Inside Furman October, 2001

AROUND CAMPUS

LIBRARY
Construction on the library addition is scheduled to begin in June 2002. Library faculty and staff continue to work with architects, engineers and consultants to finalize details of the building design. The primary focus at present is the two-year "transition" period during which the library, while under construction, must stay open and provide access to resources and services. Details about the building project, including drawings and floor plans, are available at http://library.furman.edu/building.

The library has added two new databases this year. JSTOR is a scholarly journal archive with full image articles from over 150 of the most important academic journals going back to their very first issues, many of them in the 19th century. Cambridge Scientific Abstracts: Biological and Medical Sciences indexes some 6,000 biology journals, conference proceedings, technical reports and other sources for students and faculty who need in-depth, advanced research information.

A group called Friends of the Library has just been launched for supporters of the Furman libraries. Details are available at http://library.furman.edu/friends.

- John Payne

CONTINUING EDUCATION
The Division of Continuing Education has the good fortune to be welcoming two new leaders this fall: Brad Bechtold, who serves as director, and Tommie Reece, manager for Lifelong Learning. Tommie, who is well known as a member of the Greenville County School Board, served previously in admissions at Greenville Technical College. She will be planning non-credit programs for the community, including Connections: Women Leaders of the Upstate, and the popular summer academic enrichment "Scopes" programs for elementary and middle school youth and.

Judith Chandler, former Lifelong Learning director, will continue as the associate director of Continuing Education and will focus on the Bridges to a Brighter Future program for outstanding students in grades 9-12.

The goal of this summer residential program is to provide a "bridge" from high school to college for these talented young people from families with financial need. The first class of 24 students enjoyed great success; 21 graduated from county schools and 19 went to college.

- Judith Chandler

UNIVERSITY HOUSING
When October arrives, University Housing takes a deep sigh of relief because it means that the chaos of summer has passed and that all of our resident students are here and well into the fall term.

University Housing hosted 86 groups over the summer, plus six Summer Outdoor Experience groups and the Atlanta Falcons. Fourteen staff members were hired to work with these groups and to provide help in the Judson Hall and North Village offices.

Evaluations yielded excellent ratings in North Village for cleanliness of rooms; cleanliness of living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms; cooperation of housing personnel; and housing checkout time and procedures. Evaluations for Lakeside and South Housing yielded excellent ratings for cleanliness of rooms and parlors, and cooperation of housing personnel. Overall ratings of very good were received in the areas of cleanliness of halls, kitchens and public areas, and housing checkout times and procedures. In both areas, the best scores were in cooperation of the Housing staff.

Extensive renovations were completed for Geer and Haynsworth residence halls, as well as for buildings B and E in North Village. North Village buildings J and K opened, adding 164 spaces for juniors and seniors and allowing Furman to take 82 spaces from Montague Village off line.

This resulted in increased student satisfaction while also increasing the number of seniors living on campus. For fall term, over 600 students checked in early, representing athletic teams, offices and student organizations. These students were checked into rooms while camps and conferences were still on campus, renovation and maintenance work was being completed, and staff training was occurring.

Seventy-three RAs and 64 FRADs were trained in such topics as expectations, campus and service orientation, confrontation skills, policies, diversity and emergency procedures. Many members of the administrative staff provided valuable assistance in training these front-line student workers.

- Jason Cassidy

FINANCIAL SERVICES
Financial Services is happy to announce that Kim Rhodes, accounts payable coordinator, is the proud mother of a baby boy, River, born August 25. Mom and baby are both doing great!

But while Kim is on family leave, the bills still have to be paid. Debbie McNeely has taken over and is doing a great job in accounts payable during this busy time of the year. Grace Ruff, former copier services coordinator, is temporarily assisting in accounts payable and payroll.

It has been a busy summer, as usual. Everyone worked hard preparing for the annual audit and the closing of the fiscal year. Thanks to our effort and advance work, PricewaterhouseCoopers audited the entire university in less than two weeks. Of course, it has taken six CPAs three weeks to put the financial statements and notes together. They're complex!

Ken Bridwell and Amy Blackwell, committee members for the Datatel user's group, attended a planning session in Tampa, Fla. Their group organizes training and information sessions for the upcoming Southeastern Datatel users conference held in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in November. \

As usual, the start of the new school year has led to a frenzy of activity in the student accounts receivable area. As soon as accounts are settled for fall term, it's time to start preparing for winter term. The fun never ends around here!
- Sandra Silvers