In Print

President Scott Miller actively writes for a number of publications. He authors a monthly higher education column for The Virginian Pilot, including the most recent "Teaching communications that matter" (May 2018) and "What is the value of a college education?" (June 2018). He regularly authors columns for College Planning and Management (Transitions 101, April 2018) and Enrollment Manager (The Environmental Leader: How Sustainability Offers a Competitive Edge in Enrollment, April 2018). He edits the presidential thought series "President to President," available online at president2president.com. And, he maintains a daily blog about campus life at prezscottmiller.blogspot.com.  
 
Wayne Pollock co-authored an article titled "American Therapeutic Recreation Association Code of Ethics: Impressions from the Profession" which was published in the 2017 Annual in Therapeutic Recreation.
 
Presentations and Panels  
 
Kimberly Fahle presented a paper titled "Speaking Through A Screen: Discourse Patterns in Synchronous Video Courses (SVCs)" as part of a panel on synchronous online writing courses at the Computers and Writing Conference held in Fairfax, VA.
 
Michelle Albert Vachris  gave a talk on "Teaching with Economics and Literature" at the BB&T Centers and Professors conference hosted by Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC.
 
At the spring meeting of the Virginia Independent Colleges & Universities Library Association, Sherry Matis gave a presentation about aligning INST 108: Roadmap to Research with the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy and Sue Erickson presented on the library's new INST 114: Read, Research, Respond course.
Other Accomplishments
 
Bill McConnell, Elizabeth Malcolm, and Maury Howard received a Dominion Energy Foundation grant in the amount of $15,000 for a collaborative E-STEM Program with YMCA's Camp Red Feather. Elementary education students will be trained in robotics, coding, and environmental science in order to develop and implement curriculum for Camp Red Feather participants.
 
Mort Gamble has been re-elected as a director at large on the board of Volunteer Hampton Roads.
 
Brian Kurisky, director of VWU's Wesleyan Engaged: Center fo r Civic Leadership and Service Learning, organized and led a two-day faculty development workshop
 
 
called  "Engaging the Educators: Facilitating Civic Engagement Works hop ." T he workshop included presentations, panel discussions, a meet-and-greet for campu s p artners, and a trip to the Chesapeake Bay Education Center. Faculty participants included: J oyce Easter, Wayne Pollock, Michelle Vachris , Kathy Stolley, Rob in Takacs, Larry Hultgren, Rebecca Hooker , Craig Wansink, Sharon Swift, Jayne Sullivan, Denise Wilkinson, Takeyra Collins, and Bill Gi bson.
 
Terry Lindvall co-hosted a tour of the Sacred Cities of Great Britain through Reformation Tours and Galilee Church, with a published itinerary of the travel locations (from Edinburgh through Durha m , York, Oxford, to Canterbury) with background on key cathedrals, saints, events, crypts, colleges, and pubs, along with a bit of the Royal Wedding.
 
On May 15th, Takeyra Collins was installed as Co-President of the Virginia State Therapeutic Recreation Association (VASTRA). On May 23, Takeyra Collins became a Board Member of the Ability Center of Virginia (ACVA) (formerly known as Cerebral Palsy of Virginia).
 
represented VWU at the May 5th Western Bayside Community Day. More tha n 2,000 meals were served at the community-building event.
 
 
 
 
Sharon Swift attended the Old Dominion University summer faculty conference, Ahead of the Curve: How ODU is Shaping the Online Learning Landscape.
 
Community Engagement 

Student teams in PORTfolio 122, team-taught by Larry Hultgren and
and Kathy Stolley , worked with REACH, Inc. (Reading Enriches All Children) to develop programs to encourage college-age volunteerism and build social media presence.  
 
The class is pictured with REACH Executive Director Dr. Jenny Goff.

Technology Corner
 
Portfolium is an online platform for electronic portfolios.  All students and faculty were sent an introductory e-mail in the fall and invited to create their user accounts. Departments such as the Honors College, PORTfolio, and Education and Business have started to make assignments that require a Portfolium account to be created, an assignment to be uploaded into Portfolium, and the final product to be graded through Blackboard.  Additional faculty training on Portfolium will be available in the future.  Students will be able to retain these electronic portfolios as alumni of the University. Faculty and staff can contact Robin Takacs at [email protected] to have an account created, if needed.   

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