Nota Bene: Weekly Update

September 21, 2020 Good Morning,

Next Friday, October 2, marks our first Marlin Spirit Day of the year. This special day will kick off our virtual Homecoming and Family Weekend, and I hope you will join me in sporting your favorite Virginia Wesleyan gear. Don’t forget to snap and share a photo using #marlinspiritday. There’s another very important way to show your Marlin Spirit in the coming weeks—supporting the annual faculty and staff campaign.

Thursday, October 1, marks the official start of the Marlin Family Campaign for Faculty and Staff, which is an opportunity for our campus community to contribute financially to the University. This year's theme is Rock the Socks. As an institution, we are striving to meet goals in academics, enrollment, fundraising, student life, and finance/administration. Every member of the faculty and staff is invaluable to achieving these goals, and I am grateful to every one of you for the efforts you put forth daily, especially in these unprecedented times. By now, faculty and staff members should have received a letter from our Center for Advancement at your home address regarding the campaign. Be on the lookout for weekly emails with information about how to make a gift or pledge to the campaign from Kamryn Clairmont, Coordinator of Annual Giving and Alumni Relations. You might also be reminded by our 2020 Faculty and Staff Campaign Ambassadors - Elaine Aird ’96, Brandon Elliott ’03, Dr. Linda Ferguson, Randy Lott, Dr. Bryson Mortensen, Jason Seward ’05, Teresa Rhyne ’92, and Dr. Michelle Vachris. I thank them for their time, energy, and support. You may always visit www.vwu.edu/giveonline to make your gift at any time.

Submit your gift or pledge by this Friday, September 25, and you’ll be entered to win a four-pack of tickets to Disney World in Orlando in our special “Early Bird” raffle. Thank you to Dr. Brian Kurisky, Executive Director of Civic Engagement and Service Learning/Chief Diversity Officer, for securing this great gift for the University once again. Since we will not be able to hold our annual faculty and staff campaign Thank You Reception as we normally do, we are pleased to offer exclusive VWU tie-dye socks as a gift for those who contribute $25 or more to the University priority of their choice before October 31. A special thank you to Trustee and alumnus Gary Bonnewell ’79 for helping to underwrite the cost of the socks. When you Rock the Socks, you show that you believe in Virginia Wesleyan and the people and programs that make it such a unique place to work and learn.

ET CETERA

I am pleased to announce that Kelly Roenker Cordova will be returning to the Office of the President as Executive Assistant to the President. Kelly brings to the position a deep understanding of executive leadership and administration, having directly supported the Senior Vice President and me during the last five years. In those roles she has had instrumental involvement in communications, alumni relations, donor relations and special events. Prior to her arrival at Virginia Wesleyan, Kelly spent six years working in the international programs department at Operation Smile, a medical non-profit that provides free cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries to children in developing countries. There, she managed a team of 15 program coordinators and directly participated in medical missions in Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Morocco, and Paraguay. Kelly earned her bachelor's degree in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is pursuing her Master of Business Administration at VWU and expects to graduate in Spring 2021. A native of Virginia Beach, she resides there with her husband Andrew, a Supply Chain Analyst at Dollar Tree-Family Dollar, and young daughter Alexandra. She replaces Kelly Barham, who was recently named Senior Strategic Communications Specialist at the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine at the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center in Portsmouth.

Kudos to Vice President Maynard Schaus and Associate Vice President Sue Larkin for initiating Virginia Wesleyan University’s membership in the Consortium for Faculty Diversity at Liberal Arts Colleges (CFD). The Consortium is committed to increasing the diversity of students, faculty members and curricular offerings at liberal arts colleges with a particular focus on enhancing the diversity of faculty members and of applicants for faculty positions. Membership in CFD will help the University continue to actualize the diversity priorities set forth three years ago.    The Consortium was founded as an association of liberal arts colleges committed to strengthening the ethnic diversity of students and of faculty members at liberal arts colleges. The early goals of the Consortium with regard to faculty diversity included encouraging members of underrepresented minority groups to complete their graduate programs and to consider faculty employment in liberal arts colleges.   The Consortium invites applications for dissertation fellowships and post-doctoral fellowships from those who will contribute to increasing the diversity of member colleges by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximizing the educational benefits of diversity and/or increasing the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of students.   Virginia Wesleyan shares the commitment of the Consortium’s member institutions to enhancing its faculty, student body, and curriculum, as well as upholding the teacher-scholar career model essential to the success of small colleges and universities. The University looks forward to working with CFD member institutions to make VWU, as well as the larger organization, stronger and more significant.

I recently shared that SACS-COC has approved our new joint Bachelor of Science in Nursing program with Sentara College of Health Sciences (SCHS).     Dr. Angela Taylor, President of SCHS, recently hosted a select team from VWU, including Dr. Maynard Schaus, Vice President for Academic Affairs; Heather Campbell '04, Acting Vice President for Enrollment; Dr. Sue Larkin, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs; Dr. Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Associate Professor of Biology and Director of Nursing and Allied Health; and me for a visit to their campus two exits from here in Chesapeake.   We're excited about this new partnership with SCHS and know that both campuses will benefit immensely from our joint efforts in recruiting and retention. I thank Dr. Taylor and her team for the pleasant and productive meeting. Read more here about our joint degree program with SCHS here.

AROUND TOWN AND ACROSS CAMPUS

Boyd Dining Center Returns to Some Normalcy With Governor Ralph Northam’s announcement to move Coastal Virginia to Phase Three of the “Forward Virginia” plan, we are delighted to provide limited seating in Boyd Dining Center and some relaxed restrictions on gatherings, which will aid in offering student activities. The Boyd Dining Center was renovated over the spring/summer, and we are excited that students will now be able to enjoy the improvements made to the space. The final phase of the renovation is scheduled for 2021 when an addition is added to the front of the building that will provide banquet space, outdoor seating, and a new face/access to the Boyd Dining Center and Jane P. Batten Student Center.

Susan T. Beverly Hall Renovation Update Work continues on the renovation of Susan T. Beverly Hall (formerly known as the Fine Arts Building). Phase I includes a new heating/cooling system and roof and the renovation of the entrance/lobby, music studios and ensemble rehearsal room.    Over the next three months, renovation of the southern wing (visual arts studios) of the building will occur. Finally, Hofheimer Theatre will also receive some much needed attention as the finishing touch.    In addition to the new name -- Susan T. Beverly Hall -- several other newly-named areas of the facility will recognize donors to the project: The Robert G. Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation Visual Arts Studios, The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation Ensemble Rehearsal Room, Alison J. and Ella W. Parsons Fund Fine Arts Entrance & Lobby, and the James A. Hixon Music Studios.

Presidential Associates Program The Office of the President is pleased to welcome Criofan Shaw ’23 to the Presidential Associates Program this academic year. The program provides an opportunity for students to work with the president and his staff on projects that support the mission and purpose of Virginia Wesleyan University. Projects and responsibilities include presidential communication, legislative research, social media, student leadership, walkabouts, Greek life, diversity, and presidential archives. Read more about the program here.

LUJ/VWU Global update Last week, we hosted Dr. Brian Frink, Dean of the School of Business, Science and Technology at Lakeland University in Wisconsin. In April, VWU and Lakeland University announced an exclusive agreement to jointly operate a campus in Tokyo with the name "Lakeland University Japan and Virginia Wesleyan University Global." Dr. Frink will become Vice President of the Tokyo campus in January.

The agreement partners Virginia Wesleyan with an institution that currently teaches 355 students from 30 countries in an English-speaking associate’s degree program. Bachelor’s programs will eventually be added at the Tokyo campus and the current curriculum and academic programming will be expanded to include certain baccalaureate and corporate training programs and English for academic programs. The venture will create a variety of opportunities for Virginia Wesleyan. Early on, VWU Global will bring graduates from the two-year program to earn their bachelor’s degree at the Virginia Beach campus. This will add an increased international presence to VWU’s student body, as the University welcomes students not only from Japan, but from around the world. Virginia Wesleyan students and faculty will also have the opportunity to travel to the Tokyo campus, which is located in Shinjuku, part of Tokyo’s central government and business district. The location, near the University District, will provide reasonably priced housing for exchange opportunities. With train connections to all parts of Tokyo and Japan, students have easy access to a plethora of museums, cultural areas, and recreation opportunities. Learn more about LUJ and VWU Global here.

Everett Tennis Center improvements Crews from North Carolina are back to complete the resurfacing of the courts at the Everett Tennis Center. Excessive heat and rain has delayed completion of the project, which has been funded by an endowment. We look forward to our men’s and women’s tennis teams taking advantage of this resurfacing when competitive play is allowed again this spring.