Lee College - Vindauga Yearbook (Cleveland, TN)

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DR. PAUL CONN PRESIDENT OF LEE COLLEGE I am quite aware of how difficult the job is. My first thought is the fear that maybe I can ' t cut it. But if hard work and prayer will get it done, then by the grace of God I will get the job done. ' ' — Dr. Paul Conn The theme of this yearbook, The Rites of Passage, is best exemplified by President Charles Paul Conn. Now in his first year as President, Dr. Conn has risen from the ranks of the faculty to his present position, and is the first Lee College President to have done so. As a 17-year member of the Lee College family, Dr. Conn has made an immediate impact as President. One way to illustrate the dynamic quality of his first year is to reprint the following article which first appeared in the February 24, 1987 issue of the CLEVELAND DAILY BANNER. Lee College made significant changes in 1986 in areas including leadership, aca- demics and goals. Perhaps the most significant was the appointment of Dr. Paul Conn to serve as the eighteenth president of the college. Rising from the ranks of the faculty to lead his alma mater, this Cleveland native has brought a new kind of spirit of enthu- siasm and vigor to Lee, which is the only fully-accredited, full-gospel four year lib- eral arts college in the eastern United States. Conn was appointed last July after the election of then president Lamar Vest to the Executive Committee of the Church of God at the denomination ' s centennial Assembly held in Atianta. By unanimous vote of the Board of Directors, Conn was elevated from the vice-president ' s posi- tion after serving there throughout Vest ' s presidency. Born and raised for much of his child- hood in Cleveland, Conn is a graduate of Bradley Central High School. He gradua- ted from Lee College in 1967 and returned in 1971 to begin a psychology major in the new Behavioral and Social Sciences department. In 1984, President Vest called on Conn to serve as his Vice-president for Institutional Advancement, a new office which he would direct beginning on Janu- ary 3, 1985. In addition to a new president, there have also been many faculty, administra- tion and staff changes. Eight new faculty members joined the Lee College family last fall. Receiving the most new teachers was the Bible and Christian Ministries department. Lee lost three of its veteran professors in Luther Painter, Elmer and Beatrice Odom as they retired last year from that department. To fill these vacancies, James Bowers, Dr. Wilfredo Estrada and Bill Simmons were recruited to the Lee faculty. Bowers is an Assistant Professor of Christian Education. Estrada, former president of the Pentecostal Bible College in Puerto Rico, is Associate Professor of Bible. Bill Simmons joins the faculty as Assistant Professor of New Testament. Teaching part-time in the department is Dr. Joe Jackson, Assistant Professor and Student Affairs Counselor in the Special Services department. The communication program gained two new teachers in Dan Stone and Dr. Kathaleen Reid-Nash. Stone is a 1981 Lee graduate who joined the faculty as an Instructor in Communication. Dr. Reid- Nash, with a specialized background in mass communications, is an Assistant Pro- fessor of Communication. The Pentecostal Resource Center also added two faculty members. Athena Stone is Instructor and Reference Librarian, while Dr. Clyde Root is an Associate Professor and Special Collections Librarian in the Dixon Research Center. 18 ACADEMICS

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Many administrative changes, additions and promo- tions were made in 1986. Another professor from the Behavioral and Social Sci- ences department was appointed to an administrative position as Dr. Bill Balzano, former chairman of that department, accepted the responsibilities of Dean of Students. Balzano ' s qualifications and background made him an excellent replacement for 15-year veteran Paul Duncan, who accepted an appointment in Sevierville, TN. At the same time, a new position was created to assist the Dean. Larry Pemberton, appointed to serve as the new Associate Dean of Students, was promoted from Director of Housing and Besidential Life. To fill the position left vacant by the appointment of Dr. Paul Conn, Danny Murray was hired in January to become the Director of Institutional Advancement (IA). Murray will direct the office which covers seven vital administrative areas of the college. Named Associate Director of IA last fall was Bill Winters, former director of student aid. He continues with his same duties of directing the financial aid sector of the college. Two more positions were created in IA last fall. Named as the new Becruitment Assistant was Jeff Kallay. His duties include several in the area of new student recruit- ment and retention, tours, telephone marketing and mailings. Promoted to Public Belations Assistant was Cameron Fisher, with primary duties in public relations and newswriting. New Office Coordinator for the IA office is Anita Blevins, filling the position vacated by Myra May Robertson when she accepted the position of Executive Secretary to the President. More new additions came on the administrative staff level as Dr. Henry Smith, former president of East Coast Bible College, was named Director of Academic Advising, replacing Dr. Mary Buth Stone. And filling another newly created position last summer, Mike Justice became the director of Information Systems. Continuing with an endowment scholarship emphasis in 1985, Lee College was able to endow twelve more new scholarships last year. The one-a-month goal was con- tinued and met. Among the new scholar- ships were three memorial funds: the Melisha Gibson, named for the local child abuse victim of the mid-70 ' s and the Robert Humbertson and Boosevelt Miller Memorials endowed by friends and co-workers of the late Lee professors. New academic scholarships were cre- ated and continued. The first Centennial Scholar was named last July as Birming- ham resident Stacey Alldredge was awarded a four-year full-tuition scholarship for placing in the top 1% of the nation ' s ACT scores. The Dean ' s Scholarship was intro- duced as an automatic $1,000 tuition grant to any student who receives a 23, 24 or 25 on the ACT and enrolls at Lee. The Presidential Scholars program continued for the third year with another large rise in the number of students who placed in the top 10% of the nation and accepted the full year tuition grant. Several new courses were added to the curriculums of almost every dis- cipline. Communications, business and Bible are just a few of the programs at Lee College that received approval for new classes. ACADEMICS 19