@ Sljt 'Bttttt
VOLUME I, NO. II NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, N. C. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27,1985
Day For Wesleyan’ Best Ever
On Tuesday, Sept. 10,
members of the college faculty
and citizens of the community
gathered at North Carolina
Wesleyan College to participate
in what became the most suc
cessful “A Day For Wesleyan”
in the ten-year history of the
annual fund-raising campaign.
The campaign, which provides
a large part of the funds for the
operation of the college, gained
$334,397 in donations, an
amount in excess of the 1985
goal of $333,000.
Mr. Richard Dollar, Vice-
President of the Office of Devel
DR. ALLEN S. JOHNSON
Fall semester enrollment fig
ures at North Carolina Wes
leyan College show a signifi
cant increase in the college’s
extention program and a slight
decline in the day student popu
lation.
Recently released figures by
the Registrar’s Office show a
large increase in enrollment on
the Raleigh, Goldsboro, Jack
sonville, and New Bern cam
puses. The largest increase was
experienced at the Raleigh
campus where enrollment rose
from 238 last fall to 348 this ye
ar.
Wesleyan Registrar Cliff Sul
livan attributes the extention
program increase to pubic inter
est. “More adults are interested
in bettering themselves and/or
their careers today than before.
They know a college education
can only help them, and Wes-
opment at the college, com
mended the participants by say
ing he was “overwhelmed with
the generosity of the community
as seen in the unpresidented
figures that were raised, but also
with the genuine interest in and
support of the college by those
who continue to give of their
time, energy, and their influ
ence.”
The campaign began with a
breakfast for the participants in
the Wesleyan cafeteria, during
which Mr. Leon Dunn, the pres
ident of The Guardian Corpora
tion and chairman of the fund
Faculty turnover at Wesleyan
will increase drastically if the
faculty workload recommenda
tions from the Trustees are im
plemented, according to
members of the Wesleyan fa
culty.
The Trustees recommend that
the faculty teach fifteen credit
hours a semester, and that at
least three credit hours be
taught at one of the exten^on
campuses.
“There will be more faculty
attrition than usual if this is
leyan tries to meet those kinds
of needs through our continuing
education program,” he said.
Sullivan added that the Compu
ter Science program has at
tracted many students from
companies, such as I.B.M.,
Northern Telecom, Carolina
Power and Light, Duke Power
as well as other high tech com
panies in the Triangle area.
Although enrollment is up in
the extension program, on cam
pus student population fell from
527 last fall to 478 this year.
Some of the decrease can be at
tributed to the nationwide
downswing in the number of
high school graduates. Statis
tics show the percentage of tra
ditional students (18 to 22 years
of age) is significantly down
from years past.
The fact that some students
do not return to Wesleyan has
raiser, delivered a rousing pep
talk to the gathering. Later, the
participants regrouped for a
dynamic luncheon at the Ca-
rleton House Restaurant.
Mr. Dunn later commented on
the success of the campaign by
saying, “The campaign had
broad-based community sup
port by the major industries,
smaller business, and individu
als.” He said that the city of
Rocky Mount, and the sur
rounding Nash and Edgecombe
community had “always held
the college in high esteem, and
has seen fit to meet its needs.”
allowed to stand,” Dr. Allen S.
Johnson, Faculty Council
Chairman, said fo the Trustees’
recommendations. Johnson
said that although something
must be done about the college’s
financial situation, “all of these
things are over-reacting.”
“I think the recent recom
mendations are a disaster,” said
Dr. Rick Watson, former chair
man of the Faculty Council.
Watson emphasized that an in
crease in the teaching load
tends to hurt the quality of
also affected enrollment figures.
“Retention is a key word for all
colleges, not just Wesleyan,”
Sullivan said. He went on to add
that, nationally 50% of students
entering a college do not gradu
ate from that institution. SulH-
van made the point that recruit
ing students is very expensive.
He also stated that it is cheaper
to get a student to Wesleyan and
keep him or her, than to recruit a
new one.
* Cliff Sullivan believes enrol
lment will be up next fall. He
based his feelings on the work
he sees being done now by Ad
missions and Student Life to
improve student enrollment and
retention. “Wesleyan needs to
be more efficient financially but
without reducing the College’s
integrity or reducing the aca
demic quality of the college,”
Sullivan said.
“The community values Wes
leyan as one of its primary
assets,” he added.
“A Day For Wesleyan” was
very successful this year, but it
has been an important means of
gaining funds for a decade. It i
was instituted in 1975, when
serious financial difficulties
nearly forced Wesleyan to close
its doors. Mr. Richard Dollar
developed the concept of a day
long fund raising event. “A Day
For Wesleyan” became a yearly
event, and it has been very suc
cessful in the years since.
teaching. “If this college doesn’t
provide an atmosphere where
quality teaching can be done,
faculty will look elsewhere,”
Watson said. Dr. Steve Ferebee
agrees that if the recommenda
tions are implemented, faculty
turnover will increase.
Faculty turnover at Wesleyan
is already high. For example,
over twenty-five percent of the
faculty left after the 1980-1981
term. Watson feels that faculty
turnover has been “abnormally
high” over the past five years.
He cites two main reasons for
the high turnover. “There has
been doubt about whether the
college leadership has a clear
picture of what sort of college we
are,” Watson said. In addition,
he feels that “many faculty are
disillusioned by the low level of
interest in our student body in
actual learning, as opposed to
just getting a degree.” There are
many other reasons for turnov
er. According to Watson, “a
number of people have left be
cause their spouses got jobs el
sewhere.”
Only nine of the twenty-nine
members of the Community
Council were present for their
first meeting Thursday, Sept. 5.
The meeting was fruitless be
cause, without a quorum pres-
Faculty member Dr. David
Jones commented on the impor
tance of the campaign. Dr.
Jones said, “The North Caroli
na Conference of the United
Methodist Church generously
supports North Carolina Wes
leyan.” He then stated that “the
purpose of the campaign is to
raise the fimds necessary to
maintain the college.” Dr. Jones
also said that the campaign was
not only intended to balance the
budget of NCWC,butalso “to
attract further moneys in order
to expand our services to the
students.”
T urnover
Dr. S. Bruce Petteway, presi
dent of Wesleyan College, feels
that faculty turnover does not
result primarily from dissatis
faction. He points out that
many faculty relocate to be clos
er to spouses or to return to their
home areas.
Dr. Stephen Fritz, Dean of the
college, does not consider tur
nover a particularly bad prob
lem at Wesleyan. Faculty tur
nover “is a problem of varying
degrees at any institution,”
Fritz said. Fritz said one of the
main reasons for turnover is
that “private colleges tend to
pay lower salaries. ” Fritz said
that the Trustees will reconsider
their recommendations. He also
said that the recommendations
will be implemented gradually.
Petteway said that the recom
mendations will be implement
ed with “care and consideration
for individual circumstances.”
He does not feel that turnover
will become more of a problem
as a result of the recommenda
tions.
ent, no action could be taken.
For instance, there is no secre
tary for the Council at this time,
but the matter could not be dis-
(Continued on Page 2)
Enrollment Shows Increase
Recommendations May Cause
Attendance Hampers
Community Council