LIFELONG LEARNING

We are winding down our winter schedule of classes for the community and will soon be announcing our spring-summer schedule. Classes will include yoga, water exercise, home and hearth, gardening, conversational French, and much more. The Thursday lunch-and-learn series "What in the World Is Going On?" will continue its study of people who have changed the world.

This summer our academic enrichment programs for children will extend from first- and second-graders in Microscope to third- through fifth-graders in Kaleidoscope (in its tenth year) and on to Telescope and Periscope for middle-schoolers. Periscope, new this year, includes an excursion to Prichards Island and focuses on ecology. Only a very few spaces remain in the elementary programs; we can accept only 15 in the new program.

We are excited about the development of the Bridges to a Brighter Future program, now entering its fourth year. We complete the first full cycle with the graduation of our first cohort this spring. We are delighted to announce that we will have two Bridges graduates in Furman’s freshman class, and we are receiving news weekly about college acceptances from this worthy group of students. In our first year of recruiting county-wide, we have 60 nominations from high school principals and counselors, and we are interviewing 30 of the "best and brightest" for 18 slots in the Delta Class.

Connections: Women Leaders of the Upstate, a program in partnership with the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce, is in its third year. The program brings 50 women who are leaders or who have been identified as demonstrating potential for leadership to the campus over a five-month period. Connections is yet another "town and gown" program that provides a strong bridge to the community.

— Judith Chandler

FULIR

Intergenerational communication continues between members of the Furman University Learning in Retirement (FULIR) institute and Furman students. FULIR members Jo Ann Walker, Shirley Wagner, Malcolm Williams, Martha Kegarise, and Carl and Geraldine Weyermann talked with students in Judy Bell’s classes on Human Development. Topics included dealing with aging parents, adult children, grandparenting, and changing attitudes in spirituality and education.

When asked for advice, they suggested that students start saving now (even a small amount) to make a big difference later in life; exercise regularly to remain healthier longer; and make continuous learning a lifelong pursuit.

We are planning a faculty development workshop in March to discuss more ways in which FULIR students and Furman students can relate in classes. The life experiences, work history, travel and wisdom of the FULIR members can enliven and enrich the learning that occurs on campus.

— Sarah Fletcher

PERSONNEL

During the spring, the Personnel Office will offer a variety of campus events. On March 22, the office support staff luncheon will be held. This annual event brings support staff together to say thank you to the individuals who provide office and administrative support. Invitations will be sent by campus mail.

Retirement counselors from TIAA-CREF and VALIC will be on campus the week of April 10 to provide individual retirement counseling. Participants who sign up for a 30-minute counseling session will be given a retirement illustration projecting the value of their retirement account at age 65. Appointment scheduling and additional information will be sent to you via e-mail and campus mail.

Mark your calendar for a two-day campus blood drive on April 6 and 7. More specifics will be provided at a later date.

Wellness programs scheduled for the spring include "Protecting Your Bones," "Vitamins: The ABCs of Life," and "Eating Out." Each program lasts about 30 minutes and is held around lunch time. We do hope that you will find one that interests you.

— Doris Foster

LIBRARY

The BIG NEWS is the announcement of a $9.5 million grant from The Duke Endowment for the expansion and renovation of the James B. Duke Library. An outline of the project, schematic plans and reports on the progress of the library campaign will be available on the library Web page later this month.

The library has recently added three important databases to its electronic collection — Philosopher’s Index, Religion Index and SportDiscus, in cooperation with the departments of philosophy, religion, and health and exercise science. Each represents the pre-eminent research database in its field. The library has also added Current Contents Connect: Life Sciences Edition, a biology resource. All of these resources are available on the "What’s New?" section of the library Web page.

The library committee, in conjunction with the library administration, will be conducting a series of forums for faculty to discuss the new model for collection development, which the committee has proposed for the improvement of the library collection. The library is currently searching for a collection development librarian to guide the growth and improvement of library collections. For information on the forums, contact any member of the committee.

The library hopes the university community will join us in bidding a fond farewell to Jana Crain, who will be leaving in April. Jana has served as circulation assistant in the James B. Duke Library for three years.

— John Payne

ACADEMIC RECORDS

The 1999-2000 school year has been one of great change and excitement for the Office of Academic Records. While the office has undergone a name change and a physical move from the administration building to the Haynsworth Common Room, there have been several staff changes as well.

In September, Susan S. D’Amato was appointed associate dean for academic systems. In January Sarah Wells was appointed registrar and Jo Ann Williams was named assistant registrar. The job titles of Sandra Childress, Amy McCarson and Susan Templeton have been changed to academic records specialists. The office has also added the services of Iris Lezan, who formerly worked in computing and information services.

Recent additions to office services have included the Web Advisor program, a Datatel product. This program offers many new amenities to faculty and students. Faculty now has the option to submit course grades via the Web. For students, there is a new drop/add program for registration and an opportunity to see their class schedules and an on-line working copy of their transcript.

Members of the Academic Records staff have participated in several conferences this year. During the fall term, Sandra Childress, Amy McCarson and Susan Templeton went to the Southeast Regional Datatel Users Conference in Myrtle Beach to become more informed about Furman’s new academic computing system. Later this month, Susan D’Amato, Sarah Wells and Jo Ann Williams will travel to Washington, D.C., for the national Datatel Users Conference.

— Susan Templeton and Matthew Burns

ATHLETICS

With the start of tennis, baseball, softball and golf, the transition from winter to spring sports is under way for Furman’s athletic teams.

Paul Scarpa’s tennis team split its first eight matches. Clashes with North Carolina, Florida and Georgia provided the Paladin netters with strong opposition. Furman came close to recording an upset against nationally fourth-ranked Florida before falling 5-2.

On the women’s side, Debbie Southern’s Lady Paladins opened with a 3-2 mark, with wins over Illinois State, Ball State and UNC-Charlotte. Sophomore Megan Dungan has continued her excellent play by posting a 4-1 record at No. 1 singles.

The Paladin baseball team entered spring break with a 3-5 record. After taking two of three games from High Point to open the season, the Paladins dropped three straight to Southeastern Conference power Auburn before bouncing back with a 5-0 shutout of UNC-Asheville. Against UNC-Asheville, Rusty Putnam took a no-hitter into the ninth inning before surrendering his lone hit of the game.

Softball, meanwhile, lost its first two games to USC-Spartanburg. While the team’s start on the diamond has been slow, construction of Furman’s new softball complex behind the intercollegiate athletics building (old gym) is now under way.

As the spring sports season gained momentum, the men’s and women’s basketball teams prepared for Southern Conference tournament play in early March.

The Lady Paladins snapped top seed UT-Chattanooga’s 15-game winning streak February 23 to claim the tournament’s No. 2 seed. They are led by senior forward Jackie Smith, the league’s leading scorer and rebounder. Furman’s Timmons Arena hosted the first and second rounds of this year’s women’s tournament, with the final rounds played at the Bi-Lo Center.

The Furman men were seeded sixth in the league’s South Division and were scheduled to take on the No. 3 seed from the North Division in the first round of the tournament, played at the Bi-Lo Center March 2-5.

— Hunter Reid

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Financial Services is now happily settled in temporary offices next to the Furman Theatre.

Spring term Enrollment Day activities on March 1 were handled in the Financial Services offices. This allowed for on-line access to student accounts and made the process easier for staff and students.

With Furman’s fiscal year end changing from May 31 to June 30 this summer, all members of the Financial Services staff have been busy working to make the transition go as smoothly as possible. Jean Cobb, accounting manager, is the project leader. She has been coordinating Datatel testing activities with other departments on campus.

Furman’s fixed asset records were moved to Datatel last summer. Howard Porter, who handles accounting for fixed assets, is now working with departments to verify that fixed asset records are up-to-date and that all capitalized equipment has Furman identification tags.

Kim Rhodes joined the department in January and is assisting in both accounts payable and payroll. Kim’s accounting experience and can-do attitude have made her an instant asset to the department.

Gloria Moore, who handles collections, is working with our outside Perkins Loan processing company to get Furman on-line. This will speed up administrative changes to loans and will provide immediate on-line access to information on Furman’s Perkins Loan accounts.

Sandra Phillips, payroll coordinator, and Jean Cobb worked with Student Employment to institute direct deposit of pay for student workers. Many students had requested direct deposit and its implementation will help the students while also reducing Furman’s bank charges.

— Gail Craig-Jager