March 29, 2024

Smoke House Wednesday Lunches

Eagle Dining is offering a new “Smoke House” menu every Wednesday for lunch in the Faculty and Staff Dining Room at Seacobeck. We’ll be offering delicious dishes like Pulled Barbecued Pork, Beef Brisket, Collard Greens and Mac & Cheese….all slow-smoked to perfection by our chefs. Smoke House Wednesdays will begin on October 17. Lunch is served 11:30 AM – 1:30 PM. Please join us!

SharePoint Upgrade and EagleNet Revitalization

Information Technologies is planning several changes to IT systems aimed at improving the user experience and providing for more secure access to university data and collaboration resources. These changes will result in the replacement of EagleNet. EagleNet, built on the SharePoint 2007 platform, currently hosts the portal, Department sites, MySites, and the UMW Reporting Center. Moving forward, these functions will be moved into two separate platforms.

SharePoint 2010 will house Department Sites and the UMW Reporting Center. MySites will be eliminated for all users and SharePoint 2010 will only be accessible to faculty and staff. The primary goal of this project is to improve the security and functionality of SharePoint and the Reporting Center.

Information Technologies and Web Communications are working collaboratively to create a new site which will be accessible to all faculty, staff, and students. This site will include aggregation of important links to relevant UMW content / access to systems, as currently provided by Eaglenet. The proposed replacement would entail leveraging the UMW.edu platform to host this content for students, faculty and staff. The “mashup” site would aggregate custom channels and links, offer a pass-through to UMW systems, and allow for helpful items (like a link to the password-reset utility).

We will be communicating additional details about these projects later in the fall semester.  Additional information will be posted at: http://technology.umw.edu/pmo/projects-and-initiatives/sharepoint2010/. If you have any questions in the interim, please contact Sean O’Brien, IT Project Manager, at sobrien@umw.edu or 654-1027.

CVC Campaign Extended Through January 31

There are still several ways to give.

A list of approved CVC charities may be found at http://www.cvc.vipnet.org/donors/directorylist.htm or in a paper directory for 2011 Charities.

Methods of giving include:

  • Give online through EmployeeDirect (CREDIT CARD ONLY) through midnight, January 31.  To give now, Click on https://edirect.virginia.gov/EDL/Start.aspx
  • Give by check, cash, credit card, or payroll deduction using a paper pledge card.  Your CVC agency coordinator has a supply of cards or print your own form by going to http://www.cvc.vipnet.org/volunteers/materials.htm and selecting Pledge Card.  Complete and give to your CVC coordinator (mail to GW 307) or mail it directly to CVC/DHRM, 101 N. 14th Street, 12th Floor, Richmond  VA  23219.  The CVC team will ensure that it is processed quickly and your agency is credited with your gift.  If you missed your agency’s payroll cutoff for the first pay period of 2012, your total annual gift will be divided among the remaining pay periods.  Be sure to make a copy for your files and a copy for payroll if you are giving by payroll deductions.

For questions about the CVC Campaign visit http://umwcvc.umwblogs.org/.

TINSTAAFL- There’s no such thing as a free lunch. We beg to differ…

Be sure to sign-up for EagleOne payroll deductions. In appreciation for signing up, you will receive a punch-card good for one free meal per month in the Seacobeck dining hall. The minimum is only $10 per pay period.       You may withdraw from the plan at any time. EagleOne payroll deduction forms may be found at: http://www.umw.edu/payroll/forms/documents/EagleOnePayrollDeductionForm.pdf

Chamber Music in the Garden

How does a summer evening of beautiful music in a garden setting sound? If it sounds good, mark your calendars for Saturday, June 25, at 6 p.m., when acclaimed violin duo Marcolivia will be performing in the Memorial Garden at the James Monroe Museum. They will play music from Monroe’s era, such as a suite in E minor by French composer Jacques Aubert and arias from Mozart’s Magic Flute, and American popular pieces of the 19th and 20th centuries in honor of our presidents.

Marcolivia has been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today” and performs regularly at the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. They also tour and perform at music festivals throughout the U.S. and in Japan, Italy, Spain and England.

There will be a repeat of the concert on Sunday, June 26, at 3 p.m. UMW faculty and staff receive the reduced-price admission of $8. Contact auphaus@umw.edu (or x1123) with any questions!

Join us for Afternoon Tea in honor of Elizabeth Monroe!

The James Monroe Museum will be hosting an elegant full afternoon tea in our Memorial Garden on Sunday, June 5, from 2 to 4 p.m., in honor of Elizabeth Monroe, who was born in June. We’ll enjoy lovely harp music from Mary Triola; hear a few words about Mrs. Monroe from Heidi Stello, research associate at the Papers of James Monroe; and enjoy delicious munchies and tea served by costumed members of the Rappahannock Colonial Heritage Society. Catering will be generously donated by Sodexo, Inc.

Our space is limited and reservations are required. UMW faculty and staff can purchase tickets for the reduced price of $10/person. For questions or to make reservations, call JMM Membership and Special Events Coordinator Adele Uphaus-Conner at x1123, or send e-mail to auphaus@umw.edu.

The elegant Mrs. Monroe

Faculty Academy 2011 Speaker Lineup

Michael Wesch

Michael Wesch, 2011 Faculty Academy Keynote Speaker

The Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies is delighted to announce the speaker lineup for this year’s Faculty Academy. Michael Wesch, assistant professor of anthropology at Kansas State University, will be delivering the conference keynote address, “From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able: New Learning Environments for New Media Environments, on May 11 at 9:00 a.m.

In addition Amanda French, THATCamp Coordinator for the Center for History and New Media, and Tom Woodward, Director of Instructional Technology for Henrico County Public Schools, will be this year’s guest presenters. Each of them will be delivering a plenary presentation and leading a workshop during the two-day conference.

Faculty Academy is an annual event that has been held at UMW for the last 15 years. This year’s conference will be on May 11 and 12 at the Stafford Campus in the North Building. All faculty and staff at the University are invited to attend — registration is free but required!

Details about the conference, information about the speakers, and an online registration and proposal form are available at http://www.facultyacademy.org!

Statewide Conference at UMW

With the help of UMW faculty, graduate students and alumni, the 2010 statewide conference of the Virginia Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages was a success. This year’s TESOL conference, held at UMW’s Stafford campus Oct. 2, drew about 200 practicing teachers from across Virginia.

Mary Gendernalik-Cooper, College of Education dean, (left) gave the welcome address, and Jo Tyler, professor of linguistics and education, served as one of the conference coordinators. Master of Education students, alumni and faculty, including Jane Huffman, associate professor of education; Patricia Reynolds, instructor of education; and John St.Clair, director of distance and blended learning, provided on-site assistance.

The conference theme was “Rekindling Our Joy of Language Teaching.” More than two dozen presenters led workshops and served on discussion panels. As the keynote speaker, bestselling author Richard Lederer addressed the topic “A Joy Ride Through the English Language.”

IT Projects and Initiatives

To remain informed about current Information Technologies division projects and initiatives, please refer to http://www.umw.edu/doit/projects/default.php.  This information will be updated regularly.  Recent postings include updates about the Novell system retirement and exactly what is being replaced.  Other updates included FAQs about UMW’s deployment of SharePoint as well as the upcoming upgrade to Banner.

Governor’s Town Hall meeting rescheduled to Dodd

The Town Hall meeting is Tuesday, August 24, 7-8 p.m.

Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell will hold one of eight town hall meetings this summer in UMW’s Dodd Auditorium in George Washington Hall. The “Virginia Speaks: A Conversation about Jobs, Government Reform and Our Future” event will allow the UMW community to speak directly with the Governor about the issues facing the Commonwealth, including higher education.