VOLUME 103, ISSUE 65
www.UniversityStar.com
THURSDAY
MARCH 6, 2014
Defending the First Amendment since 1911
PODCAST | UniversityStar.com
TRENDS | Page 3
From the Field to the Fans: Odus Evbagharu and his team of reporters discuss Bobcat Athletics in today’s episode.
WEATHER
Uncharacteristic inclement weather creates confusion
Top Five Spring Break Destinations: The Univerisity Star breaks down the five best places to be this spring break.
RESEARCH
By Kelsey Bradshaw
Senior News Reporter
Recent inclement weather has prompted the university to revise its policies on canceling or delaying class. Clarifying inclement weather policies is important to “eliminate confusion,” said Provost Eugene Bourgeois during the March 5 Faculty Senate meeting. Some students enrolled in classes starting at 9:30 a.m. have not been sure whether to attend on days when the university was delayed until 10 a.m. To alleviate confusion, administrators altered the delayed opening time from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., Bourgeois said. In previous meetings, faculty senators have said they want more notice regarding university delays, and cancelations should be posted on the Texas State homepage to deter misunderstandings. A weather alert saying classes were delayed Tuesday until 11 a.m. was posted in a yellow banner across the top of the Texas State homepage.
Kenworthy Uleanya | Staff Photographer Jennifer Gandy, anthropology graduate student, works with samples collected through the Gault Archaeological Project. The research team aims to learn more about early inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere.
University officials finalize strategic research plan to reach Tier One status Austin Humphreys | Star File Photo “Well, you couldn’t miss this sign on the front of the home page this time,” said Susan Weill, mass communication senator. Some senators were concerned students, faculty and staff would need to make up the days they missed since so many classes have been canceled or delayed this semester. Debra Feakes, chemistry and biochemistry senator, said no make up days will be required because one week of school would have to be canceled in order for students to make up missed classes. Make up days would only be offered if both the Tuesday and Thursday meetings of the same class were canceled in a single week. “(Make-up days) have never been any issue until this year,” said Associate Provost Cynthia Opheim, . The university has never experienced this amount of inclement weather days in a semester, so procedures have to be revised, Opheim said. For example, a template had to be made for text message alerts, Bourgeois said. “The more we have to do this, the better we get at it,” said Michel Conroy, Faculty Senate chair. It is not always feasible to notify everyone as early as the campus population would like when inclement weather occurs, Bourgeois said. However, the alert about Tuesday’s delay came out “very quickly” after the decision was made. “Our faculty were inundated by emails,” Feakes said. “It was more annoying because nobody knew what the decision was.”
By Sarah Pollok
Special to the Star
A
dministrators have completed and finalized a strategic plan outlining the future of research at Texas State that will help the university achieve Tier One status. Michael Blanda, assistant vice president for Research and Federal Relations, said the strategic research plan involves improving undergraduate curriculum, increasing research funding and productivity, creating more doctorate programs and building infrastructure. Blanda said the plan will ultimately help raise Texas State’s research profile and ability to recruit and retain high quality faculty and students. Provost Eugene Bourgeois said development of the plan began after the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
(THECB) named the university an Emerging Research Institution (ERI) in January 2012. To achieve Tier One status, the university must fulfill two required criteria and may fulfill six optional criteria. The criteria include overall value of endowments, reaching $45 million in research expenditures annually and ensuring a high quality freshman class, Bourgeois said. Restricted research expenditures were just under $21 million in the past fiscal year, Bourgeois said. He said the expenditures should soon increase to reach the requirement of $45 million a year. “All of this effort (on the plan), first and foremost, validates the effort of faculty, students and staff at Texas State,” Blanda said. “This is recognition and validation of those past efforts, ongoing efforts
and future efforts. We look forward to see where it ultimately takes us, not just as a research enterprise, but as a whole.” Administrators hope around 55 percent of future incoming freshmen will come from the top 25 percent of their high schools to meet the criteria regarding freshman class quality. That will likely create a need for more scholarships and fellowships to attract them, Bourgeois said. When creating the strategic research plan, the Executive Research Plan Committee looked at how peer institutions created developed their respective plans and achieved the goals they outlined. Blanda said there were 13 variables to compare with the universities, including full time
See RESEARCH, Page 2
Madelynne Scales | Assistant Photo Editor Lauren Meckel, Texas State alumna, prepares a slide March 5 at the Grady Early Forensic Anthropology Laboratory.
SXSW
South By Southwest to boost San Marcos economy By Jacob Orlowski Special to the Star
With visitors from across the country descending on Austin for the South By Southwest festival, San Marcos officials and business owners expect their proximity to attract an increase
in guests. More patrons are expected to attend SXSW this year than in any previous years, according to the festival’s website. This year, about 72,000 registrants and artists signed up for the festival. Festival-goers are looking to
San Marcos for accommodations for a number of reasons, said Rebecca Ybarra-Ramirez, executive director of the San Marcos Convention and Visitor Bureau. “We have people come here for many reasons since they don’t want to fight the down-
town (Austin) traffic as well as the rates are less here,” YbarraRamirez said. “People also like to come here because they like to visit San Antonio as well during their stay.”
See SXSW, Page 2
FACULTY SENATE
Senators discuss need for new faculty-only campus dining hall By Kelsey Bradshaw
Senior News Reporter
Administrators are looking into possible locations for a dining space exclusive to faculty members in response to concerns raised by the Faculty Senate. In previous years, faculty members frequented University Club in Commons Dining Hall, but it has since been removed due to expansion of the Testing, Research Support & Evaluation Center and other renovations. However, there is currently no
space on campus reserved for faculty dining. Faculty members would enjoy a dining hall where they can eat with “cloth napkins” and “real plates,” said Rebecca Bell-Metereau, English senator. According to a Sept. 2, 2010 University Star article, Lyndon’s U Club was planned and modeled as the predecessor to the former University Club. Unlike University Club, Lyndon’s was not faculty-exclusive and was relocated to the bottom floor of the LBJ Student Center. The sit-
down restaurant, which did not accept meal trades, was plagued by low sales and was later replaced by Au Bon Pain. President Denise Trauth addressed the need for a faculty dining space at the Feb. 5 Faculty Senate meeting. “We tried with Lyndon’s (U Club), and for whatever reasons, it didn’t work,” Trauth said. “My sense is that the biggest driver Allison Brouillette | Staff Photographer
See FACULTY SENATE, Page 2
Jones Dining Hall renovations may include a faculty and staff dining area.