Year In Review
Longwood welcomes largest freshman class ever
August 2011
Longwood welcomed its largest freshman class ever for the fall 2011 semester in August.
A special program, called Movers & Shakers, brings nearly 100 student organization volunteers to campus in order to assist students on move-in day.
The freshman class numbered 1,072—a 6.5 percent increase over the fall 2010 freshman class of 1,006. The size of the freshman class was even more impressive considering that the number of freshmen who were accepted was down 5 percent compared with the applicant pool for the fall 2010 class.
Among the incoming freshman class, the average grade-point average was 3.43, up from last year’s average of 3.39. There was a 9 percent increase in freshmen with a 3.5 or better GPA and a 6 percent decrease in freshmen with a GPA of below 2.9.
The university had more success that year in maintaining the freshmen after they indicated their intent to enroll, a perennial challenge for all colleges. The success was attributed to “1839,” a 10-week extended orientation for all new students that started in 2009 and is coordinated by the Office of First Year Experience.
Two new deans appointed
Dr. Jeannine Rajewski Perry
Suzy Szasz Palmer
September 2011
Longwood named two new deans, one of whom is a familiar face on campus.
Dr. Jeannine Rajewski Perry, a member of the Longwood faculty since 2003, is dean of the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. She had been a part-time assistant dean since August 2009, splitting that position with her teaching duties. Suzy Szasz Palmer, who had been deputy librarian at the Library of Virginia and previously worked in the library systems at Cornell University and the University of Louisville, is dean of the Greenwood Library.
Before becoming dean, Perry had been program coordinator of the graduate-level Literacy and Culture program in the College of Education and Human Services since 2004. Palmer had been at the Library of Virginia since June 2007. She started as director of research and information services and was promoted to deputy librarian in July 2009.
Longwood’s new heating plant to provide even greater fuel efficiency
September 2011
Nearly 100 percent of the Longwood campus’ heat and hot water are now supplied from biomass fuel—a local and renewable fuel source—thanks to the new biomass heating plant that officially opened Sept. 8.
A ceremonial ribbon for the new heating plant was cut by (from left) Richard Bratcher, vice president of Facilities and Real Property; Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash; President Patrick Finnegan; Rita Hughes, vice rector of the Board of Visitors; John Russell, interim superintendent of heating plant operations; and Bob Chambers, project manager for Capital Planning and Construction.
Longwood has practiced sustainability by heating with biomass fuel (sawdust) since 1983. This practice will be even more fuel-efficient thanks to the new heating plant, which began operating in January 2011 and replaces an adjacent heating plant that dates to 1938. Longwood is the only public institution of higher education in Virginia and one of only two state agencies that burns biomass for heating fuel.
Burning the sawdust—mostly pine and some hardwood, a byproduct from local mills—is not only cost-effective but also ecologically responsible because hazardous emissions from burning sawdust are lower than than those from gas, oil and coal. Virginia Secretary of Education Laura Fornash, who spoke at the opening, called Longwood “a model for alternative renewable fuel usage for all of our higher education institutions.”
The facility on Barlow Field has two storage silos for the sawdust. The side-by-side silos, enclosed in the brick façade building, have a combined storage capacity of 40,000 cubic feet, about 1.5 weeks of fuel.
Longwood ranked among the best by U.S. News & World Report
September 2011
Longwood for the 14th consecutive year was ranked among the best in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey.
The 2012 “America’s Best Colleges” report, released Sept. 13, ranked Longwood No. 10 in the category “Top Public Universities—Master’s” in the South. Among all Southern Universities—Master’s (public and private), Longwood remained within the top tier at No. 29.
Additionally, Longwood’s graduate program in speech-language was included in the publication’s Best Grad School Rankings List. It was ranked No. 222 in the first year that the newly accredited program was eligible for the USN&WR rankings. The program in communication sciences and disorders earned accreditation from the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology in fall 2010.
Novelist who focuses on race and identity receives Dos Passos Prize
September 2011
American novelist Mat Johnson was awarded the 2011 John Dos Passos Prize for Literature on Sept. 22.
Johnson, a member of the University of Houston’s creative writing program, is the author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction, including two graphic novels. His work explores issues of race and identity in historical and contemporary America. He read from his most recent novel, Pym, published in March 2011, during the award ceremony.
The Dos Passos Prize, founded at Longwood in 1980, is administered by a committee from the Department of English and Modern Languages. Past recipients include Tom Wolfe, Shelby Foote, Annie Proulx and Graham Greene.
