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19 April 2005

President's Quarterly Report
to Board of Trustees

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY

 April 18, 2005

 

 

CAPITAL PROJECTS

 

Ayers Hall Renovation

 

The building is taking shape and is approximately 93% complete.  The general contractor, Chorba Contracting, has expedited the construction activities and schedules in order to complete the project in early May 2005.

 

 

McClellan Building 3181

 

JSU activities have moved into the facility and are in operation.  Several outstanding punch list items remain uncompleted and efforts are being made to resolve these with the contractor.  Additional renovation/modifications are being planned. These include designs and estimates for an archeology wet lab and the State Forensic Lab within the building.  The main sewer lines for the facility have been examined with a TV camera and problems have been located that need repairs or replacement.  Plans and cost estimates are being developed and evaluated to resolve the sewer line problems for the building.

 

Library Interior Improvements

 

Hudak and Dawson Contracting is approximately 98% finished at this time.  Several outstanding electrical items remain uncompleted.  An electrical change order remains to be accomplished before the project is completed.

 

Field House Renovation

 

Hudak and Dawson Contracting has been instructed to complete the original contract document and complete the renovations in an expeditious manner.  Porch extension, underneath enclosures and upgrades to the upstairs have been held in abeyance for future construction activities and will be reviewed by the Board’s athletic committee.

 

Paul Snow Stadium - Artificial Turf

 

Bids were received on March 31, 2005, and the low bidder was ProGrass from Pittsburgh, PA at $764,142.  Contract documents have been signed and mobilization is in process to get this project underway in an expeditious manner and complete the project by July 23, 2005.

 

Demolition of Steam Plant, Abercrombie and Luttrell Halls

 

Bids were received on March 8, 2005, and the low bidder at $438,000 was Taylor Construction from Oxford, AL.  Re-routing of water lines and fiber optics are in process in advance of the actual demolition of these facilities.  Contracts have been signed and the contractor is mobilizing to the site.

 

Roof Replacement 2002

 

The contractor, Standard Roofing, has responded and tried to correct various leaks at Stephenson Hall.  No remediation effort has been accomplished within the inside of the gym ceiling area by the contractor at this time.

 

Little River Canyon Field School

 

Funding in the amount of $6.3 million has been appropriated and authorized for use through NASA.  An entire project and construction document is being developed by the architect in concert with Mr. Pete Conroy’s office and National Park Services.

 

Chimney Peak Observatory

 

Finalizing the design and completing the contract documents are in the final stages with the architect in order to bid this project.  An appraisal for an additional acre of land at the site has been completed and communication with the property owner has been initiated.

 

 Kennamer Hall

 

The dedication of Kennamer Hall will be today following a special Trustees luncheon at 12:30 honoring Bob and Lou Kennamer.  The building will be open and available for the public to view. This is an outstanding facility that will benefit our athletic department for years to come

 

UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES

 

Fall 2005 Application Count

 

The number of new student applications accepted for Fall Semester 2005 is at this time 272 applicants above last year's count at the same time. The total number of new applicants accepted as of April 13 was 2,488; among those are 480 from Georgia which represents an increase of 138 above last year at this time. Preview Day weekends in February and March were successful and registered 432 new students for Fall Semester 2005.

 

Housing Report

 

University Housing reported that residence hall and apartment re-application went well. The re-application process ended March 18 and 89%of the University’s apartments were under contract. The residence hall average re-application was 26% with Logan Hall at 84%and Patterson at 71%, which leaves plenty of room for the new students in the Fall. 

Governmental Affairs

 

State

 

The Council of College and University Presidents and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education are grateful to Governor Riley for presenting his budget, which supports the first unanimous Unified Budget Request for the Education Trust Fund since 1988. The Governor’s budget request would increase higher education funding to $138, 230,921 or 11.62% and Jacksonville State University by $3.2 million.  Last week the education and finance committee of the House of Representatives passed out of committee its recommendation for higher education that would increase funding by approximately 14% and JSU by $3.9 million. The Alabama Senate has pending legislation that would provide one time funding of higher education just less than $50 million. JSU’s portion of this proposal is $1.8 million.  Unfortunately there is not enough new money to do both, and, at this time, it doesn’t appear that the education budget will pass any earlier than the last days of this session. The good news is that it seems to be a good year for higher education to receive an increase.

 

State Plan for Alabama Higher Education

 

Recently we mailed to you a copy of the State Plan for Alabama Higher Education adopted by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education in August 2003. The plan presents a vision for Alabama higher education, a purpose statement, and goals for a five-year period. The accountability portion of the plan requires that each institution complete three reports:

  1. an oral report to the Commission by the president as to the institution's progress toward statewide goals,

  2. an annual report from the Board of Trustees to the Commission as to the institution’s strategies to accomplish the statewide goals, and

  3. a performance report on the institution’s strategies to the Executive Budget Office.

 

In March, I presented the first institutional report to the Commission. I will now share that report with you.

 

Mr. Tim Smith, Director of Institutional Research, will now review the draft Trustees Report mailed to you recently. Mr. Chairman, I would request approval of the Trustees Report.

 

State Audit

 

The Department of Examiners of Public Accounts completed its audit of Jacksonville State University for the fiscal year 2003-2004, and I am pleased to tell you that we received an unqualified audit with no findings. The Examiner’s office completed the audit in early March and each Trustee was mailed a copy of this report. I am very appreciative of the cooperation from the Business Affairs Division, Mr. Carlson, his staff and Director of Internal Audit, Ms. La Rocca.

 

Academic Affairs Report

 

I would like to ask Dr. Turner to present the Academic Affairs report.

 

Division of Information Technology

 

At our last meeting we shared that JSU is facing the need to acquire new software that will be the basis for all university administrative computing systems for the next twenty years. I have asked Mr. Randy Harper, Executive Director of Information Technology, to provide a brief update as to the status of the expenditure required for this next generation of software.

 

Institutional Advancement Report

 

Earlier this semester you received a copy of The Gem of the Hills, JSU’s alumni magazine. I want to thank Mr. Serviss and his staff for an excellent job on this publication.  Mr. Serviss, our Vice President, will provide an update from his division.

 

Athletics

 

Mr. Fuller will provide an update on our athletic programs.

 



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