The UMW men’s basketball game on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. will celebrate Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day. The Eagles will host Southern Virginia University. All faculty and staff are admitted free of charge, and there will be a reception for faculty, staff and their families in the Eagle Lounge at halftime and after the game. The Eagle Lounge is located in the hallway of Goolrick, across from the main office. For more information, please contact Clint Often at 540-654-1743.

A certain strand of the Computer Science 106 course (a.k.a ds106, a nickname for Digital Storytelling 106) is the subject of an article by Alan Levine in the recent issue of EDUCAUSE Review Online called “ds106: Not a Course, Not Like Any MOOC” . The article frames the experimentation that went on here at Mary Washington with the open, online versions of this course from Spring 2011 up and until the present. The vision of the open online course ds106 is described as thus:

Characteristic of ds106 is its distributed structure, mimicking the Internet itself, and its open-source non-LMS platform. Students are charged with registering their own domain, managing their own personal cyberinfrastructure, and publishing to their own website. Via the WordPress plugin FeedWordPress, all content from students is automatically aggregated to the main ds106 site—but all links go back directly to the students’ sites.

What’s more, the course challenges conventions surrounding digital storytelling, online identity, and the state of online visual and vernacular culture more generally:

Most classes in digital storytelling revolve around the personal video narrative form as popularized by the Center for Digital Storytelling. But ds106 storytelling explores the web as a culture, as a media source, and as a place to publish in the open. Not claiming to authoritatively define digital storytelling, ds106 is a constant process of questioning digital storytelling. Is an animated GIF a story? What does it mean to put “fast food” in the hands of Internet pioneers? Why would we mess with the MacGuffin? Is everything a remix? Though this is perhaps simply semantic wordplay, ds106 is not just “on” the web—it is “of” the web.

And while the class has moved beyond UMW and taken on a life of its own at other universities and colleges, as well as within a vibrant open, online community, the spirit was in many ways born of the experimentation and innovation happening at UMW”s Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies over the last eight years:

No one claims ownership of ds106. Its success can be traced to innovation supported by the University of Mary Washington and carried out by the UMW Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies (DTLT) and to the vision of former UMW leaders Gardner Campbell and Chip German and DTLT team members: Jim Groom, who crafted much of the spirit and drive of ds106; Martha Burtis, who built many of the key web pieces (and has taught the class); and Tim Owens, who shaped the design and functionality of the sites. But the contributions extend further. UMW student Aaron Clemmer built a twitter bot that updates the current content on ds106 radio, itself a contribution of open participant Grant Potter
(University of Northern British Columbia).

Thanks to the work of all of UMW’s faculty, staff and students UMW has become a model for re-imagining instructional technologies as well as teaching and learning in the digital age, and this tradition of experimentation continues on as a faculty development and student enrichment effort through the Domain of One’s Own initiative.

The most recent report from CVC indicates Virginia is “at 96% of last year’s totals, and this is a tremendous achievement in a difficult year.”  UMW stands at 28 within the state, with overall contributions at $14, 451.  We improved our percentage of participation from 7 percent to 10 percent, and our average gift for this campaign was $204. Thanks to all who participated, and a special thank you to our “ambassadors,” who helped coordinate giving in their various divisions.

 — Lori M. Izykowski, Office Manager and Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Advancement and University Relations

UMW employees are eligible to purchase discounted tickets for upcoming performances of “Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove” at the Verizon Center. Special pricing is available for the opening night show on Wednesday, Feb. 13, as well as several performances from Thursday, Feb. 14 through Monday, Feb. 18. For more information, visit https://eagleeye.umw.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Washington-DC-D26-2013.pdf.

UMW received high marks in the sixth annual statewide assessment of emergency preparedness measures. In the assessment, UMW received perfect scores for its physical security initiatives, information technology security measures, document protection, fire safety and campus warning systems for an overall score of 98 out of 100.

“This is a team effort on behalf of the University Emergency Management and Safety staff,” said Ruth Lovelace, director of Emergency Management and Safety. “The administration and community of UMW have always taken emergency preparedness seriously and provided support needed both in preparations and response.”

The Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security administers the Preparedness Assessment to state agencies and institutions of higher education each year. The assessment measures the overall level of preparedness in the following major areas of emphasis: physical security, continuity of operations planning, information technology security, document protection, human resources preparedness, training, and interoperable communications.

I was recently asked about the utilization of the Stafford campus.  The information I used in my response may be of interest to other members of this community.  The campus buildings are used during the day for a variety of UMW related programs. Space is also rented to outside groups and organizations.   The buildings are used in the evening primarily for graduate program classes.

For the year that ended in June, 2012 the total revenue collected from rentals was $436,265.  There were 285 different events (including 148 rentals) held across both buildings that attracted 10,749 individuals.  We are on track to achieve the same numbers for this fiscal year.  As stated previously, evening use is almost exclusively for graduate program instruction where, on average, all but one classroom is used in the North Building four nights a week. Use of classrooms in the South Building is limited.

Message from President Richard V. Hurley