Need cash, but do not have time to leave campus? Then look no further than Health Center Credit Union (HCCU).

For the last 20 years, Augusta State University has been a location for HCCU which is located in Allgood Hall. According to Ben Davall, head bank teller of the Augusta State branch, HCCU operates just like a real bank. Davall said the credit union can do all the transactions that a bank can do.

“We can do loans and we have debit and credit cards,” Davall said. HCCU differs from banks because HCCU has members, not customers, and the member can become a part of the board of directors, said Davall. According to Stacy Tallent, president of HCCU, the purpose of having a branch at Augusta State is to serve the students and faculty of the University. “The purpose of having HCCU on campus is for you all to gain access to low-cost financial services through a non-profit organization, like a credit union, as opposed to other providers who are in the business of making a profit,” Tallent said. “We take the approach of making enough money to cover our costs but we are not driven by profit.”

According to Joyce Broughton, business development coordinator for HCCU, there is a program called Junior Achievement that is geared towards elementary, middle and high school kids. Broughton said there is also guidance on their website and said both Junior Achievement and the content on the website are very useful. “Junior Achievement is a program that we pay for,” Broughton said. “It is extremely fun and educational. As far as having classes on such matters as car buying and identity theft, we have wonderful tips for such topics on our website.”

Broughton said she believes these classes may not seem important at the time, but in the future it will be important.

Davall explained the way to become a member is you have to fall into a category. For example, a member may fall into a category of being an Augusta State employee or an employee of the Medical College of Georgia.

“Basically, our membership is spread from educational boundaries to health industries,” he said. “Anybody in the medical field or in the education field is able to be a member or if their family members have been, they can be included as well.”

Davall said in order to be a member, a person needs $25 and a valid ID. HCCU also does background checks on its members as well, and according toTallent, is equally owned by its members.

HCCU is currently open twice a week, and serves most of the employees of the University. However, Davall said he does not see many student members.

“We do not have very many student memberships just based on the amount of transactions we do in a week,” he said. “If we are able to increase our membership then we will be open more often.”

HCCU originated at MCG in 1976 and has expanded over the years. Davall said the most important thing to HCCU is its members.

“We get to know our members by name,” Davall said. “We are not large and we are not trying to have a large membership, but we want to know the members that we have and we want to invest in them.”

Tallent said the best thing about their credit union is the ability to change someone’s life through the services that HCCU provides.

“The customer may come in to cash a check and through our service interaction we are going to start asking questions and find out what the true needs are, whether it’s retirement planning, or saving to buy a car or a house,” Tallent said. “Everybody’s needs are going to be different, and we are going to work with that individual to find out what those needs are.”

While most people think of dogs as domesticated animals that are meant for hugs and kisses, the pack of dogs seen on campus do not fit this description.

On Thursday, Feb. 3, police officers Thomas Beck and John Pritchett, as well as Capt. Ted McNeal of Augusta State University public safety, were informed of a dispatch call stating that a student spotted the dogs reported to be killing numerous cats and dogs in the Augusta area, particularly Summerville. According to Jasper Cooke, the director of public safety, the dog pack included three pit bulls, a Rottweiler and a mutt.

“I sent something out to the faculty, staff and students so that everyone would be aware of the information we have known about for a week or so because it just looked like these attacks were getting more frequent,” Cooke said. “Then it becomes a higher probability or possibility that we might have a person be attacked by the dogs.”

According to Donna Wear, professor of biology, dogs descend from wolves where they tend to form packs, and within that pack there is a hierarchy with an alpha male or female. With the dogs seen on campus, one of the pit bulls was seen as being the alpha male, Cooke said.

“With humans came garbage, and garbage attracted wolves and those wolves that would have a longer flight distance, that is that they would allow us to get close to them,” Wear said. “Then over time, those were the (wolves) that we domesticated.”

Because dogs do descend from wolves, when they are out of the home environment, the dogs revert back to natural instincts, and form packs and hunt, Wear said. However, according to Cooke, the dogs never ate the animals they killed and never attacked a human.

“There was no aggressive behavior towards anybody on campus, and while (the dogs) were on campus we pretty much knew where they were,” Cooke said. “We were just trying to figure out how to get the animal control folks over there. The really hard part about the issue (Thursday) was coordinating where the dogs were versus where the animal control guy was with the net to catch them with.”

Beck, Pritchett and McNeal agreed with Cooke on the difficulty of coordinating with animal control to where they will be and where the dogs will be. It took the officers three hours to round up three of the dogs from the pack.

“(The dogs) went off and on campus,” Beck said. “They kept leaving campus and coming back and we basically were trying to find them and tag along.” It was hard to coordinate with animal control to trap the dogs Beck said.

According to McNeal, the strategy the officers had was to corral the dogs in a fenced-in area. However, whenever the officers would get the dogs in a contained area, they would jump the fence or find another way out. Nevertheless, when the dogs came to a fenced-in area on Gardiner Street, the fence was too tall to jump and the officers trapped some of the dogs there. Two of the dogs found a way out and headed toward downtown.

“It’s hard to corner them, I guess because we started catching the other ones, they’re spooked,” Beck said. “Once you break them up in the pack, they get spooked; they don’t know what to do when they’re on their own.”

According to Cooke, the pack of dogs, that were seen three times on campus appeared to be well-fed and to have owners. Two out of the five dogs in the pack were not caught and are still roaming around.

“What I am upset about the most is that unfortunately it’s going to be these dogs who suffer when in fact it needs to be their owners who are brought to justice,” Wear said. “Those owners need to pay the price.”

The American Red Cross was founded in 1881, and the entity has grown considerably, now providing help for people in all 50 states.

Mie Lucas, an Augusta State University alumna and the current Emergency Services Director, said she has seen growth in the local Augusta Chapter.

“We’ve seen a growth in the amount of people wanting to volunteer,” Lucas said. “We’ve also seen an increase in disasters that we’re responding to. We talk about the economy being not as good as it has been in the past. A lot of people are without jobs, so they find something to fill their time.”

There are currently 171 disaster relief volunteers working for the Augusta Chapter. According to Lucas, the number is continuously growing and they are more than happy to see it do so. There are, however, only about six paid staff.

“I work for the volunteers,” Lucas said. “I’m the director of the department, but I work for them. They are dedicated individuals in the community who give their time for free to help somebody else. Over 90 percent of our work force is volunteers and they are anything from worker bees to management level.”

Betty Palmer, an American Red Cross volunteer as well as the Disaster Health Services adviser for Georgia, has been a part of the organization for about five years is management level.

“I tell everybody I’m a Katrina volunteer,” Palmer said. “I, like everybody else, was watching CNN headline news and said, ‘Those people need some help and I can do something to help.’ So, after the first time, I was hooked. Hook, line and sinker; that’s me.”

According to Palmer, Disaster Relief in the Augusta area is crucial. The American Red Cross gives assistance to those in need not only with finances but also disaster referrals, disaster mental health, disaster health services and counseling. Disaster relief volunteers are on call 24 hours a day and seven days a week, ready to respond to a call about a fire or any disaster that may occur in one of the 11 counties the Augusta Chapter serves.

“The Disaster Relief (is) absolutely crucial to Augusta,” said Dave Iverson, volunteer director of logistics. “On a weekly basis we answer fire calls and make sure that the Red Cross is ready in the event of a disaster. It’s incumbent upon us to make sure that if a disaster hits, we’re ready to answer it.”

While the American Red Cross is at work responding to disasters year round, they become busier in the winter. The number of fire calls they receive grows during the colder months as a result of people trying to heat their homes. According to Lucas, there were about 21 fire calls in December 2010. Red Cross volunteers responded to each of these fires, some leaving their families on Christmas Day to help. The American Red Cross also goes out into the community and gives presentations on how to be better prepared for disasters such as fires.

“We do a presentation called ‘Be Red Cross Ready,’” Lucas said. “There are three steps: Make a kit, have a plan, and be prepared. The most important thing is having an emergency kit. You can buy a kit that’s already put together, or you can think about things that you might need.”

With all that the American Red Cross does, according to both Iverson and Palmer, volunteering is a selfaffective duty. “You’ve got two types of people, the needy and the greedy, and you’ve got to service them both,” Iverson said. “What it’s taught me is a lot of compassion and not to question somebody’s need, just fill it.”

According to Palmer, volunteering has taught her to become more thankful for what she has.

“It gives you such a feeling of satisfaction when you go out and you’re able to see somebody and they’ll give you a hug or a smile and just thank you for the assistance that you’ve given them,” Palmer added.

The Augusta Chapter of the American Red Cross, chartered in 1917, actively provides services in the five areas of Disaster Services, Armed Forces Emergency Services, Health and Safety, Adult Volunteerism, and Youth Leadership Development. According to Lucas, the best way for a community to help its local Red Cross is to volunteer its time and services. Even so, the organization is not government funded and therefore operates only off the monetary donations of the community.

“I guess it’s more of an order that we’re there if they need us, all of us hope they don’t,” Iverson said. “It’s nice to know that we’re there if you do.”

It is out with the old and in with the new, e-mail that is.

The old e-mail portal, Pipeline, was officially replaced by MyASU in November 2010 as the company responsible for Pipeline failed to provide an updated system for more than seven years.

According to Chip Matson, director of information technology services, the inability to upgrade the portal system for nearly a decade was only part of the problem as it was unable to support new web tools such as blogs and Google gadgets.

“During the 2009 school year it became obvious that Pipeline was getting a little outdated, so we began assessing our options,” Matson said. “We decided that Microsoft’s portal system was the best fit for us because the service was available free of charge to academic institutions.”

Among other things, mail storage was also becoming an issue as students could easily fill up their inbox if they received emails with large file attachments.

“If you wanted to send someone a power point presentation, you pretty much filled up their inbox,” said Bill English, assistant director for programming and system services. “We increased the storage, but what we could do is nothing compared to what we now have with the new system.”

Matson said he believes MyASU is the answer to this problem as students now have access to up to 10 GB of storage with the new JagMail feature. With Pipeline, students were not able to link their school e-mail account to their mobile devices, a feature that MyASU now allows.

“I like being able to send and receive e-mails on my iPhone,” said Todd Slaughter, a senio http:// www.aug.edu/alumni/jaguarjaunt/ HCCU-only-2-color-LOGO.gif r business management major. “It is so much easier than trying to log on through my laptop.”

According to Brian Armstrong, a temporary full-time instructor in the Department of English and Foreign Languages, the transition between portal systems was not the smoothest.

“It is always difficult and frustrating to change to a new system,” he said. “There is never an ideal time. When (the system) is ready, you change.”

English, however, said the transition from Pipeline to MyASU was similar to when Augusta State started using online registration in 2000.

Prior to online registration, Augusta State used an automated telephone system called Augusta State Telephone Resources Online, or ASTRO.

According to English, students at first preferred the older method of using ASTRO to the new online registration option.

“Students would complain that the online system was too confusing,” he said. “As new students came in each semester, they were immediately introduced to the online method and began to prefer it until ASTRO slowly became obsolete.”

During the fall 2010 semester, Armstrong took advantage of extra class time to educate his English 1101 students on how to access the new portal system as well as show them how to find their e-mails.

Armstrong, who also teaches classes in philosophy and humanities, said the new portal system also helps to send important reminders to all of his classes simultaneously. “Before I would have to go into each individual class and send several e-mails,” he said. “Now I have the option to check the classes I need to contact and send the same message to all of them at the same time.”

Matson also noted that MyASU gives students and faculty a much better interface to sort mail with.

“With Pipeline you couldn’t sort e-mail, flag (e-mails), or mark (e-mails) read or unread,” he said. “We just knew that there had to be a better interface for e-mail.”

Armstrong agrees that the new ability to sort e-mails is a positive one.

“(Pipeline’s) functionality was so limited,” he said. “I have tons of folders now where I can organize my class materials. How you organize your e-mail is vital to your academic life.”

According to Matson, the new portal system should be expected to stay around for a while. Microsoft, MyASU’s software producer, regularly updates its portal system.

Matson also suggested that student feedback will be an important factor towards the success of the new system.

“Feedback is what made us decide to look for other options to begin with,” Matson said. “We listen to our students.”

A new scholarship program that will help increase the number of students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in science and math was recently developed and will be awarded fall 2011.

Andrew Hauger, professor of chemistry and physics, and Sam Robinson, chairman of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences are the leaders of this program. The Savannah River Scholars Program is supported by the National Science Foundation by a grant worth more than $419,000, and is specifically aimed at students who major in chemistry, physics, computer science or mathematics. Hauger said the purpose of this scholarship is to recruit and take care of good students, and said he would like to see at least 16 students apply annually and get the scholarship. “The goal is to produce a higher quantity and quality of majors in those disciplines,” Hauger said. “And the way that we are going to do that is to have some of these special programs, which include doing student research, which can be anything that has to do with their discipline. Student research is not required, but it is encouraged.” Robinson said this scholarship amount will be substantial as a scholarship award will be more than $4,000 per student, and it will benefit the student directly and indirectly.

“Indirectly, with such an award, the student will benefit because the scholarship will allow them the opportunity to quit their job to be able to focus more on school, but directly they get money,” Robinson said. Maitri Besai, a senior chemistry and physics major, said her sole purpose in helping with this scholarship program is to let other students know about it. “This is a very important scholarship because it encourages students to be a science major with more concentrations in the other sciences besides biology, which, a lot of students come here to major in,” she said. “Science is more than just becoming a doctor. The scholarship will encourage students to focus on being a scientist and doing research.”

Robinson said he would like to see more minorities in sciences and believes the scholarship program will be able to do that. He also said he hopes the program will attract students who would not otherwise be able to come here.

“We want to integrate research with education as well as increase the number of diverse and qualified graduates in the sciences,” Robinson said.

With more than $100,000 a year for four years for the scholarship, Hauger said the scholarship was designed to meet the unmet financial needs of students, which would depend on what their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) results were, compared to their cost of attendance. In turn, there is no set amount on what the student would get in terms in the amount of what their scholarship is worth.

According to the scholarship’s brochure, the requirement for a student at Augusta State University is they must be a chemistry, computer science, mathematics or physics major. The student must have a grade point average of 3.0. Students must fill out their FAFSA and commit to being a full-time student.

In order to maintain their scholarship, the student must meet with their peer mentor once a week, while meeting with their faculty advisor twice each semester. Students must also participate in any activity the program offers as well as maintaing a 3.0 GPA.

Hauger also said there is a plan to have career seminars, which will include how to write a résumé interview skills and invite alumni who have graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the sciences and math.

“It is important to have alumni come and tell students what they are doing with their physics or computer science degrees or any other of the disciplines, so we can learn together what some of the possibilities that are out there.” Hauger said.

According to Robinson, there is a high demand for the sciences, particularly in the Augusta area with the Savannah River Site close by and the high demand for computer science majors.

In addition to that, Hauger mentioned the importance of having a faculty mentor. He said those certain faculty members will help guide and advise those students in those fields, whether it be a physics professor mentoring a physics major. Hauger also mentioned the importance of a student mentor as well.

“I want to try to find students who are dedicated enough and to encourage them to apply because the scholarship is a great deal,” Besai said. “The scholarship is just an award and it is a good thing to have on your resume.”

Eighty-six years ago, Carter Woodson, a black historian, created Negro History Week in February of 1925; little did he know his week would become a nation-wide, monthlong celebration for blacks.

Seizing “the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans… throughout our history,” President Gerald Ford designated February as Black History Month for all students to observe. And while Americans today are still taught the histories of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman as early as Kindergarten, according to Black Student Union member, Terence Barber, many do not know the smaller, less celebrated contributions that escape textbooks.

“Blacks have done more than just contribute to the Civil Rights Movement,” Barber said. “They have done things to contribute to medicine, inventions and American culture in general.

Barber said many do not know the story of James Derham. Derham, who is considered America’s first black doctor, was a slave in 1762. Despite never receiving his medical license, Derham worked as a nurse to buy his freedom. As a result, by the age of 26, Derham opened his first medical practice in Philadelphia.

Barber said Derham’s accomplishment is often overlooked in favor of Daniel Hale Williams, who was the first black doctor to receive his doctor of medicine degree. Williams is renowned for being the first person in the United States to repair a pericardium, essentially performing open-heart surgery.

An even lesser known fact Barber said he researched deals with the acknowledgement of the black maids and nannies during slavery. In 1923, Congressmen of Mississippi along with the Virginia chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy suggested that “a monument in memory of the faithful, colored mammies of the South” be erected on the National Mall in Distric of Columbia.

According to Barber, occurrences like these show the less appealing, but important role blacks played in society, regardless of their class.

Barber said the contribution of the Buffalo Soldiers during the 1800s is also overlooked in favor of typical heroes. As black soldiers of the 10th regiment in the U.S. Army in 1866, the Buffalo Soldiers are considered by Congress to be the “first peacetime allblack regiment” in the U.S. Army. Barber said Augusta State University’s Cowboy Mike, an assistant professor of history, is the perfect person to go to for black history and its importance.

“Cowboy Mike is really active in educating people about black history,” Barber said. “His classes have taught so many people so much about the culture. And he makes it so interesting that people take his courses because they know they will learn something new about (black history).”

Barber said while Cowboy Mike hosted the Black Student Union’s Black History Jeopardy earlier this month, Cowboy Mike will hold a discussion about Buffalo Soldiers on Feb. 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Barber mentioned that Black Student Union has not let the contributions of blacks go unnoticed either. The on-campus organization that strives to educate and bring black students, as well as other races and ethnicities together, hosted an improvisation session. In addition it will host a discussion panel for minority students later this month.

“We try to keep people informed,” Barber said. “… We do a lot of community service because it is important for people to see us trying to carry on the legacy.”

For Emmanuel Nzeh, a student at a historically black college, said that while his parents are foreign-born, he is still inspired by black history and its heros.

“Each year, I learn more and more about black history,” Nzeh said. “No matter where we come from, we all have been impacted by the contributions of blacks.”

Barber said he feels that while all of the contributions of blacks may never be known, he is happy learning a new fact every year.

“I think we all look forward to the day where we just celebrate all American history month,” Barber said. “… But until that day, reminding the world each year, once a month about black history is not that bad.”

Carol Rychly was named the new associate vice president of academic affairs on Jan. 1.

Rychly described a recently approved five-year strategic plan for the university. The plan, called “ASU in Action for Excellence,” was written by faculty, staff and students, and Rychly said that she strives to see that each of the goals enumerated in the plan are met.

“(The strategic plan) calls for us to enhance the seeking of external funding, increase the percentage of graduates who major in high demand fields, enhance student matriculation and academic success, and increase the percentage of students in upper-division and graduate level courses,” Rychly said. “Clearly this office should do whatever it can to be sure that our initiatives are consistent with the university mission, uphold our core values, and help us accomplish those strategic goals.”

Rychly has been an Augusta State faculty member since 1989, when she was hired as an assistant professor of mathematics. In 2005, she began serving as the assistant chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences. Through the course of her career in education she has been recognized numerous times for her work, notably winning the Evelyn Berry Award for Outstanding Teacher of the Year while teaching mathematics at Paine College.

Rychly said her years of experience in teaching taught her many valuable lessons that she can apply to her new role. One of those lessons was the value of being a good listener, a skill of Rychly’s that stands out to her administrative assistant, Tiffani Hampton Jones.

“Carol is an excellent listener,” Jones said. “She always wants to make sure that she has all the facts and information she needs before making a decision.” Sam Robinson, the chair of the department of mathematics and computer sciences at Augusta State, has known Rychly since he came to Augusta in 1999 and says that she possesses the leadership qualities necessary to help ensure that the goals spelled out in the strategic plan are brought to fruition.

“My first impression of Carol was simply that she was a really nice lady,” Robinson said. “But the more I worked with her and got to know her, I realized she was something special. She became a real leader in our department and was an invaluable part of our connections with other departments.”

Robinson said that Rychly, aside from being an excellent teacher, was also adept at handling administrative duties, a skill he believes will serve her well as the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs.

“She understands how a university is supposed to work,” Robinson said. “She’s also a great people person and can interact and get along with anybody, whether it’s students or faculty.”

Jones says that Rychly’s personality is such that she will not rest until her vision for the university becomes a reality.

“Carol’s a real go-getter,” Jones said. “She’s very goaloriented.”

Aside from helping the university reach the goals set forth in “ASU in Action for Excellence,” Rychly also is committed to emphasizing goodwill across campus.

“One of the things that makes ASU a special place in my mind is the friendliness of the entire campus community,” Rychly said. “I want to encourage collegiality and respect for one another in all our interactions. ”

Students have an opportunity to help raise money for the athletic department just by doing something everyone has to do: Get a haircut.

A FundDrive fundraiser sponsored by SportClips Haircuts provides student with discount tickets which allows $2 off a haircut and donates $2 to Augusta State University athletics as each ticket is redeemed, according to Bill Voegtle, team leader of SportClips Haircuts. These tickets are available at every basketball home game and can be found in two large stacks at the table where students IDs are checked.

“We try and keep it simple for our partners,” Voegtle said. “We supply the coupons at our cost, discount the person presenting the coupons, and then match the discount to the sponsoring organization. Because everyone needs a haircut, we try and keep it as simple as possible!”

Active since October 2010 only four FundDrive tickets have been redeemed, raising only $8, according to Voegtle.

Joey Warren, athletic media relations director, said he contributed to at least one of those redemptions.

“It is an opportunity to support Augusta State athletics, and despite announcements during the games, students are not aware of the effort,” Warren said.

According to Warren the tickets sit where everyone who pays comes in and he is unsure about how else to communicate it.

“I did not know about the program, because my ticket to games is free. This seems like it will be a good way for me to support my school,” said Jose Lugo, senior Spanish major.

And while the thought process to better inform the student population about the fundraiser is underway, student presence as a whole has been marked as an issue.

“It seems like our fan base has not been supporting our team in the way that they have in the past years,” said former 2009-2010 president of The Blue Crew, Xaq Matthews. “They are starting to now, towards the end of the season. They realize that ASU is still a good team, a top 10 team and I can see how people would want to start supporting the school using these.”

Lasting for only two years, The Blue Crew was the title for the fan base of Augusta State Athletics. Bryan Waller, the 2008-2009 Blue Crew president, graduate of Augusta State and now an employee of the Augusta State employee of the Augusta State Athletics said the attendance for the basketball games is an issue compared to other years.

“It was 2008 and Dean Jones came to me with the idea,” Waller said. “After going to Massachusetts, the first year that we made it to the National Championship, she approached me about starting an official organization. In the past, Dip Metress, our basketball coach, had made sure to call the fans ‘The Blue Crew,’ so the name was already there.”

The average number of people at the basketball games has dropped, according to Jaguarsroar.com. In 2010 the average number to attend a game was 1,552, and dropping to 1,115 for 2011.

“I think the attendance went down because we lost five starters, all five of our starters, and we were thinking that this year was going to be a down year,” Waller said. “It’s a new team; we have only a few people that were on it last year. I think it surprises a lot of people, but we are still a top 10 team. It really has not caught on to the community and the students or the school.”

Every year $1,000 must be raised by the Student Athletic Advisory Committee and donated to a charity, according to Warren, who said he plans to make the suggestion in the next administration meeting to put the funds raised towards Make a Wish Foundation. “Each athletic team does their own separate thing to raise money,” Warren said. “In the past we have gone through the crowd asking for donations, but it seemed like we were nickel and diming people and that is the last thing you want to do. We want to get people in here to watch basketball, not get hit up for money.”

Warren said the FundDrive will continue through baseball season and according to Voegtle, the most successful FundDrives are ongoing.

“We all need haircuts,” Warren said.

It began as an idea for a gift, but it turned into something much more.

Augusta State University’s 2008 graduating nursing class wanted to do something more than the typical class gift to its advisers and instructors, but it was not quite sure what. “Most classes will give some kind of gift,” said Melissa Williams, assistant professor of nursing and class adviser. “I told them, ‘It’s your money; you don’t have to buy us a gift.’ I said, ‘Use it on your pinning or something; go all out.’”

Williams said most classes buy gifts for the instructors or buy equipment for the skills lab, but the 2008 class wanted something different. Williams said the class had several meetings, and she discussed with it the idea of leaving the money to a first year student that needed help. The class agreed, and Adam Carnahan, a nursing student at the time, took on the task of putting the project together.

With graduation approaching, the nursing students did not have much time. It was already mid-January and graduation was in May. Carnahan said he went to Helen Hendee, vicepresident for development and alumni relations, and they discussed what would be involved in putting the scholarship together. He learned from Hendee that it would require $10,000 to start the scholarship. The $10,000 raised would be placed into a trust, and the interest accrued would be used to pay the endowments for the scholarships.

For Carnahan the project was personal, and he enlisted Jennifer Gates and Kathy Holliman, fellow students in the 2008 class, to help him with the process.

“I just wanted to do more than just some little trinket of a gift,” Carnahan said. “That’s what we understood in the past the students had given the professors some little gift. I just wanted to do something more meaningful. So we did.”

Gates was the president of the class’ nursing club. She said that it was such a great idea, and that she and her fellow students just took it and ran with it despite the short amount of time they had to put the funds together. She said the 2008 class had close to 50 students graduate, but it had limited participation.

“We knew that it was going to be hard, but we were bound and determined,” Gates said.

Gates and Carnahan both said they had contributions from outside sources and that was the main way the money was raised. They also received contributions from local businesses, family and friends, but it was the first donation that got things started.

“I happened to have $1,000 that came to us, and it came from Wachovia,” Hendee said. “I won it at a reception they have for all of their people who did business with them; it was a raffle. I couldn’t use that money for me. I needed to do it for something that was for Augusta State. So I said, ‘That’s your first thousand, if you will take this on and go with it.’”

Hendee said that she gave the students incentives along the way and they worked hard to get the money together. She said the class did fundraisers, personally made donations, and the entire time no one in the nursing department knew except for one person, which was Williams.

“She was sworn to secrecy,” Hendee said.

The scholarship was kept a secret from the rest of the department until the class’ graduation and pinning ceremony that was held in May. The class presented a check in the amount of $10, 907 to Charlotte Price, chair of the nursing department, and the nursing department staff at the ceremony.

“The faculty, they were blown away,” Hendee said.

The scholarship is given out every March at the Honors Convocation Ceremony. Williams said there is not a mandated GPA requirement or any application process; it is need-based. However, there are some considerations for the scholarship award.

“We sit down and look at the students, and we look at GPAs,” Williams said. “It’s not saying that the student with the highest GPA would automatically get the award because there are other factors to consider, like their involvement in nursing, their clinical performance, involvement in the community, attitude, caring abilities. ” Williams said the scholarship was the first one ever done, and it is unique to Augusta State. The contributions for the scholarship come from Augusta State’s A-Day campaign and donations from alumni, faculty and staff.

Holliman, who was the class treasurer, participated in raising money for the scholarship. Even now that she has graduated, she still makes an effort to give back.

“Every time the alumni department calls and for A-Day, I will make a donation and tell them to put it towards the Class of 2008 Nursing Scholarship,” Holliman said.

After spending the last three years at the helm of Fort Gordon, retired Brig. Gen. Jeffery W. Foley now uses his experience as a military strategist to help develop the University’s campus.

Not even a month into his new position, he already has a 10-year-plan for the University marked up on a white board on the far wall of his office.

He is now the acting assistant vice president for campus development replacing Kathy Hamrick who retired after the fall 2010 semester.

Foley, who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1978, spent 27 years in the Army serving in Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq and various places throughout Europe before retiring in July 2010.

According to Foley, he has been no stranger to Augusta State University and the city of Augusta, having been assigned to Fort Gordon on three separate occasions. However, he said it was his most recent stay that opened his eyes to the developmental side of the University.

“I was amazed when I walked on this campus for the first time in eight years,” Foley said. “I had no idea where I was when I saw all of these buildings. They just came out of nowhere.”

After spending time at Augusta State getting to know professors and featuring as a guest speaker on the topic of leadership, Foley admitted he became infatuated with the University, which made his current position a more lucrative job opportunity.

“This job allows me to take advantage of my strategic planning skills that I have had over the last 10 to 15 years,” Foley said. “I have the opportunity now to watch and participate in the growth of people.”

Although Foley said he believes he has the skill set to succeed in his current position in campus development, his job will not be considered permanent until Augusta State undergoes a formal search process.

“In order to receive the permanent job, people have to send in applications through human resources,” said Therese Rosier, vice president for business operations. “We then select the top three candidates to interview and the job is given to who we think is most qualified.”

According to Rosier, Foley will assuredly interview for the position he currently holds after the search process ends.

“He knows the University and the political leaders in Augusta,” Rosier said. “Being able to reach out and bring them all together for the good of the University is a very unique skill.”

According to retired 1st Sgt. Dennis Leanhart, Foley is extremely disciplined in what he does.

“He is very detail oriented,” he said. “All you have to do is let him know what is needed and he will have it done in no time.”

Foley said he has wasted no time. One of his first tasks at his current position was looking for alternatives regarding the expansion away from the Walton Way property as the University administration anticipates enrollment to reach 10,000 by the year 2020.

“This campus wasn’t built over night,” Foley said. “It is going to take a lot of money and a lot initiative.”

Just recently, the University was gifted 9 acres of land by the city of Augusta for the purpose of expansion though the state of Georgia must approve the transaction. Foley said he anticipates every bit of the newly acquired land will be used as the search to install another academic building as well as more student housing commences. Also pending approval from the Board of Regents is a student fee of $145 that will go towards the development of a new student activities center on the newly acquired land.

“There is just not much more we can do (on the main campus),” Foley said. “If we are going to grow, we have to have a second campus.”