Furman
Children's Choir formed
Man
with the plan:
Profile
of Phil Winstead, coordinator of institutional planning and research
Recital
series honors David GIbson
April
10 named "Paul Scarpa Day"
Furman's broad approach is big appeal
Chemistry
department awarded research grant
Around
campus:
News
from university departments
Faculty/Staff
news:
Professional
activities
Milestones:
New
employess, promotions, anniversaries
Around Campus
MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
Spring is typically one of the busiest times of the year for the Marketing and Public Relations Department. And this year is no exception.
As the countdown for the launch of the comprehensive campaign continues, we are working on two projects that we hope will excite our alumni, students and the university community. The redesigned Furman Magazine is due out in May, and the new Furman homepage (furman.edu) will be unveiled later this month.
Our office is also working on several dedication ceremonies. Nancy Spitler, Gayle Warth and John Roberts have been working closely with Student Services on the April 14 dedication of the University Center. In May, the rose garden will be dedicated in memory of Janie Kennedy Earle Furman.
Vince Moore reports that the Cherrydale move received national coverage. A photograph of the mansion was picked up by a wire service and published in newspapers around the country. The “CBS Evening News” even aired portions of the move during its closing segment on Sunday, March 7.
Our office coordinated an effort to educate residents and businesses along Poinsett Highway about the Cherrydale move. Gayle Warth, John Roberts, Rena Lovell and a handful of students stuffed more than a thousand mail boxes with a letter detailing the move. A special thanks goes to Sofia Kearns, who translated the letter into Spanish. Greg Carroll joined John and Gayle in visiting nearby businesses to ease their concerns about the move.
— John Roberts
FINANCIAL AID
Early decision, regular decision, returning students, graduate students, evening studies students . . . this time of year is extremely demanding on the Financial Aid Office, but more so this year because of a lack of personnel.
Fortunately, as of March 1 we are back to a full staff. Lynn McCauley is located at the front desk as financial aid assistant. Previously Lynn worked in the Admissions Office. LaShelia Wyatt is temporarily filling in as loan counselor until it is determined if Carman McCuen is able to return from maternity leave. Wendy Looper is the part-time data entry specialist. Lynda Sayer, Suzanna Randolph, Kim Jenerette and Anne Smith are still here and very thankful for the new additions.
Datatel implementation is in full swing. The Financial Aid Office was able to process the early decision students without any major fatalities to the system or personnel. Currently, work is being finalized on processing for regular decision students. Lynda Sayer attended a Datatel conference in Washington, D.C., during the second week in March.
In February, Kim Jenerette and Lynda Sayer attended the annual conference of the Southern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, which was held in Norfolk, Va. Due to the staff shortage, Anne Smith graciously volunteered to forego the conference and help staff the office (mainly to be able to attend a summer conference in Las Vegas). Viva Las Vegas!
— Anne Smith
FINANCIAL SERVICES
With the office’s final Datatel modules going live by early summer, Financial Services will happily shift from a Datatel implementation focus to a procedures improvement focus. Change has become the norm in the department as opportunities to improve administrative processes are sought.
Financial Services negotiated and obtained a significant reduction in processing fees charged by the credit card service provider to departments on campus that accept credit cards.
After a bid and interview process coordinated by Financial Services which involved both Business Affairs and Development, State Street Global Advisors was selected to provide custodial, investment and administrative services for Furman’s growing planned giving program. Financial Services and Planned Giving are working together to complete the transition by June 30.
The South Carolina Department of Revenue completed an audit of sales and use tax at Furman. Financial Services communicated information on the findings to budget unit heads to assist with structuring purchases to minimize sales tax liability.
— Gail Craig-Jager
DEVELOPMENT
We’re moving briskly toward the April 16 public launching of “Forever Furman,” the campaign that will bolster Furman’s endowment, programs and facilities and ensure the future excellence of the university.
In the weeks and months ahead, you’ll see much about those things that make Furman a special place — especially the great teachers and great traditions. All of the councils and boards of the university are in the final stage of garnering support from their members for the campaign. They will participate in the announcement, and some have even reached the 100 percent mark in participation. Stay tuned!
In the coming months several areas on campus will be named for some very special people. In May, we will dedicate the refurbished Janie Kennedy Earle Furman Rose Garden, between Daniel Dining Hall and the University Center.
Mrs. Furman, who attended the Furman-affiliated Greenville Female College, beginning with kindergarten and continuing through her graduation in 1914, was the mother of Alester G. Furman III and Earle Furman and the wife of Alester, Jr., who with Dr. John Plyler envisioned the campus we enjoy.
In June the new commons building at North Village will be named for Diane and Larry Estridge, Class of 1966, both of whom serve as volunteers for Furman and in the community. Larry serves on the Board of Trustees. The naming gift was provided by trustee Sarah Belk Gambrell of Charlotte.
In August two facilities will be named for the late Buck Mickel: the reception area of Minor Herndon Mickel Tennis Center and the “community square” in the political science department. As everyone knows, Buck was at the top of the list of Greenville leaders and was the husband of Board of Trustees member Minor Mickel.
— Phil Howard
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Spring brings a surge of activity in Continuing Education as we wind down the academic year and gear up for the summer.
Undergraduate Evening Studies has begun registration for its summer classes offered here and at the University Center downtown. UES is the first campus unit to register with Datatel.
Two other programs for the community sponsored by Continuing Education are the seminars for Secretaries Week April 20 and 22. These popular events are luncheon/lectures and will be held this year in Hartness Pavilion. The topics are “Working with People and Liking It” and “De-Stressed or Distressed?” For more information, call 294-2155.
In addition, Continuing Education provides leadership for the Upstate Family Business Forum, which met on campus in February.
We now offer programs at the Cliffs at Glassy, including a yoga class and a lecture series with 46 participants from the residential community. Plans are also under way to offer Tai Chi. The classes use instructors from the Lifelong Learning program.
FULIR (Furman University Learning in Retirement Institute) has launched its spring term with 240 members. The next big event for this group is the mini learning retreat at Wild Acres near the Blue Ridge Parkway April 26-29. The Thanks Luncheon for spring instructors, always a festive event, is scheduled May 18.
This summer Furman will be host to 64 summer camps and conferences with approximately 7,000 participants, plus the Atlanta Falcons football team. Some of the new groups are: Young Math Analysts of the Southeast, Christian Pharmacists Fellowship, Summer Alcohol and Drug Institute, Southern Baptist Conference of the Deaf, and Mystery Writers of the Southeast, who will stage a “murder” on campus for participants to write about.
The flyers have just gone out for the combined spring/summer Lifelong Learning classes for the period April-August. There are many new classes and some traditional favorites. This flyer also includes swimming classes at Furman and at the Marriott, as well as the popular summer enrichment classes for young people: Kaleidoscope (full), Microscope (full) and Telescope for rising sixth- and seventh-graders, a pilot program this year. Places are still available for the weeks of July 26-30 and August 2-6.
The Bridges to a Brighter Future program is in the final stages of recruitment and interviews for the Gamma Class for 1999. In addition to Carolina, Southside and Greenville high schools, Travelers Rest has been added. For information about any of these programs, contact 294-3134.
— Judith Chandler
COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SERVICES
Conversion of student demographic information from the HP3000 on March 20 brought Datatel implementation a step closer. According to Randy Dill, manager of Administrative Systems, the student registration process has passed the testing phase and will be used live in mid-April. Summer school will register on Datatel April 1. Curriculum Information, Financial Aid and Student Accounts Receivables are already converted to the Datatel system.
On-line systems to collect telephone and computer inventory information were developed to simplify the maintenance of a comprehensive inventory database. Matt Rissman, desktop systems specialist, developed the on-line collection systems with the assistance of student consultant Jeremy Whitley. The cooperation of those asked to provide information from throughout the university is appreciated by C&IS.
All C&IS computer labs are now protected with Centurion guards — add-on hardware devices that prevent writing to a system hard drive. Users of the labs will need to store their work to a floppy disk or to their network area. The Centurions insure that program files are not damaged by users, since the systems will lose changes made to the hard drive when they are rebooted. Network images of the lab hard drives have also been created to restore systems quickly in the event of hardware failure.
The Tower Café is now truly an Internet café with the addition of two iMac computers for web browsing. The iMacs are specifically configured for this purpose, with the system files protected from tampering.
Twenty-four trunk lines have been added to accommodate the increasing demands for long distance telephone services. Ken Roper, telecommunications manager, says the new lines will alleviate a number of recent long distance access problems related to the overall capacity of this service.
Lotus Notes databases are being developed by C&IS for a number of uses throughout the university. Response to the databases for academic discussion groups continues to be positive. The latest conversion of information under way is that of the policies and procedures manual to a Notes Document Library database.
— Susan Dunnavant