President Leo M. Lambert and senior staff members previewed the upcoming academic year in staff updates on Aug. 7. Each vice president provided a summary of summer work and initiatives planned for the next year. Following is a summary of their presentations:
Susan Klopman
Vice President of Admissions and Financial Planning
• Projected size of the freshman class is 1,286; applications increased two percent to a total of 9,379
• Incoming freshman grade point average in core courses is 3.8 with an SAT average of 1220 (verbal and math)
• The class gender ratio is 42 percent male, 58 percent female; 13 percent are minority students; 59 international students come from 29 countries
• Top five intended majors are business, communications, biology, education and international studies
Smith Jackson
Vice President for Student Life
• The two new Colonnades residence halls are complete and will provide housing for 154 students and include six living-learning communities
• Elon has instituted a new honor code that combines the academic and social honor codes into a single, unified code
• The presidential task force on alcohol use is continuing its work and developing a number of recommendations for action; effective at the beginning of the academic year are a new requirement for all freshmen to complete an online alcohol education course and stronger sanctions for violations of the university’s alcohol policies
• Student media organizations will be moving from Moseley Center to Williamson Avenue in downtown Elon; The Pendulum offices will open in the former bank building at the opening of school, while WSOE radio, Phi Psi Cli and a new student public relations agency will move later in the year
• Elon will institute bus shuttles to the new Alamance Crossing and University Commons shopping areas, running Wednesdays-Sundays, 4-9 p.m.
• Weekly College Coffee gatherings will relocate from the area surrounding Fonville Fountain to Young Commons and the areas in front of Moseley Center and Belk Library
• The Student Union Board (SUB) will sponsor its first fall concert, featuring the country music band, Emerson Drive
Gerald Francis
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
• New leadership positions include the following:
• Nancy Midgette, associate provost, who will take on duties as interim director of career services and relocate her office to the Career Center
• Mary Gowan, who was introduced as the new dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business
• The Elon University School of Law will enroll its second class this fall, with a projected first year enrollment of about 110 students and a returning class of 107 students
• Elon will host site visits this year from the American Bar Association accrediting team as well as a team from Phi Beta Kappa
• Academic initiatives will include action steps taken on 17 recommendations that were formed following last year’s Academic Summit
• The Long Range Planning Committee will focus its work on developing science initiatives to be included in the NewCentury@Elon strategic plan
• The School of Communications will be considering plans to launch a graduate program in communications
• Planning is under way for the addition of Lindner Hall in the Academic Village, providing space for the history, sociology and interdisciplinary programs as well as offices for the dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences
Gerald Whittington
Vice President for Business, Finance and Technology
• Design work is under way for Lindner Hall in the Academic Village; current plans are to open the building in fall 2009
• Design work is under way for the new pedestrian underpass to South Campus; current plans are to complete the work under the railroad tracks no sooner than December 2008
• Design work is under way for an expansion of Koury Field House at the North Athletics Complex, providing an additional 31,000-square-feet of space for athletics
• The College Manor building on Lebanon Avenue is being renovated for use by several campus technology departments
• Renovations are nearing completion in Alamance Building, and the building should be ready about Aug. 13
• New walkways are being installed from The Oaks to Arts West
• The new Colonnades Dining Hall is expected to open about Aug. 30, providing seven new food venues
• New energy and environmental sustainability initiatives this year include a six percent reduction in energy consumption, the addition of new recycling receptacles across campus and new battery disposal locations on campus
• A new campus safety and security master plan has been approved, including additional police and security officers, a dispatch center staffed with full-time employees, new video cameras in parking lots, new communications systems with regional law enforcement agencies and a multi-dimensional emergency notification system that will include an outdoor siren system and campus messaging system
Dave Blank
Athletics Director
• Cayce Crenshaw is the new director of academic support for athletics
• A new athletics Web site has been launched and video webcasting of Elon athletics events is being planned
• Football game days will include a new family-oriented Phoenix Fun Zone prior to games and a new Phoenix Vision video screen on the Rhodes Stadium scoreboard
• Fundraising is under way to increase the number of scholarships for student athletes in line with the university’s gender equity plan
Nan Perkins
Vice President for Institutional Advancement
• University Relations has successfully launched E-Squared, Elon’s new online social network for alumni, students, faculty/staff and parents; faculty and staff are encouraged to join the system and use its capabilities to enhance the Elon community
• Alumni Relations is planning a fall Alumni Summit and spring Alumni Leadership Day
• Lindsay Hege ’04 is the new assistant director of alumni relations for young alumni
• The leadership phase of the Ever Elon campaign is making excellent progress; the campaign’s main focus is to build the university’s endowment