In order to bring you new and fun recreational reads, the Greenwood Library participates in a book leasing program through McNaughton. These titles are shelved on the small bookcases in the middle of the Atrium and are designated with green labels. You can browse the entire collection here and if you’re interested in what’s new, look out below!
I hope move-in went well for those of you whose students are already settled into their residence halls. For those of you whose students move in Saturday and Sunday, I hope the weather cooperates and that you have a smooth process as well.
There are a couple of items I thought I’d share with you today that will let you know how hard we’re working to make this a great semester for your student, that will keep you informed about some important developments and that you may want to pass along to your student.
I can’t stress enough how crucial it is for new students to reach out to their fellow students during these early days of the semester, when everyone is looking to make new friends. Please encourage your student to speak to other students, smile and just generally to be friendly—even if they’re not usually the outgoing type. They will be so glad they did.
The first few days of the semester are important for students to reach out and make friends.
For parents of new students, please encourage your student to take full advantage of the remaining activities scheduled for tomorrow and Sunday as part of New Lancer Days. This is a crucial time for new students to connect with fellow Lancers in their Peer Mentor Groups as well as their Peer Mentor, who will be an important resource this semester. You can see the schedule for New Lancer days here.
The Lancer Productions schedule is full of socially distanced activities for all students. Just in September these include Welcome Back Bingo on Sept. 4, Movie Night on Sept. 11, a performance by magician/mentalist Craig Karges on Sept. 19 and a Glowga session (glow-in-the-dark yoga) on Sept. 25. There is also a designated area in Upchurch University Center for students to play video games with others, but they should bring their own console.
Upchurch University Center is a great place for students to get to know each other.
Also, you can let your student know about a virtual Involvement Fair about joining student organizations that’s coming up Sept. 1. They can access the fair by going to lancerlink.longwood.edu that day. To prepare to make the most of the fair, your student can complete the Get Involved Calculator on Lancer Link, which will help them connect with their areas of interest.
You might want to invest in an outdoor chair for your student to use when activities and events are held outside. For example, here’s one that looked promising (but I haven’t bought one myself). If you’ve already moved your student to campus and want to ship them a chair (or another package) via USPS, FedEx or UPS, please see the instructions below.
And while we’re on the subject of chairs, the university has purchased about 100 new Adirondack chairs that will be placed around campus soon to encourage students to get outside and meet with friends. Please encourage your student to make use of the natural beauty of our campus in the fall.
If you’d like to ship a package to your student’s PO box, you can do that through the U.S. Postal Service. If you’d like to ship via UPS or FedEx (neither of which will ship to a PO box), you can use this address:
Student Name
Longwood University
201 High Street
6-digit number of your student’s PO box (include ONLY the numbers; don’t include the words PO Box)
Farmville, VA 23909
Your student can find their PO box number by going to my.longwood.edu to connect to Banner self-service. They should look for their mailing address. Each Longwood student—except Lancer Park residents—has an individual PO box with a 6-digit number. Mail for Lancer Park residents is sent to their address in Lancer Park, which they can also find through my.longwood.edu.
Longwood—and Farmville—are special places to visit any time, but especially in the fall.
This year, instead of a designated Family Weekend, we are encouraging you to visit at your convenience and on your schedule. This will also help spread out the number of visitors on campus and in the community.
While you are always welcome and encouraged to visit, several weekends in September have been designated as Family Fall Weekends: Sept. 11-13, Sept. 18-20 and Sept. 25-27. (As a reminder, the policy that prohibits outside guests from entering the residence halls and other Longwood-managed housing will be reviewed by Labor Day and a decision made whether or not to extend it.)
If one of these weekends does not work well for your schedule, please select another date and make your plans. You can find information about dining, accommodations and things to do here.
On Wednesday, the town of Farmville passed an ordinance laying out requirements for face coverings and gatherings that your student should be aware of. Here’s the full ordinance—and a quick summary:
Longwood faculty are committed to making this fall a rich and engaging academic experience for your student. Many of them will be deploying new learning technologies and resources that will not just enhance instruction in the face of this fall’s limitations, but far into the future as well. Some examples of these innovative teaching methods are described here.
Welcome to Longwood Blogs. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Once you’ve checked out this picture of me (wearing an Honors shirt!) with a STEP@LU pup, feel free to browse the rest of my page!
I found the process of reformatting Dr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail into a modern form to be an interesting one. I can’t say I’ve ever done a project of this type before and I found the process a bit daunting at first. I primarily work within text, and being challenged to make a more visual depiction of the text was hard. I think for this project in particular I found a nice middle ground between making something visual and sticking to my comfort zone. Facebook is the social media that contains the most text so I think I made the right call in using it.
Next, I want to get into the nitty-gritty of why and how i achieved certain objectives. I pretty heavily target Pathos for this post as I feel an issue like racism is most effectively discussed in emotional terms. I do use portions of his letter that discuss his credentials as a pastor for a bit of Ethos. My thought process there was that southern evangelical and clergymen, his primary target, would be more willing to listen to him if they had something they could relate to. My use of, “I AM IN BIRMINGHAM BECAUSE INJUSTICE IS HERE,” had multiple facets. I wanted to break up the monotony that comes from large blocks of text by interjecting moments of intensity. I also wanted to establish a consistent pace as the phrase is used to break up the piece into sections.
So why transform it at all? Even though I personally don’t think any genre will outdo the simple elegance of his letter, I do think that moving it into a Facebook format has advantages. It does allow for the use of images, giving a more concrete foundation for words to paint, but it also has to go into less depth. A letter primes the reader to expect a lot of text, but any other format forces simplification and a loss of content and context.
I learned a few things. First, people really don’t like reading nowadays. The more efficiently you can visually communicate an idea the better off you’ll be. At least, in a social media setting this holds true. I learned a fair bit about rhetoric and rhetorical devices, but more than that I learned how to effectively implement them. It’s to be able to put ideas into practice. Although this project definitely started me on the right track, I wouldn’t really learn the power of visual devices until much later.
Flexible Teaching and Learning Workshop Series
The Digital Education Collaborative (DEC) and the Center for Faculty Enrichment (CAFE) are offering a series of workshops to help instructors prepare courses for the fall 2020 semester. These workshops will focus on pedagogy (why we do what we do) and technology (how to use appropriate tools) for in-person, hybrid, and online teaching and learning environments
Topics include:
Course Design 101+
Flexible Learning Environments: How to Blend or Flip Your Classroom
Teaching Writing
Teaching Speaking
Diversity, Inclusion, Equity
Designing Assignments and Learning Activities
Teaching, Learning and Effective Communication Practices
Collaborative Learning and Group Projects
Research with Students: Using R for Statistical Computing and Graphics
Faculty Well-Being
We will emphasize developing practices that are specific to your course context; therefore, prior to each session, faculty will complete a situational analysis of the course(s). Each session will be 90 minutes with the option of an additional 30 minutes small group discussion for more focused mentoring.
All workshops are 1:00pm to 2:30 pm, unless indicated otherwise. Workshop details are located @ https://blogs.longwood.edu/covid19online/dec-cafe-workshops/ .
You can register for sessions @ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3J2pr6HqN2egPkeFgEZzd5_QbqILb7w78eVfO1BcT39K10Q/viewform
Flexible Teaching and Learning Workshop Series
The Digital Education Collaborative (DEC) and the Center for Faculty Enrichment (CAFE) are offering a series of workshops to help instructors prepare courses for the fall 2020 semester. These workshops will focus on pedagogy (why we do what we do) and technology (how to use appropriate tools) for in-person, hybrid, and online teaching and learning environments
Topics include:
Course Design 101+
Flexible Learning Environments: How to Blend or Flip Your Classroom
Teaching Writing
Teaching Speaking
Diversity, Inclusion, Equity
Designing Assignments and Learning Activities
Teaching, Learning and Effective Communication Practices
Collaborative Learning and Group Projects
Research with Students: Using R for Statistical Computing and Graphics
Faculty Well-Being
We will emphasize developing practices that are specific to your course context; therefore, prior to each session, faculty will complete a situational analysis of the course(s). Each session will be 90 minutes with the option of an additional 30 minutes small group discussion for more focused mentoring.
All workshops are 1:00pm to 2:30 pm, unless indicated otherwise. Workshop details are located @ https://blogs.longwood.edu/covid19online/dec-cafe-workshops/ .
You can register for sessions @ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd3J2pr6HqN2egPkeFgEZzd5_QbqILb7w78eVfO1BcT39K10Q/viewform
I know most of you are up to your eyebrows in packing and other preparations to move your student to campus next week.
Even under “normal” circumstances, moving a student in can be a challenge, especially for first-timers. So it’s been heart-warming over the last week or so to see the flurry of activity on the Longwood Parents Facebook page, with veteran Lancer parents providing information and reassurances to anxious moms and dads posting questions about dropping off their freshmen.
I work in marketing and communications, where we talk a lot about the Longwood family. From my vantage point, that family clearly includes parents as well as students, faculty and staff. A big “thank you” to those of you who have made preparations for the start of this semester a little less stressful for your fellow Longwood parents.
Along that line, I thought I would also try to provide some helpful information about some updated policies and guidelines, move-in and campus life this semester. (Your student received an email yesterday with some of this information.) We’re looking forward to having your Lancers back on campus!
As part of our return-to-campus protocol, we are implementing a policy regarding visitors in Longwood-managed housing that will be in effect at least until Labor Day. At that time, we will evaluate in light of public health conditions and guidance, and either extend these restrictions or potentially adjust them with other continued precautions. In the meantime, students who live in Longwood-managed housing should not have any guests who are not residents of their housing group (outlined below). This restriction applies to parents and other family members.
Housing Groupings
Lancer Park
Moss Hall
Johns Hall
Longwood Landings
Sharp, Register and Stubbs halls
Cox and Wheeler halls
We have asked that your student limit travel off campus this semester, including visits home. While this is an inconvenience, limiting the spread of the Covid-19 virus is paramount so that everyone can stay on campus. If your student must leave campus, they are responsible for following the same guidance they are adhering to while at Longwood—daily symptom checks, wearing a face covering in public areas, maintaining social distance, and washing their hands properly and often.
Please make sure your student has an adequate supply of face coverings, which will be required in public spaces inside all campus buildings, including residence halls, Longwood-managed housing and classrooms. Longwood will supply each student with two cloth face masks—residential students will get their masks from their RA or REC, and off-campus students will get theirs by coming to the Commuter Lounge in Upchurch 202—but students should bring extras so they always have one on hand.
Your student should have received details about their designated move-in date and time via their Longwood email. That information can also be found here, based on your student’s residence hall and room number. (Note that Johns and Moss halls were formerly named Frazer and Curry, respectively.)
Up to 3 helpers will be allowed to assist your student with bringing their belongings to their room or apartment. Volunteers won’t be available to help due to Covid-19 safety precautions.
If you will need a dolly or cart to move items in, please bring one with you. We will not provide carts or dollies. You should also bring your own face coverings, gloves and any other personal protective equipment (PPE) you need to follow Covid-19 safety guidelines.
Many areas of campus have been marked for social distancing, including Dorrill Dining Hall.
Longwood’s Dorrill Dining Hall and other food outlets, including the campus Starbucks, will be operating this semester, with safety precautions in place.
At this time, appointments are required to see a health-care practitioner in person at the University Health Center, and students should call ahead if they need to drop off paperwork or to pay a bill. Telehealth visits also are available. The University Health Center’s number is 434-395-2102. Please remember that parents cannot make appointments for their students. If your student needs an appointment, they need to make the call.
Longwood’s Health and Fitness Center is open and the Campus Recreation staff have planned a variety of activities, all with Covid-19 precautions in place. Students are required to wear a face covering when entering and exiting the Health and Fitness Center. In-person fitness classes that will be offered this fall include spin and barbells. Classes to be offered in an online format include yoga, boxing and Pilates. Intramural activities will include a disc golf league and tournament; a modified sand volleyball league (no net play and only 3 members per team); and a pickleball league.
Anyone entering the Health and Fitness Center must fill out a screening questionnaire and wear a face covering
Washers and dryers in all laundry facilities in Longwood-managed housing can be operated with Lancer CA$H (accessible through your student’s Lancer Card) or with quarters. You can find information about how to add Lancer CA$H funds to the Lancer Card here. Note that a package of laundry “swipes” to operate washers and dryers is already included in the housing fees for students living in Lancer Park and Longwood Landings.
—Sabrina Brown
In order to bring you new and fun recreational reads, the Greenwood Library participates in a book leasing program through McNaughton. These titles are shelved on the small bookcases in the middle of the Atrium and are designated with green labels. You can browse the entire collection here and if you’re interested in what’s new, look out below!
