THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, December 20, 1995 TAG: 9512200399
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Interim Chancellor Mickey L. Burnim made his first 90-day progress report Tuesday to the Elizabeth City State University trustees who will decide whether to recommend him as permanent head of the institution.
It was one of the longest ECSU board meetings in recent years. Burnim displayed the computer-savvy style that may have caused University of North Carolina President C.D. Spangler Jr., to pick him last September to step in for former Chancellor Jimmy L. Jenkins Jr.
Jenkins resigned unexpectedly last August. As a final order of business Tuesday, the ECSU trustees voted to make Jenkins ``Chancellor of Note and Professor Emeritus'' at the university.
Burnim, who was transferred from North Carolina Central University where he was vice chancellor, mixed bad news with good in his report, and left no doubt that he was in charge at ECSU:
``Enrollment is below budget - in the red,'' Burnim said. Projected enrollment should be 2,050 students, he said, but is 200 below that.
Greater security on the ECSU campus should follow a joint survey by three visiting campus police chiefs from the UNC system who will turn in recommendations this week following an extensive safety survey.
Responsibility has been juggled between several campus administrators, including authority over the ECSU police force. The new campus security chief will be John N. Smith, an IBM computer expert who is serving as a special assistant to Burnim.
Before Smith took over, the ECSU official in charge of the police force was Roger McLean, a vice chancellor in charge of finance.
Burnim also announced that Leon Rouson, who was at Central University, will play a larger role in recruiting new students to boost the below-par enrollment at the Elizabeth City campus.
``Dr. Burnim has done an excellent job - he rolled up his sleeves and went to work,'' said Stanley Green, a Raleigh banker, who is chairman of the ECSU board of trustees.
In a 45-minute off-the-cuff address to the trustees, Burnim said SAT scores at ECSU were down since 1992 but told the board that he didn't ``put a lot of store'' in this form of student evaluation.
``SATs here averaged 789 in 1992 and 756 in 1995,'' he said.
Burnim said that ECSU through the years had consistently attracted more women than men to the student body.
``This year, among all students, there were 1,244 women enrolled and 737 men,'' he said. The ethnic mix, he said, was about three black students to every white student.
The interim chancellor said there was a ``resurgence'' in the number of students electing to study elementary education and other teaching sciences.
``In 1991 the emphasis was on business administration,'' he said, ``but now there is this emphasis on education, along with biology and social work.''
Burnim urged the trustees to help with campaigns to raise money for scholarships at ECSU. He said that UNC President Spangler had recently notified ECSU that it should seek students from 21 eastern counties instead of the 16 areas that previously traditionally supplied the enrollment.
``There are a lot of challenges but we're making headway,'' Burnim said.
When the meeting finally drew to a close, Chairman Green invited everyone present, trustees and campus administrators alike, to attend the elaborate luncheon that in the past regularly followed a board meeting.
Burnim softly interjected:
``Only trustees and vice chancellors are invited,'' he said.
Several lesser assistant vice chancellors and other campus bigwigs seemed stunned. One was former state Sen. Melvin Daniels jr., an Elizabeth City banker who is a close friend of Chairman Green, and also a special adviser to the ECSU chancellor.
``One assistant chancellor told me he was quite surprised,'' said Daniels in a downtown restaurant, where he finished a bowl of bean soup for lunch. by CNB