More than 300 attend staff forum

The proposed retirement center, tuition benefits, Montague Village. These topics and more were discussed during the second annual staff forum, which was sponsored by the Staff Advisory Committee.

More than 300 of the university's 497 staff members attended the October 24 forum. Wayne King, a SAC member and associate director of the Furman Fund, served as moderator during the question and answer session Furman vice presidents and administrative personnel attended and fielded more than 20 questions on a variety of subjects. Some highlights of the one-hour meeting:

o Vice President for Business Affairs Wendy Libby told the group that Furman was continuing to pursue plans to develop an on-campus retirement center. Kendall Corp., which originally planned to develop the center, removed itself from the project earlier this year. Libby said Furman was in negotiations with another firm to develop the center. The company is currently conducting surveys in Greenville to determine the market demand for a retirement center.

o In response to a question submitted by an employee about being overwhelmed by increasing job duties, Susan Zeiger, director of personnel, encouraged stressed employees to talk to her or to their immediate supervisors. "We have a very helping environment here," said Zeiger. "We want to do what we can to help, and we don't want to put anyone in a situation they cannot handle."

o Asked about the resignation of women's basketball coach Sherry Carter, Athletic Director Gary Clark commended Carter's contributions to Furman but said he could not discuss specifics about Carter's resignation because it is a personnel matter.

o A.V. Huff., Jr., Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, said the university is continuing it efforts to hire more minority professors. Huff said minority faculty are in high demand and that a number of African-American faculty members have been lured away to other institutions and private business with better pay. President David Shi added that the overall pool of applicants for tenure-track minority faculty has declined during the past 20 years. "Overall, we have not been as successful in this area as we would like to be," said Huff. "But we are working on this."

Created in 1999, the Staff Advisory Committee is designed to be the voice of the Furman staff. The committee meets quarterly and may pass along concerns, questions or recommendations to the President's Council.