With a little under a year as University President, Dr. Jeffrey Senese has huge plans underway to transform not only University Campus but the wider Saint Leo Community. Senese has taken several opportunities to share his vision with the Community, which has included but were not limited to:The Oct. 31, Senate Meeting with student senators and the Nov. 20 Town Hall meeting with community members; including all available members of faculty and staff.
Dr. Senese has had several opportunities to meet with faculty and staff. He has also presented faculty and staff awards, The awards were recognition for their service anniversaries, and recognition for demonstrating the university’s core values. Credit: University News
The vision moving forward has materialized in the form of the strategic plan Renaissance 2021, a comprehensive and action-oriented plan involving multiple tiers all geared towards the growth of the Saint Leo Community. In an exclusive interview with The Lions’ Pride Media Group Senese reflected on his year and plans, saying of Renaissance 2021: “We now have a very ambitious strategic plan that is focused on building a stronger community culture, academic program improvements and the addition of programs, and growth of locations, online and the University Campus. We are making significant progress towards a more vibrant and exciting future for Saint Leo University.”
The plans for the Wellness Center continue to evolve as time progresses, making allowances for features that will better serve the Saint Leo Community. Credit: University News
One of Senese’s ambitious plans is for a Wellness Center on West Campus. When asked about the progress on the wellness center Senese said, “We hired an architect to begin the design work, they’ve been on campus several times in the last few weeks.”
He added that the newly appointed Student Activities Director Jen Shaw, Student Government Union President Derick McIntosh, along with several other persons are a part of the committee that will meet and begin to source out what should be contained in the building.
“The plans have changed since the first concept,” said Senese, citing that there is a possibility of the Wellness Center being moved closer to the lake, in contrast to its top of the hill near Benedictine location. Additionally, Senese expressed that the center will not be for use by athletics and will include an Urgent Care facility that can be used by faculty and students through the participation of a private care company.
The focus and goal of the Wellness Center will look toward galvanizing a stronger community spirit. The original ground breaking was scheduled for this semester, but will probably be pushed back to the fall, so everyone can attend.
“We look forward to the future groundbreaking for the Wellness Center and would like the university community to help us celebrate that event when it occurs.
Veterans Day and other community recognized holidays provided an opportunity for Dr. Senese to meet and dialogue with students, faculty and staff. Credit: John Hall
Spring has brought many changes around the Saint Leo community that have been geared towards a concerted shift towards being eco-friendly. The visit of Brian Richter, a prominent water scientist was an event that speaks to the veracity of the effort. Richter made several presentations around University Campus, including to the Environmental Chemistry class offered this semester, and culminated with a public address on Feb. 5.
Senese believes our core values should guide how we manage recycling efforts. Senese was asked about these efforts and responded saying, “One of our Core Values is Responsible Stewardship. As such, it is incumbent on us to consider how we can be manage the resources we use. Water conservation is a key focus and we have a strong system for managing our use of water. We also work with a local re-cycling entity to transfer old equipment to them for repurposing.”
Dr. Senese said of the Wellness Center “We look forward to the future groundbreaking for the Wellness Center and would like the university community to help us celebrate that event when it occurs.” Credit: Nicholas Fox
Supplementary to this, Senese added that there were several other initiatives that are underway or have successfully been implemented in an effort to remain eco-friendly.
Senese said these initiatives include but are not limited to:
•“Facilities goal has been to reduce the amount of energy and water consumption throughout Campus. When we started this process back in 2007 we had 715,000 square feet of building space and our energy cost for the year were $772,821.03.
•We currently have 1.26 million square feet of building space. We are proud to report we have almost doubled in size…. but have been able to reduce power consumption. As of 2018 our power Year to date costs to TECO is $733,515 with 3.5 months left, we forecast to be around $991,515.20 for fiscal 2018-2019 fiscal year.
•All hazardous materials are collected like batteries, light bulbs, paints, ballast, recyclable metals, and transformers and are properly disposed.
•We are in the process of restarting our Campus recycling program. We have just hired four part-time employees, and we are in the process of hiring four more federal work study student workers to help collect sort paper plastic and cardboard recyclable materials.”
Additionally, the years have seen several smaller scale changes that have made a significant change and include according to Senese,:
•“Metering water consumptions on Campus and reporting monthly to the state.
•Currently all buildings are metered. We are able to see and monitor usage, trends etc.
•Evaluating LED retrofitting (library, res-halls and colonel pedestrian lighting, parking garage, classrooms, parking lots) opportunities throughout campus to reduce energy.
•We have installed several “Variable Primary Flow” pumps to our chiller plant and cooling towers to reduce energy.
•We installed a preheated Solar Powered system at Bowmen.
•We purchase yearly replacement equipment like refrigerators, HVAC system with high energy ratings.”
As the University continues its eco-friendly campaign, and renovations are ever present, questions have arisen as to how the science building (Lewis Hall) will factor into the upgrades.
“We continue to evaluate and renovate the space in Lewis Hall, said Senese. “Last summer we renovated Selby Auditorium which was a great improvement. We look at renovation projects on the campus every year as part of the budgeting process. Lewis Hall in the long-term will need to be replaced by a more contemporary building as we develop and as we bring on health sciences programs like nursing.”
In addition to his many tasks, Senese is trying to stay grounded, connecting with as many students on and off campus. Having visited many locations outside of University Campus, Senese plans on visiting all and repeating the visits.
“I do attend as many student related events as possible including informal gatherings such as stopping by the fundraising tables outside SAB and planned events such as student organization events, CAB events, athletic matches and games and musical and arts events.”
This interaction is not limited to students and expands as far as the states capital, Tallahassee.
Senese mentioned,
“I routinely interact with faculty and staff in a wide variety of ways and also represent Saint Leo at community events to help bring greater awareness of Saint Leo and our outstanding students- especially with companies that might be future employers of our students,” said Senese.
“[This included] during Spring Break attending ICUF Legislative days in Tallahassee visiting with legislators who represent University Campus and our Florida locations.”
Social media has also felt the presence of the University president who said, “I routinely use Twitter and LinkedIn to help Saint Leo get to know me in a way they might not otherwise, like my love of fun socks each week or as I like to call it “Fun Socks Fridays.”
The future of the Saint Leo Community appears promising as the first year under the direction of Dr. Senese concludes. Continue following the Lions’ Pride as we continue to explore potential changes and additions to the Community.
