SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY Trustees set installation for new chief

SRU is increasing the University Union fee paid by students.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Installation ceremonies for Slippery Rock University's new president have been set for Nov. 5.
Details of the event will be announced later, said the University Council of Trustees at their quarterly meeting Friday.
Dr. Robert Smith, who had served as interim university president since the departure of former president Dr. G. Warren Smith II 11 months ago, was warmly welcomed by the trustees who have worked with him since 1999.
Dr. Robert Smith's predecessor served for five years as president before the state board of governors refused to renew his contract. No reasons were ever given despite a local effort to persuade state officials to change their decision. The SRU trustees had no say in the matter.
Slippery Rock is part of the Pennsylvania state university system which includes 13 other universities.
Background
Dr. Robert Smith, who came to the university in 1999 as provost and vice president for academic affairs, had previously served as dean of the school of arts and sciences at the University of Tennessee at Martin. He began his academic career as an associate communications professor at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kan., spending 19 years there in various capacities.
Since coming to Slippery Rock, he has been instrumental in increasing enrollment by 15 percent after nine previous years of decline.
He also worked toward securing academic accreditation for all eligible programs, directed reorganization of the university's academic colleges, and oversaw a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the campus computer network.
He earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication from Wichita State, a master's degree in interpersonal communication from Ohio University, and a Ph.D in communication theory from Temple University in Philadelphia.
His priorities
Smith told trustees that the university needs a strategic plan that will address several issues he judges to be critical.
These include continuing to raise the academic value of the SRU degree by increasing the academic rigor of degree programs and the quality of the faculty; asserting SRU's presence as a regional public residential university; and generating alternative revenue sources so that tuition and fees and private giving will not be the only sources tapped to make up for state cuts.
He also pointed out that SRU needs to make itself more visible to the Pittsburgh area, commenting that the university is better known in the Erie area than in Pittsburgh, which is the university's primary market.
Increase in fee
Trustees also approved increasing the university union fee paid by students from $20 to $70 for the 2004-05 academic year.
The fee will then be reduced to $50 in the 2005-06 academic year and thereafter. The reason for the reduction in 2005 is that the extra $20 is needed that year to pay off bond indemnity, officials said.
The fee must be charged to students because the state system board of governors' policy requires that student unions be self-supporting in auxiliary enterprises.
Smith also told trustees that 8,000 students are expected to attend SRU in the fall, up from the 7,800 attending the university.
He also announced that the university has launched the Harry M. Warner Film Institute as a collaborative effort with the Lawrence County Historical Society and the Warner Theatre District in New Castle.
The institute will examine and promote the historical and contemporary contributions of films and filmmakers and present workshops, seminars, classes and research as well as host juried film festivals and special events.
Trustee Suzanne Vessella was elected secretary of the board for a one-year term. Dr. Robert Marcus and Dr. Dennis Murray were re-elected president and vice-president, respectively.