N.C. colleges may elect trustees, lose funding
Five colleges affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina would be able to elect their own trustees under a plan adopted by the convention's board of directors, but the schools will lose the convention's direct financial support. The plan, which has the support of the schools and would be phased in over a four-year period, is intended to avoid a showdown over how much control the Baptist convention should have over the colleges—Campbell University, Chowan University, Gardner-Webb University, Mars Hill College and Wingate University. The recommendation came from the state convention's council on Christian higher education. The board voted overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal, with just two or three negative votes apparent. To become policy, messengers to the Baptist State Convention must approve it two consecutive years.
N.C. state paper set to elect editor
Norman Jameson has been recommended as the new editor of the Biblical Recorder, the North Carolina Baptist state newspaper. The paper's board of directors was expected to vote June 7. Jameson, executive leader for public relations for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, would succeed Tony Cartledge, 55, who has announced plans to become a professor at Campbell University Divinity School in Buies Creek, N.C. Cartledge will remain editor through July 31. Jameson, 54, graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He worked for the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph, was feature editor of Baptist Press, associate editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger and communications director for Baptist Children's Home in North Carolina before joining the North Carolina state convention staff.
Kentucky paper names news director
Drew Nichter, an associate director and news producer for a television station in Louisville, Ky., has been named news director of the Western Recorder, the Kentucky Baptist newspaper. Nichter, 30, succeeds David Winfrey, who resigned after 10 years to accept a position as a marketing strategist for Mercer Human Resources Consulting. He is a graduate of Indiana University Southeast, where he was assistant editor of the university's campus newspaper.
Asian Federation changes name
At the recent Asian Baptist Federation Congress in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the group voted to change its name to the Asia Pacific Baptist Federation. Officials said the new name more accurately reflects the composition of the regional body, which includes countries in the South Pacific such as Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. The federation consists of 60 conventions and unions in 20 countries with about 30,000 churches that claim more than 5 million members.
Princeton Review recognizes Mercer
The Princeton Review has named Mercer University one of the nation's best value undergraduate institutions. Mercer is featured in the 2008 edition of America's Best Value Colleges. The guide profiles 165 colleges chosen for their excellent academics, generous financial aid packages and/or relatively low costs of attendance. Mercer was one of only 75 private institutions to be named a “Best Value.” The Princeton Review selected the schools for the book based on data it obtained from administrators at more than 650 colleges during the 2005-06 academic year and surveys of students attending the schools.