GWU
Sports
Climbing intramurals
p. 7
Hoop dreams p. 7
The
GcLvdTzev-Webb Unijjevsity
Friday, April 5, 2002
Other
News
Homeless shelter smiles
p. 2
Exiled: Cast away? p. 3
Making the band p. 8
www.gwupilot. com
Volume 5 No. 12
Administration, faculty working together
Focus
,®Qn) fc
Future
ISOS 2 0 0 2
Part 3 of a 5-Part PiT&t'series on the past,
present and future of GWU
Jennifer Menster
Pilot web editor
Almost everyone at
Gardner-Webb would agree
that the faculty’s job is to teach
and the administration’s job is
to guide the University into the
future. For almost 100 years,
they have formed a team dedi
cated to improving life for past,
present and future generations
of GWU students.
But Gardner-Webb is
changing, and the relationship
between the administration and
the faculty may also be chang
ing.
Take, for example, the
move to Division I athletics.
When the administration
announced that Gardner-Webb
was applying for D I status, it
came as a surprise to many of
the faculty.
“I think the faculty should
have had a say in the decision,”
said Fine Arts Professor
Carolyn Billings, who, like
many other professors, claims
the administration did not seek
faculty opinion before the pro
posed move.
According to Billings, the
faculty’s primary concern with
the move to Division I is the
effect it will have on the quali
ty of education.
“We do not want to see any
educational program money
going to the move,” she said.
“The bad part is we do not have
any figures to know if it is or
isn’t.”
Under the current system,
there is only one way for the
faculty to ask this, and similar
questions, of the administra
tion: go through Gil
Blackburn, Vice President and
Dean of Academic Affairs.
First, the faculty member
shares the concerns with one of
several faculty committees
which relays the information to
Blackburn, who discusses it
personally with GWU
President Christopher White.
According to Blackburn,
that is the way the system has
worked since the faculty con
stitution went into effect more
than 30 years ago.
“I am the spokesperson for
the faculty,” said Blackburn.
“It’s not false to say that if a
faculty member has a concern
he or she cannot talk to the
President, but it’s not a good
thing to go over a supervisor’s
head. It’s courtesy to go to me
first.”
Blackburn said, as faculty
chairman, he has always repre
sented the faculty with concern
and interest and never hesitated
to tell the President what the
faculty feels.
Some faculty members
however, feel that the current
system needs revision.
While there are faculty
committees dealing with acad
emics and athletics, there is no
faculty voice in one of the
administration’s most difficult
annual decisions; the budget.
“I feel the faculty should
have a voice in the budget,”
said Billings, who is chair of
the Administrative Advisory
Committee.
“I feel like we should have
a budget committee. I don’t
know if a committee is the
answer, but at least we will
know more than we do now,”
Billings said.
Not only is the faculty
excluded from determining
where the money goes, but
many of them never even get to
see a copy of the budget.
Billings remembers when-
the administration used to hand
faculty members synoptic
copies of the University’s
spending every year. That’s no
longer the case, and it has fac
ulty members like Biology and
Anatomy professor Tim
Zehnder, wondering why.
“I would like to see the
overall budget,” said Zehnder.
“I don’t want to know every lit
tle detail, but it’s nice to know
general information.”
It was the search for more
information that prompted the
faculty to become a little more
vocal last week.
At a faculty-administration
meeting March 27, the mem
bers of the Faculty
Development and
Improvement of Instruction
Committee (FDIIC) took a list
of questions and concerns from
faculty members.
The questions were then
sent to White, who addressed
them at a meeting on March 28.
The Thursday morning meeting
Please see Faculty p. 3
^ ^ luciuucrs synoptic riease See racu
Sweating the summer—Find an internshio
Jessica Webb mi i ....... K
Jessica Webb
Pilot photo editor
As springtime approaches, thoughts
of relaxation are on everyone’s mind,
but so is the popular, or rather annoying,
question “What are you going to do this
summer?”
The same old job that you have had
since high school is probably an option,
but so is an internship or summer job in
your field of study.
Holly Sweat, director of career ser
vices, suggests that students get an
internship or job in their field of study
between their freshman and sophomore
years.
Sweat also stated that if students
wait until their junior or senior years, it
might be too late for them if they decide
they do not like their field.
“Your career is an extension of who
you are, so it’s important to figure out
what you are excited and passionate
about,” said Sweat. “Being exposed to
various jobs helps you identify where
your skills, interests and abilities lie and
then you’ll have a better understanding find an internship in a certain field but
° u suggests looking at all resources
bweat lists four reasons that stu- and networking.
dents should have an internship. First, it “The best place to look for intem-
wam to d?"^^ networking. It doesn’t
have to be just
to the people
who hire. Look
at all resources:
family, profes
sors and career
services and
then apply,”
said Sweat.
Sweat told a
story of a stu-
'People hire people that
they know. It is all about
networking and making
connections ”
Holly Sweat
want to do.
Second, it
allows stu
dents to get
work experi
ence. Sweat
stated that
most employ
ers want a
four-year
degree plus
some experience in their field.
Third, it is a chance to talk to peo
ple who are actually doing the hiring to
see what major is the best for that par
ticular job.
Finally, and most importantly, it is a
chance to network.
People hire people that they
know, said Sweat. “It is all about net
working and making connections.”
It may be overwhelming to try to
dent who went to the alumni reception
provided by career services and did not
find anyone who was in her field, but
instead she found a woman who knew
her next door neighbor could help.
Junior Katrina Paulino, an ASL
major, also believes in the importance of
networking. Paulino is actually in her
second internship and is looking for a
third for this summer.
“The deaf community is heavily
networked. Everyone I network with
through internships usually knows
somewhere else that I can intern at,”
said Paulino.
Networking is important, but there
are also other ways to help you find
internships.
Sophomore Emily Davis found out
about an internship online at
idealist.org. Davis has applied for the
internship and is waiting to hear results.
“I decided what I wanted to do and
then looked for internships in that
field,” said Davis.
She said she spent a lot of time
looking at Internet sites, including other
school’s career services pages. She said
she found the internship by being per
sistent.
Gardner-Webb’s career services
web page has links to different Internet
sites, such as idealist.org, and has a cur
rent job list that includes internships.
The career services office, located
in Washburn Hall, also offers many
resources to start students on their
search fp( jijtpnjships and jobs.