The Chappell Great Lives lecture on Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 28, in the University of Mary Washington’s Dodd Auditorium has been postponed due to the speaker’s illness. The lecture has been rescheduled for April 7, 2016, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
O’Dell, Student to Present Research to General Assembly
On Monday, Jan. 25, Deborah O’Dell, associate professor of biology, and Virginia Lyle King will attend the Undergraduate Research Showcase in Richmond. Ms. King will be presenting her research, done in Deborah O’Dell’s laboratory, on the “Effects of Cell Phone Radiation in Glioblastoma Cells” to the Virginia General Assembly. The event is coordinated by the Education Committee of the Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) and is designed to increase awareness of research in the STEM disciplines being done by undergraduate students at Virginia colleges and universities. Ms. King, along with select other students and representatives from VAS, will briefly address the General Assembly on the impact of research in their education, after which she will present her current findings in a poster session. Ms. King is one of 30 students from around the commonwealth who were selected to participate in this showcase.
Graduate Enrollment on the Rise
UMW just enrolled its largest spring graduate class since 2011 and the fourth largest spring class of graduate students in more than a decade.
In late November, after unanimous approval from the Board of Visitors, graduate admissions began promoting the MBA GRE/GMAT waiver for working professionals with 5+ years of professional work experience. Localized marketing/recruiting efforts, press releases and word of mouth created a spike in MBA interest in new MBA applicants. MBA prospective students for spring semester increased year over year by 55 percent.
There has also been an early uptick in MBA applicants for fall term. New MBA enrollments were up 29 percent for the first eight weeks of spring, and we have additional applications secured for another wave of MBA enrollments for the second eight weeks.
The Virginia Educator Scholarship assisted in a successful spring launch of the Literacy Specialist cohort. Graduate education applications for spring term increased by 38 percent year over year, and new graduate education enrollments for spring term increased by 71 percent compared to spring 2015.
Finally, the MSGA program has experienced an increase in applications year-over-year. Compared to spring 2015, MSGA applicants are up 70 percent, and new enrollments into MSGA core and prerequisite courses are up 100 percent compared to the prior year.
Come learn more about graduate recruitment initiatives scheduled for fall 2017. Christy Pack, director of graduate admissions, will host a brown-bag lunch on the Stafford campus, Thursday, Feb. 18, at noon.
New Webinar, Jan. 27: “Civility on Campus: Balancing Civility and Free Speech”
A Webinar titled “Civility on Campus: Balancing Civility and Free Speech” will be presented on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2-3:30 p.m., in Combs 139. The Webinar will provide:
- An expansion of the concept of civility to know how to critically think about coded language and relate it to your unique campus needs.
- An understanding of the nuance of behavior versus engagement with controversial or tenuous topics — walk away knowing how to be effective facilitating conversation on your campus.
- Strategies for evaluating your organization’s values and how you communicate your position on engaging differences of opinion — reframe your students’ understanding of what free speech really means.
- Specific skill sets for promoting a community that allows dissonance in the spirit of development and growth — give your students the skills they need for productive on-campus behavior and for their lives after college.
For more information, visit www.paper-clip.com/Main/product-catalog/2788.aspx
Daughter of Civil Rights Activists to Speak at UMW, Jan. 20
Donzaleigh Abernathy, daughter of civil rights activists who helped launch the American civil rights movement, will give the keynote address as the University of Mary Washington celebrates the life of Martin Luther King Jr. on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
Del Toro Elected VP, White House Fellows Foundation
Carlos Del Toro, a member of the UMW Board of Visitors, has been elected vice president of the White House Fellows Foundation and Association. He will coordinate numerous activities, primarily leading the coordination of the White House Fellows Annual Leadership Conference.
Del Toro served as a White House Fellow from 1998-1999. He was assigned as special assistant to the Honorable Jack Lew and Sylvia Matthews, who were the director and deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and today serve as Secretary of the Treasury and Health and Human Services, respectively. As a Fellow, Carlos coordinated closely with staffs in the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and Congress, and participated in the development of numerous community, media and congressional roll-out events.
Today, after a 27-year Navy career, Carlos Del Toro is president and CEO of SBG Technology Solutions, one of the fastest-growing IT service providers in the United States.
UMW Basketball, Dec. 16 & 18
This week, UMW Men’s Basketball will face a nationally ranked opponent during its arena dedication game on Wednesday, Dec. 16, and face the College of William and Mary’s Division I team at the Kaplan Arena on Friday, Dec. 18.
On Wednesday, the team will host Virginia Wesleyan College, ranked 15th, during Community Night at 7 p.m. in the Anderson Center’s Ron Rosner Arena, with free admission for all fans. A special ceremony to dedicate the Ron Rosner Arena will take place at halftime. UMW Admissions will be in the main lobby during the game with a prospective student raffle for winter survival gear and application fee waivers to UMW for seniors who have not yet applied.
On Friday, the team will travel to Williamsburg to play the College of William and Mary at 7 p.m. in the Kaplan Arena. Tickets are available at the door for $5. If you plan to attend, wear your UMW blue and gray and sit in the UMW fan section.
Go Eagles!
Balloon Break
How do you stay sane during college finals? Do you A) go for a run at the Battleground, B) binge on Blackstone coffee, or C) play in a ballroom of balloons?
This finals week, our students passed the test and chose answer “C” – a ballroom of balloons.
Balloon Break
UMW students break from finals with ballroom of balloons
Farnsworth published in “The Fix” blog, Washington Post
An opinion column by Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, was published in “The Fix” blog of The Washington Post. The column focused on the results of a new Virginia public opinion survey from the center. The column was titled, “How a Jim Webb independent presidential bid could actually matter (hint: Virginia).” In addition, Dr. Farnsworth recently spoke before UMW’s Washington Area Alumni Association on the 2016 Presidential Campaign and the 2015 Virginia legislative elections.