UAB President Ray Watts presented to a crowd of attendees during his first Town Hall meeting. Photo by Casey MarleyCasey Marley - Managing Editormanaging@insideuab.com
Tamara Imam - Copy Editor
copyed@insideuab.com
President Ray Watts and several administrators spoke to UAB students, staff and faculty about their concerns in his first ever community town hall meeting on Wednesday, March 30 in the Hill Student Center Alumni Theater.
The President first presented an overview of the strategic plan for the campus and noted the advances UAB has made in fundraising and facilities over the past year. Watts said that as of this morning, the Campaign for UAB passed the $680 million mark in its goal to raise $1 billion.
In addition to the Campaign for UAB strides, Watts also mentioned that the new building for the Collat School of Business will open in the fall of 2018 and that plans are in the works for additional parking on the west side of I-65, away from the main campus.
After Watts ended his speech, Chief Communications Officer Anne Buckley opened discussion with electronically submitted questions, one of the first dealing with pedestrian safety. In the question, the anonymous person was concerned with enforcing red light laws and promoting pedestrian awareness. This elicited suggestions from the faculty regarding police handling of jaywalking and drivers running red lights. While Deputy Chief of Police Marvin Atmore ensured that police do not utilize "plain-clothed" officers in handling pedestrian crossing violations like other universities, such as the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, have begun to implement, he noted that the UABPD is undergoing an "operation" on pedestrian safety. Facilities Team U Director James Fowler mentioned that UAB is setting aside budget money for the current fiscal year to help improve campus pedestrian safety from an engineering standpoint.
Following pedestrian safety, the topic of smoking on campus stirred a debate on enforcement.
When asked how the campus is enforcing the non-smoking policy implemented in April of 2015, there was no clear answer given by administration. The first answer was from the Dean of Facilities, who noted that it is up to supervisors to enforce the policy. However, when Sterne Library was brought up, the inaugural Dean of Libraries John Meador quickly rejected that it was his job to enforce the ban on students. The topic did not get resolved until John Jones, Vice President of Student Affairs, said that it was a "community" effort for students to discontinue smoking on campus.
After more discussion concerning public health issues on campus, the town hall ended with Buckley asking the audience if the event was helpful. The audience responded with a unanimous yes.
Casey Marley - Managing Editor
managing@insideuab.com
Tamara Imam - Copy Editor
copyed@insideuab.com
President Ray Watts and several administrators spoke to UAB students, staff and faculty about their concerns in his first ever community town hall meeting on Wednesday, March 30 in the Hill Student Center Alumni Theater.
managing@insideuab.com
Tamara Imam - Copy Editor
copyed@insideuab.com
President Ray Watts and several administrators spoke to UAB students, staff and faculty about their concerns in his first ever community town hall meeting on Wednesday, March 30 in the Hill Student Center Alumni Theater.
