A message from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs No Images? Click here A New Year and New OpportunitiesTo my colleagues in Student Affairs, I wish you a heartfelt “Happy New Year!” I’m hopeful that your holiday break was restful, enjoyable, and full of fellowship with friends and family! To get the newsletter started I’m sharing a few resolutions I’ve been thinking about this week. At this week’s Student Affairs Leadership meeting I started with a quick little ice-breaker asking folks to introduce themselves to some new colleagues with the option to share a New Year’s resolution. I planned poorly because when it was my turn, I didn’t have a resolution to share. So thank you for the inspiration to all the folks that shared resolutions at our meeting, and here are some resolutions I’ve been thinking about: Avoid the Flu! Flu season is already taking a toll and will no doubt be a major factor early this semester. Remember the three “C’s” for flu prevention – Clean, Cover, Contain. If you get sick, please stay home and get well soon! Make Something Better! Maybe it’s turning in a work order to get something fixed, or updating a business process in the office, or assisting a student in some way. Look for a chance to solve a problem and leave the situation better – it feels good to take action! Reach Out to Someone! This is a great time of year to reach out to others. Maybe you could follow-up with a student? Or meet with a colleague that you need to work through an issue? Maybe you need to catch up with an old friend? Take the initiative to reach out and let someone know you care. Stay Awesome People! It’s really easy to lose perspective in the busy days at the beginning of the term, but the folks in this Division are Awesome! We have so many amazing colleagues doing important work. Give yourself and your colleagues some appreciation when you see a job well done! That are so many exciting opportunities ahead of us this year! Thank you for all that you do and will do to make a difference for our students in 2018!! Sam Miller
News & UpdatesWhere are 'Whee'?: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at WCUThe 2018 MLK Celebration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at Western Carolina University promises to bring opportunities for remembrance, community building and reflection. On Monday, January 15th, there will be a commemorative unity march and rally. The event is sponsored by the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and Intercultural Affairs and will occur at 2pm by the Fountain. Intercultural Affairs promotes opportunities for deeper exploration of issues related to race relations in the U.S. in a Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Education Session (CASE). This program will occur at 6PM on January 18, 2018 in the Raleigh Room of U.C. This highly interactive session will be facilitated by Dr. Dana Patterson and feature multimedia prompts that help us to think deeper about some of the imagery that permeates our senses daily through music, television, movies and social media. This particular CASE session is entitled “I’m not a Racist” and will help to set the intellectual stage for our main MLK Lecture which will take place on January 29th. Jane Elliot, the renowned educator who changed the national dialogue around race, power and privilege with her blue eyes/brown eyes experiment will lecture on the prominence of those issues in modern times. The lecture will take place in Bardo at 6:30 on January 29th. Jane’s relevance to the legacy of Dr. King dates back to her attempt to explain to her class of all white third grade students why Dr. King had been assassinated. The programs planned for MLK 2018 will provide several opportunities to reflect on where “Whee” in Cullowhee are in relationship to achieving unity across differences. MLK Holiday 2018 is the precise time for personal introspection and a renewed commitment to work towards a more “just community”. Resolution 2018The Department of Campus Activities is proud to once again present “Resolution 2018” from January 12-21, 2018, to start off the spring semester. This is a tradition at WCU where Catamounts can participate in a variety of activities and engage in opportunities to make some New Year’s resolutions by getting involved in the many events the Department of Campus Activities and other departments on campus are sponsoring. Some of this year’s events include the start to sorority recruitment, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Unity March, and an LMP movie. Additionally, each of the residence halls will be putting on events for their students. Visit the DCA website to see all the events and activities taking place during Resolution 2018. Lost & Found PolicyIn January select departments will begin piloting a new Lost and Found Property protocol. This new protocol creates consistency, as all departments will now enter items into a division-wide online database while they attempt to identify and contact the owner. Twice a week, departments will deliver all items which have not been picked up by the owner to a collection desk located in the University Center for appropriate handling and disposal. Campus Recreation and Wellness, Residential Living, and Campus Activities will pilot the new process in January and February with a division-wide roll out planned after Spring Break. All departments will be contacted for training prior to full implementation. Thank you to Keith Corzine and Jeff Hughes for their leadership and development of the new protocol. Diversity Student Ambassador ProgramThe Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Programs (EODP) at Western Carolina University has established the Diversity Student Ambassador Program to have students of diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds advance the learning and knowledge of diversity by applying theory to practice. This prepares students with the skills needed in a growing multicultural world and challenges them to identify the legacy they want to leave behind. At WCU, we strive to cultivate student leaders who are focused on current diversity issues. “We are excited to have a group of students for whom inclusive excellence is important,” says Chief Diversity Officer, Ricardo Nazario Colon, “We look forward to their peer-to-peer work and the programs they will enact.” The ambassadors are: Daniel Ortiz (Sr., Criminal Justice & Sociology) , David Benoit (So., Political Science & International Studies), Imani Jones (So., Communication Sciences and Disorders & Special Education), Autumn James (Fr. Film and Television Production), Eric Cotter (International Student, Parks and Recreation Management), Robert Mack (So., International Studies, Political Science, & Japanese) and Josiah Buchanan (Jr., International Studies & Political Science). Graduate Assistant and Coordinator of the Diversity Ambassador Student Program, Caroline Duffy, hopes the program will be able to give students a voice and create discussion on diversity-related issues within the WCU community and beyond. For more information, you can visit the EODP website. Flu PreventionFlu Season arrived along with the holidays. Our campus experienced a very, busy flu season last spring that lasted well into April. We are anticipating a similar season this spring. Recent news reports predict that this will be a particularly harsh flu season, and that the flu vaccine may only be about 10% effective. The strain of flu this year is different than last year and different than the vaccine. Getting a flu vaccine is still one of the most important steps you can take to help protect yourself from the flu. Even when it is determined that the flu shot is for a different strain of flu, it will help reduce the symptoms and help you recover faster. Please remember other interventions you can take to help prevent the spread of flu:
SACSCOC UpdateIn December, university leadership was notified that SACSCOC had officially reaffirmed WCU's accreditation. At the same time, WCU was placed on monitoring for the institutional effectiveness standard. As such, we will be required to submit a progress report on the university's progress on Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1 in September. Please be aware that 2017-2018 unit assessment reports will be submitted as supporting documentation for this report. Change in Wireless AccessDo you want to continue to have wireless access? Make sure you have registered your wireless devices on the eduroam wireless network by January 29th. You can set up your devices by following these simple steps. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the IT Help Desk or visit the Technology Commons. You may check the status of your requests at any time at http://help.wcu.edu/.
Leadership Meeting NotesThe Student Affairs leadership team met on January 9th. The following topics were discussed:
RemindersAdverse WeatherAll WCU employees should be familiar with the Adverse Weather Policy, Policy #41. Performance EvaluationsWork plans for SHRA employees and work goals for EHRA employees should have been entered in the HR Talent management system. Staff & Student HighlightsStaff Highlight: Director, Undergraduate AdmissionMike Langford began working at WCU in March of 2016. He started in the Graduate School and Research office and moved to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions in April of 2017. Originally from Raleigh, NC he has worked in or with universities for his entire career. Regardless of where he worked, “Undergraduate admission is where I most directly saw dreams become reality for students”. Admissions played a huge part in his undergraduate experience at Lenoir-Rhyne University. The experience helped him easily decide to accept a job as an admissions counselor upon graduation. He continued his studies at Appalachian State with a degree in Higher Education Administration. Mike stays active continuing to use his undergraduate degree in music singing with the Asheville Symphony Chorus, enjoying anything that keeps him outside, and keeping up with his active family. Mike’s wife, Angela, is a mental health professional and Candler, NC native who he met while attending Lenoir-Rhyne University. They have two daughters Maya, 11 and Leigh, 6. Mike Langford
Tatum Beck
Staff Highlight: CatCard Administrative Support AssociateTatum is a Sylva native and has been with the CatCard office for 20 years. She loves her job and meeting new students and staff. Tatum feels that WCU is a great place to work. In her free time, Tatum enjoys spending time with her friends and family. Student Highlight: Assistant Chief Campus EMSMichael Penland is a senior from Asheville, NC working toward completion of the Emergency Medical Care program in May 2018. Michael has been a part of the WCU EMS team for two years and is currently the Assistant Chief of WCU EMS, serving as the team’s training officer. It is Michael’s responsibility to coordinate continuing education for the medics on the team as well as oversee the onboarding of new rookies that join the team throughout the year. When asked why emergency medicine, Michael replied, “Emergency Medical Technicians were the unsung heroes in my life multiple times throughout my childhood and I grew up with such a respect for the career. I was meant to help people.” After graduation, Michael plans to move back to his home town and work for a local EMS agency. Michael has had an outstanding academic career here at WCU. He is the recipient of the Lovin-Belcher Scholarship awarded to the student with the highest GPA in the EMC program at Western Carolina University, and has been recognized seven times on the Chancellor’s List. Michael PenlandImportant DatesJanuary 12, 2018 Fall dashboards due |