MEMORANDUM
TO: Faculty, College of Arts and Sciences
FROM: Rosemary Barra
Interim Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Dean of the Faculty
DATE: August, 2008
The end of the summer is fast approaching, and it is again time to provide you with information for the upcoming year. Included with this memo are copies of the College of Arts and Sciences Calendar, the Schedule of Meetings for the 2008-09 Academic Year, the Faculty and Department Chair Dates and Deadlines for the 2008-09 Academic Year, and the Schedule of Events for the week preceding the start of classes.
First, I want to thank all of you for the excellent work you did last year. Not only did we develop and implement a new general education curriculum, but we also celebrated our Centennial Year with many outstanding exhibitions, performances, and lectures, and had a particularly memorable Founder’s Day Celebration. In addition, we completed the search for our new President, and I know you all join me in extending a very warm welcome to Judy Hample, who officially joined us on July 1. Although the details have not been worked out, her inauguration as Mary Washington’s eighth president will take place on Friday, April 3, 2009. Please put this on your calendar now, and as soon as the details are finalized I will notify you of the schedule.
Also, please note the following change to the academic calendar. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 19th, is a holiday, and no classes will be held that Monday.
Move In Day for our new students is Wednesday, August 20th, and a complete Orientation Schedule is available at www.umw.edu/cas/orientation. The enclosed Schedule of Events lists all of the faculty events during the week of August 18, so I will only remind you of the events that involve the entire faculty that are scheduled for Thursday, August 21st. The opening Faculty Meeting will be held in the Great Hall starting at 10:30 am, and it will be followed immediately by the Faculty Luncheon. Also, Honor Convocation will be held at 4:00 pm in Dodd Auditorium. All faculty will assemble outside of George Washington Hall in academic regalia at 3:40 pm. An Honor Reception for faculty and students will be held in front of George Washington Hall starting at 5:15 pm.
The faculty information and forms on-line have been updated and are now available at www.umw.edu/acaffairs. One new form is the Request for Funds in Support of First-year Seminar. As you know, with the implementation of the new General Education Curriculum, First-year Seminar is now required of all entering freshman, and some of you may be planning field trips or special activities for your seminar class. You may request support for these activities by filling out and submitting the request form to my office at least two weeks prior to the event. I will review your request, and will quickly notify you of my funding decision. I also want to bring to your attention the new Bias Offense and Incident Reporting Policy approved by the Board of Visitors at their April, 2008 meeting. The policy can be found at www.umw.edu/bias, and I ask that you familiarize yourself with the policy and procedures.
I hope you enjoy the next few weeks, and I look forward to seeing you as we start the 2008-09 Academic Year.