Dialogue: Nota Bene: Weekly Update

December 20, 2021

Good morning,

As our Batten Honors College develops and enhances the reputation of Virginia Wesleyan University, I am delighted to announce the Louis and Prudence Ryan Research Symposium and the Louis and Prudence Ryan Prize for Excellence in Research for scholars in the Batten Honors College. Under the mentorship of VWU faculty and community leaders, student scholarship presented in the Ryan Research Symposium will explore complex environmental challenges in a global context. This exciting new program in the Batten Honors College will be funded in the 2022-23 academic year as funding for the endowment was completed this month.

Starting in 2023, students from the Batten Honors College will apply to present in the symposium each spring. A committee of Batten Professors and student representatives will select the best projects from the application pool to present their research at a poster session during the symposium. The top three students will be selected to present their work in a premiere public event that brings together scholars, mentors, and community leaders. One student presenting at the event will be awarded the Louis and Prudence Ryan Prize for Excellence in Research, which will include a cash prize. The names of award winners will be placed on a plaque prominently displayed on campus.

The Louis and Prudence Ryan Research Symposium and Prize for Excellence in Research are gratefully named for our longtime friends and benefactors. Louis, who has been a valued member of the VWU Board of Trustees since 2007, had a distinguished career as general counsel of Landmark Communications before retiring from that office. In a March 2021 Virginian-Pilot article, Louis said, “We had decided a number of years ago to support our primary areas of interest—the environment and education.” The Louis and Prudence Ryan Research Symposium and Prize for Excellence in Research fulfill both of those goals. Along with serving on the VWU Board of Trustees, Louis has served on the Elizabeth River Project’s board of directors since 2006. That organization is an important partner of VWU and the Batten Honors College.

Again, my special thanks to the Ryans. We’re thrilled for this development within the Batten Honors College program. I also thank Dr. Travis Malone, Dean of the Batten Honors College, and Dr. David Black, VWU Executive-in-Residence, for their assistance in making this senior capstone symposium and prize a reality.

In 2018, a long-serving vice president in need of surgery asked that we continue VWU’s trajectory of progress by inviting Dr. Maynard Schaus to step in as the University’s chief academic officer. As Dr. O'Rourke and a significant number of senior faculty supporting that recommendation noted, Dr. Schaus had distinguished himself in the classroom, in numerous faculty leadership roles, and in the development of a world-class Center for Environmental Sciences and Honors College.

Based on his record and high regard, I asked Dr. Schaus to serve as Vice President for Academic Affairs for a three-year term, after which he could return to the classroom that he described as his life’s calling. Those three years, due to the cyber attack and a pandemic that disrupted academic life here and at every community of teaching and learning in the world, were a time of unprecedented challenge. Dr. Schaus, like virtually every faculty and staff member here, worked tirelessly to get VWU through the uncharted waters of Covid-19. To say that the journey has exacted a toll on all of us would be an understatement.

Last week, Dr. Schaus asked to return to the classroom while also developing a consolidated graduate component of the University and leading our planning and substantive change prospectus for what we hope will soon be a branch of VWU at Richard Bland College in Petersburg, VA.

Given the timelines of those initiatives, I approved his request, effective in January. A search for our chief academic officer will ensue in January of 2023, with the expectation of filling the office by fall semester of that year. I believe deeply that we need to spend the next 18 months working together to mend some frayed places in the fabric of VWU. After consulting with a number of senior faculty, I asked Dr. Susan Larkin to serve an 18-month term as Acting Vice President for Academic Affairs and to lead us in strengthening the academic fabric of our good university.

Dr. Larkin received her B.A. in English Literature from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D in English Studies and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies from Illinois State University. Dr. Larkin’s research is interdisciplinary and interweaves children’s and adolescent literature, women’s and gender studies, and cultural studies. She has published on Judy Blume, Harry Potter, Mr. Rogers, Walt Disney, Laura Ingalls Wilder, women’s memoir, and empowerment, identity, and gender in adolescent literature. Dr. Larkin teaches a variety of English, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Wesleyan Seminars at VWU. She has served as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs the past three years.

I am sure that you will join me in wishing both Drs. Larkin and Schaus well in their new roles. In closing, I want to say again how fortunate VWU is for the extra miles you have all gone during this pandemic, and how grateful I am to be your fellow traveler.

ET CETERA

Congratulations to Dr. Deirdre Gonsalves-Jackson, Dean of VWU Global Campus and Associate Professor of Biology, on her selection to receive the inaugural Barbara A. Holland Scholar Award from the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU). The CUMU Selection Committee, composed of current and emeriti CUMU presidents and chancellors, identified Dr. Gonsalves-Jackson as a distinguished scholar-administrator like the award’s namesake Dr. Holland—whose leadership and intellectual voice illuminates the transformative power of urban and metropolitan higher education in the lives of individuals and communities. Learn more.

Dr. Gonsalves-Jackson will be honored during a CUMU panel presentation in the new year. I’ll keep the campus community apprised of when that presentation is scheduled so others can join in the celebration of her accomplishments.

I am pleased to share that we have two new appointments in the Office of the Registrar. Nancy Rechkemer will become our new Registrar and joins the Marlin family after serving 10 years at the Virginia Beach branch of St. Leo University. Before that, she was Academic Counselor for Student Support Services at Northern Illinois University. She has her bachelor of arts from Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan and her master of science from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania.

Courtney Knudsen will become Assistant Registrar after serving the University as a First-Year Advisor in the Learning Center since June 2019. Courtney earned her M.Ed. in Student Affairs from Regent University.

They both will begin their new positions in the new year.

Congratulations, once again, to members of the Class of 2021 who graduated on Saturday during the VWU Global Campus Commencement Ceremony. It was a wonderful event that celebrated our mid-year graduates with all the pomp and circumstance they deserve.

A special thanks to Mavis McKenley, a member of the Board of Trustees and 2011 graduate of VWU's adult studies program, for providing the keynote speech. During our ceremony, Mavis was honored with The Wesley Award for her outstanding service to her alma mater.

Learn more and view the photo gallery.

AROUND TOWN AND ACROSS CAMPUS

January Term Reminders

January Term will start on Monday, January 3, 2022. The dorms will open to students at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, January 2. Any student moving into a new space will receive email instructions regarding new keycards. Everyone returning to the same space can use their current keycard for access. Please email reslife@vwu.edu if you have any questions.

MLK Day Commemoration Event: Monday, January 17

Our annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration event will be held on Monday, January 17 at 6:00 p.m. in the Susan S. Goode Fine and Performing Arts Center. Our keynote speaker will be Dr. Veleka Gatling, Director of Diversity Initiatives at ODU. The program will include the presentation of the Mavis McKenley ’11 Award to a student who embodies the ideals of Dr. King. Although classes will not be held that day, I hope you make plans to attend our special evening event.

Goodbye and Thank You to Alan Brown

My heartfelt thanks to Alan Brown for his 25 years of service to Virginia Wesleyan University and Aramark. As Support Leader for Facilities Management, Alan has been a staple of the campus community, involved in every major (and likely minor) event and project this campus has celebrated. We were delighted to offer a toast to him and all he means to VWU during his retirement reception last week.

Fun for All at the Annual Faculty and Staff Holiday Party

Thanks to all who joined us at the annual faculty and staff holiday party last week. It was wonderful to have so many members of the Marlin community together to celebrate the holidays once again.

Senatorial Forum and Breakfast Hosted by Hampton Roads Chamber

Thank you to the Hampton Roads Chamber for hosting the Senatorial Forum and Breakfast with U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner last week. I am pictured with the senators and colleagues Marcia Conston (President of Tidewater Community College) and Bryan Stephens (President of Hampton Roads Chamber).

Virginia Beach Featured in CBS Online Series

The City of Virginia Beach was featured in a CBS Worldwide-produced online series entitled “Global Thoughts Leaders” for being an innovative city for international business, manufacturing, and environmental efforts. These are just some of the many reasons why VWU/Virginia Beach is such a great place to learn, live, and grow.

President to President: Chapter 5 Now Available

The fifth chapter of the 2021-2022 President to President thought leadership series is now available online. In “The Role of the President: Leading by Wearing Bifocals Through the Pandemic and Beyond,” University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman, Ph.D., describes an approach to strategic planning and decision-making that focuses on both the short- and long-term impacts of actions and policies. She describes how the abrupt changes brought by the pandemic drove her campus to view challenges through two lenses: one focused on immediate needs and impacts, and one focused on future outcomes.

This is the final issue of Nota Bene for 2021. As a campus community, we have celebrated some wonderful accomplishments this year while also continuing to face difficult obstacles due to the ongoing pandemic. I offer my sincere thanks for your support and commitment to VWU. It has been a memorable, albeit challenging, year.

Annie and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year. May 2022 bring us all hope, peace, and continued progress.

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REFLECTIONS

I hope you find these links useful to my recent columns and publications: