Board of Trustees Approves Tenure and Promotion
The Meredith College Board of Trustees approved the following faculty promotions at its spring meeting.
Tenure:
Mary Jane Lenard, School of Business
Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor:
Astrid Billat, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
Julie Schrock, Department of Education
Diane Strangis, Department of Human Environmental Sciences
Promotion to Full Professor:
Francie Cuffney, Department of Biological Sciences
Rebecca Duncan, Department of English
Bill Landis, Department of Human Environmental Sciences
Janet Nelson, Department of Religion and Philosophy
Emeritus Status:
Suzanne Britt, Department of English
Louise Reiss, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures
In addition to these promotions, the Board of Trustees also approved faculty sabbaticals for Professor of Psychology Lyn Aubrecht, Professor of Education Jane Gleason, Associate Professor of Art Shannon Johnstone, Associate Professor of Religion Margarita Suarez, Associate Professor of History Greg Vitarbo and Professor of Human Environmental Sciences Paul Winterhoff.
New Board of Trustees Members
Five new members were named to Meredith’s Board of Trustees.
The new members are Peggy Beale, ’77, of Norfolk, Va., Gregory Bennett, of Cary, N.C., Hulene McLean, ’72, of Charlotte, N.C., Kel Normann, of Sanford, N.C., and Betty Raft, ’56, of Pittsboro, N.C. They will serve from July 2009 through June 2013.
Meredith College Earns Environmental Award
By Melyssa Allen
Meredith College is one of the recipients of the 2009 City of Raleigh Environmental Awards, which were presented during a ceremony held on Earth Day, April 22, 2009, at Marbles Kids Museum.
The City of Raleigh Environmental Awards are presented to individuals and organizations that have demonstrated a commitment to the environment.
Meredith College was recognized for its on-campus composting program, which began in 2002 with a goal of diverting from the landfill 100 percent of the food waste produced by the College’s dining hall.
Initiated by Meredith’s Aramark-managed Food Services and Facilities Services departments, the program has been successfully reducing the campus environmental footprint for more than six years. A pioneer effort for Wake County colleges, the project has met diversion goals and exceeds expectations with continuous innovation.
The effort has had tangible environmental benefits, including diverting 95 tons of waste in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, more than 60 tons were diverted. The amount was reduced from previous totals because of waste reduction goals and the implementation of trayless dining on campus.
Meredith College has committed to improving its environmental citizenship in a variety of ways in recent years, including efforts to “green” both Meredith’s institutional practices and its educational offerings.
One example is the 2008-09 campus theme, “Sustaining Our Environment: Developing Our Greenprint.” The yearlong focus is meant to be a starting point for an ongoing campus conversation on sustainable decision-making for Meredith and its students, faculty and staff.
For more information on Meredith’s sustainability efforts, visit www.meredith.edu/sustainability.
Johnson Hall Stands in for The Globe Theatre
By Melyssa Allen
Members of the Meredith College community were able to “time travel” from Johnson Hall to The Globe Theatre on April 21, 2009, in an attempt to recreate the theatre experience of Shakespeare’s time.
Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Garry Walton, who teaches a popular Shakespeare course each semester, explained that the dimensions of Johnson Hall’s Rotunda are very similar to the Globe. The Rotunda’s interior dimension is 60 feet, while the Globe’s was 70 feet.
Walton discussed the challenges a theatre production presented in Shakespeare’s day.
“Imagine a space about this size with 3,000 people in very close quarters … imagine trying to attract the attention of the audience,” Walton said. Other issues included playing to an audience on different levels and having no female performers.
In order to overcome these challenges, Shakespeare would involve the audience and “begin with a bang,” Walton said. “Think about how many of his plays begin with a ghost or witches.”
The special event, called “Playing to a Different House: Shakespeare’s Globe in Johnson Rotunda,” was meant to show that “with a good script and a good cast, almost any flexible space will work just fine,” Walton said.
Theatre majors Sara Croninger, ’10, and Lauren Moore, ’11, helped Walton prove his point by performing a scene from “The Taming of the Shrew.”
The program was presented by Meredith’s Medieval-Renaissance Studies Program’s 5:00 Scholars Series.
Shown in Photo: Student actors Lauren Moore, ’11, and Sara Croninger, ’10, with Professor of English Garry Walton after the 5:00 Scholars event.
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2009-10 Lecture Series to Focus on “Catalysts for Change”
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Presidential Lecture Series at Meredith College will feature speakers who are “Catalysts for Change” during the 2009-10 academic year.
The speaker series will feature the following events.
Frank Warren, Creator of the PostSecret Project
September 9, 2009
7 p.m., Jones Auditorium
Frank Warren is the sole founder and curator of the PostSecret Project, a collection of over 200,000 highly personal and artfully decorated postcards mailed anonymously from around the world, displaying the soulful secrets we never voice. In 2009, “Forbes” magazine listed him as the number four most popular “web celeb,” behind celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, tech blogger Michael Arrington and Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com.
Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist
February 23, 2010
7 p.m., Jones Auditorium
A stylish writer with a humanizing touch on any issue, public or personal, Ellen Goodman is an American original. Her Pulitzer Prize commentary appears in more than 450 newspapers, making her one of the two most syndicated columnists in the United States.
Nancy Goodman Brinker, Founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
April 21, 2010
7 p.m., Jones Auditorium
Nancy G. Brinker ignited the global breast cancer movement 27 years ago by promising her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would put an end to the shame, the pain, the fear and the hopelessness that breast cancer caused. In 1982, Brinker, along with a handful of dedicated friends, founded Susan G. Komen for the Cure in her sister’s memory. The organization is the largest source of nonprofit funds dedicated to the fight against breast cancer in the world.
Wallace Lecture to Feature Nobel Laureate
In addition to the Presidential Lecture Series, Meredith’s Lillian Parker Wallace Lecture will also support the “Catalysts for Change” theme. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai will present the lecture on Thursday, October 1, 2009, at 7 p.m. in McIver Amphitheater. Maathai, a world leader in environmental issues, is renowned in Kenya as the founder of the Green Belt Movement, ardent environmental advocate, and a passionate spokesperson on the rights and roles of women.
Faculty/Staff Awards and Recognition Event Held
Meredith College’s annual Faculty/Staff Awards and Recognition event was held on Friday, April 24 in Jones Chapel.
The awards ceremony celebrated faculty/staff longevity, honored retiring faculty members and announced 2009 recipients of faculty/staff awards.
Retiring faculty members Assistant Professor of English Suzanne Britt and Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures Louise Reiss were honored during the event, with tributes offered by Garry Walton, dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, and Vice President for Academic Programs Allen Page.
Walton spoke of Britt’s accomplishments as an educator and a writer.
“Our wish is for her to be continually inspired so that we can continue to reap the benefits,” Walton said of Britt, who is retiring after serving the English faculty since 1987.
Page read a tribute to Reiss, a faculty member since 1982, written by Professor of Foreign Languages and Literatures Brent Pitts.
Reiss “deserves much of the credit for the creation and good health of [Meredith’s] Italian program,” Page said. “She is a superb friend and colleague.”
Faculty/staff award recipients for 2009 are as follows:
PAULINE DAVIS PERRY AWARDS
Kent Lyman, professor of music, Award for Research and Publication and/or Artistic Achievement
Shannon Grimes, assistant professor of religion and philosophy, Award for Excellence in Teaching
The Pauline Davis Perry Award for Research and Publication and/or Artistic Achievement is given to a faculty member who has done exceptional research, publication and/or artistic achievement. The Pauline Davis Perry Award for Excellence in Teaching is given to an outstanding teacher at Meredith.
LAURA HARRILL PRESIDENTIAL AWARDS
Barbara True-Weber, professor of political science and Paul Winterhoff, associate professor of human environmental sciences and director of the general education program.
The Laura Harrill Presidential Awards are presented to two faculty members each year, in recognition of their noteworthy contributions to the advancement of Meredith College.
HARRY AND MARION EBERLY FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AWARDS
Erin Lindquist, assistant professor of biological sciences
The Harry and Marion Eberly Faculty Development Awards are given to deserving faculty members for the purpose of helping them progress in their area of expertise.
The cash awards are funded through the Faculty Applied Meredith Endowment, or FAME, established in 1977 as an independent fund for supplemental faculty benefits.
ACCESS AWARD
Karthik Agorham, assistant professor of biological sciences
The Access Award honors a member of the faculty or staff at Meredith College who has made significant contributions toward the advocacy, support, encouragement and success of students with disabilities. Nominations are collected from students with disabilities and are voted on by the Disability Services Panel.
PRESIDENTIAL STAFF AWARD
Sherri Henderson, director of the Carroll Health Center
Established in 2002, the Presidential Staff Award is given in recognition of exemplary service to the Meredith community. The Meredith College president chooses the recipient.
STAFF RECOGNITION AWARDS
Alyce Turner, departmental assistant, Department of Art
William Cooper, housekeeping shift supervisor, Facilities Services
Staff Recognition Awards are presented annually to two staff members who, through their job performance, have demonstrated initiative, teamwork, extra effort and outstanding customer service to the Meredith community.
The recipients of the 2009 London Study Travel Grant were also announced.
Veronica Johnson, administrative assistant in the School of Education, Health and Human Sciences, Kathy Owen, office manager in the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development, and Diane Sherman, web services supervisor in Technology Services, were selected for this opportunity to join Meredith’s study abroad program for a week in London.
A new addition to this year’s event was recognition of the faculty and staff who won prizes during Meredith’s RecycleMania competition.
