By Omar Villafranca staff reporter An audience of almost 40 students and faculty gathered Thursday in the PepsiCo Recital Hall to hear dean candidate Scott Sullivan discuss his proposed plans for the College of Fine Arts. Sullivan, dean of the College of Fine and Professional Arts at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, and Margaret Merrion, dean of the College of Fine Arts at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., are the final candidates for the dean position in the new College of Fine Arts. Sullivan said some of his goals for TCU include bringing in prominent lecturers and recognizing the competition between other art attractions in the area. He also wants to form a partnership with the Kimball and Amon Carter museums and the Bass Performance Hall. Desiree Fultz, a junior theater major, said Sullivan effectively outlined what he wants to do with TCU. "I thought he was very put together, and I thought he was very exuberant, very lively," Fultz said. "He was interesting." Merrion spoke to students and faculty about her plans for the College of Fine Arts Tuesday in the Hays Theatre. She could not be reached Thursday afternoon for comment. Peggy Bennett, a member of the search committee and director of music education at TCU, said the committee met with Provost William Koehler to decide on criteria for a dean. "We were very stringent with requirements," Bennett said. Another plan of Sullivan's was to form a student concerns committee for the College of Fine Arts. The committee would help students voice their opinions directly to department leaders, he added. "One thing I have learned in 14 years of administration work is that I don't know everything," Sullivan said. Fultz said Forrest Newlin, chairman of the theater department, has a student committee that voices concerns of the students to the department chairman or woman. Fultz said she supported Sullivan's student committee proposal. "For the dean to have a student committee, I think that's incredible because the more input you get from students, the better," Fultz said. Sullivan also said he wanted to start a faculty development fund which would pay for faculty members to go and see exhibits, plays and other works around the country in order to further them professionally. Bennett said each member submitted a list of qualifications that he or she deemed imperative. She said some of the prerequisites were a terminal degree (the highest degree awarded in a field), experience in higher education (a minimum of five years), professional experience, entrepreneur skills and leadership style. Committee members then were able to choose the final candidates. "Each committee member had a voice in the selection," Bennett said. "These two candidates were clearly at the top of the lists."
Omar Villafranca
Editor's note: This is the second in a series of articles profiling the 21 task forces that make up the Commission on the Future of TCU. By Reagan Duplisea staff reporter By increasing TCU's athletic exposure, the Role of Athletics task force plans to improve the university's national image. Gaining prominence means more revenue for the school and more top students wanting to attend, said Curtis Fuller, a task force member and a master's of liberal arts student. "They will have a lot more people to choose from to come to the school who are saying 'I want to be part of that tradition,'" Fuller said. Fuller said one way the task force has discussed gaining that reputation is better publicity. Nadia Lahutsky, an associate professor of religion and task force member, said representatives of the local media were brought in to discuss TCU's role in the Dallas/Fort Worth area sports coverage. The task force learned how the media go about their task from Channel 8 WFAA-TV sports anchor Dale Hansen and Dave Smith, the executive sports editor of The Dallas Morning News. "They select based on what studies and polls show what people want," Lahutsky said. "TCU athletics will be hard-pressed to compete with professional sports." Smith said he told task force members that TCU athletics administrators have to give him a good reason for covering their events. "TCU competes with five professional sports teams in the area," Smith said. "They have to earn their way." Lahutsky said students can help the athletics program become more popular. "There's all this talk about wanting publicity, but we don't get the numbers to events ourselves," Lahutsky said. "Why should the media cover it if students can't even walk across the street and flash their IDs and get in free to athletic events?" Lahutsky said marketing athletics will take money. "Part of my position as a faculty member is to say, 'Let's do this, but let's not do this at the expense of academics,'" she said. "My position is not being too stingy but not writing a blank check, either." Chancellor Michael Ferrari established the Commission on the Future of TCU - which is composed of more than 400 students, faculty and staff members, alumni and community leaders - to determine how the university can "move to the next level of academic distinction."
Reagan Duplisea
By Jill McNeal staff reporter Junior religion major Matt Smith said he has the opportunity to learn more about his chosen career in the ministry at next week's Ministers Week 2000 than he has in a variety of religion courses at TCU. "I want to get a feel for how other people present their lessons and sermons," Smith said. "I like to hear things from other denominations, so I can incorporate them into my own sermons." Ministers Week 2000 will start Monday evening at University Christian Church and continue through Thursday morning. While the event targets clergy in the southwest part of the country, Stan Hagadone, director of admissions and continuing education for Brite Divinity School, said members of the TCU community are welcome. "Some of our graduates come back to Ministers Week every year for the social interaction as well as the worship and learning," Hagadone said. TCU, Brite and UCC have sponsored the gathering of area ministers since 1943. For 47 years, the Wells Sermons, Scott Lectures and McFadin Lectures, each a series of three, have been a part of Ministers Week. The McFadin Lectures are more biblically oriented, said David Murph, TCU director of church relations and member of the 2000 Ministers Week Program Committee, while the Scott Lectures have more to do with current culture and social action. Hagadone said speakers for Ministers Week are chosen two years in advance by representatives from Brite, UCC and TCU's undergraduate religion department. "We want people who are strongly academic and will reflect well on the school but who also have the communication skills such that they can speak effectively to the public," Hagadone said. "We consider this week continued education for the clergy." Tex Sample, a 2000 Scott Lecturer who recently retired from St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Mo., will demonstrate the use of Microsoft PowerPoint during his lectures on ministry in the electronic age. He said he hopes to persuade clergy that media can be helpful to them in presenting information, especially to young people. "I want to challenge some of the ways in which education is being done by introducing a multi-sensory environment for learning and worship," Sample said. Sample said he is looking for new ways to engage people in issues such as war and peace, poverty and other areas of social justice. "When it comes to things such as homosexuality, I think the church needs to be more just, hospitable and accepting," Sample said. Carol Meyers, professor of religion at Duke University and this year's McFadin Lecturer, has just finished a book about women in scripture with Ross Kraemer of the University of Pennsylvania and professor Toni Craven of Brite Divinity School. Meyers will lecture on women in the Old Testament. The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, Butman Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Piedmont College in Demorest, Ga., will preach three sermons on sin and repentance. Programs for Ministers Week 2000 are available at Brite Divinity School.
Jill McNeal
By Jeff Anderson staff reporter Swipe card technology for door access, soda machines and laundry machines could be in all residence halls by the fall semester if a proposal by Residential Services passes. Roger Fisher, director of Residential Services, and Emily Burgwyn, director of student affairs information services, submitted a proposal for the installation of card swipers for the remaining seven residence halls. The installation could happen this summer if the proposal is approved soon enough, Fisher said. Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the proposal will be considered in the budget process this spring.
The soda machines have or will have the technology, he said. The installation of the technology is included in the Foster Hall renovation currently in progress. The proposal estimates it will cost $250,000 to install the technology, Fisher said. Russell Elleven, associate director of residence life, said the system is beneficial for students, faculty and staff. If a student ID is lost or stolen, the card can be deactivated rather than having to replace outside door keys for everyone in the residence hall, he said. "It's a convenience for students," Elleven said. Fisher said originally the installations were to occur as each residence hall is renovated. Door access requires new doors for each residence hall, and if replaced early, the door may not fit in with the renovation when it occurs, he said. The cost of door access increases the estimate significantly, Fisher said. "New doors will make the building look better and be better for security," Fisher said. Fisher said there have been very few complaints with the system from Worth Hills or Pete Wright. "Students are loving it," Fisher said, "Everything can be sent home to parents." Tracy Alsup, a sophomore premajor, said the system is a convenience. "You can use your ID card for everything," said Alsup. "You don't have to have your keys (to get in the dorm) and you don't have to get change (for laundry)."
Jeff Anderson |
Fisher said currently all residence halls in Worth Hills
and the Tom Brown/Pete Wright Residential Community have swipe card technology.
Residents are able to use their ID cards for laundry machines and for door
access to each building.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |