TTiePlfet
Friday, April 18,2003
Features
Page 5
Do YOU KNOW WHO RUNS THE UNIVERSITY?
Meet the board of trustees
Jennifer Menster
Pilot design editor
If Neal Alexander walked on campus,
chances are most Gardner-Webb students
would not recognize him. In fact, some stu
dents reading this article right now have never
heard the name.
But they should. Alexander is chairman of
the board of trustees. He is responsible for the
36-member board, which sets policy for the
university and has the ultimate say in school
matters such as tuition increases, visitation
hours and hiring presidents.
Alexander works at Duke Energy as the
senior vice president of human resources and
lives in Denver, N.C. He attended Gardner-
Webb when it was a two-year program in the
late 1950s and graduated from Ae university’s
GOAL program in 1984 with a bachelor of
science in management. He first came on the
board in 1990, and is serving his third term.
This is Alexander’s first time as chairman.
“I have a strong interest in Gardner-
Webb,” said Alexander. “I enjoy being on the
board.”
Alexander is responsible for board meet
ings, which are held three times a year -
February, May and October. Committees
within the board meet other times. The execu
tive committee meets with Interim President
Frank Campbell on a monthly basis to keep up
with the happenings of the school.
Another committee within the board is
the student affairs conmiittee. This is the only
committee that directly involves students. The
SGA President sits in on this meeting and
voices any student concerns or opinions to
committee members. Currently, no students
are allowed in the full board of trustees meet
ing.
“I think they should have a board member
that is a student,” said Patrick Woody, SGA
president. “That would be a good way to start
[building the student-trustees relationship].”
Woody said the trustees are very attentive
to what he has to say and usually ask him
questions about students during the student
affairs committee meeting.
Some members of the board agree with
Woody that the board should be more
involved with students.
“We do not interact enough,” said Gene
Washburn, board member for 18 years. “We
are working on getting more interaction with
the students, as well as the faculty. I think it
will get better.
Washburn, who lives in Boiling Springs,
said whenever he sees students in town he
tries to talk with them. Washburn and many
other trustees attend athletic events.
Alexander said that whenever he and
other trustees are on campus they make every
effort to visit with students and eat in the caf
No matter how little interaction there may
seem to be between students and trustees,
Alexander said their number one concern is
students.
“We want to make sure things are being
done for the health and well being of stu
dents,” Alexander said. “We want to create a
Christian environment for them to learn in.”
The board is trusted to make sure the uni
versity is upholding its goals and objectives to
provide students an education. The board also
is responsible for the judiciaiy and financial
aspects of the university.
“Their primary concern after students get
ting an education is to make sure the budget is
balanced,” Campbell said. “They will also be
in charge of appointing a committee made up
of trustees, faculty and students to hire a new
president.”
Trustees do not get paid for their services.
In fact, the majority of trustees give money to
the school. Many trustees have other 40-hour-
a-week jobs or are retired.
Trustees do not have to be alumni of the
school. They must be nominated through the
N.C. State Baptist Convention, which makes
the final decision on board members.
Terms for trustees are four years. Each
trustee must take a year off before being nom
inated again.
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Green thumb
m -M
Photo by Angala Muitm
Jack Partain works in the rose garden fertilizing and repairing the irrigation system
in order to have the garden in top condition for graduation.
Partain cares for roses
months, he researches which
types would be best to add to the
garden. This selection is based
on type, color and fragrance. In
the summer months, he has a
spray schedule to rid the roses of
insects and de-heads them, which
is to trim the buds to create mor^.
A popular legend surrounds
the rose garden—if a couple vis
its the rose garden together, they
will one day be married. Partain
had never heard of this myth.
“That sure puts a lot of pressure
on me, doesn’t it?” he said.
He is currently retired but
works in the religion department
as needed. He has been a staff
member of GWU for the past 20
years. He loves studying, espe
cially on ideas related to the
Bible.
“Being part of a small college
means if you invest in it you have
a chance to make a contribution
and get to know a broader variety
of students,” said Partain.
Even though he is retired, he
stays busy with many community
organizations. He is a member of
the National Rose Society of
Cleveland County. He is active in
the Boiling Springs Appearance
Commission, which aids in mak
ing Boiling Springs a beautiful
town. Partain tends to his own
garden at home too, which con
sists of flowers and vegetables.
Partain currently lives in one
of the oldest houses of Boiling
Springs with his wife Ruth of 48
years and has three sons.
He likes to take care of the
garden to show others the beauty
of nature. “I love to spend time
smelling the roses,” Partain said.
Angela Lachney
Pilot staff
Do you ever take time to
smell the roses? Well, Jack
Partain does.
Located near Dover
Memorial Library and the Poston
Center, which houses university
security, the Kathleen Nolan
Dover Garden consists of 156
bushes of roses. “We have sever
al types of roses: hybrid tea and
floribunda and also famous old
rose types such as the Polyanna
and the English rose and many
more,” said Partain, retired pro
fessor of religious studies. Colors
consist of everything but blue.
There are red, white, yellow, red,
pink, and many bi-colored roses.
In 1981, a few houses were
removed to make space for the
rose garden. Charles I. Dover
donated funds in 1981 in memory
of his wife, Kathleen.
Many town members take
pleasure in seeing the rose gar
den. Cline Hamrick, the Director
of Grounds from 1986-1991 is
still able to enjoy the rose garden
as he drives through Boiling
Springs. “It’s very beautiful to
ride by and see,” he said. “It’s a
wonderful place.”
Three years ago, former
GWU President M. Christopher
White asked Partain to maintain
the garden. Since then, Partain
has taken care of the rose garden
on campus.
Partain likes to do research
on what methods and techniques
are best for care of the roses and
tries to obtain a variety of roses
for the garden. In the winter