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Vice President for Student Life Rev. Dr.
Rhonda VanDyke Colby and former
Director of Church Relations and CoDirector of the Institute for Church
Professions Rev. Don VanDyke Colby
were presented with the 2013 Francis
Asbury Distinguished Education Award
for their extraordinary service to higher
education and campus ministries of
the United Methodist Virginia Annual
Conference. The award was presented by
Virginia Annual Conference representatives
Rev. Jean McDonald-Walker and Rev.
Derrick Parson. “We concede that Rhonda
and Don have been instrumental in
refocusing Shenandoah University’s mission
and creating a solid partnership between
the university and the church,” said Parson.
“We salute their work in making the culture
of call and young people the vital aspect of
their ministries for which we all have been
major recipients,” he added.
The Harry F. Byrd, Jr. School of Business
(Byrd School) will host its first masterclass
on organizational leadership and culture
in spring 2014. Speaker, philanthropist and
former CEO of Circuit City Alan Wurtzel,
Trustee and Executive-in-Residence Bill
Brandt and CEO of Ambriel Technologies
Faith Powers, Ed.D. ’12 will teach the
program along with Dean and Professor of
Management Miles Davis, Ph.D., who will
serve as instructor of record. The class will
feature a hybrid format and meet on Fridays.
Ten-year-old Gabriella Miller of Leesburg, Va., is the youngest person to be awarded
an honorary Bachelor of Arts degree from Shenandoah University. Miller attended a
full day of classes on Friday, Oct. 11, complete with homework and quizzes. Honored
during a special Commencement ceremony that afternoon, she served as her own
graduation speaker and was also awarded the President’s Medal for Outstanding Service
in Cancer Awareness. All of these experiences fulfilled her wish to graduate from
college. Miller was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in November 2012 and
since then, has become a national childhood cancer advocate through public speaking
engagements and fundraising efforts. Learn more at www.smashingwalnuts.org.
Students will be selected to participate in the
program based on academic achievement
and an interview with the dean, but only
students with senior standing are eligible to
participate. The texts for the course will be
the books published by Brandt and Wurtzel.
The Byrd School will launch two new
fast-track options to a Master of Business
Administration (M.B.A.) degree in fall
2014. Students enrolled in the four-year
Bachelor of Business Administration
(B.B.A.) program can take advantage of the
new 4 + 1 option to earn a M.B.A. with
one additional year of classes. Similarly,
transfer students with two years of college
credits can take advantage of a new 2 + 2 +
1 option that allows them to transition from
an Associate of Arts in Business (A.A.B.) to a
B.B.A. and subsequently to a M.B.A. — all
in five years. Shenandoah University signed
an articulation agreement with Lord Fairfax
Community College for the 2 + 2 + 1 option
in August.
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