Sociology major puts a fresh spin on service
Skating to Success
Buster-Williams Publishes in Recruitment & Retention
Kimberley Buster-Williams, associate provost for enrollment management, recently had her article “Managing Big Data” accepted for publication in Recruitment & Retention In Higher Education. The paper will be published in April.
UMW Leads National Two Dollar Challenge
Nearly half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. And this April, students at colleges and universities across the nation will too.
For the ninth consecutive year, the University of Mary Washington will lead the national Two Dollar Challengeto raise awareness of global poverty April 6-10.
The 5-day awareness program challenges college and high school students across the United States to live on just two dollars a day. Participants buy food, hygiene products and other necessities out of two dollars a day while following other rules designed to simulate obstacles faced by people living in poverty.
Founded at UMW in 2006, the Two Dollar Challenge is now a national educational movement in partnership with Oxfam America and Results. The challenge is run by eight UMW students and Professor of Economics Shawn Humphrey – all on $50 and volunteer support.
At UMW, students will spend the week living and sleeping in make-shift shelters built from cardboard boxes and tarps as part of an experiential learning experience.
“I do the challenge to pull myself out of my comfort zone,” said senior James Hutcheson, who will be participating this year for the fourth time. “It challenges the way I view the world and it’s given me an incredible amount of empathy and tolerance for humankind.”
This year, even UMW President Richard Hurley is getting involved.
“It’s an opportunity to get a glimpse of how many people throughout the world live from day to day,” said Hurley. “I’m not the least bit surprised that UMW is leading this campaign. We attract students and faculty who are socially conscious and act on their beliefs.”
During the week, students also raise funds for La Ceiba, a microfinance institution founded by UMW students to provide economic, social and educational support to the El Progreso community in Honduras. Through its partnership with Oxfam America and Results, the challenge also will raise awareness and support for lifesaving, effective foreign aid.
For the first time this year, students across the nation will be able to participate in the Two Dollar Challenge with the use of two apps: Two Dollar Challenge and Reacht.
Developed by UMW students, the Two Dollar Challenge app will allow participants to track expenses and income, experience environmental and economic ‘shocks’ that impact their daily earnings, and record daily reflections.
“The app will unify and streamline the two dollar challenge experience,” said junior Sepher Sobhani, lead developer for the app. “A single shock can affect participants from all parts of the country, creating a greater sense of community.”
The organization also has created a “Two Dollar Challenge” group in Reacht, an app created by a Fredericksburg-based technology startup that engages users by pushing out questions.
To sign up for the National Two Dollar Challenge, visit http://twodollarchallenge.org/. For more information, contact Director of Media and Public Relations Marty Morrison at mmorris3@umw.edu.
UMW to Host Pianist Michael Feinstein, March 14
Legendary crooner and pianist Michael Feinstein will perform for the University of Mary Washington Philharmonic’s annual Celebrity Concert Series on Saturday, March 14 in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium. Tickets are still on sale.
A multiplatinum-selling, two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer, Feinstein is one of the premier interpreters of American standards. Performing more than 200 shows a year, his most notable concerts have included Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House and Buckingham Palace.
The Celebrity Series was established in 2002 as a vehicle for attracting major artists to UMW to perform with the orchestra. Past artists in the series have included Marvin Hamlisch, Kenny Rogers, Sir James Galway, and Itzhak Perlman.
The Philharmonic will celebrate Frank Sinatra’s 100th birthday with Feinstein by performing a Sinatra show.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit philharmonic.umw.edu or call 540-654-1324.
UMW Launches Robust First-Year Program
The University of Mary Washington will launch a comprehensive new program for the freshman class beginning in fall 2015.
The program will feature residential clustering for first-year seminars, comprehensive advising and the university’s second-ever common book. Incoming students will be able to choose a required first-year seminar and housing assignments once deposits are paid.
Residential clustering will allow students to live with their peers in their first-year seminars, creating a community that combines living and learning to enhance their academic experience. UMW will offer more than 60 first-year seminars on topics ranging from game theory to Jane Austen.
“First-year seminars are proven to engage students” said Tim O’Donnell, associate provost for academic engagement and student success. “Our studies show that students who participate in a first-year seminar have higher GPA’s at the end of their first year and are more likely to return for a second year at Mary Washington.”
More than the proven results, the new program enhances the overall student experience during the first year.
“It brings together the best of both worlds at Mary Washington,” said Douglas Searcy, vice president for student affairs. “Combining the out-of-class experience and the in-class experience is proven to increase student learning and will simply help first-year students have a better, seamless learning experience.”
The comprehensive advising program will provides a support network that consists of the student’s first year seminar faculty, a professional advisor and a peer mentor. In addition, each student will receive a copy of Rebecca Skloot’s New York Times Bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks with a reading and writing assignment to prepare for August orientation programming and discussions. The following semester, Skloot will visit the university as a guest speaker for the 2016 Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series.
For the full list of first-year seminars, visit http://academics.umw.edu/fsem/.
Peace Corps Ranks UMW as Top-Producing Small College
For the 11th year, the Peace Corps has ranked the University of Mary Washington among the nation’s top-producing colleges for alumni now serving as Peace Corps volunteers.
UMW ranks 20th on the Peace Corps’ list of small schools or institutions with less than 5,000 undergraduates, making it the seventh-highest volunteer-producing institution in Virginia this year and the sixth-highest all-time producer in the Commonwealth. According to the Peace Corp, UMW currently has nine alumni serving around the world.
UMW has been included in the top 10 of the Peace Corps’ list of top-producing small schools since 2005. In all, more than 230 UMW alumni have served the 27-month commitment around the world since the Peace Corps’ inception in 1961.
Leah Kieff graduated from the University of Mary Washington in 2011 with a degree in political science and currently works as a community economic development volunteer. She credits UMW with helping to prepare her for service in Moldova, where she works with a non-governmental organization that provides medical and social services to the elderly.
“I wanted a job where I knew I was making a difference and where my work was helping to make the world a better place,” said Kieff, 26, a native of Fairfax, Va. “One of the many things I love about Peace Corps is that no two days are the same. There’s always a new adventure or funny moment to be had.”
The Peace Corps ranks its top volunteer-producing colleges and universities annually according to the size of the student body. For the full list of top-producing colleges and universities, visit peacecorps.gov.
UMW Theatre Continues 2014-15 Season with “The Drunken City”
The University of Mary Washington’s Department of Theatre & Dance will continue its 2014-15 season with The Drunken City, a comedy by Adam Bock.
Performances will take place Feb. 12-14 and 19-21 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 15, 21 and 22 at 2 p.m. in Klein Theatre, located in duPont Hall on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus.
In The Drunken City, bride-to-be Marnie and her two bridesmaids, Linda and Melissa, take to the city that never sleeps for one last night of bachelorette fun. When they meet Frank and Eddie during their bar crawl, the bridal party becomes the only thing between the bride-to-be and a huge mistake. While exploring “Sex and the City” themes, the play proves that happiness and heartache are two sides of the same coin.
Canadian playwright Adam Bock is the resident playwright at Encore Theatre and a Shotgun Players Artistic Associate. The Drunken City was originally commissioned by the Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, New York and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play in 2008.
The Drunken City is directed by Gregg Stull, professor and chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance and Department of Music. Scenic design is by Associate Professor Julie Hodge and lighting design is by student designer Christopher Stull. Costume design is by Associate Professor Kevin McCluskey and sound design is by guest designer Jon K. Reynolds.
On Friday, Feb. 13, the department will host a “Ladies Night Out” event at 5:30 p.m. which includes cocktails at the Hyatt Place Fredericksburg-Mary Washington and admission to the performance. In addition, the matinee performance on Sunday, Feb. 15 will be followed by Afterwords, a post-show talk with the cast.
Tickets are $12 for standard admission and $10 for students, senior citizens and military. For further information on the events or to purchase tickets, call the Klein Theatre Box Office at (540) 654-1111 or visit http://www.umw.tix.com.
A Win for Wesley
Senior Tyler Carey gives UMW Athletics a touching mission.
Princeton Review Rates UMW Among Nation’s Best Values
The University of Mary Washington has been ranked among the nation’s best value colleges by Princeton Review.
UMW is listed in The Princeton Review’s Colleges That Pay You Back: The 200 Best Value Colleges and What It Takes to Get In – 2015 Edition, which went on sale Tuesday, Feb. 3. The university has been recognized as a Best Southeastern College and one of Princeton Review’s Best 379 Colleges. The Princeton Review is a New York City-based education services company that annually publishes guidebooks ranking colleges, business and law schools.
Colleges That Pay You Back is an expansion of Princeton Review’s former Best Value Colleges and selects schools based on a unique “Return-on-Education” rating that measures 40 weighted data points covering the areas of academics, affordability and career prospects. The rating was based on data collected in 2013-14 from more than 650 college administrator and student surveys and responses conducted by PayScale.com through April 2014 of alumni of the same schools.
“We salute and highly recommend all of our Colleges That Pay You Back schools,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s senior vice president, publisher and lead author of the book. “They stand out for their excellent academics, impressive career preparation services, and affordability to students with need – via comparatively low sticker prices, generous financial aid, or both. Plus their students graduate with great career prospects.”
In addition, UMW has been ranked third in the state and 140th nationally by the Social Mobility Index as a school providing pathways for social and economic mobility. The index ranks schools based on their “policy towards increasing access to higher education” with consideration for tuition and economic background of the student body, graduation rate, early career salary and endowment.
For a full listing of Princeton’s Colleges that Pay Back, visit www.princetonreview.com/colleges-pay-you-back.