Photo courtesy University of Richmond
UR installs honeybee hives on campus
The University of Richmond has installed two honeybee hives on campus as a sustainable and educational response to global declines in bee populations.
“Maintaining working productive hives at UR will allow students to observe and work with a living laboratory, which will demonstrate the interconnected roles of individual species in our local ecosystem,” says Kirstin Berben, biology laboratories manager.
Biology and environmental studies students will maintain a pollinator garden that includes apple and peach trees, shrubs and flowers to attract bees and butterflies. The hives are located between the Wilton Center by Cannon Memorial Chapel and the steam plant.
Photo courtesy Virginia Tech
New interchange bridge at Virginia Tech
This fall, many visitors to Virginia Tech will drive in under the new Southgate interchange bridge sections that were installed in July. The Virginia Department of Transportation continues work on a new, grade-separated interchange to replace the intersection of Southgate Drive and U.S. Route 460 and relocate Research Center Drive. Based on VDOT’s schedule, the new interchange and Southgate realignment is expected to open for traffic by December, with the full project completed by December 2018.
Laura Gilchrist, UMW Class of 17, at an archaeological dig in Stafford County (Photo by Norm Shafer)
UMW students unearth unknown histories
The University of Mary Washington’s Center for Historic Preservation has spent the past three summers exploring the area around the slave quarters on a historic plantation in Stafford County. A team of students guided by Program Director Lauren McMillan unearthed a previously unknown antebellum building and numerous artifacts that shed light on the lives of the African-Americans who lived and labored at the plantation, both in bondage before the Civil War and as tenants during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras. The most prominent archaeological find of the project thus far is a trash pit dating back to the Union Army occupation of the plantation in the winter of 1862-1863.
“One of the things we’re trying to do out here is give a voice to the voiceless,” McMillan said. “Not everyone leaves a written record, but everyone leaves trash. We’re digging up these people’s trash, and we’re going to tell their stories.”
Online Virginia Network Authority names chair
Virginia House of Delegates Speaker-designee Kirk Cox has been elected chair of the new Online Virginia Network Authority.
“Almost 1 million Virginians started a college degree but never finished,” says Cox (R-Colonial Heights). “Online Virginia Network will help working adults, non-traditional students, and our military members achieve their education goals by giving them flexible access to courses without sacrificing quality of faculty, programs or support.”
Online Virginia brings a selection of George Mason and Old Dominion Universities’ online programs to one web portal, allowing busy adult learners to find and enroll in high-demands programs and finish bachelor degrees online. The program wants to eventually include community college and other state university course offerings in the portal. onlinevirginia.net.
W&M celebrates 50th anniversary of the admission of its first female African-American students
When Karen Ely, Lynn Briley, and Janet Brown arrived at William & Mary as freshmen 50 years ago, they made history as the university’s first female African-American students and its first black residential students. The school unveiled a yearlong series of special events, guest speakers, and performances centered around the theme of “Sankofa,” which, in the Akan language of West Africa, reflects the idea that "it is not taboo to go back and fetch what you forgot." The commemoration slogan, "Building on the Legacy," derives from the Sankofa teaching that we must know and understand the past to move forward and make the most of the future.
Mary Baldwin offers new MBA with a social conscience
A new master’s degree program at Mary Baldwin University prepares students to lead businesses or organizations driven by purpose, and not just profit. Instead of focusing on traditional business structures, the program follows the B Corp (Benefit Corporation) Impact Assessment Model, which takes into account community, customer, environment, governance, and workers.
The MBA can be completed in as few as 32 weeks, either completely online or in a hybrid online and in-class format. The program is designed so that students can customize their experience — whether their goal is to fast track to a new job title, change careers, or launch a business. Mary Baldwin expects its purpose-driven MBA to appeal to students from a range of academic backgrounds.
VCU Engineering students take time off to get ahead
School of Engineering students at Virginia Commonwealth University are choosing to further their education outside the classroom, even if it means delaying their graduation. The school’s cooperative education or “co-op” program opens the door for students to work full time in a paid professional engineering position while taking a semester away from coursework. Co-ops can take many different forms, but, generally, students alternate a work term and an academic term.
“The experience makes pushing back their graduation more than worthwhile. It changes students so much,” said Anita Hazel Taylor, director of VCU Engineering Career Services.
More information will be available at the School of Engineering Internship & Career Fair on Wednesday, Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Engineering East Hall and Snead Hall. Business suits are required attire.
