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Number 9, February 2008
Campaign Increases Dynamic Opportunities for Faculty Growth
Virginia Wesleyan Committed to Faculty Professional Development
VWC is committed to providing professional development opportunities to keep professors current in their fields of research and up-to-date on the most effective instructional strategies and technologies. Ensuring that faculty members can attend national conferences, showcase the College's undergraduate research, and present scholarly papers will raise Virginia Wesleyan's profile among institutions of higher learning.
Faculty Are Evaluated in Part Based on Their Scholarly Research
"For faculty to teach well, they must stay current with trends in their disciplines. Faculty professional development, such as travel to research libraries and presentations at professional conferences, enhances the level of faculty scholarship and the quality of the undergraduate learning experience."
-- Dr. Timothy G. O'Rourke, Vice President for Academic Affairs
Supporting these endeavors is important for the growth of each faculty member as well as the quality of education provided to our students. Each of the 84 members of the Virginia Wesleyan faculty submit an Annual Report of Professional Activities, which documents their professional development. The reports include books and articles published, speeches offered, curriculum developed and grants sought beyond their regular time in the classroom.
Faculty Development Brings Excitement to the Classroom
The financial assistance provided to faculty through professional development funds helps to provide them time for new research. At Virginia Wesleyan, faculty members regularly include students in their research projects offering undergraduates first-hand opportunities to conduct original research. Later, faculty members will include their research findings in their course curriculum, which provides students with fresh and dynamic course material.
Grants Make Research and Conference Travel Possible
Faculty development funds often provide assistance for travel to conduct research or to attend professional meetings to present research. Below are a few examples from the summer of 2007:
- Dr. Stu Minnis, associate professor of communications, traveled to Vietnam
for a month-long trip to record footage for a Hue Medical College Documentary
Film after receiving a summer development grant.
- Assistant Professor of History Dr. Richard Bond, who received a summer
development grant, conducted research for his project titled "Captivity,
Empire, and Slavery in Colonial New York." For his project, Bond traveled
to the Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences where he presented
his research on the ways Spanish freemen condemned to slavery in eighteenth-century
New York City employed their knowledge of and connections within the Atlantic
world to contest their slave status and regain their freedom.
- Batten Associate Professor of History Dr. Dan Margolies used his summer development grant to conduct research for his book on the first full history of the United States' adoption and often curious use of the complex legal concept known as extraterritoriality, which is the extension of claims of sovereign jurisdiction beyond national borders. Margolies conducted his research at the Library of Congress and the National Archives. He presented his research at the 2007 Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., as well as at the American Studies Association of Korea International Conference in Songnisan, Korea.
Progress Toward Our Goal
The Key to the Future Campaign began on July 1, 2003. As of December 31, 2007, the College raised $48 million, an increase of $2.5 million since our last update.
Each endowment, each capital improvement and every Annual Fund dollar supports the drive to be a Phi Beta Kappa-caliber college.
Campaign Leadership Gifts
Endowed Professorship Honors the Late Dr. Thomas R. Fanney '76
Associate Professor of Mathematics/Computer Science, Dr. Margaret Reese, has been named the first recipient of the Thomas R. Fanney Distinguished Professorship in Mathematics. The Thomas R. Fanney Distinguished Professorship in Mathematics was established to honor the late Dr. Thomas R. Fanney '76, professor of mathematics, who passed away in February 2005.
Reese, who came to Virginia Wesleyan in 2003, received her B.A. from Converse College, and received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of South Carolina. Most recently, she received her M.S. in Statistics from Old Dominion University. She is one of three professors at Virginia Wesleyan who received a grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study the effects of green roofs on water quality.
The professorship is designed to remember the life of a respected alumnus and beloved faculty member. A dedicated mathematician, Fanney received his master's degree from Colorado State University and his doctorate from Virginia Tech. In 1989, he became the first Wesleyan graduate with a Ph.D. to return to his alma mater to teach.
FACT: There have been 30 gifts of $250,000 or more made to the Key to the Future Campaign.
The Thomas R. Fanney Distinguished Professorship in Mathematics was established by a gift from William J. Fanney, Tom's father and Emeriti Member of the Board of Trustees. The gift was then matched with an award by the Frank E. Brown Challenge.
Thomas and Betty Broyles
Tom and Betty Broyles have made gifts totaling $328,100 to the Key to the Future Campaign. Their gifts have created the Thomas C. and Betty F. Broyles Library Collection and supported the College's new research vessel (currently under construction). The gifts also included support for the Annual Fund for Academic Excellence and for the Venture Capital Fund. The Broyles have also left an estate plan gift to the College's Endowment.
The Broyles first became affiliated with the College when their daughter, Elizabeth '79, attended Virginia Wesleyan. Mr. Broyles later joined the board serving from 1982 to 2007. Mr. Broyles is of counsel in Kaufman & Canoles' Virginia Beach office. He was named Virginia Beach First Citizen in 2002. He received his undergraduate and masters degrees from Virginia Tech and his law degree from Washington and Lee University. The Broyles reside in Virginia Beach and are active in the Virginia Beach United Methodist Church.
Campaign update archives
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2007 |
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8, August 2007 |
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2006 |
2005 |
| Number 5, November 2006 Number 4, June 2006 Number 3, April 2006 Number 2, January 2006 |
Number 1, October 2005 |