"Meet & Greet" Provides Way to Get to Know SMT, New Faculty
By Melyssa Allen
A "Faculty Meet and Greet" event was held on Monday, Aug. 22 to provide the campus community with an opportunity to meet Meredith's newest faculty members. The event was sponsored by Faculty Development.
"I was delighted by the attendance and the welcome given to our new faculty," said Carla Ross, the new faculty development director.
New faculty members who attended were Karthik Aghoram (Biology), Max Creech (Foreign Languages), Joan Nicholas-Walker (Dance), Scott Wray (Health, Exercise and Sports Science), Sam Mosely (Biology), and Michiko Yamada (Communication).
Each new faculty member was asked to introduce himself or herself, and to share an interesting fact. Among those shared were Nicholas-Walker's admission that she considers herself to be klutzy off stage and new aquatics director Wray saying that it took him nine sessions of beginning lessons to learn to swim.
Ross prepared a test covering interesting facts about the College's Senior Management Team for all in attendance at the meet and greet. The first four people to complete the test correctly won door prizes.
Among the "slightly unknown" facts about SMT members were that Vice President for Business and Finance Bill Wade has played piano at numerous weddings and funerals, Vice President for Academic Affairs Rosalind Reichard has a brother with red hair, and President Maureen Hartford has visited a snake temple in Malaysia, despite her fear of snakes.
Ross said the event was a "fun way for everyone to learn something new and to get to know our leaders better."
For more information on Faculty Development, visit www.meredith.edu/facdev/.
Meredith's New VISTA Volunteer Brings Energy to Service Learning
By Jacqueline Stalls, '06
Shannon Kelly, Meredith's VISTA volunteer, says she is ready to make "service learning an epicenter of support and change on this campus." Walking into her office one can feel her excitement. Kelly is here with open ears and a willing determination to guide Meredith's service learning effort in a positive direction.
Kelly is here on behalf of the North Carolina Campus Compact VISTA program, which promotes service learning on college campuses and universities in the state. For one year, Kelly will work to strengthen Meredith's Service Council as well as promote the work of the Service Learning Action Committee (SLAC).
Kelly is very interested in seeing that individual students and professors alike are recognized for their work as volunteers and service workers. She also has many ideas of how Meredith College can incorporate service learning throughout all of its disciplines. Although she will only be here for one year, Kelly feels that by "sustaining and helping programs to learn" she can make a positive change for our campus.
Kelly is excited about being at Meredith College, and energized by the campus' new dedication to "Our World, Our Responsibility." She feels that "people are doing great things on this campus." The teacher/student relationship excites her and motivates her to guide our service learning efforts into the right direction.
In promoting Meredith's Service Council and other volunteer efforts, Kelly would "like to see a picture campaign on campus; a celebration of women and their involvements…a way to put a face to the Service Council." She wants to find a way to say, "this is what other people are doing….you can be involved too."
Kelly received her undergraduate degree from Allegheny College in Meadville, Penn. While majoring in English, she found her passion (and minor) in Values, Ethics, and Social Justice. She is currently taking a leave of absence from her doctoral studies at the University of Iowa, where her concentration is American Studies. Kelly looks at her time spent at Meredith as her "chance to get a taste of this life [working at a college] and see if it fits."
Kelly's office is located in SMB 173; she can also be reached at KellySha@meredith.edu.
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At Meredith's Faculty and Staff awards and Recognition Ceremony, Suzanne Slawinski was honored with the Staff Recognition Award. Slawinski who has been working at Meredith College for over seven years, serves as the office manager for the Dean of Students.