On August 31, the Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees approved the current draft of the new strategic plan, The Strategic Plan for Guilford College 2011-2016: Outcomes of a Guilford Education. While the full Board of Trustees will not consider the plan for approval until October or February, after the corporate faculty, student governments, and other governance bodies have deliberated, the Planning Committee sought to assure the campus community and Board of their full support.

The trustees, administration, and invited representatives at the meeting agreed to two clarifications in the draft plan:

1. Optional January Term. The Planning Committee backed the plan's intent to make the proposed January term optional for faculty and students. It will be phased in, possibly starting with a two-week pilot in January 2012, with activities for faculty and students who choose to participate that might include internships, short study away opportunities, seminars, and independent studies and projects. Faculty compensation will be similar to summer school and depend on the kind and number of January term activities that they undertake. Changes to the academic calendar will be studied by the registrar's office and others.

The Committee also appreciated that the January term is about providing more "options for students" to work with faculty to achieve learning outcomes by gaining experience and education more intensively. The faculty will be surveyed in the next day or two to gauge their interest in participating in a January term and for what form of compensation.

2. Recognition of the General Education and Disciplinary Foundations of the Curriculum. While very supportive of the four areas of strategic outcomes in the plan (cognitive, skills, values, and applications), the Planning Committee recommended that the plan recognize more explicitly that Guilford College graduates will also be educated in the liberal arts and their respective disciplines.

"I am delighted that the Trustee Planning Committee has approved the plan that many of us call SLRP II," commented President KENT CHABOTAR. "The plan does not propose new initiatives as much as provide more focus, structure, and resources to the College's historic strengths in the liberal arts, internships and service learning, study abroad, civic engagement, and other areas. It also engages our community with the challenges of building academic reputation, marketing and communications, and assessment of student learning outcomes. The plan presents us with a 'game-changing' opportunity to make our good educational program even better and more widely known and thereby attract the kinds of students and resources that this College needs and deserves for excellence in the 21st century."

Mural by Kathleen Kennedy '10 Celebrates Student Volunteer Service
Submitted By: Sara Butner

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Detail from Avalon African Refugee Center scene

A new mural in King Hall celebrates Guilford's long-standing commitment to service learning, with scenes of students and alumni volunteering locally and internationally.

KATHLEEN KENNEDY '10 spent two years researching the work that current and past students did through the Bonner Scholars program and other campus service initiatives. She began painting the mural June 1, and it was unveiled Sept. 1. It covers both sides of the hallway on the first level of King Hall's west wing, outside the Center for Principled Problem Solving (Room 126) and Multicultural Resource Center (Room 128).

The completed mural depicts five scenes: Greensboro's Glen Haven Multicultural After School Tutorial, featuring MARY PEARL MONNES '10, and Avalon African Refugee Center, featuring KEVIN MUHANJI '10; the ClaySure Water Project in Africa, founded by REYNALDO DIAZ '06 and KAIRA WAGONER '06; YEZMIN VILLARREAL '12 and her work delivering water to the U.S.-Mexico border; and the Guilford campus.

A mural showing examples of student service was first envisioned years ago, says JAMES SHIELDS '00, director of the Bonner Center for Community Learning.

"The idea was to do more than just commission an artist to paint the mural. We wanted the artist to have a true understanding of what we do," Shields says. "Kathleen was the perfect person to do it. She really embraced the idea, and she went and saw what goes on at each site."

"Anyone could take a snapshot and then paint that, but our intent was to really capture what we do. It's not just about service, it's about community. That's what we've tried to build all these years, and the painting really captures that," Shields said.

Kennedy was a professional mural artist before completing her BFA in studio art last May. She previously completed a mural in Guilford's geology department, and earlier this year received local media attention for her seascape in the cancer ward at Wesley Long Community Hospital.

Watch Kennedy discuss planning the mural project.

"Quakerism 101" for the Community Begins Tuesday, Sept. 7
Submitted By: Max Carter
Date: 9/07/2010 - 10/12/2010
Time: 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM

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Friends Center's annual offering of "Quakerism 101" for the Guilford community will begin with a pizza lunch and discussion of Quaker origins and diversity at 11:30 a.m., Tuesday, Sept. 7, at New Garden Friends Meeting. All subsequent sessions will be in the Gilmer Room of the dining hall, with lunch provided through the cafeteria line. The President's Office is underwriting the free lunch. Facilitators for the sessions will be DEBORAH SHAW, FRANK MASSEY, and MAX CARTER, with contributions also by invited presenters from the Guilford community.

Please RSVP by noon on Monday, Sept. 6, to Max Carter at mcarter@guilford.edu.

Middle East Emphasis Week Planned Sept. 13 - 17
Submitted By: Max Carter
Date: 9/13/2010 - 9/17/2010

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A convergence of programs and speakers at Guilford has led to an informal "Middle East Emphasis Week" Sept. 13 - 17. Among planned programs are:

Monday, Sept. 13
11:30 a.m. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove shares about serving as a "human shield" with Christian Peacemaker Teams at the outbreak of the Iraq War. Cafeteria.
7:30 p.m. Hillel presents a panel of students who spent a "gap year" in Israel. Founders Gallery.

Tuesday, Sept. 14
7:30 p.m. Report to the community by the summer 2010 work-study group in Israel/Palestine. Founders Gallery.

Wednesday, Sept. 15
7:30 p.m. Program presented by the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights. New Garden Friends Meeting.

Thursday, Sept. 16
Noon Memorial worship in honor of Masoud Awartani. Hut.

Friday, Sept. 17
12:30 p.m. Brown bag lunch discussion of topics rasied by the week.

Also in planning stages: a panel of students who were in military service in Iraq and Afghanistan; a panel discussion of the controversy over the Muslim community center and mosque near "Ground Zero."

For information, contact Friends Center at 316-2445.

Golf Team Ranked No. 3 in First NCAA Division III Poll of the Season
Submitted By: Ty Buckner

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The men's golf team will open the season ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division III Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches' Poll. Methodist University, the defending national champion, is ranked No. 1.

Guilford, which finished second by a stroke to Methodist in last year's national tournament, returns four letter winners this season. DUSTY ROBERTS earned PING Third Team All-America honors last year by virtue of his 20th-place finish at the 2010 NCAA Championships.

First-year coach COREY MAGGARD's squad opens the season Sept. 24-26 at the Sea Trail Intercollegiate in Sunset Beach, N.C.

Quakers Picked Eighth in ODAC Volleyball Poll
Submitted By: Zach Daw

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Guilford was picked eighth in the ODAC preseason poll. Randolph-Macon College, the defending ODAC champion, topped the 11-team poll with eight first-place votes and 116 total poll points.

Fifth-year head coach EMILY GANN leads a squad that features 10 returning letter winners who contributed to last year's 12-15 season, the team's best result since 2002. Joined by eight newcomers this year, the 10 veterans include captain TAYLOR PHILLIPS '12. The All-ODAC honorable mention setter finished fifth in the conference with 7.26 assists per game in 2009. Outside hitter BRITTANY FREEMAN '13 returns as the Quakers' leading hitter after recording team highs in kills (250) and service aces (36), which ranked sixth and seventh in the conference, respectively.

The Quakers begin conference play Sept. 14 when they host Washington and Lee University.

ODAC Volleyball Preseason Poll
(#) Denotes first-place votes
1. Randolph-Macon 116 (8)
2. Washington and Lee 98 (1)
3. Lynchburg 97 (1)
4. Virginia Wesleyan 93
5. Roanoke 81 (1)
6. Bridgewater 74
7. Emory & Henry 51
8. Guilford 42
9. Eastern Mennonite 36
10. Randolph 25
11. Sweet Briar 13

Guilford College Wellness Plan Requirements
Submitted By: Fred Devine

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Guilford will offer discounted employee medical premiums effective with the Jan. 1, 2011 health insurance renewal. Discounted rates will be determined later this year.

In order to be eligible for the reduced premium in 2011, employees and their covered spouse must:

Have a routine physical between July 1, 2009, and Nov. 12, 2010.
Proof of physical exam must be provided to Human Resources no later than Nov. 16, 2010. Acceptable forms of proof are:

1) Letter from physician
2) Signed letter provided by HR

Opening Reception for Artist Kelly de Silva
Submitted By: Kelly de Silva
Location: Rioja! - 1603 Battleground Ave.
Date: 9/03/2010
Time: 8:00 PM - 10:00 PM

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KELLY DE SILVA '11 will be featured at Rioja! A Wine Bar for the month of September. The opening reception will take place Friday, Sept. 3, starting at 8 p.m. at the wine bar, located at 1603 Battleground Avenue.

Come enjoy Kelly's "abstract non-objective acrylic canvases slickly executed in a plethora of color fields and gently suggested environments."

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