Houstonian: Gaertner honors faculty, looks to future growth

From the Houstonian:

SHSU President James Gaertner gave the equivalent of a State of the Union address at the yearly staff and faculty meeting last Friday, highlighting the past year as well as what is to come for the university.

Gaertner gave some positive numbers, citing enrollment is ready to "burst through 14, 000 students," a record number for enrollment with 800 new students.

He then touched on the more aesthetic happenings on campus, discussing the many ongoing construction projects currently underway. "Over a 42 month period, beginning in the fall of 2002 and into the end of 2005, we will have over $100 million dollars worth of new buildings," he said, going to answer the inevitable question of "how is it all going to be paid for?" The "four simple ways" that Gaertner outlined for the payment of the construction included the buildings paying for themselves (in the cases of Bearkat Village, Sam Houston Village, and the Sam Houston Parking Garage), bonds, the university's personal savings account and various student fees.

Houstonian: SHSU's newest living facility has incoming freshmen 'excited' about dorm life

From the Houstonian:

Freshman moving into Sam Houston Village this weekend had to watch the walls as the paint just finished drying. Construction workers finished in the nick of time, just barely meeting the deadline allowing students to move in on schedule.

"It wasn't 100 percent complete when we wanted it to be, but it was finished for the most part and students were allowed to move in on Friday," said Joellen Tipton, director of Residence Life.

The new facility is the latest addition to SHSU's dormitory life with a layout similar to that of the recently erected Bearkat Village. Each apartment style suite includes two separate bedrooms and a living area (complete with sink and microwave). The suites lack the cooking amenities (i.e. the stove and full-size refrigerator) of Bearkat Village as Sam Houston Village is freshman exclusive and they are still required to have a meal plan.

Students so far have little to no complaints about the facility, though Gilbert commented that "a pool table in the lobby would be nice, to try and get people to hang out."

Tipton also commented that Sam Houston Village has been a big help in bringing people into the school. "It's been a good recruiting tool [for the university]. Everybody at orientation was interested in it, what it looked like and they all wanted to see it even when we couldn't get it in to see it," she said. "I know that [the admissions office] talked about it a lot, Dr. Gaertner talked about it a lot. It's new housing and that's something that we have been badly needing."

Today@Sam: 125th Anniversary Bobble Head Dolls Now Being Sold

The Barnes and Noble University Bookstore will be selling Sammy Bearkat bobble head dolls in honor of SHSU’s 125th anniversary.

The dolls are approximately 6.5 inches tall, wear an SHSU jersey with 04 on the front, and have the 125th anniversary logo in front.

They can be purchased for $14.98 while supplies last, according to Keri Rogers, associate dean and director of the First Year Experience program, who served on the memorabilia subcommittee of the 125th anniversary steering committee.

Rogers said other universities have created bobble head dolls from their mascots, and the memorabilia subcommittee thought it was a good idea.

“My undergraduate institution had done them, and they were so cute that I took the idea to the committee,” she said. “We wanted to do something that the students would like, that we could put in the bookstore and that was affordable.”

Today@Sam: Health Center Relocates To Estill Hall Parking Lot

Due to facility renovations, the SHSU Student Health Center will be temporarily housed in modular buildings in the Estill Hall parking lot, located behind the current facility, during the fall semester.

The interior renovations are scheduled for completion by summer 2005, according to Health Center director Keith Lott. "I eagerly anticipate having a facility that reflects the quality of the services and programs that we provide to the students," Lott said. "The inconvenience of moving and operating from a temporary location will be well worth it on the day that we move back into a completely renovated facility."

Other than the relocation of the department, no major changes to services are expected, Lott said.

During the summer, the air conditioning and heating system, along with the ceiling and lighting, were replaced.

Regents Approve Preliminary Plan for Renovation

Today@Sam reports that a preliminary plan for a $1 million renovation of the Teacher Education Center was approved Friday by the Texas State University System Board of Regents.

The preliminary plan prepared by PDG Architects of Houston is for the renovation of the first floor of the Teacher Education Center for use by the Language, Literacy and Special Populations program. The Teacher Education Center was built in 1976, and the first floor was originally designed for laboratory schools for pre-kindergarten, children with disabilities, and speech therapy programs. None of those programs currently exist and the space is not functional for use by other programs.

In other business, the board authorized the university to sell five lots of undeveloped real estate located in Texas City with an estimated value of $12,813. The property was given to the university as a gift in August 2003 from Ronald P. Mafrige. The proceeds from the sale will go into the existing Ron Mafrige Endowment Fund at the university that will support scholarships and enrichment programs for the College of Business Administration.