ASU trustees move

on Hickory plan
By Caroline Monday
cmonday@mountaintimes.com

The Appalachian State University Board of Trustees met Tuesday morning for its regular meeting, where trustees learned of changes going on at the university and voted to work to increase on-campus student housing.

The board voted to approve revisions to the faculty handbook, bringing it up to compliance with standards across the University of North Carolina system. The revisions included changes in the faculty grievance process, restructuring of the faculty senate and creating job descriptions for assistant department chairs.

In business affairs, the board approved an easement and road right-of-way for a small parcel of land to the N.C. Department of Transportation. The area is over a drainpipe located on ASU property off Payne Branch Road between Boone and Blowing Rock.

The board voted that the university accept as a gift from the endowment fund the Hickory Engineering and Technology Center. ASU plans to offer full-time programs in psychology, advertising, criminal justice and nursing at the center in the fall as well as part-time programs in criminal justice and child development.

Future Forward Economic Alliance originally owned the property and gave it to the endowment fund. The N.C. General Assembly previously appropriated $600,000 to the university for the operation and maintenance of that facility. The Office of State Budget and Management required the fund to gift the center to ASU.

The board’s last action under business affairs was to adopt a resolution allowing for the reimbursement of funds used to renovate Frank Residence Hall.

Greg Lovins, vice chancellor for business affairs, updated the trustees on capital changes in progress and planned for the university’s campus. Renovations to Cannon Residence Hall are scheduled to be completed this summer, with the building to open to students in the fall. Frank Hall is next in line to be renovated, with construction beginning during the summer.

In the planning for the new college of education building, the town of Boone has agreed to necessary zoning changes for the property, which is located on the corner of Howard and College streets. Plans for the building have changed some, allowing more sunlight to reach a house located adjacent to the facility.

The university is in negotiations with First Presbyterian Church for the purchase of the church’s Howard Street property. The property will not be available for university use until the church has completed its new facility. Lovins noted that the existing building is structurally sound and could be used as extra office space until the university decides to build a new building on the lot.

Athletics facilities throughout the campus are under construction, with varying projected completion times. The field house at Kidd Brewer Stadium is slated to be completed during the summer of 2009, and the expansion of the stadium’s east stands will be ready for the upcoming football season.

Trustee Michael Steinback spoke for the Student Development Committee, encouraging the board to commit to increasing on-campus student housing. Trustee and student body president Forrest Gilliam introduced a resolution to the board, calling for such an increase.

The board voted to adopt the resolution, pledging to attempt to increase housing so that it would allow 40 percent of the undergraduate student population to live on campus.

The resolution cites research showing that students who live on campus maintain stronger academic performance and are more involved in university activities. Currently, 37 percent of ASU undergraduates live on campus.

Board chairman Jim Deal asked if the goal was a reachable one. Cindy Wallace, vice chancellor for student development, said that feasibility studies are underway. “We very much believe this is a doable goal,” she said.

Steinback voiced his concern that the university is falling behind in its ability to offer on-campus housing to students.

“As the student population goes up,” he said, “the relative number of beds isn’t going up to match it.”
The board agreed unanimously to adopt the goal to increase on-campus housing.

Tom Cook, for the audit committee, reported that the university received a status of “no reportable findings” on its state financial audit. This exemplary status comes after changes to the audit system, making it much more stringent. ASU is the only school in the UNC system to have a finalized “no reportable findings” status.
Human resources director Patrick McCoy updated the board on changes to the university’s system of employee classification. The UNC system has mandated a career banding system, which is competency based and allows public universities to be more competitive as employers in the labor market.

The new system and allocations from the General Assembly for salary adjustments have allowed increased pay for many ASU faculty and staff.

Chancellor Kenneth Peacock closed the meeting by inviting attendees to pause for a moment of silence in memory of Eve Carson, the UNC-Chapel Hill student who was killed earlier this month.