The circus is coming to town! Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, the greatest show on earth presents Circus Xtreme. Please see the Human Resources “What’s new” section for details.
SAC News
Your Staff Advisory Council (SAC) has designed a newsletter that will be sent to all UMW staff monthly. We hope to keep you informed and up to date regarding University issues, events and plans. Our first issue should hit your inbox soon!
Spring is upon us, and SAC looks forward to seeing you at a faculty staff mixer. Join your colleagues Thursday, April 7, at Home Team Grill from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. for fun and relaxation!
At our March meeting, Michelle Crow Dolby shared exciting information about Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont and the events there. Belmont’s 5th Annual Beeping Egg Hunt took place Sunday, March 20. The event was for visually impaired children and their families. Families enjoyed an audible egg hunt, miniature petting zoo, Touch a Tractor and activities in the art gallery. Did you know that Belmont offers guided woodland hikes conducted by Virginia Master Naturalists? Check out the Belmont website for more information. Admission is free for UMW employees.
Don’t forget about our Excellent Eagle Employee award. If you would like to nominate someone for the Excellent Eagle Employee award, send an email to eenominations@umw.edu with Excellent Eagle Employee in the Subject Line. Be sure to provide the person’s name, department and work location with the most convenient parking lot, and the reason they should be recognized.
For more SAC info, visit us at http://sac.umwblogs.org
Admissions Hosts Open House, March 25
Admissions Open House March 25
On Friday, March 25, the University of Mary Washington will host its final Admissions Open House this spring semester. About 250 prospective students (typically transfers and high school seniors, juniors and sophomores) and their families will visit campus between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. for this event. Estimated guest count is 800 visitors.
Visitor parking has been reserved in the parking deck off of Route 1 and on Double Drive. Primary event locations are the Anderson Center, Lee Hall, the Hurley Convergence Center, the University Center, and campus/residence hall tours in Mason. Expect to see increased foot traffic on campus (especially between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.) and curious newcomers in the dining facilities. Help them know their presence is a pleasure by anticipating the crowds and responding warmly, especially in the dining hall where crowds will be heavy between noon and 2 p.m.
A special note to University Center diners: please help! Ask visitors if they need assistance locating anything. Help them find a place to sit. Welcome them at your table if there’s room and talk to them about UMW. A kind word or deed shows the heart of our community. Faculty and staff will be involved in an Academic Showcase (9 a.m., Anderson Center), Special Interest and Academic Spotlight sessions (11 a.m. – 2 p.m., various locations), and Facility Tours (2 p.m., various locations). Thank you to all UMW partners who will spend part of their day highlighting our community! An agenda is posted here: March 25th Open House Agenda.
If you’d like to be involved in Open Houses or have ideas, please contact Admissions at 540.654.2000 or email admit@umw.edu.
While the Office of Admissions sponsors these events, the entire campus assumes the role of host. You represent our brand, our mission and our sense of the UMW family. One way to show your support is to tweet to @UMWAdmissions and/or post to Instagram and tag @UMWAdmissions. We would like to see #UMWOpenHouse trending throughout the day.
Thank you for your partnership in showcasing all that is great about UMW!
Office of Admissions
540/654-2000
2016 Global Two Dollar Challenge at UMW
We need to move from: Sympathy to Empathy, Hubris to Humility, and Conviction to Doubt.
The 2016 Global Two Dollar Challenge is a more mindful movement to end global poverty. Finding solutions that work will require radical new ways of thinking about the problem. By asking participants to live on $2 a day, we hope to push them outside their comfort zone to critically engage with and empathetically reevaluate global poverty and their role in its end. We are not heroes. We can only be sidekicks. We will not end global poverty by living on $2 a day. But, we may end our hero complex.
The 2016 Global Two Dollar Challenge will take place from April 4 – 8 at the UMW campus and all across the globe. Participants are asked to live on $2 a day for 5 days and 4 nights.
Learn more or sign up: twodollarchallenge.org
Founders Day Challenge Met
University of Mary Washington alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends came together during this year’s Founders Day Challenge to make $108,334 in gifts and gift commitments to the Fund for Mary Washington.
President Richard V. Hurley set a goal of raising $108,000 in two weeks (March 1 through 14) in honor of the University’s 108th founding anniversary.
“Private support provides essential funding for the programs that define each student’s UMW experience,” President Hurley said. “During the Founders Day Challenge and throughout the year, our donors demonstrate their commitment to the University’s mission through their giving. I am grateful for each and every gift and thrilled to be able to announce that we exceeded the goal.”
The challenge supported the Fund for Mary Washington, the University’s single largest source of unrestricted private support. Gifts to the Fund enable UMW to support students, programs and other needs not covered by the state’s operating budget. The Fund provides critical dollars for unexpected student needs, scholarship support, career services, alumni events, faculty retention programs and more.
The Fund for Mary Washington is just one of seven areas of priority within UMW’s $50 million Mary Washington First Campaign. The campaign, which will close June 30, 2016, has garnered generous support from more than 16,000 donors since it was launched in 2011.
UMW was established as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Fredericksburg on March 14, 1908, with the assistance of Virginia State Sen. C. O’Conor Goolrick. It was the second institution in the state devoted exclusively to the training of teachers for public schools, after the Normal School for Women at Farmville, now Longwood University. More on the University’s founding and the celebration of Founders Day is posted here.
Support our Students Crowdfunding Project
The Office of Annual Giving is extremely proud and excited to announce Support Our Students as the most recent crowdfunding project under the GIVE Campaign (formerly known as Mary Wash Focus). The GIVE Campaign falls under the purview of the Young Alumni Council, and this year a committee from that council, along with a current student, selected Support Our Students as the spring semester project. The project was put forth in an application from Cap and Gown, Mary Washington’s chartered member of Mortar Board’s national union since 1959, as part of the GIVE spring application process.
The idea for Support Our Students began when Mortar Board’s chapter president, Angela Dixon, learned there were homeless students on campus. Professor Elizabeth Wade suggested Dixon speak with Cedric Rucker, Associate Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Student Life, in order to learn how the University assists financially challenged students. It was during her conversation with Dean Rucker that Dixon learned the University did not have an emergency fund to aid students and that at times Dean Rucker used his own money to assist students. Dixon proclaimed Mortar Board would help the University by raising money for the Office of Student Life.
“Creating a fund to assist with emergency needs can help a student get that one book needed for class, provide emergency resources to get home for a family emergency, pay rent to avoid falling into immediate homelessness, or purchase that cap and gown for the final ceremony celebrating their ultimate academic accomplishment,” Dean Rucker stated. “I have cobbled together resources to assist a few students with these issues over the years. It would be wonderful to have an established resource to be able to continue to support students when the rain starts to fall, and there appears to be no shelter in sight.”
The goal for this fund is to always keep a balance of at least $1,000 available for emergency distribution. Through Phonathon calls alone we have already raised $235 through pledges from seven donors. We hope that our faculty and staff will consider supporting our students through this fund. The smallest of gifts can make a difference in whether or not a student is able to continue their studies at Mary Washington. Applications for funds will be accepted beginning on or about August 1, 2016.
Together, We Met the Challenge!
We are thrilled to report that 614 donors, including many faculty and staff, came together in just two weeks to make $108,334 in gifts and gift commitments to the Fund for Mary Washington, exceeding the goal of $108,000 to mark the University’s 108th founding anniversary.
The funds raised during the Challenge will preserve and strengthen the Mary Washington tradition. Thank you to all who made the second annual Founders Day Challenge a success!
Deborah Jian Lee Discusses Book, “Rescuing Jesus”
Deborah Jian Lee will hold a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. on April 11 in Combs 139 about her new book, “Rescuing Jesus: How People of Color, Women, and Queer Christians are Reclaiming Evangelicalism.”
After years as a follower of evangelicalism, she left the church because she was frustrated by its conservative politics. But over the years, she came to realize that evangelical culture and politics is changing, and changing fast. Her book explores how generational changes and the shifting racial make-up of evangelicals are transforming the movement and pushing it in a more progressive direction. A young and diverse array of people on this leading edge of progressive evangelicalism—LGBTQ and straight, white, black, Asian, Hispanic and indigenous—are working to wrest political power away from conservatives.
Admissions Destination UMW March 19 & April 16
Admissions Hosts Admitted Student Day: Destination UMW
The Admissions Office will host Destination UMW, a premiere yield event for admitted students, on Saturday, March 19, and Saturday, April 16, with the goal of yielding them for the 2016-2017 academic year.
On Saturday, March 19, about 350 prospects and their families will visit, with a total guest count of approximately 900 people. Finalists for the prestigious Washington and Alvey Scholarships will be among the attendees.
The Destination UMW schedule includes events from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. The event features opportunities to learn about the University up close and firsthand. Students will attend a sample lecture with a professor and a student engagement activity with Dean Rucker and current student leaders. Two tracks will offer an opportunity to message differently to students who have already committed to attend UMW in the fall and those who are still deciding among their college options. About one half of the students registered have already paid their enrollment fee, so the goal will be to affirm their decision by sharing their first-year seminar and residence hall assignments. Others will be able to submit their enrollment deposit if they make their choice on site. The welcome session includes greetings from President Hurley, Student Government Association President Hannah Tibbett and alumnus Jay Sinha, highlighting outcomes of a successful UMW graduate.
A sample agenda is posted here. Visitor parking has been reserved in the George Washington (GW) lot and along Double Drive with overflow parking in the Parking Deck. Primary event locations are Dodd Auditorium, Lee Hall, Monroe Hall, Woodard Hall, the University Center and campus/residence hall tours. Expect to see increased foot traffic on campus and curious newcomers in the University Center. Help them know their presence is a pleasure by anticipating the crowds and responding warmly, especially in the dining hall where crowds will peak between noon and 2 p.m.
While the Office of Admissions sponsors these events, the entire campus assumes the role of host. Please extend every courtesy and generous hospitality to these visitors. Their impression and decision to attend UMW depends on how they feel while they are here, so thank you for your commitment to perpetuating our brand, our mission and our sense of the UMW family. One way to show your support is to tweet to @UMWAdmissions and/or post to Instagram and tag @UMWAdmissions. We would like to see #DestinationUMW trending throughout the day.
The Office of Admissions appreciates your involvement in and support of these signature programs that shape the Class of 2020.
If you’d like to be involved in future Admissions events, please contact Admissions at 540-654-2000 or email admit@umw.edu.
Admissions Scholars Weekend, March 18-19
Admissions Hosts Washington-Alvey Scholar Selection Weekend
On Friday, March 18, the Admissions Office will host a banquet honoring finalists for the prestigious Washington and Alvey Scholarships. The Washington Scholarship is awarded to an entering freshman who is a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Alvey Scholarship is awarded to an out-of-state student. Both scholarships require that students be accepted to the University of Mary Washington Honors Program with preference given to National Merit Scholar semi-finalists. The winners will receive awards for full tuition, room, board, and fees for up to four academic years. Three Washingtons and one Alvey will be awarded:
Justin and Helen Piscopo – Alvey Scholarship Irene Lundy Brown ’39 – Washington Scholarship Mary Janes Ahern ’46 – Washington Scholarship UMW Alumni Association – Washington Scholarship
Current Scholar Claire Merenda will speak at the banquet. The finalists will interview with the selection Committees on Saturday, March 19.
Washington Committee: Dr. Jeff McClurken, chair (Professor, History & American Studies and Special Assistant to the Provost for Teaching, Technology, and Innovation); Dr. Mara Scanlon (Professor, English, Linguistics, and Communication); Dr. Hilary Stebbins (Assistant Professor, Psychological Science); Dr. Alan Griffith (Professor, Biological Sciences); and Patti Kemp, Alumni Association Board
Alvey Committee: Carole Garmon, chair (Chair/Professor, Art & Art History) Dr. Steve Hanna (Professor, Geography) Dr. Venitta McCall (Professor, College of Education) Dr. Woody Richardson (Associate Professor, College of Business) Mike Charnoff, Alumni Association Board
The Scholar Finalists will also attend Destination UMW on Saturday, March 19, beginning with a breakfast hosted by Dr. Kelli Slunt, director of the Honors Program. These scholarships are the University’s most prestigious academic honor for an incoming student. There are 18 Washington finalists and nine Alvey finalists.
Please contact the Office of Admissions at (540) 654-2000 with any questions or to participate in an upcoming event.