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South Carolina State Student Awarded $500K in Suit Against University

HBCUDigest.com — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:05:07 +0000

A South Carolina State University student is likely to receive up to $300,000 after a jury in Orangeburg County on Wednesday awarded him nearly $500,000 in a lawsuit against the school. Gerald Wayne Brooks sued the university after falling and cutting his hand against a broken window which, he says in court documents, the university neglected to repair after repeatedly reporting the problem. From the Times and Democrat:

Brooks was staying at Mitchell Hall when he cut his hand on a broken window on April 5, 2007, sustaining damage to six nerves and two ligaments.

Brooks said S.C. State was “grossly negligent” in failing to inspect hazards on its campus, in failing to warn Brooks of the damaged window and failing to fix the window. He ended up suing S.C. State for failing to maintain safe premises.

According to court documents, S.C. State said Brooks had sufficient knowledge the window was broken and that it is common procedure for the university to make necessary repairs to property once a report is made to an appropriate official.

But Butcher said although Brooks may have known about the broken window, that does not exempt S.C. State.

“Certainly when you see something dangerous you will sidestep it,” Butcher said. “But if there is a pothole in the road you will hit it eventually if it is not fixed.”

Benedict Hotel-to-Dorm Rezoning Request Denied

HBCUDigest.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:22:00 +0000

The Richland County Council rejected a proposal from Benedict College to renovate an unused hotel facility into a campus dorm earlier this week, bringing relief to community members and alumni who say the university never invited them into the planning process for the building. From WSPA.com:

Council member Gwendolyn Davis Kennedy, who represents the area, says, “The school went about it the wrong way. They never discussed it with residents.”

Tom Malone, whose backyard backs up to the would-be dorm, says he didn’t like it when students were living there last year. “My biggest problem was with traffic and trash,” he says, saying students came and went at all hours.

Linda Dove, who lives down the street from the building, says she’s glad county council voted against allowing it to become a dorm permanently. “This is a retirement, more or less a retirement community around here. We did not want all the noise and all the young people,” she says.

Despite losing the potential dorm, Benedict attorney Ernest Cromartie says, “Benedict College is committed to its students and any student who is enrolled or who wants to attend will be provided housing.”

Emails to the college concerning future plans for student housing were unreturned as of press time.

South Carolina State Facing Scrutiny Over Transportation Center Spending

HBCUDigest.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:21:13 +0000

South Carolina State University is facing increasing pressure from state lawmakers to provide documentation on how more than $20 million in funding was spent over 12 years for a now-defunct transportation center. From the Post and Courier:

State Sen. Robert Ford, R-Charleston, who initially called for the audit council investigation, and Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, also said S.C. State should not withhold public documents.

But as the state’s watchdog agency is gearing up to launch an investigation into how the university spent the transportation center money, it remains unclear how much of a paper trail exists.

University officials for months have given varying explanations on which records the university has kept and where they are stored.

The unaccounted spending preceded the tenure of recently rehired SCSU President Dr. George Cooper, who faced criticism from the board prior to being fired a month ago for the lack of accountability over the transportation center. Calls and emails to the university from the Digest were unreturned as of press time.

Cheyney Senior Leads Ecological Research in Alaska

HBCUDigest.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:02:01 +0000

As numerous public and private entities push for minority interest and participation in biological sciences, Cheney University senior and biology major Charles Owens is leading a new wave of HBCU students entering the fields of marine and ecological science. Owens is leading estuarine research and development initiatives with the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve in Homer, Alaska, where he has had a prominent role in salmon ecology and public engagement in the field. From the release:

In addition, Charles has helped set up and presented a display of the salmon work for public outreach workshops, called Discovery Labs. This display included prey items from estuary habitats and a microscope showing a salmon otolith (a bone from the fish’s head which lays down annual rings like a tree) with instructions for ageing the fish which are under study. The last three weeks of his internship will focus on public education and outreach, including setup and presentation of the different Discovery Lab programs, guiding estuary walks, and assisting the public with general marine ecology questions.

Biodiesel Fuel Project to Run Campus Shuttles at Alabama A&M

HBCUDigest.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:08:35 +0000

Campus shuttles at Alabama A&M University will soon be powered by recycled cooking oil, thanks to a partnership between the university, Toyota and Willbrook Solutions. A&M’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences will reproduce more than 100 gallons of cooking oil from the Hunstville Toyota plant to fuel campus buses and other diesel-powered vehicles. From the Hunstville Times:

“Waste vegetable oil is a valuable resource,” said Dr. Ernest Cebert, research associate professor of plant breeding/genetics at A&M. “It’s not very pretty but, once processed, it can run a diesel engine.”

That amount of waste oil will be used to create 80 to 90 gallons of biodiesel fuel, according to Jim Bolte, the president of the Toyota plant in North Huntsville.

The bioenergy effort, Bolte said, “fits right in to what we’re doing with our sustainability plan activities.”

A&M will process the fuel with a processing unit donated by Willbrook Solutions, which also will fund a scholarship work study program at the university. Selma junior and mechanical engineering major Dexter Williams is the first recipient of the scholarship.

North Carolina A&T Hosts Boeing Jet Unveiling

HBCUDigest.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:16:51 +0000

North Carolina A&T State University yesterday hosted the unveiling of a new Boeing jet on campus, with the aerospace and defense juggernaut hoping to attract area students to the new NextGen Flight Tanker’s technology and future careers in the industry. From DigTriad.com:

Boeing wants to pitch the aircraft to the US Air Force, but that wasn’t the company’s only reason for visiting the school today. Company officials say they also wanted to inspire area students to pursue aerospace careers.

“They play video games and all of those things where they fly aircrafts and go into space and all of that,” said Boeing Spokesman Dan Beck. “They can be part of the real thing by building these airplanes, building these rockets. And really being a big part of our future.”

Bowie State Social Work Program Receives Accreditation Reaffirmation

HBCUDigest.com — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 19:44:51 +0000

The College of Professional Studies Department of Social Work at Bowie State University has received a reaffirmation of its accreditation by the Council on Social Work Education. Having been reviewed on its academic programming, research structure and professional advancement opportunities, the reaffirmation positions the university for continued development of professionals and experts in the field of social work. From the release:

“It is with great honor and distinction, I am pleased to witness yet another term of accreditation for the exemplary undergraduate Social Work program,” said Dr. Doris Polston, chair for the Department of Social Work. “Our mission is congruent with the University’s mission. The primary mission of the baccalaureate Social Work Program at Bowie State University is to offer a sound educational program that prepares students with the values, knowledge and skills for entry into the social work profession as generalist practitioners.”

Bowie State’s reaffirmation is good for eight years. The Council is the only accrediting body of college social work programs in the nation.

FAMU President Requests Internal Review of Payroll Process

HBCUDigest.com — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:59:36 +0000

Florida A&M University President Dr. James Ammons has requested an internal audit of the university’s payroll processes and systems, stemming from a number of university employees receiving pay checks beyond published pay cycles. In a letter dated July 21, 2010 to FAMU Vice President of Audit and Compliance Dr. Charles O’Duor, Dr. Ammons asked for the review to demonstrate “systems processes and controls to eliminate late or missed salary payments” and to ”identify barriers that may impede an effective process.”

Executive Assistant to the President for Communications Sharon P. Saunders did not attribute the request to a specific incident or complaint, but said that the beginning of the new fiscal year for some summer contracts may have contributed to the late disbursements.

“President Ammons decided that there was a need to have the Division of Audit and Compliance review the payroll processes in an attempt to get to the root cause of the problem. The University is confident that this slight irregularity will be corrected upon further analysis by the Division of Audit and Compliance,” Saunders said in an email statement.

Results from the report are expected to the president by August 6.

Campus Community Won’t Have Say On New Norfolk State President

HBCUDigest.com — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:26:00 +0000

Faculty members at Norfolk State University are objecting to the Board of Visitors’ decision to keep all candidates and finalists for the school’s permanent president anonymous until a person is chosen for the position. The Board says that secrecy in the search process is common, and maintains the integrity of applicants not compromising their current job environments. From the Virginian-Pilot:

Paul Champagne, faculty senate chairman at ODU, said he’s always known presidential searches at ODU to be private.

Two years ago, the faculty executive committee was asked to meet with two finalists off campus and to sign confidentiality agreements. Champagne said the faculty members honored the agreement, yet the names of the finalists were eventually leaked One candidate withdrew her name, and the search was suspended.

(Norfolk State Faculty Senate President Archie) Earl said some NSU faculty members were offended by the suggestion that they can’t keep a secret. He said a private search goes against tradition at Norfolk State.

In 2005, before Meyers was chosen, faculty members worked on the search committee and two finalists appeared on campus for interviews and meetings. Faculty were included in the 1996 search that led to the selection of Marie V. McDemmond. That was a confidential search, but names of the finalists were leaked before McDemmond’s name was announced.

Fayetteville State to Launch Journalism Program

HBCUDigest.com — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:34:00 +0000

Despite falling revenues in the industry and rising citizen journalism resources, Fayetteville State University is preparing to launch a new undergraduate journalism program beginning this fall. From Diverse Issues in Higher Education:

Dr. Todd S. Frobish, interim chairman of the Department of Communication, says almost twice as many students are majoring in mass or speech communication as the university had projected. The program’s first graduates, he says, have taken jobs at broadcast or cable television networks or pursued graduate degrees — the last a pragmatic choice often made in a weak economy.

Frobish says future journalism graduates from Fayetteville State could find work in the southeastern section of North Carolina that the school serves, although it’s not a particularly fertile media market, or doing one of many nontraditional journalism jobs, such as Web producers or video production assistants, around the country that he has seen listed on online employment services.

“We still need professionally trained journalists in the world,” he says. “That’s our job — to train these journalists for the new world of journalism.”