New Ventures

Matrix: The Magazine for Leaders in Education, June, 2000

Programs, Projects, Innovations, & Improvements

Illinois Wesleyan University Plans $6 Million Student Center

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.,--It was built in the Roaring Twenties and named to honor Illinois Wesleyan University students who lost their lives in World War I. Now, the Memorial Gymnasium is being converted to a $6 million student center, which will include a two-story bookstore, cafe, grille, information center, offices for student government, and other student organizations, conference rooms, a newsstand, and an outdoor patio.

Tom O. Hansen and his family have provided $2 million as an advance leadership gift. IWU is seeking funding to complete the project. The 33,000-gross-square-foot facility, expected to open in December, will be named the Hansen Student Center.

Texas Christian University Offers New Degree in E-Business

FORT WORTH, Texas,--Texas Christian University began offering a new undergraduate degree in e-business in January. Eighty students have enrolled in the new Electronic Business Department.

"At TCU we are introducing an e-business program and not an e-commerce program," Evelyn Follit, senior-vice president and CIO of the Tandy Corp., and chair of the advisory board of e-business at the university, said.

"E-commerce focuses on generating either business-to-consumer or business-to-business Internet sales, which does not require a separate area of concentration. E-business focuses on enabling businesses to perform in an entirely new way; only part of which is the e-commerce element," Follit said.

Southern Arkansas Offers Distance Learning CFP Program

MAGNOLIA, Ark.,--Southern Arkansas University, the only university in Arkansas to offer the Certified Financial Planner program, has begun offering the classes on the campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences via interactive video.

The CFP is a professional designation in the field of financial planning. The CFP designation is granted by the CFP Board of Standards in Denver, Colo. Persons awarded the CFP certificate have completed an educational program, met a work experience requirement, and passed a national comprehensive exam.

"We knew there was a need for classes in central Arkansas because of the number of financial planners in Little Rock," David Ashby, associate professor of economics and finance and director of the CFP program at SAU, said. "This technology gives students the opportunity to actually take the class with an instructor rather than by correspondence. Students are able to interact with their fellow students and with the professor."

SAU established its CFP program in 1996 with the goal of providing the certification to financial planners and others in such industries as banking and insurance. A growing career field, CFPs have knowledge in investments, insurance, income taxation, retirement planning and employee benefits, and estate planning and taxation.

The SAU CFP program has proven successful for the students who have completed the courses. Recently, SAU students who sat for the CFP exam had an overall pass rate of 63 percent, compared to the national average pass rate of 55 percent.

Clayton Plans Learning Center

MORROW, Ga.,--Gov. Roy Barnes' budget recommendation to the Georgia State Legislature for the 2000/2001 fiscal year has placed the Clayton College & State University Learning Center at the head of the class. The most ambitious, and largest, building project in the University's 30-year history, the CCSU University Learning Center was also number one on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia's capital list submitted to the governor last summer. The capital list, which is composed each June by the 16-member Board of Regents, serves as a rolling funding request for consideration by the governor and the General Assembly.

Under the current proposal, the Learning Center will include a food service area, lecture halls, bookstore, administrative and faculty offices, a learning lab, and classrooms. Physically, it will be attached to the present library, which will be fully converted into a media and learning center. A four-story steel frame structure with masonry exterior walls, the 124,579-square foot Learning Center will feature more than 2,000 data drops and state-of-the-art audio-visual technology in the classrooms.

Originally a $24 million project, the governor's current recommendation is for approximately $2 million less--an amount targeted to equipment that is expected to be funded in the next fiscal year, CCSU Interim President Michael F. Vollmer said.

USIU Launches Global Logistics Specialist Program

SAN DIEGO, Calif.,--With support from the Port of San Diego and Sony Technology Center-San Diego and the regional Sony Logistics group, United States International University has launched the region's first Global Logistics Specialist program.

The program is designed for a wide range of professionals working in the fields of logistics, shipping, freight handling, and import-export.

The Global Logistics Specialist program will prepare professionals to more efficiently plan, implement, and control the flow and storage of goods and services from the point of origin to the point of consumption. Both the Port and Sony have contributed $10,000 in support of the USIU program and both organizations expect to enroll a number of their employees in the Global Logistics Specialist program.