College students often spend the final weeks of winter break watching movies, playing video games and writing résumés for jobs and internships. Now, a University of Mary Washington offering called the January-term, or “J-term,” allows them to earn college credits for these and other types of activities. Before UMW’s spring semester begins – remotely on […]
College of Education Awarded Accreditation
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) recently announced that the University of Mary Washington was awarded accreditation for its College of Education (COE), one of the first institutions to undergo a virtual site visit through this accrediting body.
In 2010, the same year UMW’s education program became the College of Education, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) designated CAEP as the official accreditation body for all teacher preparation programs at Virginia institutions. For the last decade, the council has given its seal of approval to schools across the country that provide aspiring teachers with the knowledge, skills and clinical training they need to serve their students and teach effectively in the classroom.
“It’s a great opportunity for our faculty and staff to take a critical look at how we prepare our students to become teachers,” said COE Dean Pete Kelly, citing UMW’s partnerships with local school divisions as one of the college’s greatest strengths. “Collectively, we emerged from the process with a richer and more holistic perspective on our work, and our students will benefit from that.”
CAEP, the only recognized national accreditor for educator preparation, awards accreditation to schools that have demonstrated excellence in the areas of content and pedagogy, clinical experiences, selectivity, program impact and capacity for continuous improvement.
“Achieving this accreditation is a major accomplishment and a testament to the outstanding and extraordinary hard work of COE faculty and staff, and the steady leadership of Dean Pete Kelly and Associate Dean Courtney Clayton,” said UMW Provost Nina Mikhalevsky. Read more.
Virtual ‘Great Lives’ Season Showcases UMW Faculty Expertise
Presidents George Washington and James Monroe – and their “revolutionary rift” – are the first of 18 virtual lectures in the 18th season of the William B. Crawley Great Lives lecture series, which begins on Jan. 19.
In a year when many are sticking close to home, the upcoming William B. Crawley Great Lives lecture season, now in its 18th year, will be virtual this spring and returns to its roots by featuring the expertise of University of Mary Washington faculty. Authorities in their respective fields, they will chronicle the lives of Goethe and Gandhi, St. Augustine and Sojourner Truth, Isaac Newton and I.M. Pei, among other intriguing subjects.
Prerecorded lectures, which are free for the public to enjoy from the comfort of home, will be available on the Great Lives website at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays from Jan. 19 to March 18. Each will feature a live Q&A with presenters, hosted by Professor of History Emeritus William B. Crawley, Great Lives founder and director.
Bringing in outside biographers isn’t an option due to the pandemic, but the 2021 season displays the research of “our own outstanding scholars in the Mary Washington community,” said Crawley, who tapped current and retired faculty to deliver lectures. Read more.
UMW Bike Study Rolls Into Fredericksburg
Bike FXBG, a collaboration between UMW’s Social Good Lab and Fredericksburg Main Street, has surveyed local residents and small business owners about installing bike racks, shelters and corrals throughout downtown to make Fredericksburg a more bike accessible city.
Most children learn how to ride a bike around the same time they lose their first tooth. For Olivia Mason-Lucas, the memory is more recent. She first got on two wheels at age 15, when her father taught her to ride so she could visit a friend.
“I still remember feeling nervous because the parking lot was uneven,” said Mason-Lucas, now a senior international affairs major at the University of Mary Washington. “But once I finally got the hang of it, it was really liberating.”
These days, Mason-Lucas borrows friends’ bicycles to get around campus and downtown and knows the challenge of finding a safe place to park a bike. She’s among a group of UMW students working to make the City of Fredericksburg more accessible for area cyclists through Bike FXBG, a collaboration between UMW’s Social Good Lab and Fredericksburg Main Street. This semester, they’ve surveyed local residents and small business owners about plans to install bike racks, shelters and corrals around town. Their efforts will not only make a positive environmental and economic impact on the community, but also give the students consulting skills that will benefit them in their future careers. Read more.
Ranking Highlights UMW’s Commitment to Sustainability
The University of Mary Washington’s commitment to sustainability has earned it a spot on the The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges for 2021.
The University of Mary Washington has earned a spot on a list of the nation’s most environmentally conscious schools. The ranking appears in the 2021 edition of The Princeton Review’s Guide to Green Colleges, which profiled 416 U.S. schools demonstrating a commitment to sustainability, based on student academic offerings and career preparation, as well as campus policies, initiatives and activities.
“We strongly recommend the University of Mary Washington to students who want to study and live at a green college,” said Rob Franek, The Princeton Review’s editor-in-chief.
In the last decade, the publication has seen a tremendous increase in interest in green practices, programs and offerings from prospective students and their parents, Franek noted. Two-thirds of teens and their families said they’d weigh a college’s commitment to the environment in their decision to apply to or attend a school, according to a survey by The Princeton Review of nearly 13,000 participants.
In 2009, UMW created the President’s Council on Sustainability to inform and advise the University’s leadership on how to manage resources to meet the present needs of the campus community while also reducing its environmental impact for future generations of Eagles.
Mary Washington has since undertaken many green initiatives, including participating in the international RecycleMania competition, hosting an annual Earth Day celebration and holding a “Summer Shred” event to dispose of old documents in a sustainable manner. UMW also works with local non-profit groups like Tree Fredericksburg to help replant trees in the city, and was recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a 2017 Tree Campus USA for its commitment to effective urban forest management. And the efforts don’t stop there. Read more.
Marketing Class Partners with Students Across the Globe
UMW students aren’t able to study abroad due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But this fall, an international marketing class is engaging in cross-cultural learning by partnering with students at a university in the Czech Republic to better understand global consumerism.
Studying abroad is as much a part of University of Mary Washington culture as bench-sitting or playing Frisbee on Ball Circle. One-third of each graduating class – about 300 students – spends time learning overseas.
Not this year.
As COVID-19 continues to sweep the globe, international travel – like commencements, reunions and all large gatherings – has been put on hold.
But the pandemic hasn’t halted cross-cultural learning at Mary Washington. This fall, an international marketing class taught by College of Business Associate Professor Kashef Majid has partnered with a university in the Czech Republic to better understand global consumerism and how certain brands and behaviors can transcend cultural differences. Connecting on Zoom, students have discussed everything from fashion fads to technology trends, discovering similarities and differences between young adults living on opposite sides of the world.
“You can study marketing trends in foreign countries all day long,” said senior Ginny Summers, “but in order to succeed in business, you need to be able to have a respectful conversation with someone from a different culture.” Read more.
Day on Democracy Encourages Voting and Civic Engagement
Held on Election Day, the inaugural Day on Democracy, a campus-wide celebration organized by Mary Washington students and alums, encourages civic education and participation and makes voting easier for UMW students.
Asher Utz was a freshman at the University of Mary Washington when he registered to vote. To cast his ballot, he needed to find time during his busy class schedule and figure out which polling place was his.
“My inexperience with the voting process made it all the more challenging,” said Utz, now a senior, who has spent the past two years working with fellow students and Marina Castro-Meirelles ’18 to launch UMW’s inaugural Day on Democracy, making voting easier for Mary Washington students. Cancelling lecture classes on Election Day is just one aspect of this nonpartisan celebration – the first student-initiated event of its kind at a public, four-year institution in the United States – filled with civic education and political participation opportunities.
At the same time, in response to a polarized election season, the University is reminding students to honor others’ opinions and uphold UMW’s community values through ASPIRE Speak, a new initiative that promotes civility and respectful discourse.
“UMW attracts civic-minded students, and research shows that close relationships with faculty, like the ones formed at Mary Washington, often have a positive impact on voting rates,” Castro-Meirelles said. Nearly 87 percent of UMW students were registered to vote in 2016, exceeding the national average, according to a report released by the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement. Read more.
Family Weekend: Connecting With UMW From the Comfort of Home
For the first time ever, UMW’s beloved fall tradition known as Family Weekend is going virtual, with events and activities throughout the weekend of Oct. 29 through Nov. 1.
Every fall, University of Mary Washington students gather with loved ones on campus for exciting events and activities that showcase Eagle life.
Now in its 47th year, Mary Washington’s Family Weekend is going virtual for the first time. Even in the digital realm, this beloved tradition, held Oct. 29 through Nov. 1, promises families ample opportunities for quality time together while apart.
“Virtual Family Weekend allows families the flexibility to decide when they want to engage together,” said Marissa DiMeo, of the Office of University Events and Conferencing. Much of the digital content will be available around the clock, thus “eliminating the stress of missing out on events that occur at the same time.” And there’s no need to worry about the weather. Read more.
Social Justice Summit Spurs Students to Action
UMW students speak at a previous Social Justice and Leadership Summit, presented by the James Farmer Multicultural Center. Covering topics like systemic racism, housing injustice, immigration and climate crisis, this year’s full event was held last weekend, while a smaller event was held during the summer.
When junior Mandy Byrd came to the University of Mary Washington, she got involved with the James Farmer Multicultural Center (JFMC) and the University’s new NAACP chapter. These organizations helped open her eyes to a wide range of social justice issues, she said, and “just how powerful this kind of work can be.”
Her goal is to devote the rest of college – and beyond – to educating people about injustice and encouraging conversations that result in “positive and lasting change.”
She did both last Saturday, when JFMC hosted its Social Justice and Leadership Summit on Zoom. Dozens of Mary Washington students joined high school and community college students from the Fredericksburg area, as well as UMW faculty members and guest speakers, engaging in a virtual dialogue about pressing issues currently impacting our country and planet. Held annually since 2018 – usually in person – the summit gives students, according to the website, “the chance to build coalitions across cultural barriers, strengthen advocacy and promote a more equitable culture and climate at UMW and in American society.” Read more.
Service Project Takes UMW Students ‘Into the Streets’ to Build Community
From right to left: Caroline Mowdy, Paige Beidelman and Lance Whitesel spread mulch with Tree Fredericksburg on Saturday as part of COAR’s Into the Streets. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.
Early Saturday morning, a group of University of Mary Washington students gathered on Ball Circle. Wearing masks and social distancing, they came together on that crisp fall day to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty, completing outdoor service projects for Into the Streets. The autumn tradition is hosted by UMW’s COAR (Community Outreach and Resources), whose mission is to provide structural support for community engagement, volunteerism and service.
“At a time when we are all unable to do many of the things that give us joy, satisfaction and focus,” said Leslie Martin, faculty director of UMW’s Center for Community Engagement (CCE), “volunteering reminds us that we are all still connected and able to work together for the betterment of our shared community.”
The Center, which opened last fall, helps build bridges – and strengthen existing ones – between Mary Washington and organizations in the greater Fredericksburg area. Several of CCE’s community partners are navigating budget cuts and layoffs as a result of the pandemic, Martin said, so “our community needs us now more than ever.” Read more.