FLORENCE — The Francis Marion University Board of Trustees voted Friday to move ahead with the construction of a new athletic complex.
The board unanimously approved an $8.5 million bond issue to build the new complex on the west side of the campus during its quarterly meeting.
Extras:
View drawings of how the new athletic complex will look.
The new facility will be situated on 100 acres and will consist of baseball, softball and soccer fields as well as track and field components.
“This facility will provide us a superb venue for hosting intercollegiate and intramural events,” FMU President Dr. Fred Carter said. “It’s an essential addition for moving our athletic programs forward.”
Construction will be completed in increments and funded through private donation, bonds and student activity fees.
The baseball stadium will be named for Henry Booker and Nellie Cooke Sparrow of Lake City, longtime supporters of the university. It will seat about 2,500 people with expansion potential for another 2,500 seats.
In other business, S.C. Commission on Higher Education Executive Director Garrison Walters and S.C. Commission on Higher Education Chairman Ken Wingate spoke to the board about the importance of higher education in South Carolina and presented an action plan framework.
“Leveraging Higher Education for a Stronger South Carolina: The Action Plan Framework” outlines four goals for higher education and provides strategies and recommendations for achieving those goals. The goals are to make South Carolina one of the most educated states; increase research and innovation; increase workforce training and educational services; and realize South Carolina’s potential resources and effectiveness.
“Of 16 states in the Southeast, 13 have made higher education a top priority,” Wingate said. “We are falling behind in the knowledge economy. We’ve improved, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
Carter voiced support for the plan and said smaller colleges such as Francis Marion provide an important service to South Carolinians who don’t necessarily have the money or the grades to get into bigger colleges with increasingly stronger requirements and higher tuition.
“If we’re going to achieve these numbers (in the plan), it’s recognizing that our institution can provide a great education to young men and women with a 900 to 1000 SAT score,” Carter said.
Enrollment at FMU is up this year, according to members of the academic affairs committee. This year, there are 794 freshmen, a 17 percent increase from last year’s class and the largest increase in FMU history. The mean SAT score is 963.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement