Changes at the Vice Chancellor level

Chancellor Victor Boschini, Jr. announced today the addition of a new vice chancellor and a new member of his senior cabinet.

Larry Lauer, (above) former Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communication, moves to a new position - Vice Chancellor for Government Affairs. Tracy Syler-Jones, (below) former Associate Vice Chancellor, will begin serving as Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Communication.

The moves simply made official an arrangement that had been in place for months.

Lauer has spent the last two semesters focusing on building TCU's presence in Washington, D.C., among leaders of government and higher education lobbyists. He has successfully collaborated with the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the American Council on Education, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He has also been actively involved in Texas legislative issues in Austin.

Syler-Jones has assumed oversight of the universities marketing and communcation operations, including media relations, publications, special projects, community and church relations and Web site management.

Media pick TCU Football as preseason favorite

The media covering the Mountain West Conference have picked the Frogs as the league's preseason favorite during MWC Media Days this week in Las Vegas.

The Horned Frogs closed last season with a No. 7 ranking by the Associated Press and the USA Today's Coaches Poll. It was the highest season-ending ranking for TCU Football since 1959. TCU's 11-2 season concluded with a 17-16 victory over No. 9 Boise State in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. The 11 wins are the fourth time in six seasons the Frogs have reached that mark and the fifth time in seven years to win double-digit games.

Led by concensus All-American defensive end Jerry Hughes, the nation's leader in sacks, the Frogs return four starters on a unit that ranked first in the country in total defense and run defense. It was second in scoring defense.

On offense, the Frogs welcome back seven starters from a group that set program records in points scored (437) and touchdowns (56).

MWC Pre-season Poll
(First Place votes are in parantheses)
1. TCU (15) - 207
2. BYU (6) - 190
3. Utah (3) - 179
4. Air Force - 130
5. UNLV - 108
6. Colorado State - 107
7. New Mexico - 60
8. San Diego State - 53
9. Wyoming - 46

Statue of Charles Tandy moved to TCU this morning

Charles Tandy arrived early, about 8 a.m., wrapped like a corpse. His trademark stogie still dangled between two fingers. His other hand was shoved confidently in his pocket.

It was moving day.

After the harnesses strapped around his head and groin were removed, the 8-foot bronze likeness of the late Tandy Corporation founder and Fort Worth philanthropist was secured in its new home on the west side of Tandy Hall early this afternoon. It took a forklift ride from the street and a four-hour, labor-intensive process to turn him into position, drill holes for his base and lower him onto his new perch.

Once he got situated, he stood with authority overseeing the lawn between Tandy Hall and the Tucker Technology Center, seemingly right at home. The statue will be officially dedicated in September.

"Great cities need great universities," said O. Homer Erekson, dean of the Neeley School of Business. "Charles Tandy was a giant who helped build this great community, and the Neeley School aspires to the kind of great institution that would honor Mr. Tandy's legacy. We're tremendously honored to have the statue of his likeness here on the TCU campus."

The statue had spent almost three decades of gazing northward across the Trinity River from its longtime vantage point in Paddock Park behind the Tarrant County Courthouse. On July 7, it was removed for restoration and cleaning before arriving on campus.

Artist Jim Reno sculpted the $300,000 statue 28 years ago; it was a gift to Fort Worth from the Burnett-Tandy Foundation, which Anne Burnett Tandy established after her husband’s death in 1978.

Though it has been moved, the statue remains in the Fort Worth Public Art collection and is owned by the city. A $30,000 grant from the Burnett-Tandy Foundation is paying for moving expenses and reinstallation. The foundation chipped in $3,000 more for maintenance and preservation work for its first years at TCU, according to Jenny Conn, collection manager for Fort Worth Public Art.

TCU and the city are still negotiating costs for ongoing maintenance, Conn said, amounting to about $700 every 12 to 16 months. Every seven years, the statue requires a coat of preservative for around $1,500.

The university is providing the design, engineering and fabrication of the new pedestal, as well as lighting and any landscaping or irrigation modifications needed after the installation.

This report contains material from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

See more photos at http://www.magazine.tcu.edu/OnCampus/Article.aspx?ArticleId=51.

New name for Journalism news lab

The Schieffer School of Journalism is now referring to the new multimedia all-purpose room on the second floor of Moudy South as the “Convergence Center.”

Scheduled to open in mid-August, it has been described on architectural drawings in the past as the “Converged News Room” and elsewhere as the Convergence News Center or the Converged News Lab. "None quite fits its expansive mission – a lab for creating news content, a lab for creating Strategic Communication content, a learning center, a newsroom for student media, a broadcast facility for both radio and television and a showcase for the university," said John Lumpkin, director of the Schieffer School.

The contractor is scheduled to turn over the first phase of the construction on July 24, after it passes city inspection.

Power washing Sadler; bricking Scharbauer

Using power washers and brushes, utility crews worked today to clean up the outside of Sadler Hall. Built-up grime was not hard to see, as workers stood atop three cranes on the building's front, back and south sides. The work will be completed by week's end.

Meanwhile, crews have built a wood ramp on the north side of the front steps to make the building accessible to the disabled on side facing University Drive. Additionally, on the Sadler lobby steps, a lift has been installed, although it is not yet operational. The ramp in the back of Sadler which led to the old post office remains.


Other construction workers continued bricking the outside of Scharbauer Hall and adding the concrete seal adornments on the building's facade, which now mirrors the Brown-Lupton University Union. (And no, the magazine simply will not use the union's unfortunately common acronym.) Scharbauer Hall will open in January 2010 as the home to the John V. Roach Honors College.