January 16, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

EagleWorks Gives Small Business Opportunity to Shine

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The University of Mary Washington’s Center for Economic Development is taking steps to help small businesses in Fredericksburg succeed. Its small-business incubation program, EagleWorks, took its first client in 2014.

Koji Flowers, owner of online marketing company Big Cloud Media, came to EagleWorks after moving from Texas. In the nine months Flowers has worked at EagleWorks, Big Cloud Media has tripled sales and doubled the average scope of project services. In addition, the company has clients in Mexico, Canada, India and Israel.

EagleWorks is a collaborative entrepreneur-centered program through the Center for Economic Development that focuses on small businesses to promote their growth and sustainability.

Currently, EagleWorks has 13 partners that support clients in the program, including the U.S. Small Business Administration and Cardinal Bank.

EagleWorks provides services for small business owners, including office space, a conference room for client use, and business training programs.

Flowers credits EagleWorks as a large proponent to Big Cloud Media’s success. Flowers, who had operated Big Cloud Media from his home for several years before coming to EagleWorks, was looking for a place where he could separate work from home.

EagleWorks, in addition to providing an area solely for business, also gives Flowers a venue where he can meet with potential clients.

The Executive Director of Economic Development Brian Baker and others in the department have been especially valuable to Flowers. They helped Flowers create Limited Liability Company status for his business. In addition, they helped improve his business in ways Flowers had never considered.

“It’s been a wonderful program for me,” Flowers said.

Upcoming Black History Month Celebrations

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“Building ‘A More Sedate Lady’: A Tale of Demolition, ‘Haggard’ Miami, and ‘Her Suburban Sisters'”
Thursday, Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m.; Monroe Hall, Room 346
N. D. B. Connolly, assistant professor of history at John Hopkin’s University explores the property politics of Afro-America in the Jim Crow era.

25th Annual Step Show and Competition
Saturday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m., George Washington Hall, Dodd Auditorium
Join area step teams as they engage in a high-energy, entertaining competition.

Dinner: Cuisines of Black Cultures
Monday, Feb. 23, 5–7 p.m., Seacobeck Dining Hall
Campus Dining will feature Caribbean cuisine. Cost: meal plan for students, $5 UMW faculty/staff, $11.15 plus tax non-UMW

Panel: Racial Disparities in School Discipline
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m., Lee Hall, Room 412
This panel presentation will examine the policies and practices at the local, state, and federal level that contribute to disproportionate disciplinary consequences for children of color in the public school system.

Dismantling Racism Workshop, Feb. 16

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Monday, Feb. 16 |4 – 6 p.m. | room 414, Lee Hall

Sponsored by Feminists United on Campus and Virginia Organizing

This workshop will engage participants in learning about and discussing personal, cultural, and institutional racism. Participants will learn how to become allies and advocates for combating racism.

“Report a Problem” – Web Errors Now Easier to Report

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People often find things on the website that the person in charge of a given page has missed – outdated content, broken links, spelling and grammatical errors, etc. With nearly 25,000 pages on umw.edu, it’s hard for our site managers to keep up. Now, they have some help.

Introducing the Report a Problem web feature! Quietly released last fall, this small link on the bottom of each umw.edu page allows anyone on the site to report (anonymously or not) issues to the Digital Communications office.

Reporting link can be found throughout the site

Reporting link can be found throughout the site

Already, more than 80 reports have been submitted by faculty, staff, students, and outsiders. These efforts have resulted in dozens of corrections and the removal of large chunks of outdated and unmanaged web content.

Submit a report

Submit a report form takes almost no time to complete.

With a site this large, it certainly takes a village. All villagers now have a means of quickly and easily reporting problems anywhere on the site. We look forward to working together to continuously improve the public face of UMW.

Calling all Great Minds

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You spoke and we listened! Come to a campus-wide forum on University Marketing from 3 to 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 18, in the ITCC’s Digital Auditorium.

We’ve conducted an awareness/perception study plus we’ve surveyed college-bound teenagers. We’re taking that feedback – along with ideas generated last fall by a cross section of campus representatives – and we’re translating it all into a new messaging and creative strategy that we know will grab prospective students’ attention while simultaneously increasing awareness of UMW.

Health & Wellness Programs Through MyActiveHealth

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Did you know that we offer health and wellness programs through MyActiveHealth for COVA Care, COVA HDHP and COVA HealthAware Participants at NO EXTRA COST through your health plan and you may qualify for extra incentives?

Programs:
• Healthy Insights – helps you manage chronic conditions
• Health Beginnings – gives expectant moms one-on-one coaching through a telephonic nurse coach
• Healthy Lifestyles – gives you extra support on staying on the right track. Including exercise, stress management and quitting tobacco

MyActiveHealth wellness portal puts your health at your fingertips 24/7 for you and your covered dependents; bringing you easy access to a host of valuable information on the web or mobile site. Be sure to check out http://www.dhrm.virginia.gov/healthcoverage/activehealth for each program.

Friday Jeans Policy Update

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The Staff Advisory Council (S.A.C.) is pleased to announce that the President’s Cabinet has approved an update to the existing dress code policy which permits staff to wear jeans on Fridays. The policy now states: Jeans should be professional in appearance with no holes, slits, rips, or tears. Supervisors have discretion to determine appropriate dress, based on departmental business needs.

To review the complete policy, please visit BoardDocs. Employees are encouraged to consult with their supervisor to ensure that jeans on Fridays are acceptable.

The S.A.C. would like to thank Rick Pearce, the Vice President for Administration and Finance & CFO for requesting that the Council revisit this policy. We would like to remind you that you can do this as well. Please feel free to contact your S.A.C. representative with your suggestions. You may also submit suggestions anonymously by visiting our webpage suggestion box.

I would personally like to thank each and every one of our Staff Advisory Council members. Your participation and input was invaluable during the policy revision process.

Thanks,

Laura Allison
Staff Advisory Council President
http://sac.umwblogs.org/