The Reporter, November 2016

The Reporter is a publication produced by Western Carolina University featuring news, events, and campus community updates for faculty and staff. The publication began in August of 1970 and continues digitally today. Click on the link in the “Related Materials” field to access recent issues.SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 16, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | NOTEWORTHY NEWS About 1,000 prospective students expected for Open House on Saturday Approximately 1,000 prospective students and their families are expected to visit the Western Carolina University campus Saturday, Nov. 19, as the university holds its fall semester Open House. Hosted by the Oce of Undergraduate Admission, Open House gives visitors a chance to tour the campus, learn about the university’s wide array of award-winning academic programs, and find out the important details of topics such as financial aid. The day’s activities will begin with an information fair from 8:15 to 10 a.m. on the concourse of WCU’s Ramsey Regional Activity Center. Following a welcome session in the main arena of the Ramsey Center from 10 to 10:30 a.m., prospective students will have a chance to engage in academic sessions led by WCU faculty members from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. Afternoon activities will include general tours of campus and more focused tours of the Campus Recreation Center and residence halls. A variety of information sessions about topics such as paying for college, service learning and the Honors College will be available from noon until 2:30 p.m. Spring semester Open House events are planned for two Saturdays in early 2017 – Feb. 25 and March 25. Tags: Open House CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 9, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Assembly Quartet will perform Nov. 15 on campus. NOTEWORTHY NEWS Assembly Quartet to perform Nov. 15 at Coulter recital hall Western Carolina University’s School of Music will present an evening concert on campus by the Assembly Quartet on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The 7:30 p.m. performance in the recital hall of the Coulter Building is free and open to the public. The saxophone ensemble is made up of Adam Estes of the University of Mississippi, Jeffrey Heisler of Oakland University, Matt Younglove of Wayne State University and Ian Jeffress, WCU professor of saxophone. The performance will include the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Marc Mellits, an American composer and musician known for his post-minimalist styles and rock influences, and conclude with Bohemian composer Antonin Dvorak’s “American Quartet.” For more information about the concert, contact the School of Music at 828-227- 7242. Tags: Ian Jeffress, School of Music CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 30, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Caroline Drew, Sea Monster, 2016 EVENTS BFA Portfolio Exhibition, Nov. 21-Dec. 9; Reception Dec. 8 BFA PORTFOLIO EXHIBITION Exhibition: November 21 – December 9, 2016 Reception: December 8, 2016 This exhibition features the studio art production from graduating seniors in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in the School of Art and Design. Following a comprehensive course of research and studio production, students present a group portfolio exhibition as a debut to their careers as professional artists. Exhibiting artists include: Charlendez Brooks, Eric Dean, Caroline Drew, Storm Favara, Alyssa Jordan, Ross Byrd, Victoria Simmons, and TyAnn Stubbs. CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 2, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Bob’s Mini Mart owner Bob Hooper shows off part of his 2,179 square feet of space in Noble Hall. TOP STORIES Bob’s Mini Mart back in business in Noble Hall The neon “OPEN” sign was ipped on in the window of Bob’s Mini Mart last week, signaling the return of a community institution in the heart of the Western Carolina University campus and the opening of the first business located in the university’s new Noble Hall mixed-use facility. Aside from the sign lighting up, there wasn’t much in the way of fanfare as the convenience store that rst opened on WCU’s campus about three decades ago re-opened at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, following a hiatus of a year-and-a-half. Store owner Bob Hooper said his hope was to be back in business in time for WCU’s Homecoming so that visiting alumni could come by the store. “Quite a few” did pass through Saturday, Oct. 29 – the day of the Homecoming football game, Hooper said. “It was nice to see them come by,” he said. The history of Bob’s Mini Mart goes back to the 1980s. Hooper said his father was originally from Cullowhee, but he was born in Atlanta and moved to Cullowhee in 1974 in search of “peace and quiet.” In 1979, the younger Hooper took over ownership of a laundromat operating in the university’s old commercial strip, and then, a few years later, he opened a second business – Bob’s Mini Mart. He eventually got out of the laundromat business but continued to operate the convenience store as a tenant in the university-owned commercial strip alongside other campus xtures such as the Townhouse Restaurant, the Varsity Shop and Pressley’s Barber Shop. The years of doing business went by, until re broke out in WCU’s commercial strip on Centennial Drive during the morning of Nov. 21, 2013, heavily damaging space occupied by three businesses – a Subway sandwich shop, Rolling Stone Burrito and the Mad Batter Bakery and Cafe. Over the ensuing months, the Board of Trustees of the WCU Endowment Fund, owner of the property, decided to accelerate the development of a mixed-used facility that was already in the university’s long-term master plan for construction at the site. The space occupied by Bob’s Mini Mart was not damaged in the blaze, and Hooper was allowed to operate until April 26, 2015, when he had to close down to allow for demolition of the entire commercial strip to make way for the new building. The new 120,000-square-foot Noble Hall, with capacity for 420 student beds spread over all four oors, and commercial space on the ground oor, opened for student housing just in time for the start of WCU’s current fall semester, but preparation work for business tenants has been ongoing since then. The $29 million facility is named in honor of Noble Nine, the group of nine trustees from the late 1800s who were instrumental in the development of the little mountain school that evolved into WCU. Hooper, who holds a bachelor’s degree in nance from the University of Georgia, said the customer count at Bob’s Mini Mart has been improving gradually since his Oct. 26 re-opening in his new 2,179 square feet of space. He said he expects business to get better as more people on campus nd out he is back in operation, and especially as other businesses open in Noble Hall. He has hired four WCU students to work in the store and said he may be hiring two more as sales pick up. WCU general counsel Mary Ann Lochner has provided updates on when other businesses are expected to open. A new Subway should begin operating later this month, while two others, Chili’s Grill and Bar, and MadStone Cafe and Catching Light Books, are predicted to open in early January. Blackrock Outdoor Co. is expected to commence operations sometime in early 2017, she said. When the owners of the combination cafe/bookstore and the sandwich shop join Hooper in operating out of Noble Hall, it will signify the return to campus of four of the business owners who were uprooted as a result of the 2013 fire. In addition to the Subway, owners of Rolling Stone Burrito and the Mad Batter are partnering with City Lights Bookstore of Sylva on the new MadStone Cafe and Catching Light Books venture. By Randall Holcombe Tags: Noble Hall CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 2, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | EVENTS Business Idea Pitch Party, Nov. 9 Fall 2016 Student Entrepreneur Business Idea Pitch Party will be held next Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the University Center Theatre from 6 to 8 p.m. Six student entrepreneurs will present their ventures to a live audience and a panel of business judges. Please encourage your students to come and learn about non-for-profit and for-profit business ideas their peers are developing. Thank you for your support in the effort of inspiring student entrepreneurship at WCU! Contact Wendy Cagle (wcagle@wcu.edu) or Yue Hillon (ycai@wcu.edu) if you have any questions. — Submitted by Yue Cai Hillon CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 2, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | ACHIEVEMENTS Cagle, Hillon present at small business conference Two faculty members from WCU’s College of Business presented at the national conference of America’s Small Business Development Centers in September. The presentation by assistant professor Wendy Cagle and associate professor Yue Cai Hillon centered on how collaboration with WCU students in the Master of Business Administration Program has assisted medium-sized enterprises in the Western North Carolina region. The three-day ASBDC conference brought together chapters of the college-based small business assistance network, sharing new approaches to enable their clients to better develop their business ventures. Hillon said about 50 business consultants from various small business centers across the country attended the presentation. “The audience was highly engaged and interested in how WCU has created a system in collaboration with the North Carolina SBTDC that allows them to involve MBA students as part of their consulting work,” she said. Cagle, also a former regional director of the Small Business and Technology Development Center at WCU, said that when companies have challenges around growth, the owners and managers need a new perspective on both the industry and the company’s target market. “The MBA students bring a breath of fresh air to these companies and a new perspective to these challenges,” she said. “Some business owners begin the student team engagement with an idea of putting a plan in place to sell their company, but after the final presentation they have changed their mind. They are re-energized and have found their passion for the business again.” Tags: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Wendy Cagle, Yue Cai Hillon CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 16, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | TOP STORIES Campus parking rate changes to resume for 2017-18 A tiered system of gradual increases in rates paid by Western Carolina University students, faculty and sta for the privilege of parking on campus will resume for the 2017-18 academic year, university officials have announced. The staggered increases in annual parking rates, part of a long-term plan adopted by the WCU Board of Trustees in December 2013, began in the fall of 2015. University ocials delayed the increases scheduled to take eect in August, and those increases will now go into place eective July 1 for the 2017 fall semester. The parking rate plan arose from recommendations geared toward meeting parking needs identied in WCU’s strategic plan “ 2020 Vision: Focusing Our Future,” and in the university master plan. The master plan emphasizes the goal of having a pedestrian-friendly and walkable campus, with the majority of parking pushed to the perimeter of campus. The master plan also identifies the need for the eventual construction of a parking deck. “Moving toward a more pedestrian-oriented core of campus ts perfectly with Western Carolina University’s emphasis on being an environmentally responsible institution,” said Fred Bauknecht, director of parking and transportation. “We are encouraging members of our campus community to park their vehicles and either walk or take advantage of our Cat-Tran shuttle service. Doing so reduces fuel consumption and emissions.” Under the resumed parking rate plan, employee parking permits are sold through a tiered system based on salary level, with the lowest paid employees paying the least for permits and those employees who have the highest salaries and who have reserved parking spaces paying the most. Student parking permits are sold on the basis of earned academic credits, with freshmen paying the highest rates while seniors and graduate students pay lower rates. Student parking rates, which currently range from $148 to $248 annually depending upon earned academic credits, will range from $174 to $324 per year for 2017-18. Parking permits for faculty and sta currently cost between $120 and $274 per year, based on employee salary. Those rates will range from $132 to $363 per year for 2017-18. Rates for reserved faculty/staff spaces on campus will go from $424 to $588 annually. Different rate structures apply for commuting undergraduate students and for motorcycle permits. Even with the increases, parking costs at WCU will remain consistently among the lowest in the University of North Carolina system, with some institutions charging rates of more than $800 per year and restricting freshman from parking on campus, said Mike Byers, vice chancellor for administration and finance. “We decided to push the pause button on parking rate increases for the 2016-17 academic year to give members of our campus community a little more time to adjust to and plan for the increases,” Byers said. “As enrollment continues to grow and as construction and renovation projects consume some of the parking spaces in the center core of campus, it is time to resume eorts to nd the resources necessary to allow our parking facilities to keep up with the needs of a growing university.” The annual incremental increase in rates is needed to enable the parking operations unit to remain self-sucient in operational funding, he said. Parking is an auxiliary unit of the university, meaning that no state funds are appropriated to parking services to fund personnel costs, maintenance of existing lots or construction costs. In addition, state law requires that any nes collected for campus parking violations are transferred to kindergarten through 12th-grade schools in North Carolina. For more information, visit the WCU Parking Services website, which features a list of frequently asked questions, at parking.wcu.edu or call 828-227- 7275. By Bill Studenc Tags: Board of Trustees, Parking Operations CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond the Glass Matrix 5/29/2017 Water Portraits: Barbara Tyroler 6/9/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' 6/10/2017 Musical Variety Show 'Livin' the Dream' LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 9, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | ACHIEVEMENTS Costa elected trustee of London’s Charles Darwin Trust James Costa, professor of biology and director of the Highlands Biological Station, was recently elected a trustee of the Charles Darwin Trust, an organization based in London, England, that is dedicated to teaching, learning and research relating to Darwin and evolutionary biology. “I’m really excited about it,” Costa said. “The trust is the British equivalent of an educational nonprot. It was founded – and is still largely run – by several Darwin descendants, and the board also consists of educators, scientists and historians of science from the United Kingdom and the United States.” Costa has written a book about a research contemporary of Darwin who also studied nature and formed theories about the origins of species. “I understand I was nominated (for the trusteeship) owing to my recent work on Alfred Russel Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection with Darwin,” Costa said. “They are looking to develop an educational initiative pertaining to Wallace and Darwin – owing to my ongoing work and forthcoming book on Darwin’s experiments, which has a pedagogical angle. That project dovetails with an ongoing initiative of the trust called ‘Darwin Inspired Learning.’ One of the trustees, Michael Reiss, co-edited a 2015 volume of that title, to which I contributed a chapter.” Costa also is working with other colleagues on a project based at Down House, Darwin’s home south of London, now owned by English Heritage. “That project aims to present and interpret a dozen or more of Darwin’s more famous experiments for the visiting public at Down House, explaining their significance from his decades-long research on the origin of species,” Costa said. The project also provides teaching resources showing how Darwin’s experiments can be easily replicated at home or school and used in the biology curriculum. “One of the collaborators on that project is Randal Keynes, great-great grandson of Darwin, who nominated me as a trustee,” Costa said. Tags: James Costa CATEGORIES | THE REPORTER TOP STORIES NOTEWORTHY NEWS ACHIEVEMENTS EVENTS PHOTOS | WCU NEWS SERVICES CALENDAR 5/29/2017 Ancient Forms, Modern Minds 5/29/2017 Print Plus One: Beyond LINKS Calendar Higher Education NewsWatch WCU Hub AFRICA! MORE THAN A CONTINENT © 2016 Western Carolina University. SEARCH Search Home About Archives Subscribe Contact WCU Home November 16, 2016 Email This Post Print This Post Share | Taking part in a check presentation to Allison Cheadle (far right), annual giving coordinator for Greenville Health System, are (from left) Brandon Lokey, Stephanie Sue Rowell, Jonathan Johnston, Noah Sautter, Je Hughes and Emily Pelliccia. Lokey, Rowell and Johnston are advisers for WCU’s Dance Marathon, Sautter is the fundraiser’s director of event management, Hughes is director of A.K. Hinds University Center and Pelliccia is executive director for WCU’s Dance Marathon. The main Dance Marathon event on Saturday, Nov. 12, was designed to keep participants moving for 12 hours. NOTEWORTHY NEWS Dance Marathon 2016 sets new record for WCU Organizers of Western Carolina University’s Dance Marathon reported that this year’s event and other fundraising activities have resulted in a total of $21,510.72 being raised for the Children’s Miracle Network and Children’s Hospital of Greenville Health System in Greenville, South Carolina. This semester’s total is a new record for WCU, topping the old record set in spring 2013 by more than $5,000 and surpassing the total from last fall by almost $9,000. In addition to the Dance Marathon, held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, at A.K. Hinds University Center, organizers have hosted various events since August to raise money to help fund a child’s life specialist position at the hospital. Individuals who hold those positions support and assist children whose parents are undergoing long-term medical care. Fundraising eorts this fall have included a dunk tank, silent auction, “Push Days” during which participants sought to raise $1,000 or $2,000 in a day, and percentage nights at local businesses. The registration fee paid by all the dancers in the Dance Marathon also are added to the money raised. A total of 220 people registered to participate in the Dance Marathon event, with most of the group consisting of WCU students, with a few friends and family members of students also participating, said Stephanie Sue Rowell, an adviser for Dance Marathon and associate director with the Department of Campus Activities. Guests included Allison Cheadle, annual giving coordinator at the Children’s Hospital, and five families served by the hospital who told their stories of how the hospital has helped them, Rowell said. The 12 hours of the Dance Marathon didn’t just include dancing, but also other activities designed to keep participants standing and