What’s new at Elon this fall?

As Elon University starts a new academic year, students, faculty and staff may notice some new people, buildings and opportunities. Take a look at some of the new additions to campus for the 2024-25 academic year:

New Sights

Several new construction projects will be ready this fall – offering new opportunities for students, faculty and staff to live, learn and collaborate.

Loy Farm Living Learning Community

The first phase of the Loy Farm Living-Learning Community EcoVillage will open, including six sustainable houses.

The LLC will offer an opportunity for hands-on learning through horticulture, agriculture and research with the Center for Environmental Studies. It will eventually include 12 sustainable homes along with a renovated ranch house that will serve as a common area. Students designed the first home alongside Robert Charest, associate professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Studies, with input from University Planning Design and Construction Management. The remaining 11 homes are being designed and built by outside firms.

East Neighborhood Commons

Students will move into East Neighborhood Commons for the first time this year. The three-story, 45,000-square-foot building will have 90 residential rooms (primarily for first-year students), faculty/staff apartments and office space. The commons will also include a “forum,” a large multipurpose room for class, meetings and social events. This university hopes this space will become an “eastern gateway” to main campus, denoting to travelers that they have arrived at Elon.

Francis Center Upgrades

The fourth and final renovation of the Gerald L. Francis Center will be complete for fall 2024 with the addition of an office suite for nursing faculty and an update to the commons space. The building houses Elon’s School of Health Sciences. Outdoor pickleball courts are also being built near the Francis Center.

Added Academics

Elon Law Flex Program

The first students in Elon University School of Law’s new part-time Juris Doctor program begin taking classes this fall. The Elon Law Flex Program is offered exclusively at the Elon University Charlotte regional center and is the only in-person law program offered in the Queen City.

The Elon Law Flex Program is designed for the working professional and students can complete their law degree in four years. A full range of law electives will provide experiential opportunities in law clinics, publication in law journals and moot court programs and competitions.

Graduate certificate in health care analytics

Elon now offers a graduate certificate in health care analytics, a program in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business designed to meet the needs of working professionals. This certificate is ideal for those in the health care industry looking to advance their careers or for professionals eager to transition into this growing field.

Health care analytics has a 28% projected employment growth through 2032, with a $110,680 anticipated median salary. The certificate could prepare professionals with the necessary experience to assume positions such as Chief Medical Information Officer, Vice President of Advanced Analytics, Senior Data Analyst, Vice President of Quality Improvement, Healthcare Analytics Advisor, Director of Analytics, Research Manager, Data Consultant and Product Developer.

Cybersecurity Minor

The Love School of Business now offers a minor in cybersecurity management, helping to prepare students to navigate and protect the digital landscape of business. This minor is designed not just for those looking to specialize in cybersecurity but also for students across various disciplines who aim to enhance their understanding of digital security from a managerial perspective.

Election 2024 at Elon

Ahead of the 2024 election, Elon President Connie Book brought together an ad hoc committee to develop a comprehensive strategy to enhance Elon’s election engagement and support. The working group’s goals had three prongs:

1. Address what Elon offered during previous election years to determine what gaps needed to be filled.
2. Look at the civic engagement opportunities the university regularly offers to determine how Elon could use resources to build greater capacity.
3. Ask how Elon could best prepare the university community for active citizenship not just for the 2024 election, but for a lifetime of civic engagement.

The committee came up with several recommendations including increased communication about the election on campus, opportunities for election-related conversations and election programming, among others. A full list of events can be found here.

Some of the Fall 2024 election event highlights include:

Student Issues Forum (co-sponsored by SGA and ENN)
Thursday, Sept. 5, 6 p.m., East Neighborhood Commons, Forum (102)

Active Citizen Series: Presidential Debate Watch
Tuesday, Sept. 10, 9 p.m., Moseley Center First Floor

ABSS Board of Education Candidate Forum
Monday, Sept. 30, 7 p.m., Paramount Theater, 128 E. Front St., Burlington
Bus transportation from Elon University to the Paramount Theater will be provided.

Alamance County Commissioner Candidate Forum
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m., Paramount Theater, 128 E. Front St., Burlington
Bus transportation from Elon University to the Paramount Theater will be provided.

Active Citizen Series: Tracking Money in U.S. Politics and its Effect on Elections and Public Policy Featuring Hilary Braseth, Executive Director of Open Secrets
Thursday, October 17, 4:30 p.m., East Neighborhood Commons, Forum (102)

General Election
Tuesday, Nov. 5
Shuttle will run from the Center for the Arts to local polling places from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Active Citizen Series: Election Night Watch Event
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 8 p.m., Global Neighborhood Commons Great Hall

More information can be found on the Elon Votes! website.

New Leadership

Hilton Kelly, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences

The 2024-25 academic year will be the first at Elon for Hilton Kelly, who was chosen in January to lead Elon’s largest academic division. Kelly comes to Elon from the University of Wisconsin-Plattville where he served as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Education.

Kelly is no stranger to North Carolina though – he earned his bachelor’s degree in history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and was a full professor at Davidson College, where he held several leadership roles. He earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Kelly is an interdisciplinary scholar with specialization in the sociology of education.

“I am enormously grateful for the opportunity to lead Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences,” Kelly said. “I have enjoyed getting to know Elon’s students, faculty, staff and administration through the search process. From the very first moment I read the Boldly Elon strategic plan — a strategic vision for inclusive excellence, experiential learning, global learning and student success — I yearned to be a part of this great university. My whole career in higher education has prepared me for this moment and I look forward to the journey ahead.”

Anu Räisänen – director of HealthEU initiatives

Anu Räisänen is the university’s inaugural Director of HealthEU Initiatives who will work to develop and implement university-wide well-being infinitives with the goal of Boldly Elon, the university’s 10-year strategic plan.

Räisänen joined Elon on August 1 and was previously an assistant professor of physical therapy education and director of the Research and Innovation in Sport and Exercise (RISE) lab at Western University of Health Sciences in Lebanon, Ore. She earned a master of health sciences in exercise medicine from the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio, Finland, in 2011 and a doctor of health sciences in public health from the University Tampere in Tampere, Finland, in 2018.

“I am very excited for the opportunity to join Elon University as the Director of HealthEU Initiatives,” Räisänen said. “I would like to commend the university leadership for their commitment to campus health and well-being. Creating a national model is a challenge that I am thrilled to take on and I am looking forward to working alongside everyone in the Elon community.”

Mustafa Akben – director of artificial intelligence integration

While not new to Elon, Assistant Professor Mustafa Akben is stepping into a new role this academic year: inaugural director of artificial intelligence integration. Akben, currently an assistant professor of management in the Love School of Business, began his new position on July 1.

Akben will lead the integration of artificial intelligence across Elon’s academic and administrative departments, building on six core principles the university helped establish last year to guide higher education institutions with a rapidly evolving and groundbreaking technology.

Akben earned a doctorate in business administration from Temple University and has developed a range of AI-enhanced teaching tools and methodologies.

“I envision Elon as a thriving community where AI helps administrative functions and academic excellence, all while preserving human relationships across and beyond our campus, a trait that defines Elon’s identity,” Akben said. “I am excited to work across departments to find solutions that facilitate processes and create fresh, innovative and welcoming experiences by partnering with faculty, staff, and students.