Welcome to this segment of "From My Notepads." I'd like to begin
our conversation today with a note of thanks
to everyone in our facilities management crew who has gone above and beyond the
call of duty
this spring semester to work through and address the challenges that we faced as
an institution
because the weather. I don't know about you but I'm ready for spring.
I'm tired of the gray days of winter. I don't care what Punxsutawney Phil had to say; I hope
springs on the doorstep.
But I would like to thank the many people and facilities management staff
who, since our offices opened on January 2,
have responded to frozen sprinkler lines and water lines in our residence halls,
drain fluid from sprinkle lines to minimize the risk of frozen lines and
property damage,
instituted a fire watch during these times with constant monitoring to make sure
that there were no fire alarm situations,
and made repairs to frozen pipes with minimal disruption to
university operations. Our grounds and custodial
team members have worked constantly, applying salt, clearing roads and
sidewalks,
and monitoring slick spots. When the supply of natural gas was curtailed,
the staff converted our heat source to fuel to make sure all buildings on
campus had adequate heat.
This has been a team effort involving Facilities Management,
Housing, Public Safety, and other areas to minimize the adverse effects of the
cold weather
on the rest to the campus community. If you see these folks out working,
if you see them across campus, take a moment to say thank you.
They work nights, they work weekends, they worked
long hours to ensure that when we come to campus in the morning to begin our
day
that the campus is ready for us. So, to everyone in Facilities Management,
thank you. Earlier this week Governor Haslam
released a series of exciting announcements in his State of the State
address.
The first of these was
the development of a program called the Tennessee Promise,
an initiative that would allow students to attend community colleges
at no cost. I commend the governor for his bold vision,
I commend the governor for his commitment to post-secondary education.
We are fortunate in that we have a governor who realizes the importance
of post-secondary education to transform individuals and communities
and to help position individuals and communities to be competitive
in a 21st century economy. His Drive to 55 goal
of producing 494,000 aditional college graduates by 2025 is a bold
vision,
and the Tennessee promise is an element that will help to achieve that large
number.
I know we all have questions about the program
and its impact on ETSU. I look forward to learning more about the details
and to studying with you the impact that the program would have
on ETSU. In February 2013,
ETSU launched an aggressive campaign to support the arts across the
institution.
In less than a year we have raised $6 million dollars to support capital construction
for a fine and performing arts center
and an additional $2 million dollars to support scholarships and endowed chairs.
Altogether, these resources
present the opportunity to transform the arts at this institution,
to transform the arts across the region,
and to cement the partnership between ETSU
and the community. We all were hopeful
that the governor's budget would contain funding for the fine and performing arts
center,
thereby realizing a more than 30-year dream for the institution
and for the region as a whole; but unfortunately,
revenues did not present themselves at a level that was expected,
and across state government agencies received budget reductions.
We're fortunate in higher education that we did not receive line-item reductions
and we're also fortunate in that two projects
from a capital perspective were funded -- two projects at community colleges.
The net result is that the fine and performing arts center moves one step
closer to the top of the list.
We remain committed to our fundraising priorities
and we will take concerted steps in the coming months
to move our project forward. We're working with the city to address
questions that had been posed by the board
related to our preferred site location.
Once those questions have been addressed and remedies
developed, we will formalize our site selection process and will begin
building design.
We have $1.5 million dollars authorized for architectural and engineering work
and that work will begin shortly, positioning us so that in 2015
as revenues improve, hopefully we will receive
state funding to develop the facility. It's not a matter of if;
it simply matter of when. There's been great
energy across the state focused on post-secondary education
as a result of the governor's State of the State address.
Next week, I'll receive a briefing from the chancellor on the particular details
contained within the budget
related to operating increases, salary enhancements
and other public policy initiatives impacting ETSU.
Once I receive the briefing from the chancellor, I will share those details
with the campus community
and I look forward to engaging in discussions with you across the spring
related to how this budget and many the proposed
public policy initiatives impacting East Tennessee State
University. While the skies may be great and the weather is cold,
there's a lot of excitement across campus. This coming weekend there are
activities to celebrate
the Olympic festivities. Take part in the Olympic weekend here on campus,
take part in the diversity of events that are part of Black History month,
and next week, believe it or not, starts baseball season at ETSU. Get
engaged with your institution -- that's a theme that I stress with great frequency,
but you can only receive from post-secondary education
what you commit to yourself. I hope that in the months to come
we recommit to ETSU, we recommit to this institution,
and while there may be uncertainties around us, together we will find
solutions to common problems.
I want to thank you all again for your continued patience with me.
I regret that my injuries have not allowed me to be as active on campus as
I traditionally would like, but I'm hopeful
that as we move through the spring and the Sun finally emerges,
I will emerge from the neck brace and we all can begin to move forward in
preparations for commencement.
Thank you for all you do for East Tennessee State University, and go Bucs!