By Kris Gutierrez staff reporter As Kristen Kirst walks out of the Student Center for the last time today, both administrators and students say they hope she realizes how much her work is appreciated. "We're sorry to see her go," Alpha Kappa Alpha President Chris Hafford said. "She's helped us out tremendously. Hopefully, whoever comes in after her will be just as helpful."
Kirst has worked closely with the Greek community for the past six years, and despite previous job offers, she said this move is the one she's been waiting for. "This is an opportunity that really interests me and fits with my values," she said. "Working in higher education was never a planned direction for me." Several awards and honors cover Kirst's office walls, some of which have come directly from the Greek student body. "The students are the reason I get up early every morning and stay late in the afternoon," Kirst said. "Despite the long hours and frustrations that sometimes come along, the rewards far outweigh the negatives." Those same students gave Kirst one final thank-you during a farewell reception held this past weekend. "We thought this was a great thing to do for her," said Leah Belotti, a junior religion major and Alpha Delta Pi member who organized the ADPi-sponsored party. "About 50 to 75 people came to mingle with Kristen and let her know that her work was appreciated." Kirst wept when she talked openly about her memories of TCU. "I've been a part of someone finding and pursuing their dreams," she said. "It's overwhelming. There have been so many nice things that have happened. All I've ever tried to do is come in and do my very best every day." Rick Barnes, director of student organization services, said Kirst's decision wasn't necessarily a surprise but rather a change of pace. "We're going to automatically miss her six years of working experience," he said. "She's been a real asset. The way in which she's handled her job has not been overlooked." Barnes said a formal search for Kirst's replacement has not yet officially begun. "We definitely want someone who has experience with fraternity and sorority affairs," he said. "We'll look for someone who is a team player, someone that can bring new and different ideas to the table." Kirst said with the timing of her departure, a replacement may not be found until January or February. "Any time something like this happens, it leaves a lot of opportunity for change," she said. "This will leave the door open for re-evaluating what we've been doing and why we've been doing it."
Kris Gutierrez
Skiff staff Student participants in the Commission on the Future of TCU are being selected from a list of about 40 names recommended to Larry Lauer, executive director of the commission. Student Government Association President Ben Alexander said he compiled a list of about 25 students to be placed on the commission based on whom he thought would be good representatives of the campus community. He then reviewed the list of names with Don Mills, vice chancellor for student affairs, and submitted it to Lauer. Lauer, associate vice chancellor for communications and public affairs, is currently in the process of placing students from Alexander's list on one of the commission's 22 task forces. Chancellor Michael R. Ferrari said the 400-member commission, a board created to help move the university to the next level of academic distinction, is composed of TCU "stakeholders" who have an interest in the future of the university, including students, staff and faculty members, alumni, trustees and community members. Alexander was asked to compile the list because SGA appoints all student leaders to university committees. "This was just a natural extension of that," Alexander said. "And I've had the opportunity to meet a lot of students across campus, and I guess (the commission directors) thought I would be a good resource." Ferrari said he based the decision on his past experiences with similar task force commissions at other universities. "This is generally what we've always done with students appointed to university committees," he said. "We used the traditional, formal process." There was no official application process, but students were encouraged to contact Ferrari to nominate themselves or others. "I spent a lot of time speaking to various groups about the commission," he said. "I indicated to them to have them send me an e-mail if they were interested or if they wanted to recommend another student." He said he received 10 to 15 names via e-mail and sent them directly to Lauer. They were added to Alexander's list.
By Stephen Suffron staff reporter Fort Worth residents looking to increase their earning potential without leaving town can now look to the TCU Office of Extended Education as it begins a new program offering various technical certifications for Microsoft systems. The program will be offered in partnership with the computer training company ExecuTrain. It will be launched coinciding with an informational career night in the Bass Building living room from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 12. David Grebel, director of Extended Education, said the new program shows the surrounding community that TCU's Extended Education department is working hard to keep up with the demand for technical services. "We have had regular calls in the recent past asking if we offer technical certification in this office," he said. "It's important for the community to see that we are able to make this offer and important for the campus to be able to point students to this. We didn't want to be perceived as being behind." The decision to add the program began with regular calls from Fort Worth residents to Grebel and Richard J. Rinewalt, chairman of the computer science department, inquiring about Microsoft certification. "I hated having to send them to Dallas," Rinewalt said. The opportunity came when Rinewalt got in touch with a high-level official at ExecuTrain in May. Rinewalt then told Grebel about ExecuTrain, and, together with Leo W. Munson, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs , they decided to offer the program. Although he expects most of the students to come from outside the university, Rinewalt said the interest these programs will bring should be beneficial to both TCU and ExecuTrain. Grebel said he has no way of being sure how popular the classes will be, but he expects them to fill quickly. "I think it will be hot," he said. "We hope it will be hot. We think this partnership will be very fruitful. It gives us an opportunity to offer things we didn't have the resources or computer labs to offer before." The classes will be taught by ExecuTrain instructors at the company's Fort Worth location. The certifications offered will include Microsoft Certified Professional, Microsoft Certified Solution Developer, Microsoft Certified Data Base Administrator and what Grebel calls the "hottest" certification, the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. The programs are expected to cost between $1,700 and $9,000 and take anywhere from three days to six months to complete, depending on the certification. Susan Holmes, director of marketing for ExecuTrain of Dallas/Fort Worth, said certified systems engineers bring in an average salary of $67,000. The high salary comes from a high demand for information technology workers. There are more than 346,000 job openings for these workers in companies with over 100 employees, Holmes said. Having these certifications is important to landing the best of these jobs, she said. "They mainly help you prove to potential employers that you have a knowledge base," she said. "Employers know you have gone through all the course work to support database and other systems." Grebel said additional information on these programs, including finalized price lists and registration information, will be available next week at the Extended Education web site (http://ced.tcu.edu/ced).
Stephen Suffron
By Kris Gutierrez staff reporter Sigma Kappa members said they are hoping to help wipe out Alzheimer's disease this weekend with a fraternity-wide soccer tournament. The Sigma Kappas are hosting their first "big-time" philanthropy event by inviting all nine fraternities recognized by the Interfraternity Council to participate in soccer games at the intramural fields this weekend. Sigma Kappa President Heather Bieghler said her chapter's soccer tournament will help aid Alzheimer's disease research. "We're focused on getting everything underway," she said. "Sigma Kappa is the third-largest contributor to Alzheimer's disease research in the nation." A sign hanging tonight will kick off the event, which will resume with Sunday morning's tournament. The idea of hosting a "Kick in the Grass" soccer tournament came from a chapter consultant. Sigma Kappa Public Relations Chairwoman Elizabeth Rainwater said she thinks other Sigma Kappa chapters host a similar event on other college campuses. "Soccer is an extremely popular sport," she said. "We had great feedback from all the fraternities. Everyone knows what soccer is, and it's fairly uncomplicated." The tournament is set up in a single-elimination format with referees enforcing intramural rules. Each game is 45 minutes long, with tie breakers being decided by the creativity and uniqueness of particular fraternities' banners. The Sigma Kappas have already raised $1,200 from entry fees and T-shirt sales. Each fraternity has one team registered, but a few fraternities have entered a second team, Rainwater said. Although this weekend's soccer tournament is the sorority's first, members have been helping to fund Alzheimer's disease research in other ways. A nationwide lollipop sell, called "Lick Alzheimer's," helped raise about $300 a chapter, and sorority members said they hope to host a local golf tournament in the spring to raise more money, Rainwater said. Admission to the soccer tournament is free, and Rainwater said she welcomes the idea of students coming out and cheering for their favorite teams. "About 50 of our sorority members will be coaching," she said. "But the tournament is pretty cut and dry. We'd love everybody to come watch and support us." The Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity recently won the week-long Delta Gamma Anchorsplash event. Phi Kap President Marcus Craig said he hopes the fraternity can gain even more bragging rights by capturing the Sigma Kappa soccer title. "Last year in intramurals we finished second behind the (International Student Association) team, so basically we finished first among the Greeks," he said. "And we plan on finishing first this Sunday." Rainwater said the tournament champion will win a trophy and feast of more than 700 chicken wings from Wingstop catered by Sigma Kappa. "It's going to be fun," she said. "Plus, it's all being done for a good cause."
Kris Gutierrez |
Kirst, director of fraternity and sorority affairs, said
she has accepted a job that will better suit her career in the long run.
Kirst is moving to Memphis to work in the corporate and event marketing
department of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.| The TCU Daily Skiff © 1998, 1999 Credits |