Spinnaker [Distributed: Wednesday, January 24, 2007]

By Melissa Dixon and Matt Coleman
CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Ground has yet to be broken on the University of North Florida's new Student Union, but the project has already exceeded the original estimated cost of construction.

Zak Ovadia, director of facility planning, who also oversees the building's construction, said recent estimates of approximately $37 million, place the student union about $2 million over the proposed budget. The $37 million estimate does not include non-construction costs, he said.

Shari Shuman, vice-president of administration and finance, said that estimates of overall costs are around $45-46 million.

"It is over the amount we had estimated, but we are in the cost estimation period and we will make changes," she said.

President Delaney explained the initial cost of the building was estimated to be $35 million, but that he expected the total cost would end up around $50 million.

Delaney said calling the building over budget would be shortsighted, as the cost of the facility is always changing.

"We are always adding and subtracting," Delaney said. "As we add more details and make decisions that either add or subtract cost, we sneak up on what that number happens to be."

Construction of the 150,000 sq. ft. building will begin in June 2007. The new building will feature a game room with pool tables, a computer gaming area, a food court and administrative offices for student government. The boathouse will relocate to the new building, and there will be an expansion of Outtakes. A proposal to include a pharmacy is also being considered, said Dr. Lucy Croft, assistant vice president of student life.

"The idea is to have a defined base where students can gather at a central location for informal discussions and food," she said.

Croft said the plan has been in the works for several years.

When Student Government decided on a student union in 2001, the decision to raise tuition by a few dollars was initially the plan for raising funds for the building. Students have been assessed an activity fee based on the amount of credit hours they are enrolled per semester. It is uncertain whether or not students' fees will be increased due to the recent estimates, Ovadia said.

But with the recent overall estimates figuring at almost $50 million, some students, like Vanessa Fleury, a sophomore studying international relations question the importance of such an expense.

Fleury said she is excited but skeptical about the new development.

"I've visited a lot of schools that have student unions and it works out great, but I don't know if it should cost that much," Fleury said.

The new building will be located west of the UNF Arena's parking garage, where portable classrooms and offices now reside. Construction on the project is expected to last around two years, and should be completed by Fall 2009

Glover pushes for education

Jacksonville's former sheriff, Nathaniel "Nat" Glover, has been reaching out to Duval County students as University of North Florida's special advisor to the president.

Glover, who began his work with UNF in November, said he has been working to motivate, inspire and encourage young students to think about higher education.

"For so many years we've been focusing on just finishing high school and only a select few think about going to college, I would like to see more kids go to college," Glover said.

Glover is the envoy for higher education into the community, especially the minority population, said UNF President John Delaney, "the goal is to make sure the student body is reflective of the community."

Delaney said Glover's high profile in Northeast Florida makes him a great fit for this position, and "people are going to love him."

Glover said he began working on the "homework part" of his job, creating the infrastructure to make sure the students he speaks with will have a place to go.

Glover has also been looking for scholarship money from resources in Jacksonville.

"I want to create means for kids to go to college," Glover said. "If we take the excuse of not being able to pay for college off the table then we will attract hundreds of kids."

Delaney said helping children get to college will set a precedent for the future.

"We want to reach out to students who will be the first in their family to go to college," Delaney said.

Glover said he has been speaking with Duval County students wherever he can.

He said he believes the younger the students are, the more influential he can be, but he is willing to talk to any student about education.

"I have been going to schools, churches, groups, and wherever I can have a collection of children. Since I am former sheriff, I usually have a captive audience," Glover said.

Glover is hoping for all area colleges to benefit from his work with young students.

With more students who have not thought about college actually attending post-secondary schools, the community at large will benefit, Glover said.

Glover at a glance:

Nat Glover, the special adviser to President John Delaney of the University of North Florida, grew up in a "pretty tough" neighborhood where lots of his peers ended up in prison or dead. He grew up in the core of Jacksonville.

"Some of us were fortunate enough to get out and appreciate education," Glover said.

He was one of the fortunate ones.

Growing up, Glover's goal was to finish high school and to become a detective.

"I didn't talk about going to college, becoming a detective was my life goal," he said.

It was a challenge for him not to be completely influenced by peers and surroundings. It was hard staying out of trouble where there were so many opportunities to get into trouble, Glover said.

"I had to stay out of situations that could result in death and overcome encouragement not to go to school," he said.

Not going to school was not an option in Glover's house. "I was more afraid of my mom than my peers," he said. He went to school.

Glover received a scholarship to play football at Edward Waters College as a linebacker, and he took advantage of it.

Without the scholarship, he said he would be dead or in prison, and he never would have attended college. He went on to receive his master's in education from the University of North Florida.

Glover was a detective for 15 years with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and was Sheriff of Jacksonville from 1995-2003. He became the first African-American to be elected sheriff in Florida in more than 100 years, according to the City of Jacksonville Web site.

As sheriff, he donated four years of his pension to an academic scholarship fund, which totaled almost a quarter of a million dollars.

Glover said his current goal is to influence as many young people as possible and to make a difference in the world. He is proud of his family, being an officer of his church, having had a rewarding career in law enforcement and being referred to as the ambassador to higher education.

Glover describes himself as empathetic, and he prides himself on trying to understand and relate to others position, situations and feelings.

Campus sanctuary in works

The administration at the University of North Florida is in the preliminary stages of bringing a multi-purpose building that will house lectures and religious services to campus.

The building, which was proposed by President Delaney, is estimated to break ground in three to five years. The structure has been referred to as a sanctuary by the university administration, and it will be the site of various events such as concerts and weddings. A definite price range has yet to be determined, but Dr. Pierre Allaire, the vice president of institutional advancement, estimated the construction would cost $4 million to $6 million dollars.

"We're in the preliminary stages of the project," Allaire said. "The location and design haven't been determined. For now, we're really exploring the conceptual side of a facility like this."

A request for proposal for the building has been released by facilities planning and various construction companies will bid on the project. Allaire said selection of a company will be based on the design work they submit, which will include estimates of the structure's maximum capacity, and other various layout considerations.

Allaire said the sanctuary will be a versatile addition to campus, able to hold a wide range of different activities for a myriad of groups.

"We've spoken about including storage closets to house various items," Allaire said. "Whether the building is being used for lectures or for religious services, space will be provided for equipment."

Due to the proposed sanctuary's ability to double as a lecture hall, UNF will apply for Cortellius matching funds from the state of Florida. This will ultimately reduce the amount the school has to raise from private sources to fund the building's construction.

The sanctuary concept was first brought to the campus' attention during the Oct. 20, 2005 meeting of the Board of Trustees. According to the meeting minutes, Allaire approached the board with a local architect's rendering of what the building could resemble. A possible location by the northern lake near the Kernan entrance was also discussed.

President Delaney said the campus sanctuary would aesthetically enhance the campus and "provide a location for introspection and thought."

"If you look at other mature campuses, they have a number of student life amenities," Delaney said. "It is important to have a place on campus for students to relax and meditate."

Allaire said the response to the sanctuary has been affirmative.

"Last week, the president met with several community members to discuss the project." Allaire said. "The feedback from the members was very positive."

Student body President Justin Damiano said the sanctuary will be a place for future UNF students and alumni alike.

"It is going to be a beautiful building out on the water, designed to take advantage of UNF's natural beauty," Damiano said. "This is a place where UNF alumni will want to get married. It will be a tremendous addition to the campus."

Consulting group calls for State University System overhaul

The Florida State University System needs to make major changes to better serve the educational needs of Florida residents but also to stay afloat, according to a new report.

Issued by the Pappas Consulting Group Inc., the report was released last week and heavily criticizes the current structure of the State University System and its fiscal expenditures.

Pappas Consulting was hired by the Florida Board of Governors last year to examine the current SUS and make recommendations for its long-term growth.

The report states that further study of the state's future higher education needs is required and the SUS has focused on graduate and professional programs to the detriment to undergraduate education. The report also states "the conditions for success do not yet exist for the implementation of a long-term master plan for higher education in Florida."

The report also recommends fundamental changes to the existing funding structure and formulas for the state to place a higher priority on the needs of the state as a whole, instead of individual institutions.

The establishment of a State College System is also recommended by the report. The SCS would be a subsystem of the SUS and could consist of independent and community colleges, branch campuses, existing SUS institutions and new institutions. The state colleges would focus almost entirely focus on undergraduate education, with a suggested mix of 90 percent full-time undergraduate students and 10 percent full-time graduate students. The colleges in the system would be governed by the BOG.

While the report states that UNF, along with other existing universities, "would be natural choices to form the foundation of the new state college system," it also addresses the reality that many of the schools already have master's and/or doctoral programs. It states "to expect them [the universities] willingly to give up entirely either their graduate aspirations or their substantial autonomy is not realistic." To entice institutions to join the SCS, more resources would be allocated to those institutions, according to the report.

"That's not the type of university UNF sees itself being," said UNF President John Delaney. Delaney said a full-time graduate percentage closer to 20 percent would be ideal for UNF.

Delaney said major criticisms in the report are that too many universities in Florida are pursuing their own agendas and the state can't afford that. This also leads to schools competing over students and having unfilled programs, he said. Additionally, the report recognizes the need for more branch campuses, he said.

"She [Alceste Pappas] criticizes the system for things I think that those of us involved at UNF would agree need to be fixed but her fix of the State College System - I don't think addresses the problem she identifies," Delaney said.

Besides the number of graduate programs already offered at UNF, the number of students attending UNF does not match the report's recommendation for a state college, said Dr. Mark Workman, provost and vice president of academic affairs.

According to the report, the optimal enrollment of a state college would be 7,500 full-time students. Workman said Pappas calculates full-time enrollment differently than the state does and if UNF calculated full-time enrollment according to their method, UNF's current full-time enrollment would be approximately 13,000 and growing.

"In the very near future, I would say we would be twice the number the report identifies as optimum for an undergraduate institution," Workman said.

While the report suggests major changes to the SUS, Workman said he does not see it causing a radical change in UNF's mission, which is "a very strong commitment to high quality undergraduate education along with an equally strong commitment to graduate programs - those we currently have in place and those that prove to be relevant to the evolving and emerging educational needs of the region," he said.

"I think it's far too early in the process to even anticipate what the actual impact of the report might be," Workman said.

The report will be discussed by the Board of Governors at its Jan. 24 meeting and a public hearing is scheduled in Orlando in February.

The BOG does not have to accept the recommendations and can change them or make them stronger, Delaney said. He said he expects debate about the plan to happen over the next few months.

"I think that's going to be part of the challenge, to distill from the report some priorities and an agenda that everyone can agree to and be supportive of," Workman said.

"I guess I would encourage faculty and students both to be really patient as we determine what aspects of the report bear pursuing and what aspects are perhaps best put aside," Workman said.

The 71-page report is available on the UNF Web site on the President's Office page.

University strategic plan to undergo streamlining

Excellence, focus, accountability and relevance - these are the guiding principles at the University of North Florida, and the university's plan to adhere to those principles is currently undergoing a revision.

The Faculty Association's Strategic Planning Committee is working to revise the university's strategic plan to improve its structure and make it shorter.

"Last year we gave ourselves the charge of identifying certain aspects of the strategic plan to tweak, so to say, with guidance from administration," said Dr. Yemisi Bolumole, committee chair and assistant professor in the Coggin College of Business. Currently, the plan contains 11 key elements or strategic objectives that focus on a number of areas, including academics; quality students, faculty and staff; university funding, the master plan, community connections and continuous improvement.

Under the revision, the strategic plan's current 11 key points would be condensed into eight, Bolumole said.

The current Quality Students and Student Life elements will be combined into a new section, called Student Focus.

The Master Plan and Funding categories would also be combined, and Continuous Improvement would no longer be a separate category but a sub-category in each of the eight new elements.

Dr. Tom Serwatka, UNF vice president and chief of staff, said the Strategic Planning Committee had three goals in mind when revising the plan.

First, cut the plan down in length. Second, position the outcome statements closer to the objectives, which will make it easier to measure the progress of the objective. Third, collapse a few of the statements because of overlap.

The proposed revisions are not final, Serwatka said. They must be approved by the faculty association, the president's office and the board of trustees before they become official, he said.

"The goal here is that first we par down the elements, and we've done that," Bolumole said. "We now need to take each element and start working on it - making sure that all the objectives and issues identified in each element matches off with what we do at UNF."

Bolumole said the revision process will not be completed immediately but will take time.

When the revision process if finished, Bolumole said the goal is to ensure the directives from the university administration are being followed and reflect what the university does, and also the actions and strategic plans coming from the colleges feed into the master strategic plan effectively.

"That's what we're going for, to find the disconnects if they exist, and to work to better fit the one with the other," Bolumole said.

The strategic plan can be viewed on the UNF Web site on the President's Office Web page.

BOT to approve student transportation fees

Un iversity of North Florida students may be required to pay millions of dollars more in fees next year if they are approved by the university's Board of Trustees at its next meeting, Jan. 26.

Before the board for approval are prices of next year's parking permits, along with increases to the athletic, activity and service fees and the implementation of a new transit access fee.

"We decided to increase the fees [the athletic and service and activity fees] not by how much our cap was, but by the direction the programs were going and the needs of the programs," said Student Body President Justin Damiano.

The proposal for next year's parking prices will increase the price of each permit and create a new premium parking category that will replace general and 2nd and 3rd floor garage parking.

The athletic, activity and service fees each student pays in their tuition, are proposed to increase by 77 cents next year if approved by the board. Athletics would increase by 43 cents and the A&S fee would increase by 34 cents.

The Student Fee Assessment Committee voted in November to increase the two fees based upon the expectation that tuition will increase by 3 percent next year. If tuition does not increase, then neither will the fees, said vice president of administration and finance, Shari Shuman.

A new transit fee of up to $3.85 is being recommended for approval from the board to support the implementation of a campus shuttle system by the start of the fall term.

The board's Finance and Audit Committee approved parking permit prices and the athletic and A&S fee increases in December.

The Board will be short a member at its meeting, due to the recent resignation of one of its members; however, the vacancy will not effect the Board's ability to function or enact legislation, said Dr. Tom Serwatka, UNF vice president and Chief of Staff.

Board member Steven Halverson recently resigned from the BOT due to time commitments, Serwatka said.

"He's been a faithful, faithful, board member," Serwatka said. "Steve never does anything half-way; if he's going to be on your board, he's going to be a fully participatory."

Halverson is also the President and CEO of the Haskell Company, a Jacksonville, design and building construction company.

Halverson was appointed to the Board by the Florida State Governor in 2001 and served until December of 2006.

Since his position must be filled by appointment from the Governor, it may be a few months before it is occupied, Serwatka said.

The board is scheduled to meet 2:30 p.m Jan. 26 in the University Center, Room 1058 at .

Millionaire withdraws $100,000 scholarship promises

A millionaire who stunned southern New Jersey by promising $100,000 grants to three students who were graduating from his old high school has dropped another bombshell.

He's reneging on his much-hyped Laureate Award. The money has evaporated for the three Gloucester County high school graduates, who won whopping, unrestricted $100,000 awards to pay for college tuition and projects they hoped would change the world.

Boston businessman John B. Smith Jr. swooped into his alma mater, Delsea Regional High School, each of the last two years, interviewing students and lavishing the most deserving with awards that could be used for "education, personal development or professional purposes." School officials called the size of the Laureate Awards extraordinary for the region.

When the excitement died down, Smith, a consultant who has advised philanthropists on how to manage their donations, delayed payments, then paid a fraction to two recipients, then admitted in December he has financial troubles.

"It's a very unfortunate circumstance," said Donna Magee, the mother of a recipient who didn't get a cent. She waited until after her son, who is now in college, took his finals to tell him.

"Usually donors are very generous to our students and always honor their commitments," said Barry Galasso, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Administrators. Galasso said he hadn't heard of a default like Smith's in his 34 years in education.

School officials said they trusted Smith when he announced his first award in 2005, and that they took no precautions.

Officials saw the gift as a boon for students from a rural area, where the median household income is roughly $50,000, to pursue college or a career that might have been out of reach.

"I have great apologies to express at this point," he said, "and find it very unfortunate and am doing the best I can to seek a resolution to these matters."

For their part, the students have come to accept the loss of money with grace.

"I think I'll be fine," said Magee, an engineering major. "He had good intentions and was trying to do a generous thing. One of his business partners didn't come through with the money."

Peifer felt the same way.

"The man gave me a tremendous opportunity, and I'm thankful for it," Peifer said. "He gave me a head start, but unfortunately an incident happened."

White couldn't be reached, but her mother, Jeanne, said that her daughter "absolutely will be fine. [...] Bitterness, anger, belief or disbelief is not our focus, and it shouldn't be. Life has too much to offer."

For now, Smith said he's out of the philanthropy business, opting instead to do consulting for private corporations.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

Universities offer campus burial plots

So many people are dying to return to their alma maters that some universities are making it possible to spend eternity there.

Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill are among those that have recently carved out a niche in the afterlife business.

As families become more transient and less attached to hometowns, many are investing their loyalty in their old schools. At some, you can invest a lot.

At Duke, eternal rest for cremated remains at the new Memorial Garden in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens costs $25,000.

"We have visitors [...] who sprinkle ashes here now. We wanted to have a little more control," said Jeffrey Yohn, director of development at the Gardens.

Stories are legion across the country of loved ones scattering ashes at night on football fields, in gardens and at other campus haunts potent with meaning.

Now they can do it less furtively - but some schools have seized upon the final homecomings as fundraising opportunities.

In Duke's case, the university is trying to build a $10 million endowment for the Sarah Duke gardens to pay for paths, walls and special plots, Yohn said.

UNC-Chapel Hill offers a different opportunity.

The Old Chapel Hill Cemetery has run out of room for all the Tar Heel born and bred.

So in 2005, UNC-CH dedicated Memorial Grove, a patch of woods just outside the cemetery, to accommodate the ashes of those with strong UNC ties - for a state-school price of $300.

Now there is more room for the Tar Heel dead.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services -- PERMALINK -- TOP OF PAGE

Print Edition

NEWS

Student Union racking up costs

Glover pushes for education

Campus sanctuary in works

Consulting group calls for State University System overhaul

University strategic plan to undergo streamlining

BOT to approve student transportation fees

Millionaire withdraws $100,000 scholarship promises

Universities offer campus burial plots

Presidents meet with students over coffee

School wins case against Pi Kappa Alpha over maintenance of building

News in Brief

Voter registration drive

SG Update