New and returning Samford University students will find refurbished surroundings and several new programs in place when they arrive on campus for the fall 2002 semester.
“We look forward to welcoming students back,” said Samford President Thomas E. Corts. “September 11 dropped a pall over the last academic year and took a good while to work through. I believe many students came to a fresh realization of the fragility of human life and of the need to choose their future steps with care, to value what is most important in life.
“Our students have literally been all over the world in study and travel this summer, and it is always great fun to hear their stories of summer experiences,” Corts said.
“The great thing about a Christian community is the way people care about one another, and ending the summer separation is a welcome event.”
An expected 668 freshmen arrived several days ahead of upperclassmen for final orientation events known as Connections Aug. 22–25. Returning students will arrive Aug. 25. Classes begin Monday, Aug. 26.
During a new Connections event on Aug. 25 freshmen will visit Birmingham area churches. They may choose four churches from a list of 29 in order to meet the staff and learn the schedule and character of each church. The list includes churches of various denominations, sizes and locations.
“The purpose is to get Samford freshmen off campus and into churches so they will know faces, doors to walk in and anything else that will ease the anxiety of visiting a new church,” said student ministries director April Robinson.
Hopefully, the visits will make it easier for new students to choose a local church for their college years. “It is important that students get connected to a body of Christ while they’re here,” Robinson added.
New people, programs
The faculty will welcome 35 new members, including a provost, a vice president and three department chairs.
J. Bradley Creed was named provost in June, succeeding acting provost Joe O. Lewis, who retired. Creed, associate provost at Samford for the past year, served eight years as associate dean, dean and professor of Christian history at Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas.
Don M. Mott, former director of the physical plant department at Mississippi State University, was named to the new position of vice president for facilities. He has responsibility for buildings and grounds at Samford.
New department chairs are Rhonda G. Parker, department of communication; Kenneth B.E. Roxburgh, department of religion; and Charles D. Sands III, department of pharmacy practice in Samford’s McWhorter School of Pharmacy.
Sigurd Bryan will be a familiar face in a different post as he assumes the leadership of Samford Sunday, a program that matches Alabama Baptist churches with ministerial students. Bryan retired from the Samford religion faculty in May after 46 years in the classroom.
New academic options students will learn about this fall include opportunities to study business in France or pursue a new graduate level Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) program.
A student exchange agreement between the Samford school of business and the Institut de Formation Internationale in Rouen, France, will allow students from each school to study at the other school for a semester or a year. The program will begin in the spring of 2003. The CRNA program, which will enroll its first students in fall 2003 will be an option within the master of science in nursing degree program of the Ida V. Moffett school of nursing.
For the first time this fall, students in Samford’s Metro College evening program may enroll in courses leading to certificates in Geographic Information Systems. This is a growing career field including professions such as urban and regional planning and natural resource
management.
Students in Samford’s McWhorter school of pharmacy are on the cutting edge of emerging technology with the Palm Pilots that all will receive this fall.
The tiny handheld computers will allow faculty to beam MS-Word documents such as lecture notes and handouts to the students. At the click of a button, students may also access information from sources such as medical dictionaries and drug data bases.
Campus improvements
Students will appreciate the work that was done on campus during the summer months. Some residence halls received new fire sprinkler systems, fire alarms, lighting, paint and other improvements.
Wright Center and Beeson Center for the Healing Arts received significant external improvements. The moot courtroom in Robinson Law Building features new seating, lighting, carpeting and audiovisual equipment that makes it a state-of-the-art electronic courtroom.
Speakers
Special speakers will visit the campus during the fall semester.
The anniversary of the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, will be observed with a special Samford Speaker Series on Sept. 10 and 12.
U.S. Navy Capt. John Pruitt, former deputy director of naval training and education at Navy headquarters at the Pentagon, will speak Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel.
Pruitt’s office received extensive damage from the airliner that hit the building on Sept. 11. He is now commander of Naval Air Station Pensacola.
U.S. Army Col. Kenneth Brown, chaplain of the 101st Airborne Division, will speak Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel. He served in Afghanistan during the past year.
Other programs include the Dotson Nelson Lectures on Religion in Life, Oct. 8–10. Samford research professor and former provost William E. Hull will discuss “Frontiers of a Growing Faith” at 10 a.m. on Oct. 8 and 10 and at 9:15 a.m. on Oct. 9.
Beeson Divinity School’s annual Reformation Heritage Lectures will feature Herman Selderhuis, professor of church history and church policy at the Theological University in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. He will speak Oct. 29–31 at 11 a.m. each day in Beeson Divinity Chapel.
Samford sports
Fall at Samford means a variety of sporting events. The fall 2002 season will be the final year in the Atlantic Sun Conference for 16 of Samford’s 17 sports and the final year for the football program to compete as an independent.
In 2003, Samford athletics will move to the Ohio Valley Conference, marking the first time every Samford sport will be in the same conference at the same time.
This fall, Bill Gray, former assistant football coach, begins his first full fall as Bulldogs’ head coach. Mike Morris, former assistant men’s basketball coach, is the new women’s basketball head coach.
Other new head coaches include Kemper Baker, men’s tennis; Kris Dorn, volleyball; Beanie Ketcham, softball; and Todd Yelton, women’s soccer. Jenni Holbert is the new cheerleading coach.
Sports events kick off Aug. 29 with a home football game against University of North Alabama.
Samford alumni and friends will observe homecoming Oct. 19. (SU)
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