ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610070047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
If Radford University President Douglas Covington has his way, a track and field team could be in the school's future, as well as an honors academy that would draw academically and artistically top-notch students.
On Friday, Covington unveiled both an annual report noting the accomplishments of his first year in office, and his vision for the school's future.
The unusual report card and preview came a week after controversy surfaced over the university's Board of Visitors' launch of an evaluation of Covington and the school. Some have questioned whether it's the start of a move to oust the new president. Covington has said only that he wants a fair hearing.
Covington explained after the two-hour meeting that he declared his vision now, rather than at his inauguration a year ago, because he did not want to dictate orders then, and that other issues needed his immediate attention.
It was, as he said, a year of transition. He credited Radford's staff and faculty with contributing to both the past year's successes and his vision for the future.
Asked if Friday's session was timed because of the evaluation, Covington said he's not outlining his vision now "because I'm being evaluated, but because I'm the president.
"As long as I'm the president, I'm not going to be asleep at the wheel and sit on my hands and wait for somebody to tell me what to do," he said.
Although Radford's enrollment dropped again this year, to an estimated 8,200, there is some good news. The freshman class is the biggest since 1991, and 3.2 percent larger than a year ago, Covington said.
He also discussed other wide-ranging accomplishments of the past year: the new internal governance system that gives faculty and students more say; a boost in average freshman grade-point averages from 2.71 to 2.82 on a scale of 4 since 1993; and a new campus master plan.
Only two projects from the master plan are funded. Those include a $4.7 million, 36,000-square foot academic building left over from the demise of the New College of Global Studies. That building will open in 1998, while a $7.5 million, 63,000-square-foot building, part of the university's Waldron College of Nursing and Health Services, will open in the fall of 1999.
Sketched in on the plan are such items as an amphitheater near the New River and a stadium. Also, there are plans for a $12 million addition to the student center, Heth Hall. But the school couldn't build that until it's back up to 9,000 students, Covington said.
Radford also had its second-best fund-raising year, bringing in $2.9 million. A consultant currently is studying the feasibility of launching the school's first capital campaign.
Covington's vision includes a sweeping range of educational opportunities he hopes will make Radford more student-centered and public service-oriented.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 linesby CNB