• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2011-11-22_Vol77_No15_01

THE WESTERN CAROLINIAN SERVING THE CULLOWHEE AREA Si NOE Volume 77, Issue 15 Thanksgiving Break Edition 1933 Search committee hopes to identify new ) athletics director by years end From Staff Reports The 15-member committee charged with helping identify Western Carolina Univer- sitys next director of athletics met Wednes- day, Nov. 9, setting an ambitious, fast-track timetable so that a new leader for Catamount athletics could be in place perhaps as early as January. Inhis charge to the committee that he ap- - pointed-Nov. 4, WCU Chancellor David O. Belcher urged members to proceed with as much speed as possible to find an extraordi- nary leader for challenging times. This is an important decision for Western - Carolina University, Belcher said. Athlet- ics is a vital area of our university. Athlet-.. ics provides visibility for the university, it | grounds students in the institution, and it is a way to keep in contact with donors and alum- ni. Athletics is a front door or front porch t to the institution. Shea Browning, associate general counsel | at WCU who is chairing thes search effort, said the committee will be working onan ac celerated timeline to try to have a new athlet- ics director on the job as eae in the new year - as feasible. Belcher, speaking to the committee by _ phone in between stops in Charlotte and | Greensboro as part of a statewide get-ac- quainted tour, thanked the members for agree- _ cn ing to serve on such a high-profile, fast-paced oe Cl eo Ge Wg i a . Ghee te veeMial Gun as search, and shared some of his thoughts about Dennis. iRaener meee iter rea, Cater interim director o aideics, on Nae 13 to. turnin in is (EN Baal yee had ad tw0 Ye years and $390,000 esis oe his contract. what he is seeking in a director of athletics. _ We need to find someone who is a true vag leader, who has the capacity. to hire, tetain assistant coaches and other athletics staff, he said. Pve need someane W/o can develo a team : Western Carolina University since 2008, an- and mentor excellent coaches, of. leaders, and who shares the core Western _ Carolina University values of excellence, stu- - dent success and external focus. During a time of constrained resources, ' the athletics director must have experience with budgeting and fundraising, Belcher said. _ We need someone who can build a strategi- | after the meeting to serve as interim head coach cally designed budget, who can manage very | davefully the: Hatited resources weldo have _ and until a new head football coach is. hired. while also playing a major role in bringing _ The process of beginning a national search for We must grow our resources, in partnership with | - others, through fundraising, increased ticket . UE De he Operon SF ie Unive s tee new resources to the table, he said. _ sales and additional sponsorships. Other critical qualifications include expe-- rience with NCAA compliance and gender Wagner as head football coach at Western Car- A review and photo page of Sweeney Todd at WCU Read moreon rege B-6 ithe teat "justin Caudell, Editor-in-Chief Dennis Wennen the head foctball cach at nounced his resignation from the Program on Noy. 13. Wagner met with Fred Cantler, interim di- rector of athletics, that morning to inform him of his decision. Assistant:Head Coach Mark Rhea agreed at WCU for the remainder of the 2011 season anew head football coach will commence im- mediately, and the completion of that search ' director of athletics. quity, and the ability to work with all other wonderful part of the university, but it is not | : : : f i _ earlier today after meeting with me for a frank the university in its entirety, Belcher said. mittee, members also signed confidential- ity agreements to protect the anonymity of | oe F ible to take eee step at this time. candidates for the position, heard from Cory Causby of WCUs Office of Human Resousc- : Oe ae : : Se a ae 2 ee grelive d es aneebah waht es a oes, en WAT OU students looking at new estimated tuition increase drafting a position. description and profile of | the ideal candidate, and developed a timeline for meetings and other search activities. They also spoke with Todd Turner, found- er of Collegiate Sports Associates, the North Carolina-based executive search consulting firm hired to assist the committee in its work. | My role is to develop for you prospects for this job, people who fit the profile that you develop and who are interested in Western Carolina University, Turner said. They are not candidates; they are prospects. They are _ not ee until the committee decides : students. This increase translates to $520 and _ that they are. Meetings of the search committee are open to the public, although as the search process progresses from discussing elements of the position and job description to evaluating the qualifications of prospects and candidates, ] have accepted the resignation of Denar olina University effective today, Sunday Nov. elements of campus, he said. Athletics is a 13," Canter said, "Coach Wagner announced his resignation to the team and his assistants During the meeting, the first for th com- - and thorough discussion of the future of the program. We have reached the mutual conclu- sion that it is in the best interests of both nial Mails UePLNeaNT GRA AIT PEL CHIR COMA FCEL Beg SELENE TOA PAT LAzALte CREP Fs a LVF Aa Ree PERE MIRCaLa tas MRR RRR aCn Se case Jared Gant, Contributing Writer The Tuition and Fees Committee announced at two recent open forums that the projected cost of attendance would rise above their pre- vious estimates. The new proposal, announced at forums at the UC Theatre on Nov. 16 and 17, places an in-: crease of 17.34 percent on North Carolina resi- dent undergraduates, and an increase of 17.32 percent on North Carolina resident graduate $580, respectively. Out-of-state students will see increases on par with the dollar amounts for in-state students. This is an increase of $326 above the previous proposal for N.C. under- _ graduates and $363 for N.C. graduate students, the committee will go into closed session to | discuss those individuals. , The committee is searching for a perma- nent successor for C. Joseph Chip Smith, WCUs former director of athletics who held - the position from September 2004 until Oct. 25 of this year. Fredrick Q. Cantler) WCUs longtime senior associate athletic director for internal operations, who retired in March after 33 years of athletics administration, agreed to come out of retirement to serve as interim director of athletics. Join the Conversation: The previous proposal discussed at open fo- Big B Brother winner returns to Cullowhee Read more on Page 6 ee ae ie want to a Bennis ie for his ; - efforts, on behalf of the. Catamount football program, he added. _ - Wagners resignation came a day ek the 2 football team lost to rival Appalachian State 46-14 in Boone. It was the Catamounts eighth straight loss on the season and 14th straight Southern Conference. loss. Wagners career record at WCU was 8-36, 3-27 in the SoCon. Wagner, who did not return calls: request- ing for comment, had two years and $390,000 remaining on his employment contract. WCU junior Tony Wicklund is glad Wag- ner stepped down. Im relieved for some change, and have some respect for the way he resigned in that he left money for the sports program to put to use, Wicklund said. Haroun Azizi, a sophomore at Western Car- .olina, agrees. He had made no actual improvement over time, Azizi said. WCUs new interim coach, Rhea, came to Cullowhee as the defensive line coach in mid- March of 2010 from Tiffin University where he was the defensive coordinator. He -was named WCUs recruiting coordinator prior to the 2011 season, and was recently promoted to rums from Oct. 24-26 had placed a 6.5 percent increase on in-state undergraduates and gradu- . ates alike: Dr. Sam Miller, Vice Chateelior for Student Affairs, led the two forums. He told the attend- ees that.the increases come at the recommen- dation of the UNC Board of Governors. The Board of Governors mandated that Western Carolina perform at the average or better for graduation rates and student performance with its peer institutions, while remaining in the bot- tom 25 percent of the peer institutions in tuition and fees. Some of these 18 peer institutions in- clude Pittsburgh State University, California State-Fresno, Central Connecticut State Uni- versity, and Eastern Illinois University. The UNC Board of Governors approved a one-time tuition increase to catch up to the Twitter: @WCUsNewspaper WPAN Nog h vr. 0 BX eE = = i SP WIIBHH nn ) November 22nd, 2011 Students discuss budget cuts, other i issues at private forum Read more on Page 2 Wagner resigns a as Catamount s head football coach FILE PHOTO heat Mead coach after fe release of Matt Pawlowski, who held the same position as well ait as defensive coordinator roles at WCU. A four-year starter at the University of To- ledo from 1988-91, Rhea has served as a de-. fensive line coach at four different institutions prior to WCU including stops at the United States Coast Guard Academy in Connecticut and Austin Peay State in Tennessee, with six years at Idaho State before returning to his: alma mater. Although this has been a difficult auc in the history of Western Carolina football in terms of wins and losses, f encourage the Catamount faithful to continue to support our student-athletes, who work hard each and ev- ery day to represent our university and to bring a sense of pride to those who bleed purple and gold. These young men deserve no less than our unwavering support, Cantler said. Western Carolina concluded its 2011 regu- lar season last Saturday in Cullowhee with a 45-21 loss against Coastal Carolina. WCU finished the season 1-10 overall, 0-8 in confer- ence. (Western Carolinian Sports Editor Ryan Alexander contributed to this report.) bottom 25 percent of the peer institution. This increase will total roughly $1300 spread over four years. Miller said that the idea between comparable tuition rates to peer institutions is that Western will be able to offer an improved academic experience for its students, as well as protect the academic core of the institution. Miller continued that he thinks we are being required to make the increases by the UNC Board of Governors. He said that he knew of no document that explicitly stated that Western was to make the stated increases, but it seemed that the Board of Governors was implicit that the increases needed to be made. Miller stressed that many of the factors driving the increase were out of the control of the uni- See TUITION INCREASE on Page 2 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Facebook: www.facebook.com/wcunews = NAME: _ a | | $30 for North Carolina addresses _o_e<,= ADDRESS: _ $45 for other addresses + See CITY. ag aes | : 2 , Ss STATE: _ PiamanTA Lide Cane : MAIL PAYMENT TO ee. PHONE: | eta. ~The Western Carolinian A amomee eo : PO Box 66, Cullowhee NC 28723 : eee meena ininenimmmnmnania EARS ABER a amore peep cama! Website: www.westerncarolinian.com

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 2011-11-22
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 11.5"
  • Pages: 12
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
  • Western Carolina University -- Periodicals
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_2011-11-22_Vol77_No15
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library