Community with IDEAS: Nov./Dec. 2022

Hello everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the roller coaster of weather this November. I was about to take down my garden and start winterizing everything and then it almost hit 80 degrees. Back to reality and normal temps soon!!! I have a few things I wanted to send your way as we enter the last few weeks of the semester.

Kognito

This deadline was extended to Nov. 1 but is now overdue so if you haven’t completed the Kognito training please do so. Also, please remind your student staff and any other students you have contact with to complete their trainings also. Even though it’s past the deadline they are still available at the moment so they can be completed before any holds are applied.

VSSC conference

I hope to see you all at the VSSC conference Nov. 9-11 at Wintergreen. It looks like there will be some great sessions so we should all come back with insight and ideas from our counterparts around the state. Thank you to everyone who was part of the planning of this event and especially to Emily Higham who led the conference planning team and kept us on track to having an amazing conference. We will have over 150 people at VSSC this year and I couldn’t be more excited.

Winter Celebration

Join us on Dec. 15, 2-5 p.m. to hang out and enjoy each other's company.

Winter All Staff Meeting

We'll be getting together on Jan. 10, 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. Click on this survey to share what topics you’re interested in hearing about and to submit a proposal if you’re interested in presenting. The deadline is Nov. 18.

SA Social Media transition

As we announced earlier, we changed the name of the Dr. Tim Miller Facebook page to JMU Student Affairs. This provides us more flexibility as we reply to questions, mostly on the parent pages. You are encouraged to do the same with your departmental pages so you will no longer need to post through your own personal page.

Basketball

Jamie and I have four tickets to every game and we often can’t use them all due to our schedules. If you are interested in tickets for a game please send me an email and we will see what we can do! The men’s game tickets come with a free dinner and free non-alcoholic drinks and the women’s games have free snacks and drinks.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I encourage you to take time to reflect on the year behind us and remember everything in your life for which you are thankful. I know that I am thankful for this opportunity to be at JMU and serve each of you and our students in my dream job at my favorite place. I’m also thankful that Jamie and I will have the opportunity to head to the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving week and get a break together with Duke Dog.

Enjoy these next few weeks while also looking forward to a nice break ahead.

Tim

Libraries

Carrier Library renovation and expansion, with construction set to begin after graduation in 2023 and end approximately Fall 2026, will benefit JMU and the broader community for decades to come. Check out our new Carrier Library of the Future page for a sneak peek at the plans for the renovated and expanded building.

Student Affairs 

Congratulations to everyone who received service awards recently:

5 YEARS 

Kate Bergey

Jessica Beverly

Stephanie Goetz

Jackie Hieber

Joy Martin

Jordan McCann

Angela Ritchie

Jessica Sampson

Josh Shulruff

Robert Smith

Chloe Thompson

Laura Turner

10 YEARS

Melinda Fox

Brenda Smith

15 YEARS

Travis Bussey

Phyllis Mathews

Erika Sawin

20 YEARS

Betsy Gentry

Heather Reid

25 YEARS

Leslie Bailey

Karen Sampson

30 YEARS

Julie Wallace Carr

Debra Miller

Counseling Center

Please help us congratulate Staff Clinician Jackie Jenkins, who has met the residency requirements and is now a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Virginia!

Counseling Center

We have had two of our staff members adopt furry friends this month! Please enjoy the following sweet puppy pics: 

UREC

A group of UREC professional staff, graduate assistants and student employees traveled to Winston-Salem, NC, for the NIRSA Region II Conference October 10-12 to attend professional development sessions, facility tours and connect with other recreation professionals in the southeast. Stephanie Nielsen, Assistant Director for Member Services, served on the Region II Conference Program Committee. Alexis Shura, GA for Facilities and Operations, serves as the Region II Student Leader and coordinated the Student Lead On Pre-Conference, a full day program for students and GAs. Tim Groth, GA for Aquatics & Safety, and Brendan English, Operations Supervisor (undergrad) also served on the Student Lead On Planning committee. Cassidy Jimerson, Coordinator for Reservations and Events, served on a New Professionals Panel during the Student Lead On. Kristin Gibson, Associate Director for UREC Services, facilitated the Associate Director’s Roundtable session.