Senior staff share plans for 2011-12 academic year

Susan Klopman
Vice President for Admissions and Financial Planning
• The number of deposits for the Class of 2015 stands at 1,427
• Incoming freshman grade point average in core courses is 3.9
• 19 percent of incoming freshmen are from North Carolina
• Elon will introduce a new gap semester program next year for the Class of 2016, in which 15 students will spend 13 weeks participating in service and leadership projects across the United States and in Costa Rica
• Starting this fall, the university will implement its new PACE program. PACE, or “Providing Aid through Campus Employment,” will provide jobs to select students with wages that can be applied directly to semester bills or to a bank account. Students in the program also have their own Elon 101 cohort.

Steven House
Provost
• Welcomed professor Elizabeth Rogers, the new dean of the School of Health Sciences, and Ann Flaherty, director of leadership and professional development
• Informed staff that School of Communications Dean Paul Parsons and Art Cassill, the Wesley R. Elingburg Professor in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, are leading the search committee for a new business school dean. Mary Wise, associate vice president of academic affairs, is leading the search for a new dean and university librarian.
• If proposed changes to the General Studies program are approved, the university will begin plans for implementation and transition
• University faculty and leaders will continue working this year toward reaccreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Several proposed QEP plans will be reviewed by senior staff, which will eventually choose one to submit to SACS.
• The Student Professional Development Center will open this winter in the space formerly occupied by the campus shop in Moseley Center
• New academic majors beginning this fall include public health studies, international business, early childhood education, arts administration and information science. Faculty members are discussing possible expansion of graduate programs and the addition of “3+2” degree programs with business and the sciences.
• The Association of American Law Schools is in the process of accrediting Elon University School of Law

Gerald Whittington
Senior Vice President for Business, Finance and Technology
• Colonnades C/D/E residence halls will open for fall 2011, as will five new houses for Greek organizations that were completed this summer
• A geothermal system is heating and cooling the Colonnades, and solar panels on the Colonnades dining hall is providing hot water to the building
• A new parking lot on Williamson Avenue across from Latham Park will provide additional spaces this fall
• Francis Center renovations are underway for the new home of the physician assistant studies graduate program and the Department of Physical Therapy Education. New playing fields for intramural sports are ready for the fall, as is a new road connecting Danieley Center with the Francis Center.
• Koury Athletic Center renovations are nearing completion. Exercise Sports Science faculty have moved to the second floor, the Stewart Fitness Center has been expanded to two floors with additional equipment, and new locker rooms for Phoenix sports teams are nearly complete.
• Moseley Center has also been renovated with conference rooms and bathrooms receiving updates, as well as a refurbished McKinnon Hall.
• A search is underway for a new assistant vice president of business and finance

Jim Piatt
Vice President for University Advancement
• The university’s $100 million fundraising campaign, Ever Elon: The Campaign for the Future of Our University, will conclude this fall with a focus on the way gifts have transformed the university and shaped students’ lives
• More than 180 new endowed scholarships have been created through the generosity of donors since the campaign started
• The Office of Alumni Engagement is focused on building a vibrant alumni network by asking alumni “to be partners, advocates and investors in the university.”
• The university will expand its electronic communications and social media presence, including the redesign this fall of E-net, Elon’s online news and information system
• A search is taking place for a new director of foundation relations

Smith Jackson
Vice President for Student Life
• A special College Coffee on Sept. 13 will give students an opportunity to walk through the new Colonnades and Greek houses
• A new “Better Together” multifaith residential community opens in the Colonnades this fall, as does a new substance-free community
• The university has rented The Crest apartment complex and other units on Haggard Avenue for housing for transfer students
• An awareness campaign will be implemented this fall to educate students, faculty and staff about policies limiting smoking to more than 30 feet from the entrance to campus buildings

Gerry Francis (speaking on behalf of Director of Athletics Dave Blank)
Executive Vice President
• 53 percent of student athletes currently maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
• 13 of 16 sports teams have a cumulative GPA higher than 3.0, and every team surpasses the APR mark required by the NCAA
• Volleyball, baseball and men’s tennis each won the Southern Conference in 2010-2011, and the women’s basketball team advanced to postseason play for the first time since Elon joined the NCAA Division I ranks
• Jason Swepson and Charlotte Smith joined the Elon University community in recent months as head football coach and head women’s basketball coach, respectively. Kathy Bocock has been named interim softball coach
• Fundraising is now underway for a new softball facility off Williamson Avenue
• “Live the Maroon Life” is the new marketing campaign undertaken by the Department of Athletics. It encourages Phoenix fans to wear maroon, join the Phoenix Club, and attend athletics events with friends