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VOL. 2, NO. 8
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13,1987
Spring enrollment up from 1986
By DELL LEWIS
The current enrollment figure at
North Carolina Wesleyan College is
1,309 students as oposed to 1,074
students for the spring semester of
1986. Acting President Stephen Fritz
said, "It is not unusual to have a 10
percent decrease in enrollment from
the fall to spring semester. "Our
enrollment was only down by 14
from the fall figure of 1,323 ac
cording to statistics from the
. Registrar's office. This figures in
dicate that the college has the poten
tial to be operating our campus at
near capacity," said Fritz.
According to Fritz, improved stu
dent retention has been the result of
several determining factors.
Improved academic advising and
improved developcmental studies
head the list. "The college is trying
to be much more sensitive to student
needs and is attempting to address
those needs. We have' placed
continued emphasis on quality pro
grams and higher academic
standards," said Fritz. "I think the
students want this," he added.
Fritz also attributes the high
retention rate to the students them
selves. "There has been a very strong
mood of optimism on campus, spirit
has been positive. That has had a
good effect on student enrollment."
SECURITY INCREASED — A Pinkerton car patrols campus as the college has
increased campus security following "peeping tom" incidents late last year iust
before the Christmas holidays.
Wesleyan boosts security
By RHONDA SHARPE
While the college does not have
any new suspects in last semester's
"peeping tom" incidents, they have
employed additional security per
sonnel.
Wheeler security was replaced this
semester by Pinkerton Security be
cause, "we had confidence in them,"
said Dr. Carleton McKita, Dean of
Student Life. In addition. Dr.
Marshall Brooks, Dean of Academic
Affairs, said "their literature im
pressed me. Their people have
professional training, security clear
ance and are trained to handle emer
gency situations."
The employment of Pinkerton
Security has caused the cost of
campus security to nearly double.
According to Ray Kirkland, Vice
President of Finance, the college is
paying Pinkerton $45,000 per
calendar year and that Wesleyan
Security budget has risen from
$40,000 to $75,000 per year.
According to Dr. McKita, this
amount does not include the cost of
lock or window replacement, or the
maintenance of the campus security
vehicle.
The responsibilities of Pinkerton,
which don't differ greatly and are a
result of campus security's strength
and weakness, were summed up by
Dr. McKita in Wesleyan "Rationale
and Assessment of Security and
Proposals for Improvement" as fol
lows;
• Parameter patrol (by foot and
vehicle).
• Checking to make sure doors,
windows and buildings are secure and
lighting fixtures function properly.
• Recognize, be courteous and
question visiting cars if necessary.
• Back up campus security.
• Be present in the case of
emergency.
• Be in charge of major
disturbances outside residence halls.
• Enforce traffic laws (speeding,
parking, etc).
According to "Rationale and As
sessment of Security and Proposals
for Improvement" accessibility,
knowledge of the campus and that
they have interest in the well-being
of their fellow students are a few
strengths of campus security.
(Continued on Page 4)
The breakdown of total enrollment
is as follows: day students 540,
evening students 111, and extension
students 658. These figures can be
brokendown farther in to full-time and .
part-time students. Full-time student
enrollment consists of 480 day
students, 19 evening students, and
163 extension students. Part-time
student enrollment consist of 60 day
students, 92 evening students and 495
extension students.
The extension headcount is
divided among the four extension
campuses in Goldsboro, Jacksonville,
New Bern, and Raleigh. "The exten
sion program provides an important
service to the areas that they serve,"
said Fritz. "We recongnize the need
for evening programs for the adult
community," he added. Enrollment
figures for the four locations are as
follows: Goldsboro 180, Jacksonville
40, New Bern 61, and Raleigh 377.
Committee has
two candidates
r for President
By SHIRLEY SMITH
In the second semester of the 1987
school year, the committee is still in
the process of screening applicants
for the Presidency. Dr. Allen
Johnson, the faculty member on the
committee, says that they have two
candidates on their list at the moment
and that there will soon be on-
campus interviews, provided that the
off-campus interviews prove satis
factory. Johnson said that they have
still one of the two candidates to
interview before bringing them both
on-campus for the faculty to meet.
"We're still looking," Dr. Johnson
said." W e have reevaluated our supply
of candidates, the only problem being
that there are lots of persons who
would like the job but just aren't
suitable, and other candidates who
would be an excellent choice but
aren't interested in leaving their
present jobs or who have just had
better job offers elsewhere."
Dr. Johnson admits that he is
frustrated with the way the search is
going, mainly because there is no
unanimity on the committee toward a
candidate.
Johnson said that the college has
simply given Dr. Fritz a trial year as
President in order to see whether he
should be appointed but that, "so far
Dr. Fritz is the best person available.
We are just trying to see if he's a
better President than someone else
available." According to Johnson the
collcge can reasonably expect to have
a President in place by the summer,
hopefully before that, maybe around
the first of July.
The faculty and staff of Wesleyan
aren’t too happy with the way things
arc now, and wish for the problem to
be settled as soon as possible. The
chairman of the faculty council, Dr.
Ken Finney said that although he
could not possibly speak for every
teacher here, on the whole, "most feel
strongly that there needs to be some
settling of the question, that the
continuation of being in limbo is
causing some anxiety."
Dr. Finney also remarked that the
faculty feels uncertain about what to
do in some situations because there is
no President whose opinion they need
to have about certain new programs.
"They feel that they need to know
these things so that they can act
accordingly," said Finney.
So the main problem for the staff
is "in which direction are we going?"
Finney added. And the problem of
whether or not the direction will
change, according to Finney, "in
hibits them from participating
wholeheartedly in anything new."
One example that Finney use to
show an idea of what he meant is
whether or not the faculty should be
evaluated, "each new Dean had a
different idea about this over the last
fourteen years." This causes the
teachers to develop an I-don't-care
attitude about it, said Finney, maybe
the new Dean will quell some of
these uncertainties."