UNION TRUSTEES APPROVE CAMPUS MASTER PLAN,APPOINT JACKSON RESIDENT AS PROVOST
Jackson, Tenn. — A campus master plan, which will dramatically expand and change the appearance of 51ÉçÇø, received unanimous approval from the institution's trustees in their Friday, Dec. 5, 1997 meeting.
"The master plan for Union projects a stunning, classical campus that will be a crown jewel for Jackson and West Tennessee," asserts university President David S. Dockery. "We are grateful to the Board of Trustees for their vision for Union and their willingness to launch Union into the 21st century with this exciting project."
Dockery said engineering and architectural studies will begin immediately with the expectation of ground breaking on the first new building in early Fall 1998.
The master plan, which has been in development for more than eight months, will expand the campus in a westward direction, with the university's primary entrance being at the newly-extended Pleasant Plains Road. The university presently owns more than 120 acres to the west of Walker Road, which forms the current western boundary of the Union campus. That acreage straddles the four-lane parkway that opened in early December and will be the site of virtually all of the projected new facilities.
The new Union entrance would lead to a "great lawn" (with gardens and water features) running eastward, with new buildings constructed on either side of this central campus quad. The university's three existing academic buildings — Penick Academic Complex, Blasingame Academic Complex, and the Barefoot Student Union Building — would form the eastern boundary of the campus.
The plan is divided into three phases of six years each. New facilities in the first phase include a new classroom building for music, communication arts and Christian studies — the first of three elements of a new performing arts complex; a new administration building; a new "apartment village" for married students; an expansion of the university's library, and expanded classroom facilities for nursing, the sciences, and a new program in physical therapy.
Future phases call for completion of the performing arts center, an athletic-convocation center, a new library building, and a series of new classroom facilities. According to Dockery, the expanded campus would comfortably accommodate a university of some 3,000 students; Union's present enrollment is just over 2,000.
Union's master planning process has been underway for nearly a year under the direction of Hastings & Chivetta, a nationally-known consulting firm based in St. Louis. Among the firm's previous clients are Duke, Rhodes, and the Universities of Tennessee and Chicago.
Elements of the campus master planning process included a major Space Needs Analysis, performed by the Denver firm of Paulien & Associates, along with a Campus Development Plan shaped by EDAW, Inc., a campus design consultant.
"We are pleased with the direction indicated by the proposed master plan, and we are now seeking additional comment and counsel from alumni, community and denominational leaders, and others who care for Union and its future development," Dockery explains. "This is a bold plan which will require the support of the Jackson community as well as many of our friends in West Tennessee and beyond."
Sanderson Appointed Provost
In other actions, the trustees unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Carla Sanderson, dean of the School of Nursing, as Union's chief academic officer. She will assume the office of provost Feb. 1, 1998.
Sanderson's appointment follows the resignation of Dr. Howard Newell who has served as an administrator for nine years and has chosen to return to the classroom as a member of the faculty in the McAfee School of Business Administration. The Board passed a resolution of appreciation to honor Newell for his nine years of service as chief academic officer.
"What we need is someone who understands Union's past and is committed to Union's future, someone who can represent continuity and bring a fresh vision at the same time," Dockery said. "Dr. Sanderson's commitment makes her the only person for the position."
Sanderson received her diploma in nursing from Baptist Memorial Hospital's school of nursing in 1979, then graduated from Union two years later with her bachelor of science in nursing degree. She went on to earn her master's degree from the University of Tennessee at Memphis in 1982 and joined Union's faculty the same year. She later took an educational leave of absence to pursue her doctorate degree from the University of Florida, which she received in 1990, and then returned to teach at Union later that year.
In other trustee actions, the Board:
· adopted a five-year plan for the University, Vision & Values 2002.
· approved a policy to govern spending of endowment earnings.
· received a report on internal reorganization in several areas including three administrators who assume new titles: Dr. Charles Fowler as vice president for student services and enrollment management; Dr. Hal Poe as vice president for academic advancement and information services; and Dr. Jimmy Davis as associate provost and director of institutional research.