The next Women’s Leadership Colloquium Coffee Talk event will be held on Tuesday, April 11, from 8 to 9 a.m., in person in the Jepson Alumni and Executive Center’s Kalnen Inn Living Room at 1119 Hanover St. Parking is available on Hanover Street. Please register for the event.

April’s Coffee Talk will be led by Dr. Keyanna Hawkins, discussing the topic of Speaking Power Over Your Life.

Our words are powerful. Are you harming yourself by talking yourself down? Negative self-talk, as well as our words when communicating with others can have a huge impact on our success. This session will focus on avoiding the pitfall of limiting ourselves by the words we speak. Turn negative speech habits into positive ones.

There is success through the power of our words!

Dr. Hawkins is Interim Director of Equity Advancement at Germanna Community College. Hailing from Hampton Roads and now based in Glen Allen, VA, Dr. Hawkins has strong ties to the vibrant cultures of Creole and Cajun Louisiana. As a first-generation student, she has dedicated most of her career to the Federal TRiO Student Support Services Program, making a significant impact at two-year and four-year institutions over the past ten years. Dr. Hawkins holds an undergraduate degree in Human Services from Old Dominion University, as well as a graduate degree in the same field from Liberty University. She went on to complete her Ed.D at Northcentral University, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to pursuing excellence in education and making a meaningful difference in the lives of students, faculty and staff.

Campus Colleagues,

We’ve learned of the passing of Professor Emeritus of History Roger J. Bourdon, a longtime member of our history faculty. Dr. Bourdon, or “Dr. B.” as he was known to many, taught at Mary Washington for more than 30 years and was beloved for mentoring and his sense of humor, inspiring many students in their life journeys.

As Professor of History and Chair of the Department of History and American Studies Claudine Ferrell recalls, “He knew all of his students, he was always accessing new material with the help of his devoted student ‘readers,’ and he was always trying something that challenged students to think…. Roger did not let his impaired vision limit his teaching or the joy that he took from teaching and from studying the American past.”

His dedication to teaching and the format of his classes influenced many others, and Dr. Ferrell notes that he could see patterns and repeated problems, pointing them out with a mix of seriousness and humor. He was honest, kind, and caring and always put people first, and he enjoyed being known as a “curmudgeon.”

Roger’s obituary shares more of his story. At age 12, he lost most of his vision from a mishap in brain tumor surgery and became legally blind. He was educated at UCLA, received a Ph.D. in history, specializing in colonial and revolutionary history. After he retired in 2000, he remained a lifelong learner. He advocated for low-vision groups and organizations for the blind. Roger was active in elder studies, and he traveled extensively with his wife and grandkids. He lived with his wife at the University Retirement Community in Davis, California for his last decade. He died peacefully at age 85 on February 25, 2023, surrounded by family after a year of deteriorating health. A memorial service will be held at the University Retirement Community, 1515 Shasta Dr., Davis, CA 95616 on March 29, 2023, and more information is available in his obituary online.

Arab Culture Night will be held on March 16, from 6 to 9 p.m., in the Chandler Ballroom at the Cedric Rucker University Center. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Admission is $2 for UMW students and $4 for all others. Children 3 and under are admitted at no charge. The event is sponsored by the Arab Culture Club and the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures.

Arab Culture Night features Arab cuisine by Aladdin’s Restaurant, a fashion show, a live camel, Henna, performances and music by DJ Kimo. For information, email aalghabr@mail.umw.edu.

Traditional corn beef and cabbage, and green desserts, will be served for St. Patrick’s Day at the Top of the Cedric Rucker University Center, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The lucky lunch comes with no extra charge.

Dear Colleagues, The University Committee on Sabbaticals, Fellowships, and Faculty Awards is very pleased to solicit nominations for our annual faculty awards.

(1) Grellet C. Simpson Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching
(2) Graduate Faculty Award
(3) Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Award
(4) J. Christopher “Topher” Bill Service Award
(5) Waple Faculty Professional Achievement Award
(6) Board Of Visitors Faculty Leadership Award

We hope you will take the time to prepare and submit a nomination. The Committee received strong slates of nominees last year and we are hopeful of again receiving as many nominations as possible.

Last year’s awardees were:

• Maya Mathur, Professor of English (Grellet C. Simpson Award)
• Varun Makhija, Assistant Professor of Physics (Outstanding Young Faculty Award)
• Marcel Rotter, Assoicate Professor of German (J. Christopher “Topher” Bill Service Award)
• Chris Foss, Professor of English (Waple Faculty Professional Achievement Award)
• Kelli Slunt, Professor of Chemistry (Board of Visitors Faculty Leadership Award)

A list of past recipients of these awards can be found here. Please note that the Mary W. Pinschmidt Award is determined by the Senior Class and our committee will not accept nominations for the Pinschmidt award.

Award Descriptions

The Grellet C. Simpson Award is awarded to a faculty member for outstanding undergraduate teaching. All full-time continuing faculty are eligible for this award.
The Graduate Faculty Award is awarded to a faculty member teaching at the graduate level who has distinguished themselves as members of a graduate program at the University. All full-time continuing faculty are eligible to be nominated for this award.
The Outstanding Young Faculty Award is presented to a full-time faculty member who has between two and five years of full-time teaching service at UMW. Someone who is in their fifth year is eligible; someone who has already completed five years of service is not. Please make sure the individual you are nominating in this category is eligible. See the list of persons eligible for the young faculty award below.
The Topher Bill Award recognizes outstanding faculty service. Nominees must have served a minimum of seven years as a member of the Mary Washington teaching faculty and must have been significantly and consistently involved in a variety of service roles through department, college, university, and/or community service activities.
The Waple Faculty Professional Achievement Award is based on the significance/impact of the faculty nominee’s scholarly, creative, and/or professional achievement(s). All full-time, continuing faculty with at least seven years employment at UMW are eligible. Achievement(s) must have been undertaken during the nominee’s years at UMW.
The UMW Board of Visitors Faculty Leadership Award recognizes and supports faculty who exhibit exemplary leadership in advancing the mission and priorities of the institution. Any full-time faculty member of any rank who has demonstrated excellence through teaching, research, and scholarship is eligible.

Please see the Provost’s announcement for more information.

Nomination Process

Nominations are welcome from any member of the University community, and letters may be written by single or multiple individuals. Nominations from students are always welcome, so please consider relaying this message to students within your major through an appropriate channel. Nominations must include the following materials:

A. a letter to the Provost’s office, indicating the specific reasons for the nomination.
B. a copy of the candidate’s Curriculum vitae. If the nominator does not have access to the nominee’s C.V., the Provost’s office will provide the most recent version on file.

In addition, supplemental materials supporting the nomination, such as additional letters of support, samples of teaching materials, or other professional artifacts, may be included. All nomination materials (nomination letter and any supplemental documents), excluding the candidate’s CV, must not exceed 10 pages and must be submitted electronically as a PDF file.

Send all nominations to Amy O’Reilly (aoreilly@umw.edu). The deadlines for the receipt of nominations are:

• Monday, March 13, 2023 for the Board of Visitors Faculty Leadership Award
• Monday, March 27, 2023 for all other awards

If you nominated someone during the past three years for one of these awards and they were not recognized, you may reactivate the prior nomination by sending an email to Amy O’Reilly (aoreilly@umw.edu) stating that you wish for the person to be considered again for the same award. All of the nomination materials previously submitted for that nominee, along with the most recent C.V. on file, will be used as the basis for considering this individual again, provided these materials do not exceed 10 pages (excluding the candidate’s CV) or have been revised to meet this requirement.

Selection Process

The University Committee on Sabbaticals, Fellowships, and Faculty Awards (SFFA) will review all nominations and select the awardees. Members of this committee are:

Josephine Antwi, Department of Biology (Secretary)
Wei Chen, College of Business
Ben LaBreche, Department of English and Linguistics
Marco Millones Mayer, Department of Geography
Kyle Schultz, College of Education (Chair)

Thank you very much for your attention to this important matter. Please let us know if you have any questions. Once again, the deadlines for nominations is Monday, March 13, 2023 for the Board of Visitors Faculty Leadership Award and Monday March 27, 2023 for all other awards. All nominations must be submitted electronically to Amy O’Reilly (aoreilly@umw.edu). We look forward to receiving your nominations on behalf of your outstanding colleagues!

Sincerely,

Josephine, Wei, Ben, Marco, and Kyle

List of faculty members eligible for the 2022-2023 Alumni Association Young Faculty Award
Swati Agrawal BIOL
Ray Levy ENLI
Justin Anderson AHPE
Varun Makhija CHPH
Josephine Antwi BIOL
Melissa Martinez PSCI
Ruth Arriazza NURS
Ginny Morriss BIOL
Bridget Brew SOAN
Erin Palmwood PSYC
Mary Jane Bowles NURS
Veena Ravishankar CPSC
Prashant Chandrasekar CPSC
Michael Reno CLPR
Emily Crosby CMDS
Alexis Rutt COE
Bridgette Dennett THEA
Christopher Ryder MUSC
Samira Fallah COB
Kelly Swiney AHPE
Tyler Frankel EESC
Madeline Taghon AHPE
Brittany Garvin-Hudson COE
Jamie Tierney AHPE
Scott Gerseny AHPE
Desmond Villalba CHPH
Adria Goldman CMDS
Robert Wells MUSC
Kevin Good COE
Marc Williams THEA
Alexander Hinsey AHPE
Dan Wolfe COB
Melissa Jenkins COE
Xin-Wen Wu CPSC
Marcus Leppanen PSYC
Kelly Yoon COB

Greetings Campus Community,

Facilities Services would like to make the community aware that the UMW Work Request Management System-SchoolDude/Brightly will need to undergo an enhancement process. Deploying this enhancement requires the Brightly/SchoolDude team to take our system offline during the scheduled maintenance period; this will affect both the My SchoolBuilding (no work requests will be able to be submitted during this time) and the Maintenance Direct module (work within this module will not be able to be performed). Users will receive an error message when attempting to utilize any of the system modules. The upgrade is scheduled for Friday, March 17, at 10 p.m. EST, to Saturday, March 18, at 10 p.m. EST.

Routine/Non-urgent work requests should be submitted on Friday, March 17, during regular business hours, or beginning Monday, March 20, at 8 a.m. for proper processing and response.

EMERGENCIES REQUIRING IMMEDIATE ATTENTION: Any disaster, unusual occurrence, utility malfunction or equipment failure which presents an imminent danger to life, health or property is an emergency. This includes any water/sewage leak or flooding and should be reported immediately to University Police at 540-654-1025.

We recommend marking your calendars, planning ahead and sharing this news with your teams, fellow students, etc. to prevent disruptions to your work, or to services needed.

Thank you for your understanding and patience. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Nolan Akau at 540 654-2023 or nakau@umw.edu, or Robin Jones at 540 654-2094 or rjones@umw.edu.

President Paino invites you to join him for a Conversations with the President session on March 23, offering an informal opportunity to share insights and engage in candid discussions that are aligned with our community values and in support of making University of Mary Washington the best it can be. Occasionally, the sessions may focus on a particular issue facing us or may include other leaders who represent areas critical to institutional progress.  The Thursday, March 23, event will take place in the Digital Auditorium of the Hurley Convergence Center from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

UMW will hold its sixth annual Mary Wash Giving Day on Tuesday, April 4. The 24-hour fundraising celebration allows the entire Mary Washington community to come together to support a wide variety of areas across campus. This year’s event has a theme of #TogetherUMW to remind us of how much we can accomplish when we work as a group in support of areas, from academic programs to athletics and the arts … and everything in between. Learn more on the Mary Wash Giving Day website.