The effects of Hurricane Dorian resulted in the postponement of our Founders Day activities last week, and we look forward to holding the event later this semester. I will keep you updated as plans for rescheduling progress. My heartfelt gratitude to everyone who helped keep Virginia Wesleyan running smoothly, and most importantly, safely, during the storm. Also, my special thanks to all for their cooperation and patience as buildings were impacted by the power outage and subsequent HVAC interruption.
Fortunately, we were able to celebrate the third cohort of Batten Fellows and Shumadine Scholars at the Batten Honors College Recognition Ceremony and luncheon last Thursday.
A ceremonial pinning of each student represents their completion of orientation and formal induction into the Batten Honors College of Virginia Wesleyan University. View the photo gallery here. Out of a pool of 30,000 potential students, one-tenth of that group were deemed eligible in meeting preliminary requirements for the program, and this cohort is among the
117 who were invited to campus over this past year to compete for the highly coveted seats. We are so glad to have the best and brightest joining us in the elite and selective Batten Honors College.
Now in its third year, this program has become one of three national niches of VWU. Consider the following profile of the 121 students--64 Batten Fellows and 57 Shumadine Scholars--currently enrolled who have distinguished themselves greatly. Of these students, sixty-two percent are female and thirty-eight percent male-with 24 percent considered to be from underrepresented populations. Fifty-nine percent of our Fellows and Scholars hail from Virginia, thirty-six percent from other states across the country, and five percent internationally. These students excel academically with an average high school GPA of 4.12, SAT of 1340, and ACT of 29; they have a Virginia Wesleyan GPA averaging 3.68 (currently enrolled Batten Fellows).
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The past three years have brought tremendous changes in technology at Virginia Wesleyan University. Fundamental to our progress has been increasing student satisfaction by bringing greater access and efficiencies, including those made possible by self-help applications. All of this has been made possible by three donors who believe in the bright future of the University. We thank them for their foresight and support!
I'm pleased to share that we've named our University portal "MyBeacon." The name and icon, which now appear at the top of the VWU homepage, reflect both our institutional branding and the portal's ability to guide our community toward important campus resources. The MyBeacon landing page provides one convenient location for frequently used campus applications. All resources formerly contained within "Quicklinks" now appear there, including WebAdvisor, Marsis, Atomic Learning, the Marlin Directory, and more. Students may continue to login to MyBeacon for a secure, single sign-on experience with Blackboard and VWU email, as well as course registration, self-service financial aid and bill payment, student account information, and more.
And speaking of Blackboard, this online learning management system will also be getting an upgrade. We are moving from our hosted environment to a fully Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. This will eliminate any future downtime caused by upgrades and patches, and it will position Virginia Wesleyan to begin utilizing the newest version of Blackboard, known as Blackboard Ultra. Ultra brings to the table many new and updated online teaching tools and a dramatically improved and modernized user interface. These will be very welcome changes for our faculty and students, particularly those in our VWU Online programs.
These changes come on the heels of two other significant projects initiated earlier this summer. A month ago, we signed a new contract with Cox Communications to upgrade our telephone and Internet bandwidth. Under the new agreement, telecommunication will transition to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), moving away from traditional circuit transmissions. New desk phones will feature internal and external caller ID and the ability to forward calls to desktops and laptops, as well as options for voicemail over email.
To accommodate the new VoIP system and our rapidly growing online presence, Internet bandwidth will be tripled. For students, this means improved Internet speed and a smoother streaming experience while viewing favorite content and gaming.
We also signed a contract with Ellucian earlier this summer to modernize and cloud-host the Colleague environment. The new contract provides an extensive on-demand training library available to all employees of the University. Additionally, we are nearing completion of an aggressive datacenter refresh project which will bring our internally hosted servers and infrastructure to an upgraded, stable, and secure state.
Most of these initiatives were generously funded by an anonymous donor who had expressed interest in advancing VWU's online program. The gifts come, in part, to support our vision to facilitate access, quality, user-satisfaction and collaboration opportunities for our virtual learning environment.
Although the projects were selected to optimize the online student experience, there will be wide benefits for many users.
The technology improvements include the following:
Although the projects were selected to optimize the online student experience, there will be wide benefits for many users.
The technology improvements include the following:
- Ellucian Portal, a foundational technology offering a web portal that simplifies information exchange for students, faculty and staff by giving them a single, virtual gateway to academic and administrative services.
- Colleague Self-Service Financial Aid, a Colleague module designed to help students navigate the financial aid process online.
- Touchnet's Bill+Payment Suite with Ellucian's Payment Center, a comprehensive online self-service "payment portal suite" for student accounts, giving students 24/7 online and mobile access to campus bills and online bill payments.
- Ellucian Mobile Platform Edition, a complete customizable mobile solution featuring native integration with our student information system, Colleague.
- Student housing is also now better managed through a new system called StarRez. This technology has had a tremendous impact on staffing resources, allowing for processing of housing assignments in minutes that previously took weeks. Students are now able to apply for housing, identify their own roommates, and request housing changes--all online.
- The Scribner University Store is online. Students have around-the-clock access to order textbooks, as well as VWU apparel and merchandise.
- The addition of the Virginia Wesleyan University Digital Broadcast Network. Via Boxcast, the network webcasts most home athletic events. Via Boxcast and Facebook Live, other key events and speakers are recorded for viewing in alternative locations as well as being preserved for viewing at a later date through our University website.
Clearly, we have many new and exciting Information Technology plans in motion under the leadership of Dr. Chris Davis, Chief Information Officer. Critical to the long-term success and viability of the University, these donor-funded investments in our technology infrastructure will pay dividends now and for years to come.
Leveraging this technology is essential as we prepare for future growth. Special thanks to our Office of Information Technology Services for making these valuable services available to our campus.
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During the State of the University, I announced the formation of a VWU eSports program, and I am proud to report that it is off to a great start. The University is now a member of the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE). As part of this organization, we are able to connect with other collegiate eSports programs in Virginia and nationwide to arrange scrimmages and competitive matches as well as potentially participate in invitational and championship tournaments. We have begun recruiting our team this fall with the hopes of competing next semester. Our Marlin eSports Arena is nearing completion in the Jane P. Batten Student Center. The space will house 16 top-end gaming computers from global eSports leader iBuyPower, allowing the team to compete in up to four games. Currently, the University is eyeing League of Legends, Overwatch, Hearthstone, and Rocket League as its starting point. An open house will be held once the Marlin eSports Arena is up and running.
We are excited about this addition to the University and look forward to its many benefits.
ET CETERA
Reforestation
In 2015, we began a large period of construction, and set out with a plan of reforestation. Through our careful tracking, we currently have planted 136 more trees than we have removed.
The Marlin Athletic Fund
Nearly 400 student-athletes represent Virginia Wesleyan on the field and court, in the pool, and in the classroom. As we prepare these students for lives of leadership and social responsibility, we invite you to join us in making an impact on their development. Just as every member of a team contributes to its overall success, support of the Marlin Athletic Fund is important to the success of VWU's 22 sports teams. Team up with the Marlin Athletic Fund to ensure Virginia Wesleyan's student-athletes are positioned for success! View more Marlin Athletics.
New President to President Series: "The Next Big Thing"
The first chapter is now available in the 2019-2020 series of "President to President," a thought leadership series publication written by university presidents, and edited by myself and longtime friend and colleague Dr. Marylouise Fennell. This year's series, "The Next Big Thing," explores how higher education institutions are responding to ever-evolving student and parent expectations, learning needs, shifting demographics, and more.
In this first chapter, "Educating the Environmental Stewards of Tomorrow: Presidential Leadership and Climate Change," California State University, Northridge, President Dianne F. Harrison, Ph.D., examines the vital leadership role that colleges play in addressing climate change, both on campus and within the larger community. She also shares a few of the ways her institution promotes environmental sustainability through education, activism, and operational practices.
CICV: The Demographic Cliff
Each month, Robert Lambeth, President of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV), shares a statistical graph for the month. I thought you'd find this one interesting: view the graph here.
Each month, Robert Lambeth, President of the Council of Independent Colleges in Virginia (CICV), shares a statistical graph for the month. I thought you'd find this one interesting: view the graph here.
Kudos to Modupe Oshikoya
Congratulations to Dr. Modupe Oshikoya, Assistant Professor of Political Science, on earning Honorable Mention (first runner-up) for Best Dissertation Award for the Peace and Justice Studies Association's (PJSA) 2019 Student Awards. Dr Oshikoya will be formally recognized at an award ceremony during this year's PJSA Annual Conference on October 4-6.
Condolences to John Rudel
It is with sadness and a heavy heart that I share the passing of a member of our Virginia Wesleyan Family--Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Rudel, father of VWU Professor of Art and Coordinator of Art Exhibitions John Rudel. Dr. Rudel was Emeritus Professor of Internal Medicine, Section on Molecular Medicine and Biochemistry, at Wake Forest School of Medicine. An exerpt from a release by the WFSM states, "Dr. Rudel will be dearly missed by his family, friends and colleagues. His long and distinguished career at Wake Forest School of Medicine raised the institution to international prominence in the fields of lipid sciences and cardiovascular disease."
My sincere condolences to John and his family. Please join me in keeping them in your thoughts and prayers.
AROUND TOWN AND ACROSS CAMPUS
Special thanks to David Nieves, Master Police Officer, for leading a dynamic and informative campus-wide Active Threat Citizen Defense Workshop at Virginia Wesleyan. David has facilitated 300 workshops during his 24 years with the Virginia Beach Police Department.
There are many amazing things happening at VWU's Center for the Study of Religious Freedom this fall. Check out the offerings in the latest issue of the CSRF newsletter "Understanding Religious Freedom."
Mark your calendar for upcoming events and programs, and read up on the latest in the arts at Virginia Wesleyan here.
As part of the Eleanor & Henry Watts Conservation Speaker Series, Research Assistant Professor John Cook from George Mason University's Center for Climate Change Communication will be speaking at the Virginia Aquarium on September 17. Don't miss this talk which will focus on key beliefs around climate change and how we can work together to remove roadblocks to climate action. This event is free and open to the public. More information can be found here.
It was great to visit on campus recently with 2018 Virginia Wesleyan graduate Alana Peters. She brought "Cuppy," a mutual pal from our local Dunkin' Donuts, to see two of his best friends--me and Dr. Keith Moore (Vice President for Student Affairs). Alana worked as a Presidential Associate during her time at VWU and pitched for our National Championship softball team. She now works as an Account Coordinator at the Davis Ad Agency in Virginia Beach.
Congrats to VWU student-athlete Skyler Lattuca of the men's cross country team who was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Runner of the Week! Skyler earned first place out of 65 runners in the season opener. Read more here.
STAY CURRENT ON VWU NEWS AND FEATURES
REFLECTIONS
I hope you find these links useful to my recent columns and publications:
PRESIDENTIAL EVENTS
I invite you to stay updated on these activities here.
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Have a great week!
