Virginia Wesleyan College

In this issue :

 

Bring on the bats

Images of spring…buds on the trees, flowers blooming, bats…bats? Yes, bats.

Last spring Virginia Wesleyan’s Student Environmental Awareness League (SEAL) mounted 10 bat boxes around campus.

“They were hung after the annual migration,” said Vic Townsend, Ph.D., assistant professor of Biology. “So, we’re waiting for the annual migration to come back around.”

The campus is an ideal roosting ground for the bats with its many tree hollows and holes. If the bat housing project is successful, Townsend says he hopes to put up at least 20 more boxes for next spring.

The bats will provide research opportunities for biology and ecology students. Funding for this project is made possible in part through the VWC Science Undergraduate Research Fund. Donations to this fund can be made through the college.

Two new majors approved

Women’s and gender studies and computer science have been approved as two new majors at VWC.

Steven Mansfield, Ph.D., academic dean, says both majors came about as natural extensions of the programs and courses already established.

Women’s and gender studies was available to students as a minor and computer science was formerly part of the mathematics and computer science major. Women’s and Gender Studies is the eighth major under interdisciplinary majors and computer science will be part of the mathematics department.

All of the courses required for both majors are currently being offered to VWC students.

Bye-bye Marlin, hello Ichthysaurs…?

The VWC “Ichthyosaurs”…it has a nice ring to it, or at least the biology and earth science departments think it does.

This semester the science department revealed a full size replica of a complete nine-foot long Ichthyosaurs intermedius skeleton. It is currently on display in the first floor of Blocker Hall.

The replica is one of three exact copies of Henry Ward’s 1866 replica of the original fossil discovered by Thomas Hawkins in the early 1820s. This particular Ichthyosaur came from Glastonbury, England.

Vic Townsend, Ph.D, assistant professor of biology, says that to the best of his knowledge, VWC is the only institution that has a public display of an Ichthyosaurs specimen. The other two replicas are on display in Europe.

VWC-TV

If you’re visiting campus, be sure to turn those television sets to channel 46 for an inside look at life at Virginia Wesleyan.

After a dormant period, college communications is again coordinating programs for the college’s own television station. With assistance from the communications department, computer services and student intern Dori Broomell, the semester concluded with the airing of a student sponsored lecture and slide show of student images.

While reliant on student interest and dedication, the station is a blank slate for creativity. Plans include broadcasting recorded athletic events, club news, musical performances and lectures. Programming can only be viewed on televisions in residence halls and common areas on campus.

2004 Employee Appreciation Dinner

Employees were honored for their benchmark anniversaries and commitment to Virginia Wesleyan College at the annual Employee Appreciation Dinner in April.

Celebrating 10 years were Judy F. Coltrane; Patrick A. Goold, Ph..D.; David R. Hopper; Jan E. Kreidler; Judy C, Koons; Joanne M. Renn; Cary A, Sawyer; and Bruce Vaughan.

Celebrating 20 years were Moses M. Alston; Viola D. Evans; Audrey Gluck; Joyce B. Howell, Ph.D.; Kathy Merlock Jackson, Ph.D.; and Ruthanne Mullin.

Twenty-five year honorees were Robert B. Albertson, Ph.D.; David G. Garraty; and William M. Jones, Ph.D.

Neil P. Ramsey, Ph.D., celebrated 30 years, and Lawrence D. Hultgren, Ph.D., and E. Barclay Sheaks were honored for 35 years.

The Marlin Chronicle receives national recognition…again…

The student newspaper had another stellar year.

The Associated Collegiate Press named Julia Green, editor in chief of The Marlin Chronicle, a Leader of the Student Press in North America 2003 in recognition of her exemplary achievement. There are 19,000 students at ACP member publications at public and private colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Julia is one of 113 students who have received this honor. Green also received the National Student Journalist of the year award from the Society for Collegiate Journalists.

The SCJ awarded The Chronicle seven awards ranging from design to graphic illustration and overall excellence, and re-elected Bill Ruehlmann, Ph.D., professor of journalism and communications, as SCJ national president at its annual convention.

On the state level, the Virginia Press Association has awarded The Marlin Chronicle nine state awards in its 2003 college competition. In addition, the American Scholastic Press Association awarded The Marlin Chronicle a first place rating for the year, its tenth in a row, and its Best Service to the Community Award for the Chronicle’s Hurricane Isabel coverage.

The Chronicle received third place, Best All-Around Non-Daily, Region 2, from the national Society of Professional Journalists in its 2003 Mark of Excellence competition.

Sky Hook sculpture donated

Its abstract design can be seen as many different shapes, including a hook, an antelope or a question mark. Doesn’t a question mark seem just the shape for a small liberal arts college?

Mel and Judith Vinson-Klein ‘89 recently donated the sculpture, “Sky Hook” by James Sides.

The shiny silver, geometric angles of the 15-foot tall sculpture make it a cause for attention in the wooded area between Bray Village and the Fine Arts Building.

“ This sculpture represents, to me, strength, confidence, accomplishment and success, which is what I gained from my experience at Virginia Wesleyan College,” said Vinson-Klein.

Theater production serves as history lesson

When students auditioned for the spring theater performances, The Gaol Gateand The Freedom of the City, they had no idea about the experience they were about to participate in.

“It is turning into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the students involved in this project – a chance to see history through theatre and theatre through history,” said Sally Shedd, theater professor and play director, at the time of the performance.

Students immersed themselves in the Irish culture and history that was depicted in these two dramatic performances. They studied with members of the Irish American Society of Tidewater and learned how to Irish “social dance.”

They also spent time with four local people, formerly from Derry, two of whom lost relatives in the events of Bloody Sunday.

Arrivals and departures

Kate Loring, Ph.D., director of Adult Studies at Virginia Wesleyan College since 1996 will be the new vice president of administration and special assistant to the president, effective Aug. 1. Richard E. Hoehlein will become director of the Adult Studies Program.

 

Jack Sims was appointed vice president of college advancement in March. Prior to coming to Virginia Wesleyan College, Sims was vice president of advancement at Christopher Newport University.

Phillip Perdue, associate vice president for college advancement, joined the college staff in the spring. Perdue worked most recently as director of development for the School of Business at Virginia Commonwealth University.

After nine years as director of alumni relations, Kevin Clary ’84 has decided to leave his position to explore service opportunities within the United Methodist Church. We wish him the best of luck.

A trip to Cannes

Jason Gibbs ’06, 24, was en route to France when he was selected into the American Pavilion’s program for filmmakers during the 2004 Cannes Film Festival in May. The three-week movie extravaganza has become a Mecca for filmmakers and actors hoping to meet the right person at the right time. After half dozen essays and a few phone interviews, Gibbs was chosen as one of the 110 students selected to the American Pavilion project – more than 3,000 students applied.

During the festival, Gibbs had numerous networking opportunities, toured the University of Cannes and attended film lectures given by prominent people in the business. Gibbs was also able to show his films Mikey Likes It and Glas Hause during the student-screening portion of the festival.

Papers that paid off

Some Virginia Wesleyan students discovered this year that a well-written research paper can do more than boost a GPA.

The Society for Advancement of Management selected three students from the Adult Studies Program, Mark Prioletti, Sunny Coons and Dana Pieper, to present economics papers at its annual conference in Baltimore, Md., in March. Their papers were also published in the proceedings of the conference.

Also, eight students of Phi Alpha Theta, the history honor society, were honored by presenting papers at the Virginia Phi Alpha Theta regional conference. Approximately 50 papers were presented by students from schools including James Madison University, University of Richmond and the College of William and Mary and Virginia Wesleyan students came away with four awards.

The winners were Robert Harris, Best Paper in Undergraduate European Category (tie); Gary Smith, (ASP) Best Paper in Undergraduate European Category (tie); Julie Kalinowski (ASP), Best Paper in Undergraduate World Category; and Naomi Belsinger, Runner-Up in Undergraduate U.S. Category.

VWC enhances partnership with surrounding neighborhood
Building on many years of working together to provide services to residents near campus, Wesleyan and Virginia Beach’s Department of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation established a Neighborhood Resource Office at the college to take the existing partnership to a new level.

Vice President for Academic Affairs Stephen S. Mansfield and Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf addressed civic leaders and members of the college community at an open house on March 15.

The new office is located in the Office of Community Service in the Jane P. Batten Center. In addition to the office, the partnership includes a campus meeting room for civic leaders. The Virginia Beach Foundation contributed to the office by providing a complete computer workstation for use by staff and citizens.

The office will be staffed part time by two city employees of the Neighborhood Services Division of the Housing Department. It will make contact between citizen leaders, city staff and college faculty and staff more convenient.

“I hope that the presence of neighborhood resource persons on campus will make it easier for faculty and staff to connect student learning with meeting real community needs for the mutual benefit of all,” said Diane E. Hotaling, Wesleyan director of community service, who was instrumental in the city-college collaboration.

Wesleyan hosts national basketball championship

Virginia Wesleyan hosted the four top NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball teams from all over the country in the 2004 championship in March.Thousands of fans from Wisconsin, New York, Maine and Ohio filled the Jane P. Batten Student Center in support of their teams, the Pointers of University of Wisconsin-Steven’s Point, the Yellow Jackets of University of Rochester, the Polar Bears of Bowdoin College and the Quakers of Wilmington College. After an exciting weekend of basketball, Wilmington walked away with the title.

Virginia Wesleyan will host the 2005 championship next March 17-19. For more information, contact the Athletics Office.

 

Ethics Bowl Pro

After five years of coaching VWC’s Ethics Bowl team, with a winning team in 2000, Steven Emmanuel, Ph.D., professor of philosophy, has been promoted to Statewide Coordinator for the Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges (VFIC) Ethics Bowl Program.

Virginia Wesleyan will host the Ethics Bowl Competition in the fall.