will award 1,850 bachelor's degrees, 225 master's degrees, 50 doctorates, six specialist degrees and 151 professional degrees.
The College of Business will have the most undergraduate degrees with 489, followed by the College of Liberal Arts with 430 and the College of Engineering with 226. The College of Education will award 178 degrees, the College of Sciences and Mathematics 136, the College of Architecture, Design and Construction 116, the School of Human Sciences 95, the College of Veterinary Medicine 87, the College of Agriculture 82, the School of Pharmacy 64, the School of Nursing 63 and the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences 35.
Interviews set for provost candidates
A search committee is scheduling public forums in Broun Hall auditorium for four finalists for the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs, AU's top academic officer.
The first candidate, Thomas Richard Hanley, interviewed on April 24. He is dean of Engineering and a professor of chemical engineering with the Speed Scientific School at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Previously, Hanley was a professor and chair of chemical engineering at Florida State University and Florida A & M University. He also served as professor and head of chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Virginia Tech.
The next candidate to interview is John F. Pritchett, AU's interim provost. Pritchett will participate in a candidate's forum at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 29. Before moving into the interim position in 2001, he was associate provost and dean of the AU Graduate School. An AU faculty member since 1973, Pritchett has also served as head of the Department of Zoology and Entomology. He holds a Ph.D. in animal physiology and biological chemistry from Iowa State University.
The third candidate to interview, Peter W. Rabideau, will participate in a public forum at 3 p.m. Friday, May 2. He is dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State. Rabideau previously served as dean of the College of Basic Sciences and a professor of chemistry at Louisiana State University. He has also served as chair of the Department of Chemistry at Indiana University. He holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Case Western Reserve University.
The fourth candidate, Kathy A. Krendl, dean of the College of Communication at Ohio University, will meet the public at 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 6. She holds a Ph.D. in communication from the University of Michigan. Her previous positions include dean of the School of Continuing Studies and professor and chair of the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University. Krendl also served as graduate coordinator and honors adviser for the Department of Telecommunications at Indiana University.
The forums are scheduled to last one hour. The University Senate will hold its monthly meeting in Broun Hall at 3 p.m. on May 6.
Michael Moriarty, associate provost and vice president for research, and Chris Rodger, a professor in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, are cochairs of the search committee.
Biographical information about the finalists is available with their vitaes online. Vitaes are also on file at the reserve desk in Draughon Library.
Search starts for four new deans at AU
Interim Provost John Pritchett has appointed committees to search for new deans for four colleges at AU.
Search committees will seek deans for the colleges of Agriculture, Business, Education and Liberal Arts. The person chosen as dean of the College of Agriculture will also be director of the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station.
Richard Brinker, dean of the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, will chair a 20-member committee seeking a dean for the College of Agriculture.
The 19-member search committee for dean of the College of Liberal Arts is chaired by Stewart Schneller, dean of the College of Sciences and Mathematics.
Dean June Henton of the College of Human Sciences will chair a 17-member search committee for dean of the College of Education.
Larry Benefield, dean of the College of Engineering, will chair the 18-member search committee for dean of the College of Business.
The committees will continue their work into the 2003-04 academic year, which starts in August. Names of committee members are available online.
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Family Fun Day set for May 15
Auburn will hold its seventh annual Family Fun Day for employees and their families at the lawn of the President's Home on Mell Street from 3 p.m.-5:30 p.m. on May 15. (Note: This is a time change by the planning committee from the previously announced time.)
Free food, beverages and other treats will be available throughout the event. Adults and children can win prizes, play games, listen to music and participate in more than 20 activities, including Ring Toss, Horse Shoes, Wheel of Fortune, Peg Ball, Golf (Adults), Golf (Kids), Nerf Football Throw (Adults), Nerf Football Throw (Kids), Bingo, Basketball Shoot, Roll Ball (Adults), Roll Ball (Kids), Dice Throw, Bean Bags, Duck Pond, Petting Zoo, Fishing Booth, Cup Throw, Animal Balloons, Find Toys in the Sand and the Moon Walk.
This will be the second consecutive year the event has been at the President's Home. Since parking is limited, event organizers encourage employees and their families to use Tiger Transit shuttles to get to the site from the core of campus.
"More than 75 university offices and community businesses donated multiple prizes to be given away at the event last year, and we expect to have that many participate again," said Albert Snipes, director of employee relations for AU's Human Resource Department and chair of the Family Fun Day organizing committee.
About 4,000 people attend Family Fun Day every year. If it rains on May 15, the event will be rescheduled for May 22.
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Research VP sets $150 million goal
External funding garnered through Auburn's research program will be $150 million by the year 2010, if the vision manifested by its vice president for research is realized.
AU Vice President for Research Michael Moriarty outlined his plan for the Board of Trustees in April. With AU's externally funded research now at $61 million, he said the goal is reachable.
He based the prediction in part on the university's pattern of a 17 percent average annual growth in sponsored research for the past six years. "Our faculty are creating this growth through their diligence in competing for and winning sponsored research contracts," Moriarty said. "If we develop improvements in the academic system that more appropriately recognize faculty efforts in research and that create an environment that supports and encourages their research, we can achieve the volume of growth that I envision," he added.
Moriarty's concept involves an average annual growth of 14 percent in external funding for research. This is less than recent growth, but he said, the projection takes into account such factors as availability of personnel and space.
If the goal is reached, the strategy will provide an additional $17 million annually to the university's general fund.
Key to the growth design are the elements of reducing procedural and policy barriers that impede research activity; increasing support and services provided to faculty in research; channeling limited funding to institutional priority research programs to enable them to attain greater prominence; and to obtain funding to improve the university's research space and equipment and to attract and retain top faculty, students and support personnel.
Moriarty also foresees substantial growth in the university's intellectual properties area. "Intellectual properties -- patents, licenses, start-up companies and the like are an area where the university has tremendous growth potential," Moriarty said. He projects intellectual properties to generate license and royalty income of $20 million by 2010.
AU Trustee Selection Committee seeks new round of nominations
The AU Trustee Selection Committee has reopened its search for nominees to the AU Board of Trustees, with a tentative deadline of May 28 for nominations.
The committee, meeting on April 23 with Gov. Bob Riley as its new chair, agreed to cast a wider net to attract more minority and female candidates and to conduct the search in public. The panel met in Montgomery six weeks after a State Senate committee rejected the nominations of former Alabama Power Co. CEO Elmer Harris and retired Guntersville physician Neil Christopher.
Riley, who took office as governor on Jan. 20, replaced AOL-Time Warner executive Don Logan as committee chair. Logan had represented former Gov. Don Siegelman on the committee.
The selection committee's choices will go to the State Senate for further consideration. In an effort to get more diversity in the candidate pool, the selection committee agreed to accept applications from individuals and nominations by any interested person or group as well as Auburn constituencies.
The new trustees will fill seats for District 4, east-central Alabama; District 5, northeast Alabama; and District 7, northwest Alabama, now represented, respectively, by Rep. Jack Venable of Tallassee, Sen. Lowell Barron of Fyffe and Charles Glover of Cullman. For further consideration, nominees must live within one of the three districts. A map of the districts is online .
The terms of trustees from the three districts have expired, but the current trustees will serve until new trustees are confirmed by the State Senate. Seats unfilled by Jan. 1 will be vacant until nominees are confirmed.
Submit nominations to Grant Davis, Office of the AU Board of Trustees, 105 Samford Hall.
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Outreach goes online with course listings
With the launch of a new Web site, Auburn's distance education offerings can be found online, one click from AU's main page.
Auburn Online displays all distance education programs offered by the colleges, schools and departments at Auburn.
The site can be accessed from a rotating button titled "AU Online" on the main university Web site, www.auburn.edu. The category "Distance Education," under the "Quick Links" listing on the main Web site, will also take the browser to AU Online.
"One of our main goals was to create a Web site that was accessible and easy to navigate," said Richard Alekna, director of AU's Office of Distance Learning and Outreach Technology.
Hansen book may become movie
A biography that AU History Professor James R. Hansen is writing about astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, may provide the basis for a motion picture directed by one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Hansen and Armstrong will meet in May with actor-director Clint Eastwood to discuss final terms for a Warner Brothers movie about Armstrong. In March, the three agreed in principle for Eastwood to direct the movie about the astronaut based on Hansen's forthcoming book.
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Warner Brothers approached Hansen about adapting the Armstrong biography for film, with Eastwood as director, who from the start, took a strong personal interest in the project.
Although Eastwood is most famous for his work in front of a camera, he won an Oscar as director of "Unforgiven."
Hansen, who is the author of several books on aviation and the nation's space program, is in the final stage of research for the Armstrong biography. "I didn't expect much attention until the book was finished, but I was surprised to learn that the studios do this quite often," he recalled.
The professor in Auburn's College of Liberal Arts has been conducting research for the book for months and plans to start writing the text this summer. He expects to complete the manuscript and have it ready for the editors at Simon & Schuster, the publisher, by mid-October 2004.
Hansen said Armstrong must be comfortable with the movie project before he signs any contract with the studio.
"It is my book, but Neil has given me access to his records and submitted to many hours of interviews, and he has cleared the way for me to contact his family and many of his former colleagues from NASA," Hansen said. "I have the makings for a truly remarkable book. If our meeting with Mr. Eastwood goes well, it could be quite a movie."
Although Armstrong is world famous as the first person in history to set foot on the Moon, his life was filled with adventure and challenges long before he entered the nation's space program, Hansen said. "He flew 78 combat missions in the Korean War and as a civilian test pilot explored the edge of space in rocket-powered X-15 aircraft even before he started training to be an astronaut."
Hansen says test pilots like Armstrong, even more so than fighter jockeys like Chuck Yeager, had "the Right Stuff." Unlike test pilots who pushed aircraft to their physical limits to break records, Armstrong, a college-educated aeronautical engineer, pushed experimental aircraft to their limits for his own reasons.
"With his engineering background, he was able to take a more active role than the other pilots in the scientific and technological development of aircraft," Hansen said. "He would push a vehicle aircraft to its limits in order to find out what they were and how systems would perform under such duress. The goal was understanding and discovering ways to push the limits even further."
With the 1969 lunar mission capping his NASA career, Armstrong retired from the space program in the early 1970s and taught engineering at the University of Cincinnati until 1978.
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