WILEY TO BECOME FHU PRESIDENT
The board of trustees of Freed-Hardeman University have announced that Dr. Joe Wiley will replace Dr. Milton Sewell as the 15th president. The announcement comes less than one year after Dr. Milton Sewell announced he would step down as the university president.
“I am thrilled that the board of trustees has entrusted me with the leadership of this wonderful university,” said Dr. Wiley. “Dr. Sewell has accomplished great things during his long tenure with the university. I look forward to stepping in and continuing the great history of this university and the presidents that have served here. I can’t wait to get started.”
Success seems to go hand in hand with the president-elect. While holding a PhD in mathematics from the University of Arkansas and completing a post-doctoral fellowship in computer science at the University of Colorado, Dr. Wiley has compiled a long, successful tenure as president of Rogers State University (RSU) in northeastern Oklahoma. Under the leadership of Dr. Wiley, RSU became a four-year institution and has seen the enrollment grow 65 percent since 2000. Dr. Wiley became the president of RSU January 1, 1999.
“We are excited about Dr. Wiley and the expertise he brings to the table,” said Mark Castleberry, chairman of the Freed-Hardeman University Board of Trustees. “His experience as a successful university president and his academic pedigree are second to none.”
“The selection committee of the board spent many prayerful hours considering the candidates for this position,” said Dr. Lynn Patterson, former chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We believe God has answered our prayers by bringing us Dr. Wiley. He simply had the most experience of our candidates. He has been in the classroom, in administration and has taken a troubled two-year university and made it a four-year, accredited institution in a short amount of time. Everywhere we went to ask about Dr. Wiley, the same characteristic kept coming up, he is a strong leader.”
In 2002, Dr. Wiley was awarded the prestigious John L. Blackburn Award for Exemplary Administrative Leadership from the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) for his role during RSU’s transition from a two-year to a four-year institution. The award is the most prestigious award given by the AAUA – the nation’s largest and most respected organization of university administrators. It is the single highest honor given to a university administrator in the nation.
“Our board of trustees has done an excellent job in the selection of our new president,” said Dr. Milton Sewell, president of Freed-Hardeman University. “I am very pleased with the selection of Dr. Wiley and look forward to our work together.” Dr. Sewell, who announced he was stepping down last February, will serve as Chancellor when Dr. Wiley takes office.
Previously, Dr. Wiley served as Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SEOSU) in Durant, Okla. He served in that capacity from 1995 to 1998. Before that, he was Vice President for Academic Affairs at SEOSU from 1990 to 1995. He served as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1988 to 1990, and he was a Professor and Chairman of the Department of Computer Science at SEOSU from 1981 to 1988.
Prior to his PhD work, he received a Master of Science degree (M.S.) from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1974 and a Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 1972.
He traveled to China on three occasions in 1985, 1986 and 1987 to serve as a technical consultant to the State Commission on Science and Technology. During this time he was a four-time recipient of the Kellogg Foundation Leadership Training Grant by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.
He is a member of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education Council of Presidents where he currently serves as Secretary of the Council and Chair of the Subcommittee on Innovation and Technology.
His civic activities include serving on the Claremore Regional Hospital Board of Trustees and the Claremore Ethics Board. He has made several state, national, and international presentations on student assessment and teacher education. He is a member of the Mathematical Association of America and the Association of Computing Machinery. A native Oklahoman, he lives in Claremore, with his wife, Glenda.
In addition to his work in academia, Dr. Wiley has been a deacon and an elder in the church of Christ.
The Board of Trustees will introduce Dr. Wiley to the community and many of FHU alumni and friends at the upcoming Freed-Hardeman University 72nd Annual Bible Lectureships on February 3-8. More details will be provided as they become available. The actual start date for Dr. Wiley is currently unknown but will take place before June 1.
Return to FHU News Home
Return to Press Releases
SEVERE WEATHERE HITS WEST TENN. AREA
In a storm that the front page of the Jackson Sun simply headlined as “Nightmare”, the student housing on the campus of Union University along with many businesses and homes in North Jackson were completely destroyed.
The primary cell storm that was predicted to hit Henderson on Tuesday night dissipated as it neared Highway 100 with winds up to 100 mph, leaving Freed-Hardeman’s campus with nothing more than heavy thunderstorms and a brief tornado warning. Students were told to go to the basement of the building they were in until the warnings passed.
FHU recently invested in a campus security program that notifies students of severe weather or any other security threats that could affect campus. Notifications are sent to their cell phones via text messages.
“Everything worked together very well, and everyone responded quickly and appropriately to our plans for such a situation,” said Dr. Milton Sewell regarding the weather alerts.
“We have also offered to be of any assistance we can to our friends at Union University,” Sewell said. “We have made our facilities available to them in whatever capacity they need as they begin to put their campus back together.”
The damage on Union’s campus was extensive, causing the university to cancel classes at least through Feb. 18.
You can read more about the devastation to Union University as well as other areas of Jackson at http://www.jacksonsun.com.
Return to FHU News Home
Return to Press Releases
MINORITIES FIND A HOME AT FHU
The spring 2008 semester marks a historical moment in the graduate programs at Freed-Hardeman University. For the first time the largest group of graduate students, when categorized by race, is African-American.
Of Freed-Hardeman’s 527 graduate students, 259 are African-American. Of the remaining graduate students, 254 are Caucasian with one Asian, four non-resident aliens, two marking “other” and seven marking “no response.”
In the early 1990’s, the Graduate School of Education received a minority grant, allowing it to recruit and introduce several minority students to the program. Since then, the program has grown in record numbers.
“Our best recruiting tool has been by word-of-mouth advertising,” said Dr. John Sweeney, Dean of the School of Education. “Our students tell us that they love the personalized manner that they receive from the faculty and staff here.”
Another drawing factor comes from the high recommendations from Memphis City Schools, Shelby County and other local school districts, said Sweeney. “We are told by the districts that they appreciate the obvious preparedness of our teachers, administration and counselors.”
"Freed Hardeman University is committed to improving education and those that teach in both public and private schools,” said Dr. Milton Sewell, the university’s president. “A teacher that is a product of Freed-Hardeman is better prepared to meet the needs of today’s students. A better teacher means better preparation and better students.”
Return to FHU News Home
Return to Press Releases
FHU HOSTS 12TH ANNUAL EDUCATIONAL JOB FAIR
Freed-Hardeman University will host its 12th Annual Education Job Fair on Wednesday, Feb. 20th in the FHU Sports Center. The fair, which begins at 9:30 a.m., will include 32 school systems from seven states from both public and private schools seeking teachers for the upcoming school year.
The job fair is extensively promoted to current Freed-Hardeman student teachers and graduate students, along with other juniors and seniors in the School of Education, but the invitation to the event is also extended to the public. While many schools are looking only to make contacts and plan to set up interviews later, several of the schools will begin interviews at the job fair on Wednesday.
“It’s a good thing for the district and the students,” said Rhonda Jones, the Licensure Officer for the School of Education. “It gives them a good view of what’s out there. A lot of students think they know exactly what they want, but after they see and talk to other school systems, they change their minds. It takes seeing it to know what’s out there.”
“It’s a great recruiting event,” said Monda Alexander, the Director of the Career Resource Center, which hosts the event with the School of Education. “It’s real students that are getting real jobs, but it’s also a great opportunity for undergraduates to explore the possibility of an education career.”
Freed-Hardeman’s School of Education has prepared a resume book that will hold each student teacher’s resume and will be given to every school system in attendance.
By graduation, approximately 90 percent of Freed-Hardeman education graduates have teaching jobs, according to Jones.
“Everybody that comes out of our program who wants to teach has a job,” she said. “And this yearly job fair always helps place those students where they would fit best.”
With over 70 student teachers this semester, FHU is looking forward to the success of the job fair. For more information on the job fair, contact Monda Alexander at 731.989.6950 or visit http://www.fhu.edu/edfair.
Return to FHU News Home
Return to Press Releases
FHU HOSTS CONSERVATION NATION FOR LOCAL MIDDLE SCHOOLS
Freed-Hardeman University hosted its fourth-annual Conservation Nation event in Bader Gym on Friday, February 20th. One hundred seventh and eighth grade students from the West Tennessee area were in attendance, including groups from Jackson Christian School, Tigrett Middle School, Rose Hill Middle School and Bethel Springs Middle School.
Conservation Nation is an event put on by the Research Center at Freed-Hardeman and the Chickasaw-Shiloh RC&D Council designed to teach students the importance of alternative energy and preserving the environment.
The students each bring either a science poster or an art project made form recycled goods, and each of their projects was judged for prize money awarded later in the afternoon. The event, which is sponsored by Southwest Tennessee Electric and the Tennessee Valley Association, kicked off at 9:30 a.m.
While the judges were evaluating the students’ art projects, the students went around to different stations set up throughout the gym where they learned about different types of energy that coincided with this year’s theme: “Living Energy: Biofuel and Beyond.” At one station, students pedaled on a bicycle to power a light bulb so they could see the difference in the amount of energy required to run different types of bulbs. They also learned how to make biofuel and test different types of water for the amount of pollution in it.
While the students ate lunch, which was provided by Conservation Nation, Denny Broadway, who owns Biofuel of Tennessee in Scotts Hill made a presentation regarding biofuel.
“I really think the kids had a good time,” said LeAnn Self-Davis, the coordinator of Conservation Nation and an environmental chemistry professor at Freed-Hardeman. “FHU sees the importance of encouraging younger students in how to conserve our nation, and we feel this was one way to really help accomplish that.”
Return to FHU News Home
Return to Press Releases
FHU APPROVED TO OFFER BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING
Freed-Hardeman University gained approval from the Tennessee Board of Nursing on Thursday afternoon to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, effective by the fall 2009 semester.
“With the success we’ve had in our current program, our plans have moved FHU toward offering a four-year degree,” said Linda Gibson, director of the university’s Department of Nursing, on Thursday. “We petitioned the board this afternoon and were able to get approved to begin an advanced nursing program on schedule.”
Freed-Hardeman initially made a petition to the Tennessee Board of Nursing in February of 2006, when it was approved to begin an associate’s degree by the fall of 2006. With 38 students currently enrolled in the nursing program, its success led the university to continue pursuit of its goals of offering a BSN.
“It is a huge step for recruiting and retention of nursing students,” said Dr. Milton Sewell, the president of Freed-Hardeman. “It gives the university an opportunity to offer a new career path and gives even more options to the students who will be able to serve as trained nurses throughout the world.”
With the RN to BSN degree, all current FHU students that enrolled in the program since the fall of 2007 will have a seamless transition into a four-year degree, said Gibson.
The nursing program is one of four new programs added through the $80-million Beyond Believe campaign, which is also raising funds for an $8-million extension and renovation to FHU’s Associates Science Center.
Return to FHU News Home
Return to Press Releases
FHU’S PRESIDENT WILEY IN OFFICE
The president’s office at Freed-Hardeman University looks a little different than it did just a few weeks ago. The bookshelves are empty and gifts of good luck abound. A few personal items are scattered across the desk.
“Things are crazy right now,” said Freed-Hardeman’s new president Dr. Joe Wiley. “I knew they would be, and they are, but I’ve been trying to just orient myself with the campus and educate myself on the matters on campus.”
Freed-Hardeman announced Wiley as its new president on January 14, but Wiley’s first day on the job was not until Monday, April 14.
“There has been so much time between when I was hired and when I actually started the job,” Wiley said, “that there are things that hit today that have been waiting for the past two and a half months to be handled.”
Among Wiley’s first orders of business on campus involve him familiarizing himself with the university’s budget and its fiscal plan as he continues to learn more about the university.
“Right now, I’m just trying to listen and learn, basically,” he said.
Wiley has been in public education his entire career, from teaching as a mathematics professor in his early career to his 10-year tenure as president of Rogers State University in Claremore, Okla. He believes he can bring several aspects of his knowledge of public education and introduce some of its benefits into the privately-funded Freed-Hardeman.
Among his goals for Freed-Hardeman, Wiley wants to continue FHU’s reputation of having a solid, Christian atmosphere, but he also wants to put a strong emphasis on improving the university’s academic excellence. He wants to make sure Freed-Hardeman earns a reputation of being a premier Christian university of choice in the United States for it academics as well as its spirituality.
“Freed-Hardeman has always been knows for its rigor in its Bible program and the spirituality you can feel on this campus, but we want to make sure that we also increase the academic rigor to let people know that when they hire a graduate of Freed-Hardeman, it will be someone that is spiritually grounded, that the love of Christ is seen in them and that they have excellent academic and intellectual ability.”
Wiley believes many of the academic programs on Freed-Hardeman’s campus are already high-quality programs, but wants to focus more on “getting the message out of what a premier university this is.”
Former president Dr. Milton Sewell has moved to the university’s chancellor. The search for a new president began when Sewell announced he was stepping down in February of 2006.
“The board of trustees has done an excellent job in the selection of our new president,” said Sewell. “I am very pleased with the selection of Dr. Wiley and look forward to our work together.”
As far as his short-term goals are concerned, Wiley wants to focus on branding for the university as well as making sure that the university’s budget is as efficient as it can possibly be in order to keep tuition as low as it can be for students.
Wiley and his wife, Glenda, have moved into a home in Henderson as they work to settle in their new home, new environment and new job as president and first lady of FHU.