Special Long-Range Planning Issue
The Wesieutn Bccrec
VOL. 3, NO. 10
ROCKY MOUNT, N. C., MARCH 6, 1963
BI-WEEKLY—$2.(M) YEARLY
Wesleyan Plans For 800 Students In 1968
LASHMIT, JAMES, BROWN & POLLOCK’S DRAWING OF LIBRARY BUILDING
Detailed Plans Outlined
New Library Will Be Constructed Expansion^
Is Planned
Provision for library service
for the founding years of
Wesleyan was made by leav
ing partitions out of three
classrooms in the adminis-
tration-classroom building.
But now tlio time has come
when additional space is des
perately needed. Architects
have been commissioned, and
detailed planning for la library
building has begun. Contracts
are expected to bo let in
mid-1964.
The arcliitectural and en
gineering firm of Lashmit,
James, Brown & Pollock of
Winston-Salem has submitted
drawings along with a de
tailed floor plan for the pro
posed library building.
The design is Eastern Caro
lina Colonial, in line with the
architectural scheme of the
entire college. The building
has nearly 13,000 square feet
of floor ispace, land it will hold
approximately 70,000 volumes.
Seating capacity is 215, and a
6,400 square feet future ex
pansion in the rear of the
building is offered.
The floor plan of the Lash
mit design shows the build
ing to be almost completely
void of dividing interior walls.
The entire structure is open
except for walls around the
offices and mechanical areas.
The large room features com
fortable seating facilities and
much open stack area.
A lobby is incorporated in
to the entrance of the library
with the checkout desk lo
cated to the right of the cen
ter of the building. Receiving,
cataloging, offices, and me
chanical areas are in the back
of the building proposed by
Lachmit.
When detailed planning be
gins, a group of five promi
nent North Carolina librarians
have lagreed to act las con
sultants.
Mr. Walter Gray, librarian
for Wesleyan, has considered
the Lashmit designs from
every angle. Although he
agrees with the basic fea
tures of the building, Mr.
Gray feels that there should
be several changes made in
the original plan. However,
these matters will be dis
cussed and ironed out in final
design stages.
Mr. Gray also has original
ideas that he will recommend
incorporatmg hito the design,
such as a centrally located
smoking and visitors lounge,
stack areas with balconies.
and microfilm, faculty study,
and typing rooms.
Mr. Gray also suggests tliat
the cu'culation desks should
be located as near the entry
as possible, and he hopes that
the cataloging land technical
processing rooms may be lo
cated las far from the study
areas as is practical.
New Dorms To Have
Suite Arrangement
Mr. Robert Gay stated last
week that “the collegc plans
to stay one step ahead of the
enrollment in building dormi
tories.”
Preparing for the expected
enrollment for next year, 1963-
64, a new men’s dormitory
and a new women’s dormi
tory will be completed. The
two new dormitories wiU be
similar to the ones now be
ing occupied with the excep
tion of a section of suites on
one end of the first floor in
each dormitory. As an ex
periment, suites will be tried
to test their practicality in
actual usage. Three sets of
suites will be arranged along
each side of the hall, with
each suite consisting of two
bedrooms connected by a half
bath.
All the suites on one side
of the hall will be adjoined
by connecting doors so that in
reality six bedrooms :are link
ed together. On one end of
the hall will be a large shower
room containing showers and
tubs for the use of all of the
suites.
More Dorms Planned
Projecting into the near fu
ture, several more dormitories
are planned. The plans are for
the women’s dormitories to
be arranged in a court with
three dormitories surrounding
a parking area and two dor
mitories being built along
Tyler Drive.
The men’s dormitories will
enclose a garden or some type
of court, formmg a quadr
angle. Forecasting beyond
1968, 11 men’s dormitories land
only eight women’s dormitor
ies are planned. More male
students arc expected than
female.
The possibility of quarters
for married students has been
discussed. The idea of mar
ried students living in sections
of the dormitories has been
debated, but probably they
will reside in apartments con
structed by the college in a
specific area of the campus.
In fact, faculty members
might also reside in those
iapartments constructed by the
coUege. However, these plans
are all in the discusision stage
and will not be definitely de
cided upon until the need for
such apartments becomes
pressing.
Special Effort
This edition of The Decree
represents a special effort on
the part of the student news
paper staff to bring students
and friends of the college a
comprehensive, up-to-date re
port of Wesleyan’s plans for
the future.
Book paper, rather than the
customary newsprint, was used
to present a more attractive
appearance.
The istories of Wesleyan’s
outlook for the future are told
in words and pictures.
The Admissions Office of
the college recently announced
plans for future improvements
and college population expan
sion.
Next year the campus will
house and instruct 500 stu
dents. There will be 125 new
freshmen plus 30 to 40 trans
fer students. Tliis number of
new students is expected to
be seen yearly until Wesleyan
has enrolled a total of 800
people. The college wiU prob
ably remain .at 800 students
for several years, because ad
ditional campus residents will
require more classroom land
dormitory space than has been
planned in the first phase of
Wesleyian’s growth.
Admission standards will not
be changed, but the caliber
of students will improve with
the growth of the college,
resulting in a higher degree
of classroom competition.
Completely mechanized IBM
registration and record-keep
ing through the McBee System
is expected in the future. How
ever, the required machinery
is quite expensive and xintil
the number of students ex
ceeds 1,000, the present man
ual system will be uised. Ad
missions Office personnel feel
the system now used is ade
quate for this period in the
history of Wesleyan.
There will definitely be an
expansion of the present sys
tem for scholarships. As the
campus enlarges more scholar
ships, loans, and work grants
wiU be issued. This year, $52,-
000 was used in scholarship
funds, and this figure is to
be increased to $78,000 for
1963-64. It is expected that
next year there will be ap
proximately 40 students study
ing at Wesleyan under the
Wesleyan Award, the top (schol
arship now offered.
A guidance program encom
passing orientation, counsel
ing, and testing services has
already begun and is expect
ed to develop in proportion
to growth of the school.
New Facilities
And Buildings
To Be Added
Eastern Carolina colonial
architecture, a broadened aca
demic program, more string
ent entrance requirements,
and expanded campus activi
ties and organizations will be
the keynote of Wesleyan, 1968.
Plans have already been
laid for the growth of tlie
college in all these areas, land
growth patterns have also
been set for religious and
social hfc on campus.
The collegc administration
has set a tentative pattern
for student population in
crease, including about 125
new students per year. The
goal of 800 members of the
college wiU be reached by
the school year 1967-68. From
now on, new facilities wUl be
built, including in the immedi
ate future a gymnasium, li
brary, new dormitories, in
firmary, auditorium, and chap
el.
Many unique ideas will be
incorporated into the build
ings, and the original plans
drawn by Lashmit, James,
Brown & Pollock of Winston-
Salem, are constantly being
improved.
The basic concept of modi
fied Georgian architecture for
the entire college has proven
to be quite effective and well
received by the entire coUege
and community. This pattern
will be continued with all new
buildings, and special con
struction techniques will be
used involving completely
underground wu’ing, outside
brickwork that will never
change in shade or texture,
and strongly reinforced walls
and foundations.
New structures on campus
will look tlie same age as
older ones, thus giving the
entire college a unified, totally
integrated appearance.
As the student body increas
es, student government oper
ation will become more de
tailed. The SGA will work
closely with administration to
develop full religious and so
cial activities, with agencies
inaugurated to supervise these
functions. College life will be
altered considerably by ex
panding activities.
Dorm life will even be dif
ferent with the system of
adjoining suites, and greater
opportunity for research wUl
be offered with larger library
facilities.
The present high faculty
standards will be maintained,
and entrrnce and graduation
requirements will be strength
ened. Senior seminars and in
dependent research will be
emphasized for each graduat
ing class. Exclusive curri
culum additions will be made,
and all major areas of study
wiU be expanded.
With the advent of complete
sports facilities, the athletic
life of Wesleyan students will
be changed considerably.
(Continued on page 4)