Category: What’s New @ UMW

We are creatures of habit.  Fifteen or so years ago when offices first began using e-mail, you may have found yourself printing out every single one that you would send and receive.  Was it really necessary to print out that “Thank you for my birthday card!” e-mail from your co-worker?  At the time with e-mail being so new, maybe many of us DID think it was necessary!  Hopefully you still do not take printing out e-mails to that extreme, but if you took a moment to think about it, is it necessary to print out the e-mails that you do on a regular basis?  Maybe there are some annual projects that involve always printing out the correspondence between involved parties so that you have it as a reference for the future.  But is there another way to manage that in order to reduce the amount of printing that you do?

One suggestion that might be useful is to utilize the Folder feature in MS Outlook to store correspondence.  Hopefully you already do this as it’s an excellent way to stay organized.  But if you are not utilizing the Folder feature in Outlook, it is very easy to do.  Simply go to the Help feature in Outlook and browse “How to create a Folder” to get started.  Once you get familiar with using folders in Outlook, you will likely start to think of more and more ways to reduce the amount of e-mails that you normally print out.  Another great aspect of using folders is that if you’re checking your e-mail from home using EagleNet, you will be able to access your folders to pull up information that you might need while away from the office.  Much more convenient than having to wait to get back to the office to browse through a binder or stack of papers with that information printed out.  In addition to e-mails, also consider (if applicable) saving documents, presentations, and projects on your office’s shared drive as opposed to printing them out.  Always remember that not everything should be saved electronically — refer to the UMW policy regarding the Electronic Storage of Highly Sensitive Data as there are specific restrictions regarding how and when data can be electronically stored.

If you have any suggestions for things we can all do differently each day to create more sustainable environments, please feel free to leave a comment or email me the idea to be featured in a future Tip of the Week.

The PCS Action Group members for the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” are Kevin Caffrey, Elizabeth Sanders, Robert Louzek, and Dre Anthes.

Last week’s Tip of the Week: Donations.

Mark your calendars for the next blood drive at the Stafford campus — Wednesday, April 10 from 1 to 7 p.m.

If you are interested in donating, please email Kevin Caffrey (kcaffrey@umw.edu) with one or two preferred times that you would like to donate.  You can choose any time in increments of 15 minutes from 1-6:45 p.m.

For this drive, anyone who donates blood automatically will have a chance to win a movie treat basket with a Regal Cinema gift card and treats associated with watching a movie at home.

The UMW club tennis team won the Team Sportmanship Award at the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Tennis On Campus Sectionals, held at Old Dominion University Feb. 2 to 3. The UMW team, one of 14 teams at the tournament, lost to Virginia Commonwealth University in the semi-final round of the silver bracket. Tournament staff recognized UMW’s team with the award and a gift card to Tennis Warehouse.

Thirteen University of Mary Washington students spent a day last week talking to Virginia General Assembly legislators on behalf of the university.  Student Lobby Day provides  students from colleges and universities across the state a chance to meet with the state lawmakers.

“Lobby day is our opportunity as a university to articulate the importance of a liberal arts education and inform lawmakers about all of the exciting things our university is engaged in,” said senior Sean Simons, legislative action chair for the Student Government Association. Simons also majors in political science and political communications.

The students began their day with a brief introduction to Richmond’s General Assembly building. Then, students met with area legislators, including Speaker of the House Bill Howell, Sen. Bryce Reeves and Sen. Creigh Deeds. Afterwards, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling gave the group an impromptu tour of the Rotunda and shared the history of the building.

Erica O’Brien, a senior political science major, enjoyed meeting with the legislative aides.  “I love talking about Mary Washington, and being able to share some of the exciting things that are happening at UMW was fantastic,” she said.

Shirley Martey, a junior political science major, was excited to speak with legislators. “I wanted to practice communicating effectively with people in this environment so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity,” she said.

Student Lobby Day is annual event sponsored by the Student Government Association. More information on the SGA can be found at http://sga.umw.edu/

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Attention service members and veterans: come out to Capital Ale House on Thursday, Feb. 28 to share camaraderie, swap stories and get to know each other.  We are putting together a veterans group interested in developing a network to support all our vets with a special focus on the young veterans on all our campuses.  We are starting out informally with a planned meeting in the Capital Ale House cellar on Thursday, February ²⁸ starting at 6 p.m. and lasting until we decide to go home.  We encourage all UMW vets to join us.  Feel free to wear something that shows your unit or service pride.