International patnerships with India, Germany established
Coastal has initiated new international academic programs with institutions in India and Germany.

Provost John Idoux (seated left), Steve Nagle and Val Dunham (standing) with professor Hirdeshwar Saran Saxena of the Ansal Institute of Technology and his wife.

Coastal officials have signed an agreement with the Ansal Institute of Technology in New Delhi, India, to establish an academic partnership allowing Indian students to earn a Coastal degree in either business administration or computer science. Students enrolled in the program will study in India for the first three years before moving to Coastal to complete the five-year degree. The program’s first 30 students began taking classes in the fall 2000 semester and will arrive at Coastal in 2003.

Founded by the Ansal Group, a prominent Indian business firm known for its significant support of education, the Ansal Institute of Technology is a four-year degree granting university with an emphasis on science, math and technology.

In February 2001, officials from the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, Germany (Fachhochschule Mainz), traveled to Coastal to discuss the final details of a partnership establishing a series of business exchange programs, including a dual degree in international business. The two universities will begin offering exchange programs in June 2001.

A dual degree program in international business will allow students from the University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, after completing program requirements in Germany, to matriculate to Coastal for their final year and earn a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in marketing or management from Coastal as well as a business degree from their home university. Coastal students will also be offered the opportunity to study in Mainz and earn a degree from the German institution as well as a Coastal business degree.

The agreement to establish the German partnership was signed last fall after Darla Domke-Damonte, assistant professor of management at Coastal, traveled to Mainz to visit the campus and discuss details of the exchange arrangement. President Ingle initiated the proposal during a visit he made to Mainz in 1998 as part of a delegation from the state of South Carolina investigating opportunities for cooperation between the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and South Carolina. The two states have an official sister state designation. Mainz is the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate.

“The students from India and Germany will add a new dimension of diversity to the campus,” says Coastal Provost John Idoux. “They will help Coastal broaden its perspective. What makes a university is its students – an institution of higher learning is judged by the achievements of its graduates. Some of our best students will come from these programs.”

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Presdent Ingle a leader in state, national education organizations
Coastal Carolina University President Ronald R. Ingle is now serving in appointed positions on four important national and state education boards.

Ronald R.Ingle

Ingle is serving a two-year term on the board of directors of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), a national higher education advocacy association of more than 425 public colleges, universities and systems of public higher learning. The powerful organization monitors public education policy at the national, state and campus levels and provides information and analyses to groups and organizations responsible for setting legislation, rules and regulations.

Ingle also has been elected to the 77-member Commission on Colleges of the regional accrediting association, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). The Commission accredits approximately 780 colleges and universities throughout the Southeastern region of the United States and in Latin America. SACS is one of six regional accrediting organizations in the United States. Its membership consists of more than 12,000 accredited public and private institutions from the university level down to prekindergarten level. Founded in 1895 and headquartered in Decatur, Ga., the Southern Association works with schools and colleges in 11 Southern states from Virginia through Texas, in Mexico, the Caribbean, and in Central and South America.

Additionally, Ingle is chair of the Council of Presidents, an organization of the heads of South Carolina’s colleges, universities and technical schools. He is also serving his second term on the Southern Regional Education Board, an association of education leaders from 16 Southern states dedicated to improving education in the Southern region of the nation.

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Coastal Carolina University Theater production earns regional ranking
The Coastal Carolina University Theater production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) placed in the top 25 at Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KC/ACTF) regional competition in November 2000. More than 200 productions from schools in 10 Southeastern states competed in the event. Coastal’s production starred dramatic arts majors Jason Adams, Michael Levesque and Steven Thompson, who were nominated for acting scholarships from the Irene Ryan Foundation as a result of their performances in the competition.

Steven Thomspon, Michael Levesque and Jason Adams

Adams, Levesque and Thompson also traveled to the American College Theater Festival, Region IV competition hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi in February 2001.

The Irene Ryan Foundation of Encino, Calif., has awarded scholarships to the outstanding performers at each regional competition since 1972. The scholarships are funded through the estate of the late Irene Ryan, best remembered as the feisty Granny Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies.

Coastal’s production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) was performed on campus in Wheelwright Auditorium Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

“The spirit and motivation in the theater department is unbelievable,” says Robin Edwards Russell, director of the production and assistant professor of theater at Coastal. “It was truly a collaborative effort. There were more than 20 people who all worked very hard to make this production successful.”

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Coastal receives outstanding SACS review
Coastal Carolina University received an excellent report in its first step toward reaffirmation of accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), a process which will be completed in December 2001.

Sally M. Horner

Reaffirmation of accreditation involves a peer review process by SACS’s Commission on Colleges, the regional accrediting agency for 11 Southeastern states. As part of the peer review process, faculty and administration from SACS member institutions visit the campus and evaluate the institution. The campus visit is only the first step in the reaffirmation of accreditation process, which requires reviews by two high-ranking committees within the Council on Colleges.

A peer review team visited the Coastal campus for three days in February as part of the initial self-study process. In its exit review, the team presented Coastal with an outstanding report that included only four recommendations, among the fewest ever given by a SACS reaffirmation committee, according to Sally M. Horner, Coastal’s executive vice president.

“Even more impressive was that the report included two commendations,” said Horner. “While receiving one commendation is relatively rare, receiving two commendations – both citing broad institutional characteristics – is an extraordinary testament to the quality of this institution.”

The first commendation cited Coastal’s dedication to the SACS peer review process and to its commitment to participating in the activities and decisions of SACS’s Commission on Colleges. The second commendation noted the excellence of Coastal’s ongoing and broad-based program of planning, assessment and institutional effectiveness.

The recommendations focused on Coastal’s need for additional and improved physical facilities, including library, science and student services facilities.

Subject to Coastal’s response to the recommendations, the Commission on Colleges will determine the university’s reaffirmation of accreditation at its December meeting.

All SACS-accredited institutions must be reviewed every 10 years in order to be reaffirmed for accreditation. Colleen Lohr, associate professor of biology at Coastal, was director of the campus self study process. Horner was chair of the steering committee for the self study process. Horner and Lohr were the general editors of the comprehensive report required by SACS as part of the initial review.

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Fitness community may promote unhealthy behavior
A recent study by Sharon Thompson, associate professor of health promotion, reveals that fitness instructors may inhibit rather than promote a healthy lifestyle among their pupils and clients.

Sharon Thompson

Thompson’s study, “Facing Eating Disorders in the Fitness Community,” conducted with Roger Sargent, professor of public health at the University of South Carolina, was first published in IDEA: Health & Fitness Source. The study was also featured in SELF magazine and its results have been discussed in The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.

The study reports that many instructors admitted that they suffer from or have overcome an eating disorder.

According to Thompson, the fitness industry itself is to blame for some of the problems facing the instructors. Performing in a room lined with mirrors, the instructors feel that they are looked upon as role models and feel pressured to be thin. Instructors should focus on health – not appearance, says Thompson.

“Our study indicates that females with previous experience of an eating disorder or a dysfunctional association with food and weight may be attracted to the fitness profession,” said Thompson. “Teaching fitness classes may provide a culturally appropriate means to justify increased physical activity to maintain their own weight and appearance. In order to effectively help their clients, fitness instructors need to demonstrate a positive and realistic attitude toward their own body image.”

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Coastal launches new TV show
“Coastal Today - An Inside Look at Coastal Carolina University,” a new television show produced by the Offices of Marketing Communications and Media Services, began airing on area cable access channels in March 2001.The half-hour show features all aspects of the university including interviews with alumni, students, faculty and staff.

Coastal Today airs on channel 12 on both HTC and Time Warner Cable daily at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Time Warner also airs the show on Channel 5 in Myrtle Beach, Conway and North Myrtle Beach and on Channel 17 in Surfside Beach, Garden City Beach, Murrells Inlet, Georgetown and Andrews on Sundays at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesdays at 4 p.m.

The host, Robin Edwards Russell, is a Coastal alumna and faculty member.

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Hunt named dean of College of Education
Gilbert Hunt has been named dean of the College of Education at Coastal Carolina University. He has served as interim dean since August 2000, when former dean Dennis Wiseman was named associate provost at Coastal.

Gilbert Hunt

Hunt, a professor of education at Coastal, joined the university’s faculty in 1975. A native of Tabor City, N.C., he earned a bachelor’s degree from Campbell University in 1969, a master’s degree in 1971 and a Ph.D. in 1975, both from the University of North Carolina.

During his career as a Coastal professor and administrator, Hunt has held many key leadership positions in the College of Education. He has been chair of the Department of Professional Programs in Teacher Education and co-director of the Center for Excellence for Standards-Based Education, as well as chair of the Faculty Senate.

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Nale serving as interim dean of Wall College of Business

Robert Nale

Robert Nale is serving as interim dean of the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration. Nale began his duties in December upon the departure of Peter Barr, who served as dean since 1992.

Nale, professor of manage-ment and chair of the Department of Management, Marketing and Law at Coastal, joined the Coastal faculty in 1985. He earned a bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University, a master's degree in business administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago and a Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi.

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Herrington named alumni director

Carrie Herrington

Carrie Herrington has been named director of Alumni Affairs at Coastal. Her duties include planning alumni events, advising the Student Alumni Ambassadors, and serving as a liaison between the Alumni Association, its Board of Directors and the university. She will also maintain contact and continue to develop relationships with Coastal’s more than 11,000 alumni.

Herrington earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the College of Charleston in 1995. She served on the College of Charleston’s Alumni Association Board of Directors.

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Hunley archaeologists delivers Kimbel Lecture
Though he’s not as famous as many past speakers in Coastal’s Kimbel Distinguished Lecturer Series, Robert Neyland drew one of the largest crowds in the history of the event when he spoke in Wheelwright Auditorium on March 27.

Robert Neyland

Neyland is the project manager of the Hunley Commission, charged with raising and conserving the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley. Since it was raised on Aug. 8, 2000, in Charleston Harbor, the submarine has been the subject of constant national media attention, fueling the public’s fascination with the history of the vessel and the process of its recovery, excavation and conservation.

In his talk, Neyland covered all those subjects with the sort of careful, descriptive detail which the 800-plus audience members seemed to appreciate. His presentation included computer animation, showing how the latest technology was used to lift the vessel from the ocean floor. Neyland explained the complex logistics of the excavation process and showed photographs of the artifacts which had been uncovered to date – buttons, bits of leather and wood, and a medicine bottle with an air bubble in it.

Neyland with prfessor Scott Harris

“There has been some speculation as to whether the air inside the bottle is 1864 air or 2001 air,” joked Neyland, who heads the U.S. Navy’s Underwater Archaeology Branch. At the time of the lecture, human remains had also been uncovered in two areas of the submarine. Neyland said that the remains of the crewmen will eventually be buried in Charleston’s Magnolia Cemetery near the bodies of other seamen lost on the Hunley.

Neyland praised the contributions of Scott Harris, assistant professor of marine science at Coastal, who is analyzing the sediments which filled the cavity of the vessel during its 136-year submersion in the Atlantic. Neyland also recognized Coastal marine science majors Suzy Darrah and Beth Sharrer, who will be conducting volunteer research projects on the geology and paleontology of the interior of the submarine.

Built in 1863 in Mobile, Ala., the H.L. Hunley became the first submarine in history to sink an enemy ship during wartime when she attacked the U.S. warship Housatonic on Feb. 17, 1864 in Charleston Harbor. Returning to port after the successful attack, the Hunley sank mysteriously, its exact whereabouts unknown until Clive Cussler, noted author and shipwreck hunter, discovered the wreck in 1995.

In addition to his position with the U.S. Navy, Neyland is a research associate with the Netherlands Institute for Ship and Underwater Archaeology (NISA) and with the Institute for Nautical Archaeology (INA). He has worked on Bronze Age shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, medieval wrecks in the Netherlands, and ships of exploration in the Caribbean and North America.

The Kimbel Distinguished Lecturer Series was created in 1982 by Coastal benefactors William and Maud Kimbel. Past speakers include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Dick Cavett, Lewis Grizzard, Joyce Brothers, Art Linkletter and Marlin Fitzwater.

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New buildings, facilities named as construction boom continues
When the dust settles from the building boom which began last year at Coastal, the campus will have more than 30 percent more building space.

The recently completed University Hall

The largest structure on campus, now under construction and scheduled to be completed this summer, is the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts Building. The $16 million, 110,000-square-foot building includes classrooms and faculty offices, a recital hall and an experimental or “black box” theater which is called the Edwards Theater.

Robin W. Edwards and the late Thomas W. Edwards

The Edwardses are longtime Coastal benefactors. The late Thomas Williams Edwards, a retired executive of the Williams Furniture Corporation in Sumter, and his brother Phillip L. Edwards were instrumental in establishing the Williams-Brice Physical Education Center on the Coastal campus as well as the University of South Carolina’s football stadium and nursing school.

Also housed in the Edwards College of Humanities Building is the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery, named in honor of the late Rebecca Bryan of Conway, a Coastal benefactor and a longtime supporter of the university’s arts and humanities programs.

The new headquarters of the Division of Extended Learning and Public Services, which will occupy the second floor of the recently opened University Hall, is named for H. Dale Williams, the director of Senior Resource Group, an affiliate of MetLife Financial Services. This 9,600-square-foot facility houses the Lifelong Learning Society, including a computer lab, six classrooms, office space, and the Senior Resource Center, a new service for senior adults created by Williams. The Senior Resource Center will offer free computer access, Internet, e-mail, facsimile and copy machine services for senior adults as well as a reading area. The facility will offer workshops on health care, retirement, financial planning and other topics of interest to senior adults.

H. Dale Williams

In addition to the Williams Extended Learning Center, the 18,000-square-foot University Hall will house a reception area and the campus bookstore. The bookstore will be maintained and operated by Follett Higher Education Group.

Other projects under way include a baseball clubhouse and new dugouts at Charles L. Watson Stadium as well as new dugouts at the softball complex. Coastal alumnus and former baseball player Mike Pruitt ’84 has made a significant contribution to the projects.

With Coastal’s NCAA I-AA football program slated to begin in 2003, McMillan Smith & Partners Architects, P.A. of Spartanburg is working on designs for a football stadium and athletic facility. The university has been awarded $4 million from the state for the complex. Groundbreaking is projected for early 2002.

Coastal’s highest priority for future construction is the R. Cathcart Smith Science Building. The addition to the present building will increase the size of the 41,000-square-foot facility by 136,000 square feet. The project is expected to cost approximately $35 million.

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