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Board of Trustees review funds for task forces By Erin Munger The Board of Trustees reviewed the 250-plus recommendations from the task forces of the Commission on the Future of TCU at their retreat Sept. 14 and 15, and now they will concentrate on those that need new funds. Additional scholarship funding, program upgrades and facility additions and improvements are areas which will need new funds, said Larry Lauer, vice chancellor of marketing and communications and director of the commission. “The retreat was a good beginning to digesting the enormous amount of material coming out of the task forces,” Lauer said. Don Mills, vice chancellor of student affairs, said now the focus of the board is on what needs to be done to raise the overall qualityof the universityfor the students. Mills said in order to have a first-rate program, TCU needs to have new facilities,more creative teaching areas and more laboratories. TCU also needs more areas geared toward specific areas of study, he said. “The retreat was very successful, and it is clear the board is committed to improving TCU,” said Mills, who is also the facilitator of the undergraduate task force of the commission. Mills also acts as the mediator between the board and the student government. Another focal point is the growth of the student body, Mills said. TCU needs to catch up with the number of people at TCU, especially in respect to student and guest parking, he said. Lauer said the board will probably not know which programs and facilities will be at the top of the list until their meeting in November. However, he said the renovation of the Student Center, new technological facilities, classrooms and laboratories are all considerations. Chancellor Michael Ferrari may reveal more insight to these issues in his printed release at the trustees’ luncheon on Oct. 10, Lauer said. “The purpose of the retreat was to orient the trustees to begin thinking what can and what cannot be accomplished,” Lauer said. The deans and department heads all have copies of the task forces’ recommendations, and they are thinking about what they can do within their budgets to meet them, Lauer said. Aside from lasting two days and being an open discussion, an aspect
of the retreat that differentiated it from a typical board meeting is
that the trustees’ spouses were invited to participate in the proceedings,
Lauer said. Lauer said he does not foresee a retreat that would involve students and trustees, but there are committee structures through which outsiders can participate. Erin Munger Permanent changes top meeting list By Hemi Ahluwalia Permanent improvements for campus are on the top of the agenda for House of Student Representatives at the weekly meeting today. During the new business segment of the meeting the House will introduce a bill to buy a glass-encased, lockable bulletin board that will be placed outside of the Student Government Association office near the Student Center, said Sara Donaldson, vice president of House. The bill will be voted on at next week’s meeting. “The bulletin board will only include House information on it such as the weekly minutes, representative of the week and an organization of the week,” Donaldson said. John Billingsley, chair of the permanent improvements committee, said this is just one item in a long list of things that he wants to do to improve campus. “The bulletin board is a way to get things going for my committee,” he said. The bulletin board will be bought from Office Depot at a 40 percent discount and it will also be tax deductible. The estimated cost of the bulletin board is $307.20, Billingsley said. Donaldson said she hopes the bulletin board will attract students. “We want students that are walking by the House to see that we are actually accomplishing something,” she said. Josh McDonald, junior philosophy major, said although he is not likely to look at the bulletin board, it will be valuable for other students. “I think that it is a good idea for students who are interested in knowing what House is doing for the school,” he said. According to Billingsley, other projects on the permanent improvements committee’s list are putting new benches in front of the Student Center and having a clock placed in front of Sadler Hall. House will also debate if the reallocation of funds for three committees formed last semester is being done correctly. This is the first bill House will debate this semester, Donaldson said. The three committees to be affected by this change are University Affairs, Residential Concerns and Commuter Concerns. The Officers Fund will also be included in the bill to have an extra $400 placed in the fund, Donaldson said. “This bill was tabled to the finance committee last week and we will debate and vote on it this week,” Donaldson said. “I do not anticipate a problem with getting a majority of the representatives to vote in favor of the bill. The money will be available to the committees to use for publicity.” A new resolution about TCU LEAPS will also be introduced in the House
this week, Donaldson said. TCU LEAPS is a day-long program in its second year that allows students, faculty and staff to participate in community service projects around Fort Worth. The ultimate goal is to bring the campus together and help place students with service projects where they will continue to work, said Penny Woodcock, program coordinator for TCU Leaders Center. “I think that (House support) is a good indication of how inclusive
this program is,” Woodcock said. Hemi Ahluwalia Visitors learn about college By Emily Ward On Monday almost 500 prospective students and their families will crowd the Student Center, explore campus and raid the bookstore for this semester’s first Monday at TCU. The university’s largest recruiting tool, Monday at TCU is a comprehensive day where visitors can become more familiar with college life at TCU, said Andrea Pavell, associate director of admissions. On this day, prospective students can learn about everything college-oriented from the academic system to dorm life and extracurricular activities, she said. “When it all comes down to it, the main goal of Monday at TCU is to give a favorable impression of TCU to students and parents,” Pavell said. Tours of the different academic departments, various residence hall rooms and the general TCU campus are a major part of the Monday at TCU experience, she said. Other highlights of the day include interest sessions, lunch in the Student Center Ballroom and an optional Greek life presentation. This year’s interest sessions cover a variety of topics from freshman admissions to the commonly asked questions about TCU. “I think the program is excellent,” said Nathan Brown, a junior religion major and two-year tour guide for Monday at TCU. “It does a good job of getting families and students to see a lot of aspects of college life all in one day.” And changes are being made periodically to help the program become more personalized, Pavell said. At the opening and closing receptions, visitors can now have individual
and group pictures taken with Other changes that have been made include limiting the number of visitors at each Monday at TCU, Pavell said. Campus tour groups in the past have had up to 40 people for each student guide, she said. The number is now limited to about 15. Demand for interest session rooms require that visitor numbers have a limit, because people were not able to attend the sessions they wanted, she said. Regulating these numbers is now easier for the admissions department, thanks to online registration, Pavell said. At least 75 percent of the students register online, making it easier to have a direct cut off for how many people can sign up, she said. “We are doing a much better job of managing the programs now,” Pavell said. “Everything is running quite smoothly.” Emily Ward |
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