News

In his presentation to the Student Government Association Feb. 3, Furman’s Chief Information Officer Fred Miller announced that Furman will be doubling on-campus Internet bandwidth from one to two gigabytes per second beginning in fall 2014, one of several new projects to come out of the 2013 ITS survey.

Last Thursday, Furman announced that Dr. Elizabeth Davis of Baylor University will serve as the university’s next president, and online and on campus, many students, faculty, and staff have expressed their optimism for what Davis’s selection might mean for the university’s future.

Furman Panhellenic recently voted to add an additional sorority to Furman’s campus. The council voted to establish an Extension Exploratory Committee this past fall, which includes students, staff, and alumnae from each sorority currently active at Furman.

Students at Furman are constantly running technological errands, making course adjustments or checking on their meal plan points by accessing information scattered across multiple university resources. But students Weston Catron and Nick Holt are making plans to change the chaos with a new mobile device app that aims to improve student access to course syllabi, academic calendars, Outlook email, and other university resources, consolidating data and resources into a single tool.

The Presidential Search Committee and Board of Trustees have unanimously selected Dr. Elizabeth Davis, a longtime administrator at Baylor University, to serve as the 12th President of Furman University, which will make her the first female president in the university’s more than 187 year history.

Psychology professor Charles L. Brewer, one of Furman’s most senior faculty members, recently announced that he will be retiring at the end of the spring semester after more than 45 years at the university. Brewer joined Furman’s faculty in 1967 and became a professor in 1970.

Beginning this semester, Furman students will have the chance to enroll in a new minor that will allow them to study various aspects of human experience across multiple disciplines.

While most students were enjoying the warmth and comfort of their homes during the holiday break, those remaining in Building A were not so fortunate.

As graduation approaches, Furman seniors will have the opportunity to contribute to the longstanding tradition of the senior gift, a chance for the graduating class to give back to the university as they prepare for life as an alumni.

Furman’s Chief of Police Tom Saccenti indicated that emergency response may be improving after the annexation of Furman into Traveler’s Rest, and he expressed his hope that the department’s introduction of a new campus safety smartphone app in the next few weeks would further improve student safety.

Shuttle to run 7 days a week

FIT Rx, a new program started this semester by the Department of Health Sciences, is trying to help Furman get fit, offering free individualized exercise training to faculty, staff, and their families.

As 2013 came to a close, so did Furman University’s 10-year fundraising campaign, exceeding the university’s goal by more than $6 million to bring in a grand total of $406 million.

In an email sent to faculty last week, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty John Beckford reiterated the university’s plan to address the current budget deficit through a reduction in the size of the faculty.

In 1965, Greenville native Joseph Vaughn enrolled at Furman and became the first African American student to attend the university, paving the way for thousands of other students to attend an institution that had previously excluded them.

In his recent update on the status of budget discussion, Dean of Faculty John Beckford outlined the university’s plan to reduce the number of full-time faculty by relying on retirements and resignations, and initial reactions suggest that faculty are supportive of the plan, though many said it still leaves many questions unanswered.

New rules implemented to create a more comfortable sorority recruitment process and increase recruitment registration rates seem to be working as more than 300 women participated in the first weekend of Furman’s formal sorority recruitment Jan. 18-20.

Earlier this semester, Furman’s Department of Economics began advertising for a faculty position that will become open when Professor Mary Jean Horney retires at the end of the academic year. But about three weeks ago, after the department had received more than 75 applications for the position, the university decided to call off the search for budgetary reasons.

Furman University’s Marketing and Public Relations department recently finished a two year long process of website redesign in an effort to make it more mobile accessible, attract prospective students and alumni, and make internal access easier.

Every year, the Heller Service Corps tries to find ways to remind Furman students of the importance and benefit of reaching out during the holidays. This year, the Heller Holiday Giving Trees, which are set up in various places around campus, allow students to choose specific items that they can give to one of 53 organizations that request gifts.

The University Police have a new office, located in the bottom floor of Hipp Hall, that is spacious, professional, and welcoming, an image that Saccenti said University Police had been trying to achieve but which had been hindered by their old location.

Last week, two Furman students were able to help the Furman Police Department arrest people responsible for a series of thefts from motor vehicles on campus. Two students were walking back to their apartment and observed suspicious behavior. They called FUPO and helped the police chase down and arrest one of the people involved.

The Common Application, or Common App, is supposed to make the application process easier for students by allowing them to apply to several schools at the same time, including Furman. This year, however, it’s made the application process a nightmare for many high school seniors.

It’s that time again, time for students to start picking out next semester’s classes. That means that it’s also time to start using ARMS, a program that, while functional, is not exactly the most user-friendly way to survey courses. But a new website gaining popularity among students aims to change that.

When Jackson, a former presidential candidate and prominent civil rights activist once regarded as the successor to Martin Luther King Jr., graduated from Greenville’s Sterling High School in 1959, Furman’s policy of racial segregation prevented him from attending his hometown university, leading him to enroll instead at the University of Illinois.