April 14, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Panorama Training, Feb. 17

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Panorama is a tool that will provide accessibility reports for your digital content alongside guidance for accessibility remediation. Faculty have access to Panorama through Canvas.

Staff are invited to join one of the following trainings to learn about Panorama:

  • Tuesday Training (rescheduled from Tuesday, Feb. 10) on Feb. 17 at 10 a.m.   

The link: https://yuja.zoom.us/j/81738597799?pwd=m17XmlwhHwFyphSzAWTs6lgPUwIqsi.1&jst=2

In advance of viewing the training, please log into the Panorama portal. (You will use the SAML Single Sign-On option.)

The training sessions will be recorded and made available. Contact Dr. Ruth Davison with any questions at rdavison@umw.edu.

Black History Month Major Speaker Fred Watkins, Feb. 17

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Black History Month Major Speaker
Fred Watkins
Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
Chandler Ballroom C, Cedric Rucker University Center

Black History Month information with photo of the speaker, Fred Watkins

Fred Watkins has been a professional photographer for over four decades, traveling worldwide and photographing celebrities and heads of state from Nelson Mandela to Muhammad Ali. He is the only African American to be in the White House Press Corps covering United States Presidents from George H. W, Bush to Donald Trump. He began his career in the streets of New York as a paparazzi and worked in the Time-Life photo New York City. He worked his way up doing freelance photography for Time, Life, and People magazines.

In 1988, he began working for Ebony and Jet Magazines (Johnson Publishing Company) as a staff photographer. He was the first photographer to capture President George W. Bush in his private quarters on Air Force One. He traveled with Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to Africa, and with Jesse Jackson all throughout Brazil. His most honored assignment was to document Nelson Mandela’s first tour of the United States after being released from prison in 1990.

From 1984 to 2024, he was Good Morning America’s freelance still photographer. His photographs appear in the Smithsonian’s African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington, DC,, the Gordon Parks Museum, the Muhammad Ali Museum, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Bob Dylan Museum, among others. Last year, he was awarded the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” by the Gordon Parks Museum in Fort Scott, Kansas. Additionally, he was recognized as Guest of Honor by photographers from around the world who came together in Selma, AL for the Photographic Nights of Selma Festival. April 6, 2024 was declared Fred Watkins Day by his home town of Greenwich, CT, and he received The Chairman’s Award from the National Black Farmers Association in October of 2023.

Alumni Programs, Feb. 18 – 28

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UMW Alumni logoCheck out the latest events and programs for for Mary Washington alumni. Unless otherwise noted for a specific event, parents, friends, faculty and staff are welcome.

  • February 18, 7:30 p.m. EST, Mary Talk featuring Dr. Andrea Smith, “The Design of Cemeteries and Gravestones”
  • February 19, 9 a.m. EST, Pre-Career Fair Alumni Networking Breakfast, Panera, CRUC
  • February 22, 5 p.m. EST, Bowling at Lucky Strike, Arlington, VA
  • February 28, 11:30 p.m. EST, Lunch with Dr. Paino, M Waterfront Grill, Naples, FL

And, Devil-Goat 100th Anniversary Alumni Engagement Challenge has kicked off and will be ongoing through May 2026!

Lunar New Year Celebration, Feb. 22

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The Modern Languages Department and the UMW Asian Student Association present Lunar New Year Celebration 2026.

Sunday, Feb. 22 | Free Entry | Doors Open at 2 p.m. | Chandler Ballroom, Cedric Rucker University Center

Please join us for an annual celebration of the new year as we welcome the year of the horse in the lunar calendar. The event will include various performances, our annual fashion show, and a wide array of cuisine.

Please contact the Asian Student Association (umw.asa@gmail.com) or Professor Hope Tang (htang@umw.edu) for more information. 

Graphic of a horse with the dates for a Lunar New Year Celebration; all details are included in this article

Financial Counseling Available, March 11

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A MassMutual Financial Professional will be on campus Wednesday, March 11 in Seacobeck Hall, Room 112 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. To sign up for a 30-minute session that day with a financial professional, send an email to gmarsh@financialguide.com.

For more information about saving for retirement, how to enroll in your employer-sponsored retirement savings plan, or if you have any questions about your plan, contact:
Geoffrey Marsh
Registered Representative
12225 Amos Lane, Suite 304
Fredericksburg, VA 22407
703-394-7152
gmarsh@financialguide.com

Dates and times from the article with picture of man and woman looking at a computer screen

Save-the-Dates for Summer Orientation, June 10 – 29

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ORIENTATION SESSIONS ARE OPEN TO NEWLY ENROLLED STUDENTS

First-Year Sessions:

  • June 10-11
  • June 15-16
  • June 17-18
  • June 23-24
  • June 25-26

Transfer Sessions:

  • June 12
  • June 29

Combined First-Year and Transfer Sessions – August 18

NEST – August 15-19

New Student Welcome – August 19-23

Learm more and find details on the orientation website. If you have any questions, contact Lillian Lester at llester@umw.edu for orientation information.

Digital Accessibility Updates: Web Editor Training, Microsoft Tools & More Resources

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Accessibility-technologyAs you heard during the fall semester and reiterated in the spring assembly, we are well into our year-long, campus-wide initiative to strengthen our digital presence and ensure that our digital spaces are accessible and welcoming for all. This work is prompted by federal guidelines through Title II of the American with Disabilities Act as well as state guidelines in VA HB 2541, which updates the VA Information Technology Access Act. Both have deadlines of April 24, 2026, and require all state and local government entities, including the University of Mary Washington, to ensure their websites, digital documents, social media, and mobile apps meet specific accessibility guidelines for web content.

An introduction to this effort was shared at the start of the fall semester, and we’ve added resources online, focused on course remediation for faculty, and web accessibilities basics. These resources include Panorama and Screenpal, as well as tools in our Microsoft Office Suite. If you need a refresher or a reminder of these tools and tactics, visit the Web Accessibility Work Group Website.

Start with recorded training sessions and web accessibility basics.

The Microsoft Office Suite that we use at UMW already has website checkers specific to the content platforms, typically located in the Review or Message tabs, for example. As you draft and send messages, documents, presentations, etc., pause to check accessibility and correct any errors.

Learn more on our Resources page and watch the training videos from Microsoft for everyday tips.

This month, we’ll offer reminders for web editors. If you currently have access to edit a umw.edu website, you’ll be contacted with scheduling opportunities. If you’ve recently been trained in the new web theme, you’ll have the digital accessibility tools as part of the introduction. In many cases, the best practices are provided as part of the theme. Training sessions begin Jan. 28 through Feb. 19.

Sign up for a web editor training if you have access to edit pages on umw.edu.

The scope of this work includes all of our websites and the systems we use daily such as umw.edu and Canvas and includes documents, digital tools and other electronic content, including social media, and we are working with departments to examine out digital footprint and share best practices.

  • Faculty will continue working with Digital Learning Services on details specific to their courses.
  • Staff will have resources as web editors and social media managers.
  • Directors will receive more information via divisional meetings and can schedule sessions on the topic by email t2access@umw.edu.

The Web Accessibility Team will be providing training in the near future on additional tools which will assist with enhancing accessibility.

We look forward to collaborating with you as we focus on federal & state compliance and enhance the UMW digital experience for all.

On behalf or the Web Accessibility Team,
Ruth Davison, Co-chair
Director of Compliance, Title IX Coordinator, ADA Coordinator

Digital Accessibility Weekly

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See an overview of the accessibility programming coming your way with a quick look at what’s coming in February, March and April, followed by a deeper look at February’s sessions, and an answer to the frequently asked question: “What score should I be aiming for in Panorama?”

If you have questions you want addressed, please feel free to send them to the Title II Accessibility e-mail: t2access@umw.edu. Your input makes these resources more helpful and relevant.

Thanks for everything you do to support accessible learning!

Fall 2025 President’s and Dean’s Lists

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Mary Washington announced its fall 2025 President’s List and Dean’s List. More than 1,200 students achieved these honors during the fall 2025 semester. To be recognized on these lists a student must carry at least 12 graded credits of new coursework. Students who earn a grade-point average of 4.00 on all work taken for graded credit in a semester receive a spot on the President’s List. Students who earn a grade-point average of 3.50 to 3.99 on all work taken for graded credit in a semester are placed on the Dean’s List. Read more about the President’s and Dean’s lists.