THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130521
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
A day after he resigned as the Elizabeth City State University vice chancellor for financial affairs, Roger A. McLean took a bow and struggled for words Tuesday when he received a standing ovation from the ECSU's board of trustees.
The tribute came after the trustees heard interim Chancellor Mickey L. Burnim describe the actions he has taken to correct shortcomings discovered this year when the state auditor examined ECSU's finances.
``I was under no pressure to resign,'' McLean said. ``I've been here for nearly 22 years and it seemed like the time to consider doing something else - like watching a few baseball games.''
The applause for McLean, who will leave his $80,000-a-year job April 1, came at a regular meeting of the trustees in the G.R. Little Library.
As adjournment neared, Stanley Green, a Raleigh banker who is chairman of the ECSU board, told the trustees: ``I think we all owe our thanks to Roger McLean for the many years of loyal service he has given to this university . .
Green, Burnim and the 12 trustees present then rose and joined in a clatter of hand-clapping for McLean.
Green is also chairman of the search committee looking for a permanent chancellor for ECSU.
``We're down to a short list,'' said Green. ``We're looking at about 10 finalists and we should soon be in a position to send at least two names to President Spangler in Chapel Hill.''
C.D. Spangler Jr., a Charlotte banker who is head of the UNC system, will then start the procedure required to appoint a new chancellor for one of the 16 schools in the UNC system.
Burnim told the trustees he had quickly complied with the sharply worded directives that came from Spangler following the critical report on ECSU by auditor Ralph Campbell.
Burnim said he intended to ``hire immediately a temporary person to manage our efforts to resolve all audit issues and findings.''
The interim chancellor also told the trustees that the admission of new freshmen for the fall of 1996 were more than 10 percent higher than last year. He also said that SAT scores for the new freshmen averaged 865, compared with 778 last year.
Burnim said he had appointed an enrollment task force from various ECSU departments to actively help in recruiting programs throughout the 21-county region serviced by the university.
He also announced a $500,000 endowment to establish an academic chair for the E.V. Wilkins Distinguished Professor of Education. Spangler and the C.D. Spangler Foundation contributed $333,000 toward the endowment and $167,000 came from the UNC Board of Governors.
Trustee William T. Davis, an Elizabeth City attorney who is chairman of the ECSU buildings and property committee, told the trustees that $8.9 million in on-going campus construction projects were generally on schedule or being negotiated.
Trustee Betty Meggs, chairman of the Student Affairs Committee, reported that a new minority student retention plan had been developed for the current academic year. Meggs also said a search committee had been formed to hunt for a new ECSU director of admissions.
When the unusually long meeting adjourned, Roger McLean was quickly surrounded by friends, some dating back to the day in 1974 when he first came to the ECSU administration from Robeson County, a newly minted accountant ready to take on the world. by CNB