I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.
Joshua 1:9 (NRSV)
News
Sherri Boyce, chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, wrote a new chapter called “The Special Senses” that was published in a new addition to the Anatomy and Physiology text market, Human Anatomy and Physiology by Erin C. Amerman (Pearson).
Todd Goranson, associate professor of music, presented a lectured titled “Fight, Flight or Freeze: Overcoming Performance Anxiety” at the 2015 conference of the Texas Music Educators Association in San Antonio. The one-hour lecture was presented to a capacity audience of nearly 300 at the nation’s largest music conference. Goranson was invited to speak following a competitive screening process. Goranson also performed as principal bassoonist with the York Symphony Orchestra on February 21 in a subscription concert that included Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 1,” Barber’s “First Essay for Orchestra” and the “Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1.”
Associate Professor of Music Rachel Cornacchio recently served as guest conductor for the Perry County High School Choral Festival. In attendance were 87 students from four school districts. The two-day festival culminated with a concert at Susquenita High School in Duncannon. Dan Umholz ’15 served as the pianist.
Molly Bletz ’11 (Biology) has been featured by National Geographic and other science media outlets regarding her recent publication in Science Reports, a sister journal to Nature. Her article, “Widespread presence of the pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in wild amphibian communities in Madagascar” raises concern over long term survival of amphibians on the island. Her investigations into this fungal disease of amphibians and publication career started with a published study from Panama with research advisors Erik Lindquist and Michael Shin of the Department of Biological Sciences. Molly is continuing her postgraduate work at Braunschweig Technical University in Germany. You can read the article here.
Messiah 411
Reminder to spring ahead this weekend
Remember to move your clocks ahead one hour when Daylight Savings begins this Sunday, March 9.
Employees asked to submit nominations for Pride in Performance awards
Deadline extended to Friday, March 13
Have you been impressed or inspired by the contributions made by a fellow employee during the last year? Do any of the statements below describe a colleague? If so, please consider nominating that colleague for a Pride in Performance award. The Pride in Performance award is used to recognize an employee based on the following criteria:
- The employee has consistently demonstrated exceptional performance and remarkable proficiency in his/her assigned duties;
- The employee has demonstrated hospitality, customer focus, and has been active in promoting a pleasant working environment;
- The employee has demonstrated dependability, innovative ways to manage work and effective problem-solving;
- The employee has been committed to professional development and enhancing his/her skill set.
Your recommendation will be confidential; only the employees selected as award recipients will know that their names were offered for consideration. Prior recipients are not eligible to receive a subsequent award for three years. See the list of prior recipients here. Nominations must be submitted, using the Pride in Performance nomination form found here. by Friday, March 13. Further information on performance awards, can be viewed here.
The recipients will be announced at the Employee Recognition Reception in May. All questions regarding nominations should be directed to Kathy Castonguay in Human Resources.
March is Women’s HERstory Month
Messiah invites you to acknowledge and celebrate it by attending various events throughout the month. A listing of events and the poster can be found here. The mission of WHM is to provide a forum where we can learn about the (her)story in the U.S. and add different perspectives to the retelling of our past. This month incorporates film, cultural celebrations and speakers that engage the community in a much needed conversation on the existing realities of women both in the United States and across the world. Questions can be directed to intercultural@messiah.edu.
Institutional Web and Technology Committee announces Web content audit
The Institutional Web and Technology Committee recently made the decision to move forward with an institutional web audit for content on Messiah’s public website (www.messiah.edu). The audit will help us ensure all web content is up to date and relevant for site visitors.
The content audit will begin Monday, April 6. At that time, an email will be sent to content editors who need to audit content. Any pages that have not been edited in more than six months will be added to the content audit. CMS users will have until May 29 to validate the content on their webpages is up to date. Read the full announcement here.
Learning Technology Services (LTS) News
Opportunities in the Innovation Zone
These learning opportunities offer a brief presentation, conversation, brainstorming and collaboration about new methods and important ideas. Please join us in the Innovation Zone (Hoffman 106) from 12:30-1:00 p.m. on these days.
3/18 – Best PC Practices
3/26 – Social Media in the Classroom
4/28 – Academic Integrity – Raising Awareness
For Mac Users
In the fall of 2014, Apple released its latest desktop operating system, Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite). Mac OS X 10.10 has a lot of “under the hood” changes that may make it incompatible with some campus systems, in particular the current version of the PaperCut printing process. These issues only appear to be impacting Macintosh computers running OS X 10.10 Yosemite and the PaperCut client. WebPrint is a working option. For more information, please check the blog article located here.
Information Technology Quick Resources
Please check out the ITS blog at http://helpdesk.messiah.edu. Information regarding printing, VPN, faxing, and other computer announcements is located here. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, please remember you can always contact our HelpDesk by picking up the phone and giving ITS a call at ext. 4444 or emailing helpdesk@messiah.edu.
