The Stetson Reporter

issue 15 volume 114 Florida's Number One Private College Newspaper LIFE: Professors discuss movement of Black history page ib OPINIONS: Religious 'fanatics' need to back down page 4a Focus groups 1 assess image „ of university By Julie Farricker associate news editor Not only will the fountain look different to prospective students, but the university's literature will also be changing. Each year, high school juniors receive a plethora of viewbooks, pamphlets, and videos from various college campuses around the nation. According to Stetson's Admissions Office, there are inquiries from about 25, 000 students around the country interested in the university. Last week, four focus group-type interviews with about eight participants in each section were held on campus by Stein Communications from Atlanta in order to receive comments, suggestions, and perspectives from students, • faculty and staff of the university to shape how future recruitment materials and the university's web site would be produced. Brian Miller, the executive director of marketing and communications, also attended the meetings and sat in with the writer, web designers, and print publication individuals from the company. Not just limited to the campus, ! the representatives were able to tour the surrounding areas of DeLand to also gain the essence of the university in its central Florida location. "These interviews were addressed to students and others involved wjth Stetson from a wide variety of majors and home locations so Stein Communications could get a feel of what Stetson's like and a sense of what goes on here and portray that in the various publications," said admissions counselor Kelly Fitzgerald. "They are here to find out what attracts current students and aim that [knowledge] towards recruiting more good students for the school." • . Those who participated were not required to have any preparation for the meetings. The questions the consultants asked included why one chose .his university, reactions to the publications as a high school student, how location of the university influenced the main decision to attend, and thoughts , and feelings as students now in the university. "They are helping us with both new printed material for admissions and an overhaul of the primary pages of the university's web site," said Miller. Stein Communications will return to the university on Feb. 7 in order to interview freshmen students since they are closest to the past recruitment process and can offer views,on the perception of the university now as a student. Julie Farricker can be contacted W [email protected]. ^Reporter C ORRE CTIONS 1. "New show at Duncan focuses on individuals" LIFE, Issue 14. In the article, we said that Shaun Whalen was a senior digital arts major, but he is actually a junior. 2. "New show at Duncan focuses on individuals" LIFE, Issue 14. In the photo caption we spelled Jessica Randolph as Randolf. Contact.Us 421 N. Woodland Blvd. #8409 DeLand, FL 32720-3751 386.822.7224 FAX 386.822.7233 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] T Economic downturn upsets, slashes budget By Amy Rigdon news editor Beginning this semester, the university has entered a three-year budget stabilization program to significantly cut expenditures by cutting the university's budget across the board. Due to national economic hardships and fewer endowments, the university is cutting budgets so that it will spend half a million dollars less than it usually spends. According to a memo that univer sity president Doug Lee sent to the university community, "During completion of the conversion to the Banner system...last fall, several significant budget problems were revealed. These problems are made more complex due to the economic downturn and Sept. 11,. which are fording a nationwide movement toward infrastructure reduction in higher, education." "There is a serious^ issue going into the future about incoming endowment earnings—they are the second largest [income for the university] after tuition fees," said Jim Beasley, vice-president for administration and chief operating officer. "What we spend in our operating budgets will go down half a million dollars. As endowment performance has gone down, we have to protect it." The three-year program outlines cutting the budget by streamlining across the board and by more efficiently and meticulously monitoring funds without hindering the university's quality for students and staff. According to Lee's memo, "The overall three:year program calls for significant cost containment measures and a renewed commitment to tight and centralized budget and expense controls. The current model allows for salary pool increases, but it also calls for budget reductions in personnel and expenses in both the academic and administrative divisions." "We are trying to stabilize the university's budget over a three year period by monitoring carefully ex- see BUDGET, page 2a University economizes size of staff By Teresa Schwarz MANAGING EDITOR The university has lost a number of faculty and administration members over the last year, which has caused some concern since recent economic situations have hindered the university's ability to replace these people with ease. The university is evaluating each opening to see if the position must be filled immediately or if the position can remain open for a few* months. The university prefers the latter since the.new. fiscal year will begin on June 1, giving the budget some time to recover. Dr. Jim Beasley, the vice president of operations, said that the administration has laid out a "three year plan that is broad based" touching on all aspects of the university. "It will take three years to move through this situation," Beasley said. "Experts believe that the economy will only begin to recover during the third or fourth quarter of this year." This plan will include an exami- nation'of all areas of the university. Beasley said that they would examine the size of the university as well as sizes of comparable universities in order to get an idea of "what is an appropriate size staff for the size of the institution." Beasley also noted that the preliminary estimates showed that the university may be more "fully staffed than other institutions." The three-year plan will take these numbers into account in order to economize the staff in order to get it to the "right" size. Beasley said that this might cause several positions to be eliminated over the next three years, and that the administration will definitely have several "reductions^" For the open administration positions, the president's staff budget committee is examining the need for EMPTY: Due to loss and resizing of the university staff, some departments are left understaffed, photo art by amy rigdon the position, before they consider how and when to fill it. Several members of the administration have been asked to pick up extra duties to cover the positions during this .................... crisis, something Beasley himself has had to do "several times." Beasley also said that the rumored hiring freeze was not university- wide. There are several active searches being conducted, and positions have been announced for several open faculty positions. "We are very mindful that academics are the heart of the institution. We will keep that on the same level as it was before." The academic deans are.encouraged to examine the open faculty positions carefully. The deans were asked to determine . whether the posi- 1 tions can remain unfilled until the university budget recovers, which is predicted to occur in three years. The positions will be filled though if it is necessary in order to insure the academic quality of the university. The new Director of Peer Career also has several other job titles, and he is expected to hold that position for a few months until someone new can be found. The Communications Studies and Theater Arts department is also feeling the squeeze because two professors have left the university recently. This left the department with almost 90 communications studies majors and two professors during spring advising. "We are very mindful that academics are the heart of the institution," Beasley said. "We will keep that on the same level as it was before." Beasley feels that these changes and possible future ones will be "transparent to the students." Teresa Schwarz can be reached at tschwarz(a)stetson.edu. Graduate in Peace Corps dies in South Africa By Doreen Overstreet NEWS WRITER Twenty-five year-old Shelby Lyn Bond, who attended the university from 1994 to 1996, was killed in a car crash on Dec. -28 in Richmond, South Africa. She was scheduled to return home in April. "Shelby was passionate; about life," said Bond's Spanish professor Dr. Maria Alvarez, who had kept in e-mail contact with Bond. "And that's what made her stand out on this campus." Although only here for two years, Bond had pledged the sorority Alpha Chi Omega and by her sophomore year had become a resident assistant in Emily Hall and SGA secretary. Bond transferred to UNC at Chapel Hill in the fall of 1996 and graduated with majors in both political science and Africana studies. Bond's former college boyfriend, 1994-1996 university student Jeff Brady, said, "If you have seen a movie star, a renowned professor, a president, someone who captivates your mind and spirit, then you know what it would be like to meet Shelby." Longtime friend Stacy Salvadore, 1997 university graduate, said, "Shelby genuinely cared about people and people could see that." Bond's caring extended into the Peace Corps-after she graduated where she spent three years volunteer ing in Mozambique, Africa. After the Peace Corps Bond continued working in Africa and joined the Population Service International (PSI), which is | social marketing health organization that focuses on education about reproduction and AIDS issues. Since one in five people have the AIDS virus in Mozambique, Bond began a program through which she formed clubs at local Mozambique schools to teach kids about safe sex. She used skits starring popular students to make safe sex cool. PSI adopted the program and is currently using Bond's format. Alvarez: remembered that Bond would "not accept any limitations." As a proven testimony to this recollection, Bond's oldest sister, Stacy Bond, re called that her sister was originally rejected from the Peace Corps because she was allergic to sulfa. Sulfa is an ' ingredient that is used to cure malaria'. Determined to follow through with her dream, Bond consulted doctors from around the world on alternative treatments to malaria that did not involve the ingredient sulfa! She found out that the malaria drug the Peace Corps were currently using would be obsolete in a few years. She helped change the policy of the Peace Corps to a new malaria drug and was able to go to Africa. Jacklyn Hall, a 1996 graduate who was also in the Peace Corps in Africa, see BOND, page 2a http://reporter.stetson.edu - irimiri^iiTffi!TiiTiriit mm IIHWiWJfflfiftllft'raiBMlil in_j-j/jiuijy.M