Resident Faculty Leader Dallas Branch and his wife Jeaninne in front of their new home in the Evansdale Residential Complex

RFLs Move Into New Houses Resident Faculty Leaders (RFLs) and their families moved into four new townhouses added to the Evansdale Residential Complex this summer. The houses, built as part of Operation Jump-Start, will enable the RFLs to interact with freshman students on a daily basis. The first RFLs to move in were Dallas Branch, a sport management professor, and his wife Jeaninne. Branch said that in addition to keeping regular hours at his RFL office, he and his wife plan to invite students in for Monday night football games, dinners, and other social and academic activities throughout the semester. WVU's Operation Jump-Start was initiated three years ago to ease the transition from high school to college and to personalize the freshman experience.

Libraries Dean Leaves Dr. Ruth M. Jackson, dean of WVU Libraries for the past ten years, has stepped down from the position. Jackson will serve as special assistant to the provost for library outreach programs until December 31. During her years as dean, the WVU Libraries completed a strategic plan and self-study, retained designation as a federal regional depository, and implemented a major automation program. Jackson has been instrumental in planning for WVU's new library facility and related renovations. Myra Lowe was named interim dean. Lowe has been head of WVU's Charles C. Wise, Jr., Library Reference Department since 1989. Lowe was a senior reference librarian from 1978 to 1989 and an assistant acquisitions librarian from 1972 to 1975. She earned a bachelor's degree from Marshall University in 1969 and a master's in library science from the University of Michigan in 1972. She received a master's in business administration from WVU in 1983.

Howe is Interim Women's Studies Director Barbara J. Howe, chair of the History Department, has been named interim director of the WVU Center for Women's Studies. She is filling a vacancy created when Helen Bannan left to accept a similar post in Wisconsin. WVU students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends are invited to attend a November 1 retirement celebration honoring the founding director of Women's Studies, longtime English Department faculty member Judith Stitzel. Call the Center for Women's Studies at (304) 293-2339 for more information.

Coal Hall of Fame at WVU WVU is the site of a gallery honoring those who have made significant contributions to the state's coal mining industry. The West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame, which inducted its first ten members this spring, is housed in the Mineral Resources Building. The Hall of Fame includes plaques bearing names of inductees and photographs of each member. The Hall of Fame Class of '98 includes B.R. "Bobby" Brown, C.E. "Jim" Compton, Lawson W. Hamilton, Jr., James H. "Buck" Harless, Tracy W. Hylton, Sr., E. Morgan Massey, Allan S. Pack, Robert H. Quenon, James C. Justice, Sr. (deceased), and Raymond E. Salvati (deceased).

Professor Leads Museum Association Gay Bindocci, director of the WVU College of Engineering and Mineral Resources Museum has been elected president of the West Virginia Association of Museums, which offers assistance to professionals at 210 museums around the state. Bindocci, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, is a founding member of the association and has served in a variety of capacities since its inception in 1990.

Steelers Play at Mountaineer Field A crowd of 62,000 packed Mountaineer Field on August 22 to watch the Pittsburgh Steelers square off against the Atlanta Falcons in an NFL pre-season exhibition game. The Steelers won 28-22.   Colleges Realign Departments In the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, the Departments of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering (IMSE) and Safety and Environmental Management (SEM) have combined. The new department is called Industrial and Management Systems Engineering. The College of Business and Economics has realigned its departments into three divisions: Accounting; Economics and Finance; and Management, Industrial Relations, and Marketing.   Dean Fisher Praised by Legal Profession The jury is in on the WVU College of Law's new dean, John Fisher, and the verdict is in his favor. More than 600 judges and lawyers, many calling Fisher's appointment "long overdue," attended a reception in his behalf at Charleston's new federal courthouse this summer. Statewide bar associations, judges of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, and the WVU College of Law Visiting Committee served as hosts of the reception. Some say it was the state's largest gathering of legal professionals. Charles Hayden, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, was among the guests. "The success of this reception is to John's credit," Hayden said. "He is an outstanding scholar of the law, especially West Virginia law, and well known throughout the state. A lot of us have been waiting a long time for this to come." Tom Tinder, executive director of the West Virginia State Bar Association, is another supporter. "John was one of my professors during my first year at the WVU law school in 1970," Tinder said. "I admired him then and continue to do so today. I consider him an immense benefit, not only to the WVU College of Law, but also to the state." As the state's only law school, WVU graduates more than 75 percent of West Virginia lawyers, Tinder said, making the school an important partner with the state's legal system. Fisher is the state's "foremost authority" on property law and also extremely well versed and respected on most other aspects of state law, Tinder said. "John also knows practically everyone in the West Virginia legal profession, making him an impeccable resource for anyone needing information on just about anything to do with the law," he said. "I speak for a lot of people when I say we are extremely pleased. He is the right person at the right time." Joe Bob Goodwin, also a federal judge for West Virginia's Southern District, called Fisher "a lawyer's lawyer." The success of Fisher's reception, he said, shows a positive trend and a "keen desire" by the state bar to stay better connected with the WVU College of Law, Goodwin said. He commended Ken Gray, WVU's vice president for student affairs, and members of the search committee for selecting Fisher. President of the State Bar Eliot Hicks said "stability" is important to the success of the law school, and he believes Fisher is fully committed. Fisher, a member of the WVU law faculty for nearly 30 years, had previously served as the school's interim dean and held other administrative posts, including executive officer to two former WVU presidents. A native of Moorefield, W.Va., Fisher earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from WVU. The WVU College of Law was founded in 1878 and today has an enrollment of more than 450 students. -Karen Zeller   Former WVU First Lady Dies Florence D. Stewart, the wife of former WVU President Irvin Stewart, died July 27 in Washington, D.C. Mrs. Stewart, 95, was active in community housing organizations in Washington and in New York. A native of New York, she graduated from Barnard College and received a master's degree in psychology from the American University. While living in Washington in the 1930s, she was secretary of the housing committee of the Washington Council of Social Agencies and was executive director of the Washington Housing Authority. In 1937, she moved to New York and became executive director of the Citizens Housing Council. During World War II, she was community relations director for the Federal Public Housing Authority. In that capacity, she helped to arrange housing accommodations for workers displaced because of the war effort. Her husband of 64 years, Irvin Stewart, died in 1990. One of WVU's most popular presidents, Irvin Stewart was also WVU's longest-tenured leader, serving from July 1, 1946 to August 25, 1958. After her 12-year stay at WVU, Mrs. Stewart returned to Washington, where she was a member of the Women's National Democratic Club and was active on its economics committee. "Dr. and Mrs. Stewart were on campus when I was a student," said President David C. Hardesty, Jr. "Like me, thousands of West Virginia students, faculty, and staff mourn her passing. Her grace and charm went a long way toward building the University into what it is today. She will be sorely missed by the entire WVU community. "Our sympathies also are extended to her son Richard, who was a student here in the mid-1950s, served as student body president, and became our 14th Rhodes Scholar." Richard Stewart lives in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Beach Boys at Fall Family Weekend Fall Family Weekend, formerly Fall Parents Weekend, was held in conjunction with the WVU-Tulsa football game on September 26. WVU's fall activities were expanded this year to appeal to all family members of students. The Beach Boys headlined the of performers. Other activities included a pre-game buffet for the students and their families hosted by President David C. Hardesty, Jr., his wife Susan, and Resident Faculty Leaders; a post-game reception sponsored by the Mountaineer Parents Club; a picnic on the Mountainlair plaza; and tours of WVU colleges and schools.   WVU on Kiplinger's Best Values WVU continues to make the grade when it comes to providing quality education at a reasonable price. Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine has included WVU in its rankings of the nation's top 100 college values. The University is 96th in the rankings published in the September issue of Kiplinger's. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill tops the , followed by the University of Virginia and the College of William and Mary. Other universities included in the rankings are Rutgers, Penn State, Maryland, and Ohio State. "I think the word is really starting to get out about the student-centered programs we offer and our quality teaching and research," said President David C. Hardesty, Jr. "Being in the Kiplinger's top 100 is recognition not only for WVU but also for the state." Kiplinger's arrived at its rankings by focusing on 600 public four-year colleges and universities "where students can graduate with a high-caliber education but without a mortgage-size debt," according to the article explaining the rankings. That was narrowed to 200 schools that are most in demand by academically strong students and can, therefore, be more selective in their recruitment. The magazine whittled that down to 100 after looking at the schools' graduation rates, the percentage of freshmen who return, SAT scores, admission rates, and computer and library resources. The 100 schools were then ranked based on those same quality measures and five financial factors: total cost, cost as a percentage of a state's per capita income, the percentage of a student's financial need met by the school through all forms of financial aid, the percentage of that aid that is self-help, and the average amount of money a student must borrow to graduate. Kiplinger's is the second national publication to recognize WVU for its value this year. The other was the second (1999) edition of America's 100 Best College Buys. -Jim Davis   WVU Improves in U.S. News Ranking U.S. News and World Report's annual college rankings place WVU at the same level as last year, with improvement in three areas. WVU is ranked in the third tier of 228 "national universities" that emphasize faculty research and graduate programs while offering a full range of undergraduate majors. According to the magazine, WVU has shown significant improvement in reputation, graduation rates, and standardized test scores. The 's third tier includes about 50 schools. According to Kathy Bissonnette, WVU's director of institutional analysis and planning, "Top tier universities include exclusive, private schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, and it's difficult for a state institution to compete in this group." Land-grant universities such as WVU, she said, which have public service and outreach responsibilities, have difficulty reaching the second tier because the magazine's ranking model takes into account allocation of financial resources, which hampers land-grant schools in the rankings.

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