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OL. 12, NO. 5 North Carolina Wesleyan College, Rocky Mount, N.C. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 15,1996
Trustees approve initiatives
The North Carolina Wesleyan
College board of trustees ap
proved new initiatives for the col
lege last week which will con
tinue the momentum started at the
beginning of the year and contin
ues to strengthen the position of
the college.
The college has already moved
forward in several areas this year:
a major fund-raising effort to ac
celerate the capital campaign for
the Dunn Center is nearly com
pleted; a positive recruiting year
with increased enrollment enabled
the college to balance the budget
for the current fiscal year; per
sonnel vacancies were filled with
outstanding leaders; program ini
tiatives in critical administrative
areas are meeting with success;
plans are being laid which will
enable the college to become
more aggressive in the market
place, enhancing both the recruit
ing of new students and the re
tention of current students; and a
new spirit seems to be taking root
on campus.
The board of trustees plans to
move the college forward — es
pecially in areas that will enhance
enrollment and reduce attrition —
using the momentum created by
successful fund-raising, an in
crease in enrollment, and other
successful initiatives.
In a Thursday meeting, the
board approved plans for
Wesleyan College to create a
“Campus Quality of Life Project,”
which enhances the student envi
ronment and moves the college
into a higher level of student-ori
ented services.
The project includes several
features, including the design for
an addition to the Everett Gym-
North Carolina Wesleyan Col
lege ended fiscal year 1995-96
with a surplus of approximately
$400,000 in unrestricted funds.
Friday, the Wesleyan board of
trustees voted to allocate
$100,000 of those funds to salary
increases for faculty and staff,
$75,000 for technology improve
ments to classrooms, $ 100,000 to
debt retirement, and $50,000 to
additional marketing and image
improvement. The remaining
$75,000 will be designated as un
restricted next assets of the col
lege. These allocations will help
position Wesleyan College better
for the future.
The last salary increase the
college’s employees had was 20
months ago, at which time a sal
ary study was conducted and the
fii'st phase of equity adjustments
was made. The distribution of the
nasium, which will expand recre
ational, wellness, and fitness pro
gramming at the college. It offers
students, faculty, staff, and even
local community members
through partnerships with the
Wesleyan College, access to mod
em equipment, adequate space,
and learning opportunities.
The additional space will also
provide the college important
multipurpose space for meeting
and dining — supporting
Wesleyan’s use of the Dunn Cen
ter for major conferences and
events that require catering ser
vices.
Other features of the Campus
Quality of Life Project include
the renovation of the current stu
dent activities center to become
the Pearsall Fine Arts Center, the
restoration of the former power
plant to become a new student
center, and the creation pf a com
mons on the green space linking
the Dunn Center to the main cam
pus.
There is more than $500,000
already committed to the Pearsall
building. Those resources in hand
enable Wesleyan College to move
new $100,000 fund would be ef
fective Jan. 1, 1997, after Phase
II of a salary study is complete.
The college hopes the thiili phase
of the equity adjustments would
be carried out sometime in fiscal
year 1997-98.
These adjustments will help
make Wesleyan more competi
tive in recruitment and retention
of employees, trustees believe.
The additional $75,000 for
technology improvements to
classrooms will allow the college
to install hardware and software
in each classroom, secure it, and
provide workshops for faculty to
explore ways in which to provide
classroom instruction using tech
nology.
This is possible because the
recently announced energy im
provement contract with Honey
well created a fiber optic network
ahead now to create a better use
for the current student center,
while offering students and com
munity members a new, well-
planned facility to meet expand
ing student needs for a game cen
ter, informal food court, meeting
rooms, lounge space, and offices
for the student government asso
ciation and campus student pub
lications.
The green space in front of the
Dunn Center provides and oppor
tunity for beautification of the
campus and for tying the rest of
the campus to the Dunn Center,
the new Pearsall Fine Arts Build
ing, and the Russell Chapel
New and refurbished buildings
cannot alone create a new cam
pus ambiance. The programming
necessary for lively activities,
having facilities open when stu
dents are looking for a place to
go, and offering amenities that
attract students will be crucial.
Creating important partnerships
with local community groups will
be important to obtaining finan
cial support for the campus qual
ity improvements, officials be
lieve.
raises
on the Rocky Mount campus.
Officials said the technology
improvements are a step toward
positioning Wesleyan College to
become a leader in small colleges
who teach through technology, an
obvious benefit for recruiting stu
dents.
The $50,000 used for market
ing and image enhancement will
be used to provide more expo
sure for Wesleyan, aimed at re
cruiting more students and to pub
licize the college’s advantages.
These projects will take place
in the college’s current fiscal year.
Designating these unrestricted net
assets will still leave approxi
mately $75,000 to increase the
total unrestricted net assets. That
exhibits a degree of financial
strength to future grantors, in
fund-raising or forseeking.financ-
ing for future projects.
Sacred text explored
By MONICA ALSTON
Dr. Beverly Gaventa rendered an insightful Stalely Lec
ture in the Leon Russell Chapel last week titled, “The Bible
— What’s It Good For?”
With the Bible being a highly sensitive subject for so
many religious people, the lecture drew a significant number
of people from Wesleyan’s campus as well as from the sur
rounding community to witness this contemporary interpre
tation of the Christian gospel.
The lecture began with Gaventa’s review of the various
reading behaviors of people who read the text. This included
the way people from different religious denominations read
the Bible, along with bureaucratic and feminine views.
Gaventa mentioned that some readers of the text interpret
the Bible as a guide for daily living, for help in challenges of
life such as finance and bill payment, and for inspiration. She
quoted a line from the former United States’ President Ronald
Reagan stating his view that the bible “held answers to every
problem ever known to man.” She also commented that the
text is used as a rule book or treasure chest for some politi
cians who makes mentioning of the religious subject to solicit
votes during campaigns, the previous campaign being one
example.
According to Gaventa, some women view the Bible as a
“positive evil.” This view takes consideration of how the
female is presented within the text. The roles of women were
subordinate due to the time significantly, and contemporary
women themselves disagree with this treatment today.
While concentrating on the ways af reading the Bible,
Gaventa offered her own method of interpreting the holy text,
and it was to simply read the text as a whole, not just by a few
passages. As this is the typical way .to read most literature, it
seems that Gaventa is true to the Thomas F. Stately Founda
tion persuasive teaching that the message of the Christian
gospel, when proclaimed in its historical fullness, is always
contemporary, relevant, and meaningful in any generation.
This was the true message Gaventa sought to communicate to
the students at Wesleyan.
On reading the Bible for its full meaning, Gaventa stressed
that you must think and not be a passive reader. In that event
the Bible becomes “a parable to the church, as riddles really.
... not morality plays.” She also stresses that we not try to
domesticate the text but listen to the entire message. In so
doing we learn that God deals with the sins of humanity, she
tells us, and she doesn’t belieye herself that the Bible is for
everyone everywhere.
Facuity to get