A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff
All campus departments are invited to participate in the fall 2015 Club Carnival Fair! The event will be on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from 5-7 p.m. on Ball Circle. Set up for department tables will begin at 3:30 p.m., but all tables must be set by 5 p.m. for the start of the event. If you wish to host a table at Club Carnival, please login to myUMW and register at the following form: https://orgsync.com/49951/forms/152142
Please send any questions to mpetter@umw.edu
Come on out to the ballgame with Mary Washington alumni, family, friends faculty and staff for a fun night of minor league baseball! Join us Tuesday, Aug. 25, at The Diamond, home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, as they take on the Harrisburg Senators, AA affiliate of the Washington Nationals. UMW has a limited number of free general admission tickets to this game, which are available on a first-come, first-served basis (limit of 6 tickets per person) when you complete your registration for this event at http://bit.ly/1ItRuQV. Wear your Mary Washington gear and show your UMW pride! Game time is 7:05 p.m., and tickets will be available for pick up at a Mary Washington table outside the gates until 7:30 p.m.
University of Mary Washington kids got their first taste of 3-D printing and robotics last week when they attended an Engineering-Maker Camp at the Stafford campus.
The College of Education offered the free two-day camp to University employees’ kids where they learned about 3-D design, scanning and printing; basic wiring and circuit-building; built electronic books, paintings and greeting cards and built simple motor-powered robots, among other activities.
“The camp went very well,” said Professor of Education George Meadows, who led the camp. “I think the kids really enjoyed working with the variety of technology we were able to introduce them to.”
The University of Mary Washington and The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences have joined forces to streamline the process for UMW students to pursue medical school. A memorandum of understanding signed by both institutions guarantees UMW Honors program students early acceptance to the GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
“The agreement will let highly qualified students gain acceptance to medical school during the summer following their sophomore year,” said Richard Finkelstein, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “During their final two years at UMW, students will have the freedom and encouragement to study a wider range of subjects in the liberal arts than they might do otherwise. Because they will not be taking the MCATs, these students will have additional time for pursuing research, study abroad opportunities and rigorous liberal arts course work that matches their interests and ambitions.”
The agreement was signed on Tuesday, July 28 by President Richard V. Hurley, Provost Jonathan Levin, and Dean Finkelstein, and goes into effect immediately.
Honors students interested in pursuing this opportunity will work closely with their academic advisors to meet the minimum requirements for application, both curricular and extracurricular.
“I’m delighted to have worked on this agreement because it represents what both of our institutions recognize—that a rigorous liberal arts education provides the best preparation for a professional career,” said Finkelstein.
“We are delighted with this partnership,” said Diane P. McQuail, GWU’s assistant dean of Admissions for medical degree programs. “UMW’s Honors program provides students the ability to hone their academic, intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies defined by the Association of American Medical Schools as critical for success in the career of medicine.
For more information, contact Dean Finkelstein at rfinkels@umw.edu or 540-654-1054, or visit the GWU School of Medicine and Health Sciences Early Selection website.
Surupa Gupta, associate professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington, has been selected as a 2015 Asia Studies Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington, D.C.
Surupa Gupta
The fellowship provides residence of three or six months at the East-West Center in Washington, D.C., to scholars and analysts who wish to undertake policy-relevant research and writing on significant contemporary U.S.-Asia policy topics, including diplomatic, politico-security and economic issues.
“During my fellowship I will research trade relations between the U.S. and India and focus specifically on farm trade and trade-related Intellectual Property Rights as these have been particularly contentious issues,” said Gupta, whose official research topic is entitled Indispensable Partners?: U.S.-India Relations and the Domestic Politics of Farm Trade and Intellectual Property Rights.
Gupta specializes in international political economy, politics of globalization, comparative politics of south Asia and Indian foreign policy. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles and a bachelor of arts and a master’s degree from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. She was awarded a Jepson Fellowship at UMW in 2011.
“I am excited about being in an environment with other scholars with similar interests, having an office in D.C. this fall and that I will have the opportunity to conduct interviews with some of the participants and the stakeholders involved in this policy area,” said Gupta.
For more information, check out the East-West Center website.
Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and director of the University’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies, recently gave a lecture entitled, “Civic Journalism: Nation-Building through Regional News Coverage,” in Washington for the Macedonia Media Leaders Program (MMLP), an international journalism initiative sponsored by the International Research & Exchanges Board.
Join Gary Richards at the University Bookstore for a group discussion of “Go Set a Watchman” by Harper Lee on Aug. 5 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in Lee Hall. RSVP by Friday, July 31 to (540) 654-1631 or books@umw.edu.
In a medium-sized Combs Hall classroom, combine one cool professor, a dozen sharp summer-school students and a dash of inspiration. Blend well.
Have you ever gotten exasperated while waiting to be seated at a restaurant? It’s a universal problem that has frustrated customers and owners around the globe.
Senior Evan Mays is working to help restaurants figure out what causes long wait times. The computer science major spent the spring and summer semesters collecting data at Seacobeck Dining Hall. He used information from customers’ wireless devices to estimate the number of people visiting the restaurant and the amount of time they stayed.
The research project, “Predicting Wait Times with Wi-Fi Network Traffic,” was a win for Mays, who received first place for his presentation at the annual Summer Science Institute Research Symposium on Wednesday, July 22. His mentor was Jennifer Polack, professor of computer science.
As for Seacobeck Hall, Mays has a suggestion on how the dining hall can minimize its wait times: Open a second register during peak hours.
Mays was one of 18 presenters whose research projects ranged from examining soil pollution at a mining site to analyzing the Japanese yen/U.S. dollar exchange rate.
Other winners included:
Second Place Oral Presentation: Samuel Clark, “Optimization of SELEX Parameters for RNA Aptamer Selection, Advisor: Randall Reif, assistant professor of chemistry
First Place Poster Presentation: Kristina Krumpos, “Genetically Engineering a Plasmid Expression Vector for Nuclear Localization Studies,” Advisor: Stephen Gallik, professor of biology
Second Place Poster Presentation: Taylor McConnell, “Analysis of Potential Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Native Plants at an Acid Mine Drainage Site along Contrary Creek, Virginia,” Advisor: Melanie Szulczewski, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences