The openness of the beautiful Hunsaker Center at the University of Redlands stands as a beacon against the evening sky.

The subliminal grace and sweeping grandeur of the Rollins College architectural style.

ANAC Member Campus News:

• Mercer University Center for Community Development Attracts Grants
• University of Redlands Dedicates Science Buildings
• Susquehanna University Names New President
• Fire Damages Hamline University Library
• Rollins College Receives Awards For Capital Construction Projects
• ANAC Business Deans Hold Initial Meeting

Mercer University Center for Community Development Attracts Millions in Grants


The Mercer University Center for Community Development has become a powerful force for inner-city revitalization in Macon, Georgia. A year ago, the ANAC Bulletin reported that Mercer had received a $400,000 Housing and Urban Development grant to improve education, housing, and social services in collaboration with residents of the central south Macon neighborhood adjacent to the Mercer campus. Last spring the Center for Community Development joined forces with Communities in Schools, a US Department of Education program in partnership with the Macon/Bibb County schools, in attracting a federal grant of $1.5 million to launch a $3.2 million three-year effort to improve elementary and middle school attendance and test scores, to decrease school violence and drug and alcohol use, and to increase parental involvement. Under the program, four "21st Century Community Learning Centers" have been established at the sites of three longtime after school providers: Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Georgia, Cherokee Heights United Methodist Church, and the Macon-Bibb County Department of Parks and Recreation.

In September the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced a $1.3 million grant to Mercer University as part of a $3 million commitment to support revitalization efforts in Macon. The Knight Foundation grant to Mercer will support efforts to improve housing, provide homeowner assistance for low-income residents, and promote related development focused in the 30 block Beall's Hill district of central south Macon. The project will demolish 33 dilapidated houses, rehabilitate 10 vacant houses for resale, build 50 new houses on vacant lots for resale to new homebuyers, and repair 32 owner-occupied homes. The University will act as a broker/guarantor in promoting rehab and home ownership that will benefit present and future residents. Noted Hodding Carter III, President and CEO of the Knight Foundation, "Mercer and its public and private partners have worked hard with the residents of this important neighborhood to craft a project that can re-establish a real sense of belonging."

Under the direction of Professor Peter Brown, the Center involves a variety of faculty and students from Mercer's liberal arts and professional programs (e.g., law, engineering, medicine, nursing, education) in research, applied, evaluation, and service learning projects in the community. Participation comes from research teams, classroom projects, internships, and volunteers. According to Brown, Mercer's experience in community development has made clear that the University is the community's greatest source of critically needed expertise, both in providing specialized knowledge and in an ability to "analyze and understand the big picture." He observes that dedicated staffers in government agencies and community organizations often have a much more narrow perspective than is possible in the rich intellectual environment of the campus.

University of Redlands Dedicates Hedco and Gregory Halls in Stauffer Center for Science and Mathematics


On October 7, the University of Redlands dedicated the first two buildings of a projected science and mathematics complex to be known as the Stauffer Center for Science and Mathematics. Hedco Hall houses laboratories and offices for the departments of biology and chemistry and was named in honor of the Hedco Foundation of Oakland. Gregory Hall is a science classroom building named in honor of the late Arthur E. Gregory, a founding trustee of the University. The result of a successful $18.5 million fundraising campaign begun in 1996, Hedco and Gregory halls will be followed by construction of future new facilities for mathematics, computer science, physics, and environmental studies in rounding out plans for the Stauffer Center.

Susquehanna University Names New President


The board of directors of Susquehanna University has announced that L. Jay Lemons, Chancellor of the University of Virginia's College at Wise since 1992, will become Susquehanna's 14th president. Lemons brings to Susquehanna the experience of leading a public liberal arts college of comparable size which US News and World Report has ranked the #2 institution of its type in the South. Lemons will succeed Joel Cunningham, who served Susquehanna as president for sixteen years and moved in July to Sewanee, Tennessee, to become president of the University of the South. Lemons will assume the presidency early in 2001. Sara Kirkland has served as acting president since Cunningham's departure.

Fire Damages Hamline University Library


Damages estimated at between $1-2 million occurred when a September fire broke out in the basement of Bush Memorial Library at Hamline University. Although the fire, which apparently originated in some electronic equipment in a student TV control studio, was contained, water damage occurred throughout the basement and smoke and soot damage extended to other parts of the building. Bush Memorial Library houses more than 750,000 pieces of information, including some 277,000 books and other volumes. Temporary library services have been made available at the University's law library and at libraries of neighboring colleges and universities. University officials have hopes of reopening Bush Library by the end of October.

Rollins College Receives Awards for Capital Construction Projects


If there is a triple crown for capital construction on college campuses, Rollins College is the hands down winner for the Year 2000. Actually, make that a quadruple crown!

• American School & University magazine's Collegiate Citation, the school and university association's highest honor for outstanding interior design was recently awarded to Rollins' new Cornell Campus Center-46,000 square feet of dining facilities, conference rooms, offices, and lounges.
• Three awards from the Central Florida Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors: 1) "Project of the Year" for SunTrust Plaza, Rollins' $20 million downtown Winter Park office, commercial, and parking structure; 2) Eagle Award for best in category to Rollins' new Rice Family Bookstore; and 3) Merit Award to Rollins' Bush Executive Center for best educational project under $5 million.

ANAC Business Deans Hold Initial Meeting


Deans of ANAC member schools of business met in Tampa on September 17, to explore formation of an ANAC affinity group within AACSB. The threat of hurricane Gordon and the distance and timing of the meeting limited attendance to six deans who have agreed to hold a second meeting at the AACSB annual conference in New York in April when attendance will be much greater. In addition to the benefits of informal information exchange, four areas were identified as potentially fruitful areas for collaboration:

• An ANAC consortium online MBA with each participating school responsible for producing and delivering one or two courses.
• A consortial approach to developing operating agreements with non-North American institutions for purposes of student and/or faculty exchange.
• Information exchange to provide ANAC reference group benchmarks regarding business school operating procedures.
• A collaborative approach to the challenge of increasing student retention.

The September 17 meeting was the first such gathering of professional school deans within ANAC, an initiative that has considerable promise due to the central role of professional education within the ANAC institutional setting. ANAC has encouraged such interaction and potential collaboration through its contacts with professional accreditation associations and activities such as the ANAC Hewlett project which fosters collaboration between liberal arts and professional studies programs in the major and Deans Forum which promotes dialogue on issues that cut across liberal and professional studies.