Academic Progress
A number of new and exciting initiatives were introduced this year to enhance the academic opportunities for undergraduate students. Significant steps have been taken toward the goal of having one faculty member for every 15 students. Extensive searches yielded 14 new faculty members for this academic year.
The newly hired faculty will have an immediate impact on the curriculum, providing, for example, the addition of courses in Arabic in the modern foreign languages department and an expansion of courses in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. That department’s expanded offerings will help meet the demands of the University’s newest major: anthropology. Under the 15-to-1 hiring plan, a total of 40 new faculty positions will be added over the next four years. This will allow for additional sections of courses to meet enrollment demand in specific subjects, development of new courses to broaden the curriculum in existing subject areas, and more opportunities for students to participate in internships, research and service-learning activities.Selective liberal arts colleges like Mary Washington attract faculty who value teaching, yet they also enrich students’ educational experiences with meaningful contributions to their respective fields. An outstanding model of such a faculty member is Professor J. William Kemp, Jr., who this year retired as Professor Emeritus of English. Kemp, noted for his ability to balance teaching with scholarship and service, joined the Mary Washington faculty in 1970. He served as a member of numerous departmental and University-wide committees; assistant vice president for academic affairs and assistant dean for programs and projects; and for two five-year terms, he was chair of the Department of English, Linguistics, and Speech.
Kemp brought to Mary Washington two major grants, one establishing a residence life-based alcohol and drug behavior program, and another focusing on computer literacy at a time when the personal computer was still in its infancy. He also wrote a book and numerous scholarly articles in his wide-ranging areas of expertise, including literary critical theory, animal communications, computer applications in the humanities, and British literature. In 2000, he won the Grellet C. Simpson Award for outstanding undergraduate teaching, the University’s most prestigious faculty award.Experiential learning is an integral part of a Mary Washington education, enhancing the quality of student life and stimulating personal, social and intellectual growth. Accordingly, the Office of International Programs has expanded study-abroad opportunities for students, introducing partnerships with a diverse array of institutions from Australia to the British Isles, Spain and Hong Kong. The most recent liaison has been established in Cairo to reflect students’ increased interest in the Middle East.
Another enhancement to the educational opportunities for UMW students and faculty is the establishment of an electron microscopy facility in the Jepson Science Center. Faculty in the departments of Environmental Sciences and Geology, Biological Sciences and Chemistry successfully collaborated on a research grant funded by the National Science Foundation that resulted in the installation of a variable-pressure scanning electron microscope. This development encouraged an alumna to generously donate a transmission electron microscope. Already, these two research-grade microscopes have enabled a number of undergraduates to pursue projects they normally would not be able to undertake at this academic level.
The University of Mary Washington serves as an engine for economic growth and development in the region, particularly at the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, where nontraditional approaches are the norm. On that campus, adult students pursue lifelong learning in growing numbers and for increasingly varied reasons due to rapid technological, social and economic changes.
New this year is a program in project management, offered as a certificate or as a concentration within the MBA program. Other programs, which were approved for implementation this fall, include an MBA concentration in risk management and insurance; an M.Ed. area of specialization and a graduate certificate in instructional technology leadership to prepare teachers for the seamless integration of technology into teaching; and undergraduate concentrations within the Bachelor of Professional Studies program in accounting and in network security.
In addition, the College of Graduate and Professional Studies now has a Writing Center, which provides peer tutoring and online writing lab technology. It assists with all aspects of writing from conception to organization, documentation, research and design. Also, the Stafford campus held its first Career Fair, with 24 employers representing insurance, banking, accounting, education and government. Omicron Psi, the first UMW honor society to allow membership to graduate as well as undergraduate students, inducted several members. The CGPS library, which serves 24,000 patrons, expanded its hours, established a children’s literature collection, added periodicals on the information-age economy, and continued the expansion of the business and education collection.
Under the aegis of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies, the Rappahannock Region Small Business Development Center (RRSBDC) had a successful year. Economic impacts reported by its clients included $7.7 million in gross sales, $4.1 million in increased sales, 185 jobs created or retained, and $1.3 million in new capital investment. RRSBDC partnered with the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology’s Procurement Technical Assistance Center to provide training and federal procurement assistance and teamed with the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance, and the Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Stafford departments of economic development to host the first annual Small Business Services Expo. This event highlighted federal, state and local agencies that provide free services to small business owners in the region. RRSBDC’s Warsaw office established the Bay Area Business Networking Group and hosted breakfast forums for business owners in the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula to network and keep pace with business topics.
This watershed year culminated in May with a joint commencement ceremony for the two colleges, symbolizing their unity as a university. The first diplomas, distinguished by the overarching name of the University of Mary Washington and the new University seal, were awarded to a record 1,112 graduates. Addressing the students, Ambassador Rose M. Likins ’81 encouraged them to make a difference in the world. She described how she has utilized the skills and knowledge gained from her classes at Mary Washington to communicate with political leaders and people around the globe.