GWU
Sports
Miller retires p. 12
Softball p. 12
Gar drier-Wehh University
other
News
Profs to leave p. 3
Last Blast pics p. 6-7
Art show p. 8
Tuesday, May 7, 2002
www.gwupHot.com
Volume 5 No. 14
Strategic Plan shows some progress for GWU
hocus-'X
Future
Part 5 of a 5-Part Pi'JSt'series on the past,
present and future of GWU
Jessica Webb
Pilot photo editor
Contrary td popular belief,
the Gardner-Webb administra
tion is working to improve the
school.
In June 2001, a group of 18
individuals, chosen from differ
ent areas of the university,
introduced a strategic plan for
GWU. The initiative was fund
ed by a $273,000 grant from
the Teagle Foundation that
GWU received in January
2000. The association that
accredits our school. Southern
Association of Colleges and
Schools, requires every school
to have a planning and evalua
tion process. For GWU, the
strategic plan is a key part of
that requirement noted Frank
Bonner, provost and senior
vice president and chair of the
strategic planning committee.
The document addressed
the environment of the univer
sity, the vision statement and
eight specific goals that the uni
versity wants to accomplish by
2011. SGA presented this plan
to the students last year during
a town hall meeting.
Since then, there has been
some progress towards the
eight specific goals. Each goal
has a subcommittee working on
it to devise action plans to carry
out the objectives. The eight
subcommittees met with
Bonner on Thursday May 2 to
give reports.
Hit me with your best shot!
.
Ph^ by tktgh Hante
Professor GJenn Bottoms gets pied by a student
Fridcfv, April 26. See more photos from this year's
Last Blast week on pages 6-Z
Not all goals have shown
significant progress, but that is
expected because many of
them are long-term goals. The
goals covered institutional
identity, planned growth and
enrollment, student life, hiring
personnel, academic excel
lence, admissions, technology
and resources.
The first goal is a push for
GWU to be seen as a “preemi
nent Christian university.” Matt
Webber, director of university
communications, and chairman
of this subcommittee said, “It’s
been a little overwhelming to
forecast what we will be doing
and how we will do it over the
next several years.”
However, the subcommit
tee has split the 10 years into
three sections. They plan to
reach the local community with
awareness of GWU the first-
Please see Plan p. 4
Eight goals listed in the Strategic Plan
Goal ’1-To be regarded by others as a preeminent Christian uni
versity.
Goal 2-To maintain steady, planned growth in enrollment.
Goal 3*Student life will enhance intellectual development, self-
discovery, character-development
Goal 4-To hire and retain talented staff who exemplify the
University’s mission and values, as well as inspire students.
Goal 5-To embody a community of learning devoted to the joy of
learning for its own sake and dedicated to inspiring that same
enthusiasm in our students.
Goal 6-To recruit and enroll students possessing the academic
and personal qualities required for them to benefit from GWU’s •
commitment to academic excellence in a Christian environment.
Goal 7-To support GWU's educational programs and adminis
trative operations with state-of-the-art technology and prompt
technology support.
Goal 8-Bulldings, grounds and facilities will provide the atmos
phere and resources required to facilitate learning, to developed
sound character, to promote spiritual and physical health, and
to attract and retain superior students, faculty and staff.
Beating stress monsters to conquer exams
Emily Killian
Pilot staff
Many students are experts
on stress. Many of them are
also experts on procrastination.
Generally, they are experts on
stress because of their expertise
in procrastinating.
You know who they are—
roommates, friends, people you
see in the library the week
before finals, bleary-eyed and
babbling to themselves. They
wait until the last possible
minute to do the vast majority
of their papers, projects and
studying, and live off Pop-tarts,
chips and sodas for the last
three weeks of classes.
For the most part, scholas
tic stress is avoidable. Students
should work on papers all the
way through the semester,
instead of waiting until the
night before, and more often
than not, the morning of the due
date.
However, some of the other
stressors in life are simply
unavoidable. For example,
working, having families,
roommates and classes all
cause stress for students.
Let’s face it. One day, most
of us are going to have a job, a
family and a house to keep up.
We’re all going to be in situa
tions where we’re stressed, and
we’re all going to have to deal
with that stress.
The four major causes of
our stress are our personal
lives, our jobs, our environ
ments and our emotions.
Indicators of stress include
appetite and weight changes,
headaches, insomnia, tension,
fatigue, digestive upsets, for
getfulness, feelings of anxious
ness and frustration, depres
sion, irritability and difficulty
concentrating.
Over time, your stress can
build up and cause ulcers, aller
gies, high blood pressure, heart
attacks, strokes, headaches,
cancer, joint pain and an
impaired immune system. To
avoid all this, you need to deal
effectively with your stress.
According to Holly Sweat,
of the Counseling Center, a lot
of students do not get enough
sleep and do not have proper
nutrition during finals.
According to Sweat, the
best ways to deal with stress are
to have some sort of physical
exertion, to make sure you get
enough sleep and to pray.
“During finals, students
should especially stay away
from a eating a lot of sugar,”
said Sweat.“It gets you high for
a while, and then you drop sud
denly. That’s not good for you.”
For more information, con
tact the Counseling Center at
x4563.
Stress busters
□ Exercise
□ Balance your “work”
and your “play” times
□ Avoid procrastination
□ Take breaks when work
ing
□ Laugh
D Be flexible
□ Talk to your friends
□ Try to establish a routine
andplani^Bad