August 2024

A Note from the Dean

Dear Colleagues,

August is upon us and I truly hope that the summer months have brought rest and productivity for you. This early newsletter is meant to remind you of some key policies and deadlines as you prepare to begin Fall 2024. These are noted below.

Thanks!

Introducing our new Executive Assistant

Fiorela Giraldo Prado de Lewis, or Fio Lewis for short, has joined our team!. She looks forward to assisting and connecting with faculty and staff as we gear up for Fall. She is a native of Lima, Peru, and has been part of the Lexington community for 14 years. Fio feels that Lexington has become her home and she loves to participate in its growth and development. She is passionate about immigration and social justice. In her spare time, Fio likes to volunteer in local community organizations and spend time with her daughter.

Erika Barajas has left W&L for a fancy new job at UVA. Please join us in wishing her good luck and in welcoming Fio to the office!

Administrative Deadlines and Campus Events

Important deadlines can be found on the Provost website under Administrative Deadlines. You can find the academic calendar here, and can find dates for University events on the University Calendar here and in The Columns website here.

Meeting Dates to Keep in Mind

University Faculty Meetings

Monday, September 9, 2024, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, November 4, 2024, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, January 13, 2025, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, March 10, 2025, 4:10 p.m.

Undergraduate Faculty Meetings

Monday, October 7, 2024, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, December 2, 2024, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, February 3, 2025, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, April 7, 2025, 4:10 p.m.
Monday, May 5, 2025, 4:10 p.m.
Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 4:10 p.m. (tentative)

College Faculty Meeting

Monday, October 28, 2024, 4:10 p.m.

All meetings are held in Stackhouse.

Look forward to seeing you there, sometimes there are cupcakes!

Religious Holiday Policy

Washington and Lee University values diverse religious perspectives and beliefs. Our students celebrate and value a variety of religious traditions. We are committed to supporting our students in observing their religious holidays, while also maintaining their commitment to their academic efforts.

As stipulated in the Faculty Handbook, apart from absences for observance of religious holidays, faculty may set their own attendance policies and have discretion to designate absences for other reasons as "excused" or "unexcused" based upon their professional judgement." (Revised policy approved by the faculty January 7, 2019)

Find the full religious holiday policy here.

Student Resource List

Below is a list of resources that benefit our students:

Food Pantry: aims to alleviate food insecurity among students by providing emergency food to those in need. The Food Pantry is open 24 hours a day and when Elrod Commons is open during breaks and holidays.

Clothes Closet: aims to create a safe space to distribute good quality clothing for all needs in confidence to current students.

The Graphing Calculator / Laptop Lending Program: The Laptop Lending Program is available to students to may need to temporarily borrow a laptop for a variety of reasons. In addition to laptops, Student Affairs offers graphing calculators which students may temporarily borrow if needed.

Angel Fund: provides discretionary funds for use in the case of extreme emergencies that result in students' needing financial support. Examples of events that may qualify for such emergency fund are the major loss of personal property as the result of a fire or flood, death or severe illness of a member of the immediate family that may result in travel requirements, or sudden loss of parental support as the result of a major natural disaster.

Guidance for Faculty Submitting Syllabi

Need help putting the finishing touches on your fall term syllabi? Here are two links from C&D and the Harte Center that may be helpful. The C&D guidance page includes information on required elements such as examples of disability accommodations language. And the Harte Center page offers additional suggestions and resources.

Conference Travel Funds

All tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible for up to $3600 in conference travel funds for the 2024-25 academic year. In order to receive approval, please fill out the Conference Travel Form located on our webpage. Funding is not guaranteed, however, in the past, we have been able to fund at least one Conference Travel Grant for everyone who applies. We ask that you provide us with as much advanced notice as possible. Visiting professors should consult their contracts to determine their funding amount and eligibility. Please contact Michelle Rothenberger or Kevin Beanland with any questions you may have about this program.

Traveling abroad for a work-related trip?

All personnel-faculty, staff, and students--participating in university-sponsored international travel must register their travel in the Travel Registry. This includes travel for any aspect of university business: conference travel, research travel, travel with an athletic team, travel with the choir, externships, and all other co-curricular international travel.

https://my.wlu.edu/center-for-international-education/faculty-and-staff-resources/travel-registry

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

Free Performances, Workshops, and Conference Funding for the American Shakespeare Center!

Be sure to take advantage of the very last year of free performances for your classes, and free visits/workshops (Core Curriculum (including playhouse tours and critical debriefings after performances) and Leadership Modules (including training on impact of breath, voice and nonverbal communication) for your classes from the American Shakespeare Center. As members of the ASC Consortium, W&L faculty and students have all of these programs available to them. To request tickets or workshops, email Aubrey Whitlock, Associate Director of Education at the American Shakespeare Center, with your request and copy Genelle Gertz. (Since this is offered free through our consortium membership, you do not need to request a mini-grant for ASC programming).

Here is the full 2024 Season; performances this fall include:

July 18 - Nov 23: Macbeth, July 25 - Oct 20: The Importance of Being Earnest, Sept 12- Nov 23: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Oct 17-Nov 24: Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors

You can also request class visits centered around the ASC Core Curriculum or Leadership Modules. You can also request a tailored workshop; for instance, if you are having students study any aspect of a trial, you can request a workshop on performative aspects of trial.

***Please note that you can reserve tickets for Winter Term 2025 now, by writing Aubrey Whitlock and copying Genelle Gertz. Otherwise, all funding for ASC performances and workshops ENDS December 31st, 2024.***

Assurance of Learning Workshop

The Office of Accreditation and Institutional Research is sponsoring a workshop during Fall Academy on August 27 during 2:30-4:30 pm in Leyburn 222. Register here.

Faculty participants in this workshop will examine the similarities and differences between course assessment and program assessment in order to help them understand how one approach can efficiently and effectively serve both purposes while saving them time and effort. At first these may look similar and use many of the same tools, but ultimately they provide very different snapshots of what students are learning.

Karen Tarnoff, Assistant Dean for Assurance of Learning and Assessment for the College of Business and Technology at East Tennessee State University, will lead this workshop. She has helped many schools develop, implement and refine their assessment systems.

Join Us For The Annual College Picnic!

Sunday, August 25, 2024, 4:00pm - 6:00pm, Liberty Hall Ruins

You and your family are warmly invited to this year's Annual College Picnic. Please join us as we welcome our new faculty and staff to the Washington and Lee community. We'll serve a traditional picnic menu, have children's activities, music and plenty of lively conversations. While we believe pets are family, we hope to meet your furry friends some other time.

This event is for all College faculty and staff.

Hope you can join us!

Please RSVP here

Do you work with or know some amazing people at W&L?

Know someone who's accomplishing great things? Take the time to show them your appreciation by submitting their name and info to The Office of Communications and Public Affairs. If selected, the person may be featured in the Employee Accolades portion of The Columns Weekly newsletter. W&L is filled with amazing people, let's tell each other all about them!