Faculty/Staff Accomplishments and Departmental News 3/14/18

In this issue we celebrate the accomplishments of faculty in business, music, and psychology. We also share another edition of accessibility tips provided by Disability Services and information about the Meredith Golf Classic.

Margaret Evans, piano faculty, has been invited by Hong Kong’s Great Melody School of Music as Festival and Competition guest artist this August. Events in addition to the competition include master classes and workshops given by the guest artists. This is Evans’ tenth professional invitation to South China.

Samantha Maziejka has recently joined Meredith as the assistant athletic director for advancement. The position was added as part of the NCAA Division III Strategic Alliance Matching Grant and reports to the Athletic Department and Institutional Advancement. A native of upstate New York, Maziejka earned an Artium Baccalaureatus Degree in Business Administration and Hospitality and Tourism at the College of Charleston. Most recently, Maziejka worked with the Colonnade Group at Duke University. She assisted with event planning for Duke’s Blue Devil Tower and Champions Club and worked closely with athletics staff for premium game day hospitality. In her new role with the Avenging Angels, Maziejka will lead efforts to raise funds specifically for Meredith athletics. She will identify and cultivate new and existing alumnae relations, as well as parents, corporate sponsors, and other major gift donors with the expressed intention of enhancing the athletic experience for Meredith’s diverse student-athletes. She will oversee multiple revenue sources, including the upcoming Annual Golf Classic, the Avenging Angels Club, the online athletics store, and athletic facility rentals.

Psychology faculty members Gwynn Morris and Cynthia Edwards traveled to the Southeastern Psychological Association Conference in Charleston over spring break with a group of six Meredith students. Morris presented her sabbatical research, “Making a Sad Song Better: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Use of Positive Reappraisal from 6 to 60”. Cynthia Edwards, Alyson Mann, and Colleen McKeel presented an analysis of “Group Internalization of Teacher-Endorsed Egalitarian Social Norms among High-Achieving Adolescents”, a project developed in collaboration with faculty and students attending Governor’s School East. Students and recent graduates Danielle Todd, Colleen McKeel, Annie Morin, and Lindsey Kalish presented in the referred CEPO/Psi Chi undergraduate sessions, making them eligible for publication in the associated journal. Morin presented ” It’s Just Too Much: Members’ Use of Resources to Cope with Burnout Symptoms in Student Organizations”; Kalish presented “The Effects of Positive Reappraisal on the Reduction of Negative Emotions Following Perceived Academic Failure”, and McKeel presented “Personality and Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Loneliness and Belongingness in Adolescents”.

Associate Director of International Programs Liz Yaros, ’06, and Career Development Coordinator Katie Nagel, ’10, ’16 MBA, presented at the 2018 North Carolina Association of International Educators (NCAIE) Annual Conference at Guilford College. Their topic, “Moving Beyond Sticker Shock: Funding the Study Abroad Experience,” focused on the development of the study abroad funding workshop model at Meredith, its alignment with the StrongPoints program, and its positive impact on students. Nagel and Yaros highlighted how the funding workshops enable offices like International Programs, Financial Assistance, Accounting, and Career Planning to work together to build transferable skills that go with them abroad and beyond Meredith’s gates.

Associate Professor of Finance Bing Yu won a research award at the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines annual conference. His paper “Employee rights and dividend policy around the world” was recently presented at the conference. The paper explores the relationship between employee rights and dividend policy across countries. Using labor right index as a proxy for agency costs of employees, the paper tests the association between labor rights and dividend policies across countries. The empirical results reveal that labor rights are negatively related to firms’ decision to pay dividends and dividend payment amounts. This relationship is reinforced to be more salient in civil countries where shareholder rights are weak.

News Briefs
Easy Access—Resources for Faculty and Staff

Did you complete the 22-minute training on Atomic Learning, “Creating an Accessible Syllabus”? Awesome, right?

Another excellent training is “Office Suite 2010—Creating Accessible Documents Training.” It’s longer than the syllabus training, but it’s divided into very brief (1-5 minutes long) modules. For example, in less than 90 seconds, you will learn how to add alt text to an image. Watch as much or as little as you have time and interested.

Instructions: Login to MyMeredith.edu, scroll down to select “Launch Atomic Learning” in the left column, and then find Office Suite 2010—Creating Accessible Documents Training or Creating an Accessible Syllabus. — Carolyn C. Koning, Assistant Director for Disability Services

2018 Meredith Golf Classic
The 2018 Meredith Golf Classic will be held on Monday, April 23, 2018, at Brier Creek Country Club. Join Meredith Athletics for a relaxing day of golf with friends, win prizes, and bid on fabulous silent auction items.

The Meredith Golf Classic will have a 1 p.m. shotgun start. It is a Captain’s choice style tournament. Golf registration includes green & cart fees, lunch, snacks, dinner, and a gift.

The event will also include a silent auction and raffle. Bid on amazing items. Past event items included a weekend get-away, golf outings, jewelry, wine baskets, and sporting event tickets. Silent auction and raffle will be open from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. and during dinner, 5:30-7 p.m.

All are welcome to attend! Proceeds to benefit the Meredith College Athletics Department

Event webpage  Register online now Brier Creek Country Club. 9400 Club Hill Dr, Raleigh, NC 27617

Not able to attend?
Support the Avenging Angels by being a hole sponsor, making a cash donation, or by providing an item for the silent auction or raffle. All donations are tax deductible.