November 26, 2024

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Peggy Lepp, Excellent Eagle Employee

by

Congratulations to Peggy Lepp, who has been selected as an Excellent Eagle Employee by the  Staff Advisory Council.   To thank her for such a wonderful job, she will have a reserved parking spot outside of Lee Hall from Monday, June 6th – Friday, July 1st.

Here is what a co-worker said about her:

“Peggy has 19 years of experience with the University – 17 of those years have been with the Admissions Office.  She works primarily with recruitment records and over the years she has developed organizational skills that help her to manage the tremendous volume of inquiries. She has an excellent working relationship with her fellow co-workers; and, she maintains strong working relationships with her fellow co-workers in the Facility Warehouse, Campus Post Office, Campus Document Center and our Stafford Admissions Office.  She is often asked to accommodate their schedules while struggling to accommodate the demands of her Supervisor.  She does this with her usual sense of calm and humor.   Because Peggy is an hourly employee she is not expected to arrive to work until 9 a.m.; therefore, she is forced to park off campus and “trudge” those extra miles to the office every day.   She doesn’t let that “get her down” – arriving to work on time with warm greetings for everyone.  I cannot think of a better (more deserved) candidate than Peggy Lepp.”

To nominate  an Excellent Eagle Employee, send an email to Dre Anthes, assistant dean of Admissions, at aanthes@umw.edu with Excellent Eagle Employee in the subject line.  State the person’s name, department, work location (with the most convenient parking lot), and  the reason why you believe they should be recognized.  Please spread the word to other employees about this wonderful opportunity to recognize a co-worker(s).

SBDC Offers Consulting Sessions

by

UMW’s Small Business Development Center will offer consulting and training sessions in King George County. The 90-minute consultations address finance, accounting, marketing and demographic analysis.

Offered in partnership with the King George Department of Economic Development, the sessions are free to the public. Appointments must be scheduled in advance and are conducted at the King George Office of Economic Development at 10459 Courthouse Drive.

The venture also includes King George County as a partner in the UMW SBDC regional Business Constellation Program, whose mission is to make business services more accessible by offering services at multiple offices throughout the region.

The UMW SBDC provides assistance to the small business community in 17 Virginia counties and cities through management training, research and consulting.

In 2010, the center received full reaccreditation by the Association of Small Business Development Centers, the national accrediting body for SBDCs under contract with the U.S. Small Business Administration. In addition, Brian J. Baker, executive director of the SBDC, was awarded the Virginia Small Business Development Centers State Star Award in recognition of his contributions to the state program and his commitment to small business.

For more information, contact the SBDC office at (540) 286-8060.

German Academy at UMW

by

UMW has been selected as host of the 2011 Governor’s Foreign Language Academy in German by the Virginia Department of Education.

This summer, 45 Virginia high school students who have excelled in language study will reside on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus from June 25-July 17. The program provides students with a three-week foreign language immersion intensive environment.

Marcel Rotter, associate professor of German, said the university’s dedication to foreign language studies makes Mary Washington a fitting site of the program. Rotter, who developed the grant proposal for the German academy, will be the program coordinator.

“UMW has a strong commitment to liberal arts education, including foreign language education,” said Rotter. “We have a language requirement that provides all graduates at least an intermediate knowledge of one foreign language. The recent restructuring of the Office of International Academic Services is additional evidence.”

During the academy, use of the English language is forbidden. Participants agree to strictly speak German for the duration of the program.

Mark Scharf

by

Adjunct instructor Mark Scharf’s play Empires Fall has been produced by the Run of the Mill Theatre, Baltimore, Md. A monologue from his play, The Whispers of Saints will appear in the 2011 Volume 3, Young Women’s Monologues from Contemporary Plays, both published by Meriwether Publishing, Ltd., and his plays Keeping Faith, Lizards Brains and Get Stuffed, published by Original Works Publishing, are now available on Kindle on Amazon.com. Mark will appear on two Playwriting Workshop panels at the University of Baltimore at the UB Student Center for the Performing Arts on June 25th, 2011: The Craft of Playwriting and Marketing Your Plays. Also, The Baltimore City Historical Society has added copies of Mark’s plays Blue Mermaid, The Whispers of Saints, Scorpions, The Mean Reds and Last Night at the Owl Bar to their archives.

Retirement Reception for Ranny Corbin

by

Ranny Corbin, Clerk of the Board of Visitors and Assistant Vice President for Special Initiatives, will  retire after more than 15 years of dedicated service to the University.

Please join us on Thursday, June 2, 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Dodd Foyer, as we say thank you, give our congratulations, and bid a fond farewell.  All faculty and staff are invited to attend this special occasion and to send Ranny off with our best wishes.

Funding Awarded for Convergence Center

by

The Commonwealth has informed UMW that we can move forward on the Convergence Center project effective July 1, 2011.  Fairly soon, the Building Committee will be getting back to work on the project.  Some of the initial planning may need to be reexamined in light of subsequent developments on the campus building front, and we obviously need to review many details related to the construction planning and timing.

The proposed location for the Convergence Center is on campus walk, next to Simpson Library.  The Convergence Center and the library will actually connect on one floor.  Since the beginning of the project, the architects have emphasized that the location on campus walk creates a number of very intriguing possibilities for the use of the new building. But, it is a very challenging site.  We’ll need to think through our options with the architectural firm very carefully in order to minimize construction disruptions at a time when there will be other campus construction projects ongoing.

The current members of the Convergence Center building committee are:

• Rick Pearce, Acting Vice President for Administration and Finance
• Dana German, Vice President for Instructional Technology and Chief Information Officer
• Jerry Slezak, Director, Information Technology Support Services
• Gary Hobson, Capital Outlay Director
• Rosemary Arneson, University Librarian
• Jack Bales, Reference Librarian
• Cedric Rucker, Dean of Student Life
• Nina Mikhalevsky, Professor of Philosophy
• Jeff McClurken, Associate Professor of History
• Hall Cheshire, Executive Director of Enterprise Information Systems
• John Morello, Associate Provost (committee chair)

Below is a general description of the plans. Please keep in mind that some of the project design details may be modified as we move closer to construction and as our current needs are reassessed.

The building proposed is four stories tall and approximately 76,720 square feet in area, incorporating a variety of spaces that will enable students, faculty, and staff to interact with one another on both curricular and extracurricular tasks and projects. While some of these spaces will have fixed uses, others are flexible, capable of being reconfigured from one use to another.

The building will be technology-rich and designed to facilitate the application of current innovative learning technologies and structured to permit smooth transitions to new technologies as they develop.  Self-service workstations and spaces outfitted with computer, video production, and other similar technologies are included in the design, along with more sophisticated spaces geared for higher-end (primarily staff) users. Group collaboration spaces, designed to incorporate digital collaboration software and equipment, are also a part of the proposed building.

Workspaces are designed to promote collaboration and creativity. Conference rooms and seminar-style rooms are designed to support multiple functions including faculty development activities, technical training, workshops, demonstrations, colloquia, guest speaker presentations, and videoconferencing.

The Center is currently planned to serve as the new head-end and data center for the UMW Fredericksburg campus network.  The building and its equipment will be capable of holding massive digital archives and will serve as a central point of access for network-based resources.

The facility will incorporate office and administrative functions, storage, shipping and receiving, and support functions. Other features include a 144-person digital auditorium space for entertainment, classes, lectures, training, and a variety of performances. Also included are multi-function conference rooms, performance and gallery spaces, and corridor niches that can be used for a variety of learning purposes and activities.

—Comments from President Rick and Hurley and Provost Jay Harper

Mary Rigsby and Suzanne Sumner Present at Teaching Professor Conference

by

Mary Rigsby

Mary Rigsby, professor of English, and Suzanne Sumner, professor of mathematics, gave an invited feature presentation at the Teaching Professor Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, held May 20-22, titled “BustingWalls and Overcoming Blahs:  Knotty Problems and Speed Dating.”  The Teaching Professor Conference is a premier international conference on teaching pedagogy at the college level, with 800 participants from 10 countries.

Rigsby and Sumner received this invitation because of their past participation in Teaching Professor conferences, and to share their

Suzanne Sumner

experiences as former directors of UMW’s Teaching Innovation Program.  In addition, Sumner is currently on the advisory board for the Teaching Professor Conference and reviewed  proposals for contributed sessions for the conference.

Hats Off to UMW Runners

by

Congratulations to those who crossed the finish line of the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon on Sunday.  Many UMW faculty, staff and administrators completed the 13.1 mile race, including Mary Gendernalik-Cooper, dean of the College of Education; Donna Mejia, director of Leadership, Giving and Corporate and Foundation Relations; Tamie Pratt-Fartro, assistant professor of education; and Dan Steen, rector for the Board of Visitors. The Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon is an annual event held entirely within Fredericksburg city limits.