Archive for 2026

April 30

Thursday, April 30th, 2026

Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 43:18-19

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Occupational therapy professors present at National Conference

Occupational therapy professors Dr. Kim Duetsch and Dr. Krystal Robinson-Bert presented at the AOTA Inspire conference in Anaheim, CA, April 23-25. Dr. Duetsch presented a poster entitled “Sharing the Spotlight: A Collaborative Sensory-Friendly Theatre Project in OT Education,” and Dr. Robinson-Bert presented a poster entitled “Legibility Loves Intensity:  Comparing Outcomes in Upper Extremity & Handwriting Function Between Weekly & Intensive Group Interventions for Adults With Parkinson’s Disease.” Together they presented a workshop entitled “Serious Fun: Using Ludic Pedagogy for Deep Learning in the OT Classroom.”

Assistant director of multicultural student programs update

In February, the MISP office said goodbye to Orlando Williams as he and his wife Saba prepared to welcome a new member to their family. Orlando faithfully served in the MISP office in various capacities since 2019 and his presence is dearly missed. The student body was so blessed by his mentorship, his intentional listening, and his inviting personality.

The Office of Diversity Affairs wishes him and his family well as they enter a new chapter of life.

The MISP office is pleased to announce that Virgil Angeles will be transitioning from his associate director of Admissions role to the role of assistant director of multicultural student programs starting on July 1. Virgil is a two-time Messiah grad, first obtaining a BFA in 2018 and recently completing his master’s degree in Higher Education this past December 2025. Virgil has been an honorary member of the MISP team as he serves as the Asian student association advisor. He is known around campus for his creative gifts, his ability to connect with all students, and his performances at International Gala. Multicultural and International Student Programs is certain that Virgil will add great value to the lives of the students and enhance the program in so many different ways.

 Collegiate Excel competition

Congratulations to Luke Peyton, senior financial planning major, who finished 1st in the Global College Excel Regional Winners Battle this past weekend. As a result of his commanding victory against the top 7 collegiate Excel competitors, he won an all-expense paid trip to the European Excel Open where he will compete against Pro Excel Modelers on May 22-23 in Amsterdam. https://mecc.college/from-regional-victories-to-a-global-stage/ Luke finished 30 points ahead of his closest competitor (from Georgia Tech) and 119 points clear of the 3rd place finisher from University of Kentucky. We wish Luke all the best when he competes in Europe next month!

Marketing program review

Professor of Marketing David Hagenbuch recently completed a review of Gordon College’s marketing program. The evaluation involved analysis of a 92-page self-study document that Gordon faculty prepared, as well as a site visit during which David interviewed administrators, faculty, and students. From this multidimensional review, he wrote a 22-page assessment that recognized program strengths, identified areas for improvement, and recommended nine specific action steps that may help the marketing program more effectively fulfill its mission. While visiting, David also gave a talk on moral leadership to a group of 40-50 Gordon students and faculty.

BID FAREWELL

Retirement: Debra Danielson

Debra Danielson has provided wise discernment and compassionate care to Messiah students as a counselor since August of 1994 and will retire after 32 years of service to the University in June. She has joyfully mentored graduate counseling interns through clinical supervision toward licensure and careers as professional counselors. During her career, she has served thousands of students and employees at all hours of the night and day in times of great need. Please feel free to email her or send her a note of gratitude and well-wishes before her departure!

Blessings to Alissa Ford

Alissa Ford, part-time counselor will leave her position at the Engle Center in May to attend to the needs of her growing private practice full-time. We are truly grateful for her service to Messiah University, and she will be deeply missed by her students and her colleagues.

John Fea’s retirement

After 23 years teaching at Messiah (including eight years as chair of the old history department), John Fea, distinguished professor of American history, will retire at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year. John and Joy have moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Joy has taken a position as director of Upper House Commons, a Christian study center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. John has accepted a post as senior fellow at the Lumen Center, a Christian think tank for the study of Christianity and culture, where he will continue to write and teach

AROUND CAMPUS

Buildings and Grounds

Operations division’s focus on unreasonable hospitality
This summer, the Division of Operations leadership team embraced the concept of Unreasonable Hospitality a philosophy that challenges each team member to use their creativity and resources to go above and beyond for those we serve.  There are many ways that our buildings and grounds team has implemented this theme into our daily work.  One of the most important ways is collaboration and building relationships.

Our grounds services team worked closely with our safety and residence life teams to partner for a much safer snow and ice season on campus.  Special thanks to Karen Harrington who was instrumental in helping us create a safer university during our winter season. Also, a shoutout to everyone in Campus and Building Services, Facilities, and Grounds who played a major role in keeping our students, faculty, staff, and visitors safe this winter season.

Our campus and building services team has been working with Americhem to help better service our university in multiple ways.  One way has been through the training of CBS staff.  That training has helped our team learn how to take care of gym flooring.  In the fall our team sealed Hitchcock gym floors with the assistance of Americhem for a $10,000 savings to the university.  During spring break, the same team resealed Sawyer Gym for a $6,000 savings to the university.  It’s this type of dedication and teamwork that allows our CBS staff to be unreasonably hospitable.

We look forward to our continued role in collaboration and building relationships with you and your team!

Important undergraduate commencement information for employees May 8-9

Schedule and details

Messiah University will be hosting Commencement weekend for the undergraduate Class of 2026 on May 8-9.

Members of the Community of Educators should have already received information from the Provost’s Office regarding their participation in Commencement weekend. Faculty, staff and administrators who are participating in the Commencement ceremony itself have received, or will soon receive, an email memo regarding their role in the ceremony from the Commencement Committee. If you have any questions regarding Commencement, please contact Carla Gross, co-chair of the Undergraduate Commencement Committee, at ext. 6940 or cgross@messiah.edu.

Important employee parking information for the Candlelight Service of Worship and Celebration (Friday, May 8)

  • From 6 a.m. until 10 p.m., the VV (Visitor’s lot) will be closed to employees so families of our graduates have access to parking for Commencement-related activities.
  • For the Candlelight Service, Department of Safety personnel will direct guests to designated parking areas on campus. Guests will walk to Eisenhower Campus Center. There is no shuttle service provided that evening. Note: Messiah employees do not receive reserved parking for this evening. It is also important to note that the Candlelight Service is a ticketed event; see the Commencement web site for details.
  • If you have questions regarding parking for guests with a disability, visit https://www.messiah.edu/ug-commencement/graduate-resources/parking .

 Important employee parking information for Commencement day (Saturday, May 9).

  • Members of the Community of Educators and other employees who are marching in the processional or participating in the Commencement ceremony will receive a reserved parking pass via campus mail from the Provost’s Office (educators) or directly from their supervisor (staff/administrators). Drivers MUST show their parking pass to traffic control personnel upon entering campus to be directed to their designated reserved parking areas.
  •  All other employees who will be working the Commencement ceremony will receive parking instructions with their assignment.
  • Due to the significantly increased volume of traffic on campus for Commencement, the Department of Safety strongly encourages all employees to arrive on campus no later than 8:15 a.m. in order to alleviate being delayed in traffic, and to assist in being directed to their reserved parking areas on campus.
  • It is also extremely important to follow all parking directions and instructions from safety personnel while entering and leaving campus, as traffic conditions can change quickly and officers are not able to stop traffic flow to have conversation with individual drivers.
    An important reminder—employees are not permitted to schedule vendor visits, pick-ups or deliveries on the day of Commencement as it interferes with the increased and altered traffic flow on campus that day.

Murray Library receives $20,000 grant

Murray Library has been selected as one of 300 libraries, of which 8 are academic libraries, to participate in round four of Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities, an American Library Association (ALA) initiative that provides community engagement and accessibility resources to small and rural libraries to help them better serve people with disabilities. Only fifty libraries were awarded the maximum $20,000 award.

The competitive grant will help Murray Library improve its quiet study and testing spaces through the addition of doors in the hallway just beyond the display case on the first floor (to the left when you enter and past the hallway to OAA). The accessible doors will reduce the amount of noise that carries to this area where testing and quiet study often occur.

In the 2024-2025 academic year, the Office of Academic Accessibility offered individualized testing for students with disabilities 3,422 times, a 40% increase over the 2021-2022 academic year. Additionally, a library survey in spring 2025 offered students the opportunity to share feedback about library study spaces. Students requested additional quiet study space. Offering doors to reduce noise transmission will improve our students’ experience and allow us to continue offering multiple types of spaces within the library.

The grant requires community conversations prior to construction so that students from our target audience can provide input into the project and the library’s services. If you work with students with disabilities or students who identify as neurodiverse, please encourage them to participate in no-pressure conversations on Friday, May 1 in the Library Athenaeum at 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided, and participants may bring their lunch. Note that students do not have to have a documented disability to participate, although we will be partnering with OAA to support our students! We also welcome input from employees; please email your interest in participating in a conversation to Janet Vogel (jvogel@messiah.edu).

School of Science, Engineering and Health symposium

The 23rd Annual Symposium of the School of Science, Engineering and Health will be held on Friday, May 1 from 12:30-5:30 p.m. in Frey, Jordan and Kline academic buildings. The work of more than 300 co-authors (students from within the school, off campus collaborators and Messiah University faculty mentors) will be represented in 105 presentations. Oral and poster presentations will be given in multiple venues throughout the afternoon. A detailed schedule and program is available at: https://www.messiah.edu/sehsymposium Join us and celebrate the accomplishments of our students – the work, creativity and innovation reflected in the rich variety of oral and poster presentations.

Technology support – Please see below for helpful tips and updates!

Contact us by emailing techsupport@messiah.edu regarding any of this information or if you have any questions in general.

  • May Development Week and throughout the summer is a great time for laptop tune-ups! Please contact us at techsupport@messiah.edu, call 717-796-4444, or drop by the first floor of Old Main if you have any issue that you have found yourself “living with” all year that you’d like addressed. Tune-ups may take 2 or more hours to complete, and are completed on a first come, first served basis.
  • Tech Support purchases extended warranties for our Lenovo computers. This is to extend their life and usability for as long as possible as we often repurpose these computers throughout campus after individual employees may have used them. If there are any issues with the computer assigned to you, it is important to report it immediately so we can have it repaired without incurring a cost.
  • Remote users should connect to Messiah’s VPN at least once a week and work for several hours.  This will allow updates to be installed, along with having your computer “check-in” with the licensing servers on campus.
  • After a student graduates and their status is changed to “graduated,” the student will no longer have access to their files stored through their Messiah accounts (unless they are transitioning to a Messiah graduate program). If graduate students would like to keep their email account, they will need to complete the Alumnus Email Request Form.  This only gives the student access to email. It does NOT provide access to their files that are outside of email.
  • Access to Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 apps – As of April, Microsoft has removed Copilot Chat from Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel. It can still be accessed through the Copilot Chat desktop application, M365 Online on the web and Outlook.

What’s new at the library?
See our linked newsletter.  Highlights include:

  • Library Student Research Grant Awardee
  • Exam Cram during finals
  • Giving Day success
  • Murray Library receives $20,000 grant
  • Service Day recap
  • Summer Reading Bingo
  • Avoid fake citations generated by AI

American History displays at library

The Murray Library is currently featuring two new student exhibits highlighting diverse perspectives on American history. Check out posters from Dr. Sarah Myers’s HIST 248: War, Peace, and Memory, in which students examine how national narratives and public memory are constructed. These projects aim to disrupt familiar myths and draw attention to overlooked individuals and moments in history. A second exhibit, created by students in Dr. Jim LaGrand’s HIST 352H: African-American History since 1865, fills the trophy case near the Office of Academic Accessibility. This display highlights figures and communities such as Harriet Tubman and Susie King Taylor as Civil War spies, Whitesboro, NJ, Louis Armstrong, Robert Johnson, and Henrietta Lacks. These projects will be on display through May 8. Special thanks to Dwayne Magee and Messiah Press for printing the poster exhibit!

CLASSIFIEDS

Job opportunities

Please find current job openings below and check jobs.messiah.edu for additional positions that will be coming available.

Enrollment Management has a current opening for the full time position of admissions counselor. Job-related questions may be directed to Shayna Mark, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at smark@messiah.edu  For more information and to apply, please visit: Admissions Counselor.

Enrollment Management has an opening for the full time, temporary position of admissions traveling recruiter. Job-related questions may be directed to Shayna Mark, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at smark@messiah.edu  For more information and to apply, please visit: Admissions Traveling Recruiter

Athletics is now hiring a full-time assistant coach, men’s basketball/admin coordinator and recruiter/game day administrator. Job related questions may be directed to Jacob Fleegle jfleegle@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: Assistant Coach, Men’s Basketball/Admin Coordinator & Recruiter/Game Day Administrator link.

Athletics is now hiring a full-time associate head coach, women’s soccer/admin coord and recruiter/assistant director for compliance and internal operations. Job related questions may be directed to Scott Frey sfrey@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: Associate Head Coach, Women’s Soccer/Admin Coord & Recruiter/Assistant Director for Compliance & Internal Operations link.

The Registrar’s Office is now hiring a transfer records assistant. This is a 1-2 year position with a sunset clause. Job related questions may be directed to Kathee Clark at kclark@messsiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: Transfer Records Assistant link.

Dining Services has an opening for a full-time dining room supervisor. Job related questions may be directed to Todd Christopher tchristopher@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: Dining Room Supervisor link.

The School of Graduate and Professional Studies has an opening for a full-time Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies. Job related questions may be directed to Ruth Nutt at rnutt@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: Dean of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies link.

Dining Services has an opening for a full-time cook II-PM. Job related questions may be directed to Shannon Bivens sbivens@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: cook II PM link.

The Office of Residence Life has an opening for a full-time director of residence life. Job related questions may be directed to Doug Wood at dwood@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: Director of Residence Life posting link.

The Department of Safety has an opening for a full-time second shift safety officer. Job related questions may be directed to Maranda Hogue at mhogue@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, visit: 2nd shift safety officer link.

The Department of Safety has an opening for a full-time first shift safety officer. Job related questions may be directed to Maranda Hogue at mhogue@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, visit: 1st shift safety officer link.

Campus and Building Services has an opening for a part-time first shift CBS worker. Job related questions may be directed to Laura Price at lprice@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: cbs pt first shift link.

Grounds Services has an opening for a part-time seasonal groundskeeper. Job related questions may be directed to Artie Palese at palese@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: seasonal grounds keeper link.

Job applications are now being accepted for the full-time position of director of dining services. Job related questions may be directed Kathie Shafer at kshafer@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: director of dining services link.

Job applications are now being accepted for the full-time position of manager, Natural Sciences Laboratory Program. Job related questions may be directed Anne Reeve at areeve@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: manager, natural sciences laboratory program link.

The Office of Residence Life has an opening for a full-time Residence Life Educator. Job related questions may be directed to Doug Wood at dwood@messiah.edu. For more information and to apply, please visit: RLE posting link.

For sale

Doctoral cap for sale. Brand new, never-used doctoral cap (“tam”) for sale. Adjustable 6-sided navy blue velvet doctoral tam with gold silk tassel. $20 or best offer. Contact Philip Tan (ptan@messiah.edu).

Keurig for sale. K-Mini Plus single serve coffee maker for sale. Barely used. Asking $30. If interested, please contact Tracy at tsheaffer@messiah.edu

FREE

Murray Library has four brown chairs available for free. Contact Tracy at tsheaffer@messiah.edu if interested in one, a couple, or all four.

WANTED

Wanted: Car for International student. A few international students (mostly graduating seniors) here at Messiah are looking for cars to purchase. The students have variable budgets, yet they are willing to pay and do not have a strong preference on the make and model of a car. Please contact Amy Nicols Villeda (anicolsvilleda@messiah.edu or x2172) if you or anyone you know is selling a car and would like to help these students. Thank you!

OUTSIDE ORGANIZATIONS

Menkis Works Pottery – Spring Pottery Sale and Open Studio
May 2 and May 9 – 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., 2401 Arcona Rd., Mechanicsburg

Visit Menkis Works Pottery for their annual Spring Pottery Sale and Open Studio on May 2 and 9! (Only about 3 miles from campus!) You will find hundreds of beautiful pots, guest artisans, a kid’s clay table, pottery making demonstrations, refreshments and more! find out more at: www.menkisworks.com Menkis Works Pottery is a family business run by husband-and-wife team and Messiah Alumni Naomi and Brian Menkis. We love to make beautiful and functional pots for daily use in your kitchen, home and garden – from humble mugs, bowls and plates to elegant teapots, pitchers and vases.

We hope to see you this spring!

Brian and Naomi

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on April 30