University begins process of switching to Moodle
Elon University will have fully converted to the use of Moodle as the learning management system by the conclusion of the 2011-2012 academic year.
Currently, about half of the returning faculty members have converted their classes to Moodle while the remainder will switch throughout the year.
Courses for all new faculty members will be available through Moodle, meaning some students will have classes split between the two programs.
Randy Piland, inaugural faculty fellow for technology, said he believes students will have little trouble navigating between Moodle and Blackboard for the year.
Nine training sessions were held on campus over the summer hosted by the Teaching and Learning Center to prepare teachers, which Piland predicts will provide them with a strong advantage over other professors. Wife of President Emeritus died earlier this summer
Verona Daniels-Danieley, wife of President Emeritus Earl Danieley, died June 24 at Moses Cone Hospital following a brief illness.
Along with her husband, Danieley established the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching, the highest honor for professors at Elon. A scholarship was also founded in her name for students with strong character and academic potential. The naming of Lake Verona was in recognition of her contribution to the university. Danieley was 87 years old.
Former members of staff transition to new positions
Ken Mullen, former assistant vice president for business and finance, and Hunter Bacot, former director of the Elon Poll, will not be returning to campus this year, both having accepted new positions at other universities.
Mullen, who began at Elon in 1993, will now work as assistant vice president and comptroller for the business and finance division at the University of the Pacific in California.
Bacot, who began at Elon in 2005, will now work as Director of the Institute of Government at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
The university is searching for replacements for both positions. Mullen's position will ideally be filled this semester.
The Department of Political Science and Public Administration is conducting a national search for Bacot's replacement. The Poll will function under the director of the faculty within the department during the upcoming school year.
New restaurant, The Root Trackside, open for business in downtown Elon
The Root Trackside, in the building formerly occupied by Sidetrack Grill on W. Lebanon Ave., officially opened for business in July.
Alumni Chris Brumbraugh '98 and Lynn Terrell '97, who have lived in Denver for the past decade, are returning to their own roots to open the business.
Both were employed at Sidetrack Grill while students and Brumbraugh worked as general manager during and after his time on campus.
While the pair has a combined restaurant experience of about 25 years in various locations across the country, Brumbraugh said his favorite was working at Sidetrack Grill.
Sidetrack Grill was closed last summer following action taken by Joel Brown, the building's owner, because rent was not being paid. The restaurant was also closed briefly by the North Carolina Department of Revenue in March 2009 due to tax evasion.
Elon introduces energy conservation policy to strengthen existing efforts
Elon University has implemented an energy conservation policy that strengthens existing conservation efforts on campus and supports the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The new policy, approved in January 2011 by executive staff, is an expansion of concepts in Elon's Sustainability Master Plan and provides ways for the community to get involved.
It includes regulations of lighting, heating, cooling, computers, office equipment, appliances and fume hoods in an effort to reduce energy use on campus.