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Volume 57 - Issue 9
Board of Regents visits UWG; approves $57.9M for expansion
By Andriana Brockman
Stuff Writer
acol Un7@ my.westga ,ei!u
The University of West
Georgia hosted the yearly
meeting of the Board of
Regents of the University
System of Georgia last
week. The board, which
meets twice each year,
visited the university for the
first time in twenty years.
Although a significant event
for UWG, many students
on campus are unaware of
the significant role that the
board plays.
The board was created
in 1931 and oversees 35
colleges and universities
in the state of Georgia. It
is composed of members
appointed by the governor
who serve seven-year terms,
one from each Congressional
District and five at large.
The chancellor, currently
Chancellor Enroll Davis, is
the chief executive officer
and chief administrative
officer of the University
System and is selected
by the Regents. There are
currently 18 members on
the board
The festivities began
Mon., Oct. 8 with a
progressive dinner in the
Campus Center Ballroom.
The official meetings were
later held on Oct. 9 and 10.
Both meetings were called
to order by Chairman Allan
Vigil and followed by an
University Web sites showing age; kicking and screaming into 21st century
By Ellis Smith
News Editor
ellisthered@gmail.com
Most students at
the University of West
Georgia who haven’t been
living under a rock for the
past decade are familiar
with and have grown
accustomed to using the
Internet for a variety
of tasks. But students
attempting to access many
departmental websites
here at UWG have run
into a puzzling problem:
Many of the websites
are outdated, difficult to
navigate, non-functional,
and even contain major
errors of fact.
Students who are
used to a dazzling array
of Java and Flash powered
applications on the
websites they usually visit
can find it difficult to access
accurate information about
their own professors,
programs and facilities
here at UWG.
There is a definite
disconnect between the
students who are used
to working, playing,
and learning through
the Internet and those
responsible for their
college education.
Lucky for disgruntled
students, a solution is
already in the works.
thbWest Georgian
invocation by Regent Willis
Potts.
UWG President Dr.
Beheruz Sethna welcomed
the Regents to the campus
on Tuesday and familiarized
them with the goals and
accomplishments of UWG
“We ask not what you can
do, but what we can do
together”, he said during his
presentation.
Regent Richard Tucker
presented the University
System of Georgia
Foundation’s annual report
and spoke on the promising
progress that has been
achieved.
Dr. Ron M. Zaccari,
President of Valdosta State,
presented a ten-month
research project by a special
task force on how to enhance
student advising and
development, which would
include a three-phased
proposal for improvement.
The new advising
system would require an
advising mission statement,
a posted two-year schedule,
and annual evaluations.
Zaccari recognized the
difficulty inherent in
the transformation, but
stressed the importance of
structure where advising is
concerned.
“It is definitely
important for students to be
directed in the right way. I
really believe that UWG
already offers a dedicated
advising program,”
Information
Technology Services
has bought a content
management system- a
program that gives anyone
who knows how to type I
the power to set up a
framework for what pages
are going to look like, and
than insert content. It’s as
easy as filling out a form.
This program,
known as Red Dot. is now
officially implemented on
the main UWG webpage,
the ITS webpage, and
also at the University
Communications and
Marketing website
Blake Adams, project
manager at UWG for any
web-related peojects, says
the Red Dot implementation
is the biggest thing on his
plate right now.
“We’re getting a
lot of interest from the
administration side,but not
as much as we’d like from
the departmental side,” he
said.
This is unfortunante,
because one of the biggest
beneficiaries from the
implementation of this
non-HTML “What You
See Is What You Get”, or
WYSIWYG (pronounced
whizzy-wig) system would
be the very departments
resisting the change.
Rather than being
forced to wait for HTML
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West Georgia welcomed the Board of Regents as they prepared to make important decisions con
cerning the University of West Georgia's future.
Courtney Lay, an Fairly
Childhood Education major,
said
Samantha Gibson, an
undecided freshman, said.
"The advisors have been
really helpful in pointing
me in the right direction. I
really feel as though they
care about me as a student
and want to see me succeed.
That’s what so great about
West Georgia”.
programmers to put up
new content every time
anew event or piece of
important information
needs to be posted, any
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While most UWG web sites are outdated and difficult to navigate, plans for
updates are slowly, but surely, on the way.
professor, department
head, or secretary without
an ounce of HTML
training has the capability
to post new information as
fast as they can say “drag
and drop.”
“There is no mandate
to enact this program, it is
completely voluntary for
each department,” Adams
In Opinion • Page 4
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The Madman’s
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The board came one
step closer to completing
the second of the six goals
in the Strategic Plan adopted
in the August 2007 meeting,
which is making room for a
projected 1 (X) ,(X X) add it i( nial
students by the year 2020.
The 260,(XX) students
currently in the USG are a
result of 30 percent grow th
in enrollment over the past
eight years. This would
said
So why isn't
anyone jumping on the
bandwagon? The West
Georgian talked to Steven
Broome, a member of the
Web Redesign Committee
and assistant director for
the University Department
of Communications and
Marketing, to get his
thoughts.
“One of the issues that
we’re experiencing with
the content management
system that puts some
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substantially increase to
nearly 4<X).000 students.
The board passed a six
year building plan to invest
a proposed $1.7 billion in
general obligation bonds
between 2(X)8 and 2014.
adding five additional years
of proposed investment and
providing a complex view
of money placement.
The capital planning
model approved in 2(X)6
people off to begin with,
is that they fear they may
lose their individuality,
they may feel stifled with
their creativity with this.
Photo by Terence Rushin
And when you’re dealing
with a template or a series
of templates, of which we
hope to have more soon,
people can feel railroaded
into making their page
look a certain way.”
Q: So the reason some
Web sites haven’t been
updated since 2(X)5 is that
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WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 17. 2007
Photo bx Kim Folkes
was the foundation of this
new addition.
“It’s really cool that
they are placing such an
emphasis on growth in
education,” UWG senior
Tomer Wagshal said. “I
think that the more the
educational system grows,
the better Georgia as a
whole will become.”
See REGENTS page 2
the departments don’t want
to lose their individuality?
A: “Even though
they’re not all well done,
and they’re not updated,
people still like the
autonomy of the way
things already are. The
content management
system is really there to
address the problem of
content being fresh on the
site. The biggest pet peeve
of users is that they go to
the site, and its 5 years out
of date. CMS, with a small
amount of training, enables
the content to be fresh.”
Q: If departments are
satisfied w'ith the status
quo, however archaic it
might be, then what is the
motivating factor for them
to switch over to the new
system?
A: "With CMS,
the chemistry professor,
instead of having to tell
a student or secretary to
update his information for
him, he can go in there and
do it in five minutes. Since
he knows that it’s his stuff
that’s there, the motivation
is there to keep it fresh.
So they might want to
change their syllabus, or
their office hours, or their
resume, and they can do
that without a special Web
program.”
See WEBSITES page 2