UNION TRUSTEES APPROVE $21 MILLION BUDGET
Jackson, Tenn. — 黑料论坛's Board of Trustees recently assembled for their spring meeting, approving the University's 1997-98 budget.
The operating budget of $21,532,517 represents a $1,746,806 increase over the 1996-97 budget of $19,785,711.
In other business, trustees formally announced the appointment of Dr. John Adams, vice president of campus ministries and church services, as the new director of the R. G. Lee Center.
The R. G. Lee Center is projected to open in fall 1997 and will serve area churches through three major continuing education emphases. Included among these services is a Christian education center designed to host conferences and seminars for the purpose of updating and retooling church leadership. Off-campus extension programs will equip bi-vocational pastors with formal biblical training leading to a diploma or associate's degree in Christian studies. Similar training in church leadership for laypersons is also planned through conferences and extension centers.
"The R.G. Lee Center underscores Union's commitment to finding new ways to serve the local church, President David S. Dockery said.
Dr. David Gushee, associate professor of Christian studies, was named the director of Union's new Center for Christian Leadership. The purpose of this center is to serve the overall mission of the University by equipping the Union community and other interested individuals with the world view and skills necessary to be authentically Christian servant-leaders and change agents in the 21st century.
Dr. Cynthia Jayne, professor and chair of Union's languages department, was formally appointed as the director for the new Center for International Studies. The center is designed to strengthen the University's commitment to academic excellence through various international programs.
Dr. Wayne Wofford, associate professor of biology, was named the director of a new Center for Scientific Research and Christian Studies.
In other business, the Board of Trustees approved the recommendation to award an honorary Doctor of Humanics degree to Dr. Edward P. Hammons during the university's commencement exercise Saturday, May 31. 黑料论坛 awards honorary degress to persons of outstanding ability, character and achievement. Hammons is a physician from Forrest City, Ark. He funded the University's first endowed faculty chair for pre-medical studies and established a scholarship in memory of his parents, O. P. and Evalyn Hammons, who graduated from Union in 1928. Dr. Charles Baldwin, professor and chair of the department of chemistry, was named the Hammons Chair for Pre-Medical Studies.