May 4, 2026

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Alicia Tisdale Named Excellent Eagle Employee

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Congratulations to cashier Alicia Tisdale who has been selected as the Excellent Eagle Employee for the month of May. A parking spot of her choosing has been reserved for her through the end of the month.

Here is what one of her co-workers said about her:

“Alicia is on the front line, in a constant spotlight, she is always looking to provide the best and outstanding customer service.  She patiently works with all customers (staff, students, parents etc.) in explaining why things are done and how UMW has to abide by regulations etc.  She brings forward suggestions for enhancements to our processes.  I have received many emails from the campus community and through our Lee Hall Student Services questionnaires that provide feedback to the excellent customer service Alicia provides. When on the front line of an office of two, when the other employee is out for an unexpected long term period, Alicia puts her personal items on hold to ensure UMW operations continue.”

“Alicia consistently goes the extra mile providing EXCELLENT customer service to students, parents, staff, and guests of the University.  She is hard working and dedicated to the mission at hand, always wearing a smile and offering words of inspiration and encouragement.  ‘Turning obstacles into Opportunities’ is what Alicia does best, representing UMW with pride, and reminding us that ‘It’s a Great Day to be an Eagle!’”

“When I read  the EagleEye, I always read about the people that have been selected.  Alicia is always very pleasant, has excellent customer service skills,  goes above and beyond her job duties and on top of all that she takes pride in her job.”

To nominate someone who you believe is an Excellent Eagle Employee, send an email to Priscilla Sullivan (psulliva@umw.edu) with Excellent Eagle Employee in the subject line.  In your email, be sure to list the person’s name, department, work location (with the most convenient parking lot), and of course, the reason why you believe they should be recognized.  Please spread the word to other employees about this wonderful opportunity to recognize a co-worker(s).

Meet our New Employees

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Please join us in extending a warm UMW welcome to our newest employees:

Joan Appleby joined the Dahlgren Campus as Housekeeping Lead on April 15.

Sally Gaby joined the Office of Students Activities and Engagement as a Program Support Technician on April 15.

Elizabeth Heitsch joined the Library Services in Stafford as a Stafford Reference and Instruction Librarian on April 25.

UMW Receives Shining Star Award for CVC Participation

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CVC logoVolunteers are the heart of the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC), which is why Mary Hatcher in Department of Human Resource Management developed a version of the CVC logo that features some CVC volunteers.  The appreciation logo is featured on this year’s volunteer certificates, which will be distributed to the following UMW CVC Ambassadors:  Lynne Richardson, Pamela Taggert, Richard Finkelstein, Connie Gallahan, Janet Cropp, Mark Sandor, Peggy Simpkins, Tammy Prailey, and Lori Izykowski, UMW’s CVC coordinator. President Hurley extends his sincere appreciation to these volunteers, and to all at UMW who participated in the 2012 CVC.  Your generosity helped UMW earn a Shining Star Award, given to those agencies whose overall giving exceeded the previous year’s total dollars raised. Congratulations, Eagles!

The CVC runs every year between October 1 and December 21.  As you make your charitable gifts in 2013, remember that many non-profit groups that you support participate in CVC, and your contributions can be counted towards the overall UMW CVC giving.  Plan to participate in a charitable run, walk, or other event?  Hang on to those receipts and turn them in during the next CVC campaign! If you have any questions, feel free to contact Lori Izykowski at 654-1105 or lizykows@umw.edu.

James Monroe’s 255th Birthday Celebration, Saturday, April 27

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Join the James Monroe Museum to celebrate the 255th anniversary of Monroe’s birth this Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. in the museum garden (908 Charles Street). We’ll serve cake and punch, accompanied by eighteenth-century music by Doug Marshall and Lauren Smith.

The event is free and the museum will also be open free of charge all day. E-mail auphaus@umw.edu or call 540/654-1043 with questions.

Students Showcase Work at Kemp Symposium, 4/25-4/26

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Students majoring in English, linguistics and communication will present their work at the ninth annual William Kemp Symposium, held in Combs Hall on Thursday, April 25 and Friday, April 26. The more than 15 presentations range from “A College Students’ Guide to Social Media” to “Language and Gender” to “Tolkein and Four UMW Critics.”

On Thursday, April 25, the Department of English, Linguistics, and Communication will hold its induction ceremony for Lambda Iota Tau, a national literature honor society. The induction will include the Taddesse Adera Memorial Address by Assistant Professor of English Danny Tweedy entitled “The Importance of Literature.” The induction and lecture will be held in Combs Hall, Room 139 at 5 p.m.

The symposium will conclude on Friday with the department picnic from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1201 William St.

A full schedule, with times and locations for each presentation, is available in PDF format.

STEM Summit Showcases Area Technology

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The second annual FredTech STEM 16 Summit brought together more than 350 educators, students, community members and business leaders at the University of Mary Washington on Saturday, April 20.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The day-long event featured seminars on STEM programming in school districts and women in technology, as well as a STEM career panel.  The summit also included more than 45 projects from UMW, regional elementary and secondary schools, Germanna Community College, and local and regional businesses and nonprofit organizations. Six UMW offices and academic departments were represented at the summit, including the Department of Biological Sciences, the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the Department of Mathematics, the Office of Admissions and a 3D printing demonstration.

UMW computer science student David Peworchik was honored with the “SWIFT Scholarship in Computer Science” Award for the 2013-2014 academic year, which provides a merit scholarship to a top computer science major in the region. The scholarship is funded by the Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunications, Inc (SWIFT).

In addition, UMW students, Alex Gilley, Zach Goodwin, Jerome Mueller and Russell Ruud , were named as SWIFT Student Research Fellows for the 2013-2014 year.  They received funding from SWIFT and UMW to attend the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) conference  in San Diego in July.  The students will present their part of an interdisciplinary research project in the area of pharmaceutical discovery.  Their work with supercomputers and data analysis may lead to new treatments for diseases such as HIV and Tuberculosis, according to Associate Professor Karen Anewalt, chair of the Department of Computer Science.

In conjunction with the summit, UMW held a titration competition and its seventh annual calculus tournament. In the team competition of the calculus tournament, the team from Paul VI High School in Fairfax came in first place and the team from the Commonwealth Governor’s School came in second place. In the individual competition, Jack Sweeney of Paul VI High School won first place and Lina Hong of Paul VI High School won second place.

In the titration tournament, members of UMW’s honors general chemistry class won first place, followed by senior chemistry majors in second place.

The summit culminated with a keynote lecture by David Kerr, a program lead in the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Communications.

UMW Receives Gift for Historic Preservation Scholarship

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The University of Mary Washington will offer a new merit-based scholarship for historic preservation students starting in the fall of 2014. The Northern Virginia Branch of Preservation Virginia and Prince William County recently presented the university with a $35,000 gift to establish the Milton Grigg Northern Virginia APVA Scholarship, in honor of a valued architect and preservationist.

(from left to right): Becky Starling, Trustee, Preservation Virginia, Mary Washington Branch; Michael Spencer, Assistant Professor, Historic Preservation, University of Mary Washington; Rob Orrison, Site Manager, Prince William County Department of Public Works Historic Preservation Division; Torre Meringolo, Vice President for Advancement and University Relations, University of Mary Washington

“Preservation Virginia has played a vital role in the interpretation and presentation of numerous historic sites within the Commonwealth of Virginia,” said Torre Meringolo, UMW’s vice president for advancement and university relations. “As one of the nation’s premier institutions for the study of historic preservation, the University of Mary Washington is proud to be able to honor the memory of an esteemed architect and valiant preservationist, while offering financial support for UMW students.”

Grigg, an Alexandria-based architect with a passion for the preservation of antiquities in Virginia, worked on the preservation of many well-known Virginia structures, including Monticello and historic Williamsburg. The scholarship will be awarded on a merit basis to junior and senior historic preservation majors who are residents of Northern Virginia, specifically the counties of Fairfax, Prince William, Loudon and Arlington; and the cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas and Manassas Park.

Preservation Virginia was founded in 1889 as a private, non-profit organization and statewide historic preservation leader dedicated to perpetuating and revitalizing Virginia’s cultural, architectural and historic heritage.

UMW Raises Money for Boston Marathon Victims

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The University of Mary Washington is accepting donations to support the victims of the Boston Marathon attacks and to stand as one with Boston. One hundred percent of donations from two UMW initiatives will be given to One Fund Boston, a charity set up to help the victims of the bombings.

Student donations will be collected at UMW’s Devil-Goat Day on Thursday, April 25 as classes compete to see who can raise the most money. Devil-Goat Day is an annual UMW tradition where classes that will graduate in even years (“goats”) compete against classes that will graduate in odd years (“devils”).

Students in the “Training for a Half Marathon” course, taught by women’s soccer coach Corey Hewson, will run a half marathon on Saturday, April 27 in solidarity with Boston. Members of the community can sponsor one of the students as they run the marathon, with all donations going to the One Fund Boston.

Donations will be collected at Devil-Goat Day on Ball Circle and throughout the week in Goolrick Hall, room 106A to Kathleen Flanagan or Dana Hall. Checks should be made payable to the One Fund Boston, Inc.

All donations will be mailed on Wednesday, May 1. More information about the fundraiser can be found in a recent article published in the Free-Lance Star. For any questions contact Corey Hewson at (540) 654-1871 or Megan Higginbotham at (540) 654-1061.

Proposals for Diversity Academy Due 5/3

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University of Mary Washington’s Diversity Academy Workshop

Dates:   May 14, 2013 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and May 15, 2013 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Stafford Campus, North Building

www.Diversityacademy.org

For most of the past decade, the University of Mary Washington has worked to become a diverse and inclusive institution. This shift represents a change in how University employees approach and carry out their work.  As the University looks forward to new institutional initiatives, our focus will appropriately turn to improving the alignment and cohesiveness between diversity efforts and the institution’s other strategic initiatives.  To lay the foundation for these efforts, UMW is sponsoring DIVERSITY ACADEMY – a focused, two-day workshop designed to examine the ways in which institutions of higher education infuse and incorporate diversity into the curriculum, programming, and the campus climate. This event is being hosted by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in conjunction with the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies, the Speaking Center, and the Writing Centers.  This event is free and open to all members of the UMW community as well as representatives from other schools and institutions throughout the Commonwealth and beyond.

This workshop will:

  • Help to frame the conversations about infusing diversity into the curriculum, and campus programs
  • Identify best practices for inclusiveness in a rapidly changing and increasingly diverse society
  • Examine whether today’s students possess the requisite multicultural competencies to navigate the global world
  • Discuss ways to infuse diversity into speaking and writing assignments

Register: http://diversityacademy.org/register/

We are seeking proposals from faculty regarding in-class strategies or curricular/ assignment models regarding issues of diversity, which may include but are not limited to race, ability, disability, gender, and culture.

Submit a proposal by May 3: http://diversityacademy.org/submit-a-proposal/

If you have questions, please contact Leah Cox, Jim Groom, Gwendolyn Hale, Mary Kayler, or Anand Rao.