Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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Michael Hemphill
Hemphill is interim director of university relations at Radford University.
It's been just a month since I left a wonderful 10-year stint as a Roanoke Times reporter and columnist to become interim director of university relations at Radford University.
But even though I'm on the answering rather than asking side of the media equation, I still maintain a journalist's sense of fair play and freedom of information.
Which is why I feel compelled to write in response to The Roanoke Times' coverage of RU's administration and finances.
I as much as anyone welcome the close scrutiny of how a public institution spends your tax dollars and private contributions.
But in my short time at Radford University, I've been disappointed to see in these pages only a partial, and at times downright inaccurate, story.
Negative slants -- along with some serious errors like overstating the provost's salary by $40,000 -- receive front-page treatment while some incredible RU successes -- along with the corrections for those errors -- get buried deep inside.
So here's some pretty amazing news about RU you've probably missed:
n This semester, RU welcomed its first doctoral students in the new doctorate in psychology program in counseling psychology. RU has also gained state approval to offer a masters in occupational therapy degree beginning next year and has submitted a proposal for a new doctor of nursing practice degree to begin in 2010.
n This semester, Roanoke-based Medical Facilities of America funded RU's first-ever endowed chair with a $500,000 donation for another new doctoral program, this one in physical therapy. (The Roanoke Times wrongly reported this as a master's program, which might have left readers questioning RU's acumen given that all physical therapy programs are to be doctoral by 2010.)
These new graduate degrees are part of RU's strategic plan to be among the top 50 masters universities in the nation by 2017 and will provide graduates with highly sought after, and well paid, careers.
n This semester, the RU College of Business and Economics received $750,000 from BB&T to create a global capitalism program at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
This major gift, coupled with RU's emphasis on foreign languages (including Mandarin Chinese and, for the first time this academic year, Arabic), is part of the university's plan to better prepare students for the international marketplace.
n And this semester RU's School of Teacher Education and Leadership received a five-year federal grant totaling more than half a million dollars for designing and implementing a program to train K-12 faculty to work with children with high-incidence disabilities.
n In November, RU will open its newest building, the $22.5 million Douglas and Beatrice Covington Center for Visual and Performing Arts. The center will include a 350seat performance hall, rehearsal rooms, teaching studios, a music media center and an art gallery and serve as a cultural beacon for Virginia.
n This year, the General Assembly approved a bond package that included $34.2 million for a new building for RU's College of Business and Economics and $1.5 million to pay for the planning of a new $37 million building for the College of Science and Technology.
n Another $31 million is being spent renovating Young Hall, Heth Hall and the Dedmon Center to give the university state-of-the-art academic, administration and athletic facilities.
n In addition to these projects, the General Assembly has authorized RU to undertake another $114.2 million in capital improvement projects to provide the campus with up to three new residence halls, a new student fitness center and a doubling in size of the Bonnie Hurlburt Student Center.
There's also this year's record number of student applications, the largest freshman class in two decades, the impressive faculty and student collaborations, the ... well, you get the point.
RU is an exciting, challenging place to work -- one that is undergoing profound change as it strives for a reputation of academic excellence far beyond the bounds of Southwest Virginia.
Its story deserves a more complete telling.
