This article is from the EMU News Archive. The approximate date of publication was in July 2003. Current EMU news is available at www.emu.edu/news

TO EMU HEADLINE NEWS | BOARD OF TRUSTEES |

EMU Board Hears Celebratory Report

The board of trustees of Eastern Mennonite University, meeting in summer session June 27-28 on campus, warmed to an upbeat report from Beryl H. Brubaker, presiding at her first board meeting as interim president.

"We have many reasons to celebrate," Dr. Brubaker told the board. "New faculty and staff who are joining the university this summer and fall come with strong credentials, including a new vice president for student life — Dr. Kenneth L. Nafziger — and a new campus ministries team — Brian M. Burkholder, Byron J. Peachey and Julie A. Haushalter, who will broaden the vision for spiritual life programs on campus," she said.

"Our graduate programs in particular are growing, with a waiting list of applicants in the MA in counseling program," Brubaker noted. "We also expect a good enrollment in the seminary this fall.

"The MA in business administration program recently received full certification from the state of Virginia, she said, adding that the new MBA program director, Allon H. Lefever, "comes with a tremendous background in the business community and a passion for strengthening our values-based program."

"We now have six full-time faculty with doctorates in the business department, an unusual achievement for most small institutions like EMU," Brubaker said.

In addition, the state of Florida and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has also given approval to move ahead with offering the MA in education program to teachers. The new program will be based at Sarasota Christian School.

EMU was recognized by the Association of International Educators (NAFSA) for its international education efforts and featured in an in-depth profile published in April this year, the president noted. The 108-page softcover report, titled "Internationalizing the Campus," highlights six U.S. colleges and universities, including EMU, that have done "a significant job of integrating global approaches to teaching into all aspects of campus life and learning" through study abroad programs, new curricula and other means.

Brubaker also reported that EMU "will be well-represented at the Mennonite Church USA assembly being held July 3-8 in Atlanta, Ga., with a number of faculty and staff leading workshops and other program activities.

"We have many things to be excited about and grateful for, but enough needs and concerns to keep us challenged and humbled," Brubaker told the board. "We will draw on our strengths to address the challenges ahead," she added, then recited the EMU mission/vision/shared values statement from memory.

The board reviewed an updated five-year "strategic plan" for the university, noting specific ways that the school intends to nurture faith in students, strengthen and enhance existing academic programs, provide increased faculty and staff development opportunities, communicate the EMU story (with more emphasis placed on bringing pastors and other guests on campus), become a more inviting community that helps everyone learn to live alongside each other, provide affordable education, provide new or upgraded campus facilities and serve the community beyond the campus.

The governing board received "with appreciation" a report from the 10-member LiFT (Listening and Facilitating Team) committee that was prepared during the past school year to facilitate the process of communal discernment and discussion of issues important to the campus, including responsible participation in public discourse on controversial issues in the Mennonite Church.

"This process, initiated at the request of former president Joseph L. Lapp, has provided opportunity for considerable discussion about issues central to what it means to be a Christian university that carries the values of both academia and the church, a dialogue that will continue," Brubaker told the board.

In other business, the trustees:

• Learned that contributions to the University Fund are running $100,000 or 18.5 percent — ahead of the same time last year.
• Heard a report on university radio station WEMC that included a new "mission statement" for the non-commercial FM outlet, which is the oldest public radio station in Virginia, established in 1955. New general manager Jon Kauffmann-Kennel of Elkhart, Ind., will begin work July 14, 2003.

Posted: July 3, 2003