ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997 TAG: 9704070062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FERRUM
SOURCE: RON NIXON THE ROANOKE TIMES
The plan comes a year after faculty members criticized the president's leadership.
Just over a year ago, Ferrum College President Jerry Boone was under fire from faculty members for his autocratic leadership style and what they perceived as a lack of vision.
A survey showed that nearly all of the school's faculty had lost confidence in Boone.
Some faculty members wrote letters to the school's Board of Trustees expressing their concerns. But the board stood behind the president and renewed his contract.
The decision to keep Boone has resulted in a first in the school's history: the completion of a five-year strategic plan released Friday that includes ideas from staff, faculty and students.
Matt Conn, director of public relations at Ferrum, said the dialogue that followed last year's controversy helped set the stage for the work and results of the strategic plan.
"The fruits of that discussion is where we are today," he said. "This is the end of a long process. Now it's time to move forward."
The plan outlines three essential goals that will be met by the year 2002, said Sandra Kidd, vice president of institutional development. They are: improving the academic success rate of students; improving the living conditions and social networks for students; and putting in place support systems that will help the college reach its goals.
The plan includes a proposal that allows qualified students to make internships a part of their degree requirements.
Another proposal is a program called the First-Year Experience designed to help freshmen adjust to campus life. Instead of orientation lectures, the students will participate in small group discussions about college life and how to take advantage of the experience.
The small college of 1,100 students also plans to develop a marketing strategy that will make it more familiar to potential students and competitive with other colleges in Southwest Virginia, Conn said. "Many students feel, 'if I can't get into Virginia Tech, I can still get into Ferrum,''' he said. "We want Ferrum to be their first choice."
Mike Capehart, president of the Student Government Association and a planning committee member, said he was pleased with the committee's efforts and impressed by the administration's decision to add students to the process. "As our society changes, our school needs to change as well to fit the needs of the student body," he said.
Terra Hazzard, a senior from Newport News who also served on the committee, said it was a valuable experience. "Serving on the committee taught me that running a college is more than just about students and teachers," she said. "It's a business. There are so many other things that go on."
Ferrum will begin implementing the plan in August.
"This plan builds on our mission statement of quality," Boone said. "It's saying that every student that comes here, we're going to give the best education possible."
Peter Crow, a professor of English who was chairman of the strategic planning committee, said the plan "says to potential students and the community that Ferrum is a distinct kind of institution that you can't find anywhere else."
Under the strategic plan, Crow said, Ferrum will expand on its traditional liberal arts program by helping students build much-needed social and professional skills.
Boone conceded the strategic planning helped to deal with questions faculty members had last year with his leadership and direction. The college's board of trustees recently extended the president's contract for three more years.
"In terms of the issues that were prevalent last spring, some of the questions have been answered and some haven't," Boone said. "But now there is a process in place to handle all that."
Faculty members who opposed Boone's actions last year say they support the proposals outlined in the new plan.
Jerry Sumney, a professor of religion, who last year wrote a letter to school trustees critical of Boone, said he thinks long-range planning is a step in the right direction.
"It helps focus attention on the things that we need to do," he said.
But, he said, the faculty and the administration still have much to discuss.
"At the moment, there's a reluctance to be critical because everyone wants to see the result of the strategic plan and what we could set in motion as far as the direction of the school," Sumney said.
Sam Payne, a professor of political science, said he also supports the plan but added that it "only addressed half of our problems."
One major point of concern is still the issue of governance, Payne said.
"I don't think that Dr. Boone and the faculty have resolved at this point what decisions he should be making and what decisions we should be making, and that's the fundamental misunderstanding," he said. "Legally, Dr. Boone is entrusted with complete authority at the college. But you can't run a college that way. Any wise college president will consult people on things that the rules say he doesn't have to consult them on."
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Boone. color.by CNB