CAMPUS NEWS
Friday, January 30, 2009
Page 3
ACU employees begin move into new Center New foreign language to be offered at ACU By Laura Acuff
Opinion Page Editor
Offices should complete the move into the Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center by Monday at the latest in preparation for its Feb. 21 dedication. “I would say, it’s probably pushing 30-40 percent moved in today,” said Kevin Roberts, associate vice president of operations, on Thursday. “It’s just been a success all the way around.” Offices began the move into the Welcome Center earlier this week, scheduled for specific days for maximum efficiency. “A lot of credit goes to Scott Colley, Kay Reeves and Yvonne Akens, all three worked really hard with the offices just kind of interviewing them,” Roberts said. “They were really diligent with each office to make an order that made a lot of sense, and it’s actually gone better than we’d hoped for. We’re actually way ahead of schedule.” Although ice kept the university closed Tuesday and Wednesday morning, Roberts said weather failed to delay the Welcome Center’s progress. Most of the remaining work involved small details inside. “Anytime you’re building a building of this size, there are always a thousand last-minute details,” Roberts said. Although the new office spaces sport new furniture, moving offices still needed to pack up personal items and computers along with files and documents, Roberts said. Despite any current in-
convenience from moving, Roberts said the center will provide benefits unique to its location. “It’s just an exciting place to be, I think, given the offices that are over here are given high visibility for our campus guests,” Roberts said. “It’s exciting to have such a beautiful location to welcome our guests to campus. It’s a great message to our campus visitors on how much we value them and welcome them to our campus.” Bruce Evans, executive vice president for ACU Foundation, also said the new location should benefit his office, which works primarily with the university’s endowment and gifts to the university. “I think we’ll have much better access for visitors on the campus, particularly people being able to find a place to park near our facilities,” Evans said. “It’s going to be a wonderful change for us; we’ve had cramped space both for personnel and for files and documents that we maintain and no real meeting place for guests who come to the campus.” Additionally, Evans said he looks forward to the conglomeration of offices, previously spread across campus, moving into the center and sharing closer quarters. The ACU Foundation, Evans said, began packing its offices before Christmas break, when officials still anticipated moving in prior to students’ return for the spring semester. “It’s been interesting,” Evans said. “We’ve been able to accommodate that, but of course, when you pack anticipating a move, and then it’s delayed, there are always things you
By Linda Bailey Student Reporter
Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer Hayley Webb, director of admissions, unloads boxes into her new office at the Hunter Welcome Center on Thursday.
need that are packed, so we find ourselves frequently sorting through boxes.” Regardless, Evans said his experience with the move has been positive without any major setbacks. “It’s gone well,” Roberts said. “It’s just a testimony to the community here at ACU and how they’ve worked together. It’s not fun to move, but people were prepared. It’s gone pretty smoothly.”
E-mail Acuff at: lka06a@acu.edu
UP, Grove to target football fans with Super Bowl extravaganzas By Scott Adrian Student Reporter
The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers are gearing up for the 43rd Super Bowl game Sunday night. The kickoff is scheduled for 5:20 p.m., and students can find several places around campus where they can watch every second of the big game’s action. The Grove apartment complex has an event that begins at 10 a.m. “The event is open for all the community,” said Jenna Boruff, the Assistant General Manager of The Grove apartments. The open invitation should allow all ACU students to feel welcome in coming to The Grove, and will encourage them to bring any friends that wish to enjoy a great time, Boruff said. “The game room that we have will be split in half for the two teams and have
elaborate decorations for both sides — the Cardinals and the Steelers,” Boruff said. “There will be food, drinks and prizes for those involved in cheering on their teams and also all the amenities in the game room.” Some of the amenities students will be able to use include a pool table and poker table. For students looking for an event closer to campus, one should head to the University Park clubhouse. “The event starts at 5 p.m. and lasts the whole game long. There will be tons of food and drinks, and it’s open to everybody,” said Stephanie Stryhal, a resident assistant at the University Park apartments. “There will be plenty of rooting for the teams during the game, but during halftime, games will be played. You can find the festivities in the University
Park clubhouse.” As for residence halls, many students have reserved the lobbies in preparation for the event. Two lobbies reserved for the Super Bowl include Edwards Hall and Gardner Hall. The game will be broadcast on NBC, which is Channel 5 on the ACU cable system. Whether you are cheering for the Cardinals or the Steelers or just wanting to watch the commercials, there should be no trouble finding a place to eat, play games and watch the big event.
E-mail Adrian at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu
A Warm Welcome The new offices that will relocate into the new Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center: n The ACU Foundation n Admissions and Recruiting n Alumni Relations n Campus Recruiting n Career Center n Development n Enrollment n Graduate Recruiting n Investment Services n Multi-Cultural Recruiting n Scout Recruiting n University Relations n Vice Chancelor office n Vice President of the University
The Department of Foreign Languages will offer two yet undecided language classes for the Fall 2009 semester based on student input. Harland Rall, associate chair of the Department of Foreign Language, said the new classes are part of a special language program called, “Dialektos.” This two-year program is used in other universities throughout the country, and now the department is adapting the program to ACU. Rall said it works with a supervising professor who creates learning objectives, but the bulk of the learning process is based on native speakers interacting with the students. “We don’t have to hire a professor for every language,” Rall said. “It changes how we can do language.” Paul Roggendorff, adjunct professor of Spanish, said the classes would be different from the traditional foreign language class. “It’s not the teacher up front directing everybody,” Roggendorff said. “It is much more; the students are in charge of learning and mastering, but with the student[s] in charge, they are also empowered to be able to learn what they want to a little bit more.” Beginning last semester, the department offered a Mandarin Chinese class to act as a pilot course for the program. The class had five students and two faculty
members, including Rall. The supervising professor was in Beijing, and two native speakers directed classroom practice sessions. After recognizing the success of this class, Rall said the department was ready to add two more languages to the available curriculum. The department currently provides two years of French, German and Latin, as well as Spanish as a major. “We think we can expand, keep Mandarin and add two more languages next fall,” Rall said. “We would like for the ACU student body to be a part of helping us decide what language it would be.” Rall said the courses only would allow five students per class, making an application process necessary. “In this application process, we would try to group five students with a similar major because as the class developed, early on they could bring vocabulary into it that is more specific to their major,” Rall said. Because of the untraditional format for the classes, Rall said the department was looking for highly motivated students. “It requires a special kind of student,” he said. “You are developing an ability to go abroad and, minimally at least, converse in a language. It takes a lot of study and preparation before you come to the practice sessions to do well.”
E-mail Bailey at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu