This is the second edition of our divisional newsletter in its new format.
As a reminder, the new newsletter will be published in January, March, July, September, and
November. We hope this gets the information out at the most critical times in our year and that
you consider this a benefit to you.
There are three ways to access the newsletter. The first, of course, is the edition you are reading,
the electronic mail distribution. Secondly, you can also access the full text of the newsletter each
edition at:
http://www.jmu.edu/adminfinance/news/
Finally, each time an electronic version is published, we also print a shortened paper version, to
make sure we are connecting with those folks who don't necessarily have computer access.
Please feel free to contact me directly whenever you have questions or comments about the
newsletter.
DECEMBER 7 LEADERS MEETING
Divisional AVP's and directors met on December 7 to talk about our current initiatives as well as
where we are headed as a division in the next few years. One of the activities we completed was
a values exercise in which we worked at identifying the core values of our division - the things we
believe in strongly and must mark our work into the future. Those divisional values are:
Service-Oriented
Ethical
Quality-Centered
Student-Centered
Trustworthy
Accountable
Innovative
Those are the qualities/characteristics that we want to be descriptive of every team within our
division and every person in every team. In the future, you'll be hearing more about these as we
work to be the best we can be.
UNIVERSITY WIDE NEWS
James Madison University Centennial Celebration
JMU will celebrate its 100th birthday on March 14, 2008. The university's centennial celebration
will last throughout the entire 2007-2008 academic year and include special observations on
different aspects of life from the rich history of the Normal and Industrial School for Women at
Harrisonburg, the State Teachers College, Madison College, and JMU. The Centennial
Celebration Kickoff will begin on March 14 (James Madison Day) in Wilson Hall Auditorium.
A website has been set up exclusively for the Centennial Celebration. I encourage you to visit the
Celebration Website to view the calendar of events starting March 2007 through May 3, 2008.
Some of the planned activities, events, and projects include:
 Historical Exhibits – set-up across campus
 The Duke Dog Project – uniquely painted and decorated versions of the Duke Dog will be
on display throughout the JMU campus and Harrisonburg.
 Madison’s Best – A list of Madison’s Best will include those who have meant the most to
James Madison University during the first century.
 Virginia JMU Centennial License Plates will be available for purchase to commemorate
the occasion
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
I would like to encourage you to take time to participate in the events to be held in honor of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy. A full schedule of MLK activities to be held on campus can
be viewed at the Center for Multicultural Student Services web site. The highlight of the weeklong
events will be on January 15 with the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Cornel West.
ATHLETICS
I hope you'll join me at a JMU Basketball game soon. The men play VCU Saturday night at 7:00
and Drexel on Monday night at 7:00. The women return home on the 14th with a 2:00 p.m. game
with William & Mary. As always, you can view the schedule for any of our sports and get the latest
on the Dukes at www.jmusports.com.
Hello Duke Dog
Working with Mascot Books, the JMU Bookstore is proud to announce a first ever, JMU children’s
book, titled: Hello Duke Dog. Follow JMU's world-famous mascot, Duke Dog, as he takes a tour
of campus - with stops at Wilson Hall, Carrier Library and The Commons - before heading to
Bridgeforth Stadium to cheer the Dukes to victory. This beautifully illustrated children's book is a
must-have for JMU fans of all ages. This book is available in the JMU Bookstore for $14.95.
BUDGET
In December, the Governor released his budget amendments to the 2006-08 biennium budget.
Operating budget recommendations for JMU included a 2007-2008 pay increase of 3% for
classified employees and administrative faculty along with additional nursing salary increase of
10%, CISAT library operating costs (six months), and additional undergraduate financial aid.
Capital project budget recommendations for JMU included capital project cost overruns of $24.1
million, capital project equipment $10.0 million and new property acquisitions of $16.6. The
General Assembly will begin to make modifications in January for completion by mid February.
FACILITIES
Massanutten Hall
Last November we had a special celebration scheduled to dedicate Massanutten Hall. However,
because of a rainstorm that swept through the Valley that day, we were forced to cancel. I did
want to extend my thanks for all the work that went into making that a facility to be proud of. And,
let's not forget all that happened in the wake of the 2003 fire. Despite multiple moves and lots of
obstacles, our team never failed to complete critical tasks and keep on serving.
West of Main Street
The acquisitions of the Canterbury and Stone houses are complete. The process of destruction
for both of those structures has begun. In addition, we completed the acquisition of Patterson
Street from the city, which will allow us to move forward with the next phase of the development
of the Performing Arts Center. Meanwhile, as you may have seen, the construction of the Warsaw
Street Parking Deck is moving along and right on schedule.
Campus Master Plan
We have chosen Moseley Architects to begin the process of creating a campus-wide master plan.
Win Hunt and his team will be working closely with the architects to draft a plan for the
development of our facilities and land over the next 10-20 years.
Our Smallest New Building
One of our newest campus facilities is a small, bluestone type building located near the power
plant. It was purposely designed to blend in with the surrounding architecture. The building
houses a state-of-the-art telephone switching facility. It provides communications services to most
of the campus buildings between I-81 and the railroad tracks. Bringing this site online required a
real group effort from the Telecom staff. Hunter Petrie served as the Telecom Project Manager.
He coordinated contributions from everyone in the department, from the office staff entering and
checking the 48,000 database records required to the technicians that worked nights and days for
weeks. All together over 1800 labor hours were expended. Telephone companies typically take
from 6 months to a year to activate this kind of facility. Here it took four weeks. It is always
amazing to see what JMU teamwork can accomplish.
CONGRATULATIONS
I want to congratulate the Divisional Diversity Council on receiving an Innovative Diversity Efforts
Award (IDEA) from the President's Office. The award comes with a very generous grant. Thanks
go to Towana Moore and the Council: Jennifer Campfield, Alvin Chao, Brian Charette, Yohna
Cone, Jini Cook, Sheila Foglesong, Vicki Hudson, Jorge Matallana, Brian Owens, Stacy Proctor,
Mohammad Sumbal and Jennifer Testa.
Congratulations also go to Jennifer Campfield, Brett Sinclair, Jorge Matallana, and Colleen
Moynihan for the Human Resources Recruiting Team's receipt of an IDEA award as well.
I also want to acknowledge the members of our Administration & Finance Team who recently
completed the Success Series through the Training Department:
Don Barstow - Information Systems
Jennifer Dellinger - Accounts Payable
Kristen Gregory - HR
David Gutschow - Technical Services
Gary Helsley - Parking
Rich MacDonald - Network Services
Linda Montgomery - Information Systems
Yeevonne Riggleman - Budget Management
Liz Stickley - Information Systems
Terry Stockner - Technical Services
Mohammad Sumbal - IT-Computing Support
Also, additional kudos to Liz, Linda, and Mohammad who were on the team whose project
research was chosen to be presented before Dr. Rose. There topic was: Achieving Diversity at
JMU: Professor in Residence Program.
Congratulations to the staff members in Payroll, Human Resources, Information Technology, and
Finance who successfully upgraded the Human Resource System to version 8.9. I know a lot of
hard work and dedicated effort went into planning and upgrading the system. Good job by
everyone.
Beth Pease’s proposal Keeping Up Appearances with System Integrity Queries was accepted for
the General Interest track at the 2007 Oracle Alliance Conference. Good job, Beth.
Five individuals in our division will receive Finance & Administration Certification training
certificates in this month. They are: Miranda Eppard, Facilities Management; Julia Huffman,
Facilities Planning; Sarah Knupp, Human Resources; Susan May, Facilities Management, and
Ada Strickler, Procurement Services. Congratulations to all.
DINING SERVICES
New Learning Program
Dining Services recently introduced Sed de Saber, an English language learning program
designed to help Hispanic employees learn English language skills that can improve the quality of
their lives. This is a fun, interactive program that teaches English through the use of story-telling,
voice recording, games and review exercises. The employees take the kits home with them and
learn on a self-paced timeframe. This also enables family members to learn English as well.
There are currently 15 employees enrolled in the Sed de Saber program and many have reached
their mid-assessment goal. The program is tailored to last approximately 4 to 6 months with
employees spending one hour per day using the system. Managers have reported that they
already see a difference in the language skills of the participants. Due to the interest from
additional employees wanting to enroll, plans are being developed now for the next group of
participants.
High-Tech
If you’ve ordered a salad at Festival or stir fry at Top Dog Café this semester, you should be
familiar with the latest technology introduced by Dining Services – Touch Screen kiosks. These
kiosks allow the customer to place their order, which prints out for the server to begin preparing
the order as soon as it is received. No more order forms and pencils. This streamlined process
has led to a faster turn around time for orders. Another technology innovation is the development
of nutritional kiosks which have been installed at D-Hall, PC Dukes, Top Dog Café and Festival.
These kiosks provide nutritional information for those locations, helping dining customers make
informed decisions. In the future they plan to add a feature which will allow the ability to check
Dining Dollars and FLEX balances. The next step is a new podcasting feature. This will be added
to the Dining Services website so you can download the week’s menu, specials, and other timely
information. This is scheduled to go live in January.
PROGRAM REVIEWS
As of this month, the following units are all in the process of undergoing program reviews: Labs
Tech Classrooms, Housekeeping/Maintenance, the University Business Office, Athletics
Equipment Operations, IT Tech Support East Campus, Athletics Academic Services, IT Training,
Budget Management, and FM Engineering/Operations. I want to extend my thanks to the
program review committee chairs and the members of the committees who work so hard on
these. I want you to know that our program review process is very important and your work is
much appreciated.
ADMIN & FINANCE SCHOLARSHIP
Nominations are due February 1 for the 2007-2008 Administration and Finance Scholarship
awards. Nominees must meet several criteria to be considered for a scholarship:
 Be nominated by a staff member from the Division of Administration and Finance
 Be a new or continuing student who is either a child or relative of an administration and
finance employee or who has a demonstrated connection to the division
 Be in good standing academically
Consideration will be given to a candidate's academic success, potential need, previously
demonstrated leadership, involvement in extracurricular activities and community service and/or
work. To nominate a student please visit the Admin & Finance Scholarship Website.
For more information about the scholarship, please contact Jini Cook at 8-7204 or
cookvg@jmu.edu
Thanks to Procurement Services
I'm thrilled to be thanking Procurement Services for their contribution of $921.44 to the
scholarship effort. At the recent SWAM Vendor Fair, Mary Helmick and her team asked vendors
to pay a minimal registration fee in order to attend. Vendors were told that any additional money
collected above and beyond expenses would go toward the scholarship program at JMU. As a
result, almost a thousand dollars will go to help JMU students who are relatives or friends of
members of our division. Thanks specifically to Katie Weaver and Matasha Owens who were the
chair-persons of this event and the ones who came up with this plan. What a great example of
innovative leadership (see our values above).
Also, my thanks to all who are contributing to the scholarship effort, particularly those who have
recently joined. There are now 163 employees who have been a part of contributing to the
scholarship, helping to make sure that family members and friends of our employees can get a
JMU education. A little goes a long way.
Scholarship Recipient Spotlight
Kyle Symons is the son of Kim Thompson, HR, Training & Performance. Kyle is a freshman in the
school of Music and plays the flute and piccolo in the Marching Royal Dukes Marching Band and
the JMU Concert Band. Kyle writes on his first semester at JMU: "Things at JMU are hectic but
great. I stay very busy. If I’m not studying and doing work for my gen eds, I’m either in a practice
room working on music or attending a recital for my major. The work load is constant, but it keeps
me driven, determined and focused. So far it’s been a great semester.”
OUR VISION: CUSTOMER SERVICE
We’re here to serve. That explains why our vision is to provide great customer service. Our
success in pursuing that vision is always reflected in the letters and e-mails I receive that testify to
your great work. I’ll close this e-mail with some of those:
***
(To the JMU HelpDesk)
I just wanted to thank you for helping my daughter yesterday. She called me, totally in tears,
because her computer died 2 hours before a big project she needed to print out was due in class.
I remembered you existed from a campus tour I took last year, and so I was able to find your
location from my computer and tell her where to go. The person she saw was able to get her
computer up and running again, and she was able to get her assignment in on time. From the
bottom of my heart, I say, THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE! I don't know how else I could have
helped her from this distance.
Sincerely,
Michelle de Stefano
***
Just wanted to tell you that Diane (Yerian) presented Humor in the Workplace yesterday for
University Business Office staff and John Knight and Judy Powell joined us. I'm sure you don't
need me to remind you of her talents, especially in training, but yesterday she outdid herself. Her
final point was perfectly illustrated by talking candidly about her personal life and what she said
and her sincerity made such a statement to everyone in that room. She is a real jewel and I
appreciate her continuing time, efforts and support for this office.
Linda Combs
***
I just got off the phone with Tony Smith to compliment him for the great job his department is
doing, and in particular to compliment one individual that is working in the School of Music
building by the name of Jose Estela (goes by Tony).
Jose is one of the most courteous, hardest working individuals I've ever seen/met in my building! I
know that this is a trickle-down effect from Tony Smith and his fine managerial skills imparted to
Jose and the rest of his staff. If I may be so bold to suggest that both Tony and Jose should be
commended for the great job that they are doing for the JMU Community.
I know you're a very busy man, but I wanted to take a moment to let you know that the
housekeeping crew at JMU is top-notch!
Sincerely,
Rick DiGiallonardo
Associate Professor of Music
***
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to commend Phillip Etre to you. Yesterday, I stopped by the
Festival Center's dining area with former CNN Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers and his wife Eleanor
for a quick dinner before Mr. Rodgers was to speak to JMU faculty and students. Philip
recognized me from previous meetings as well as Mr. Rodgers from television and was
extraordinarily hospitable, greeting us and doing everything to spruce things up without any
expectation on our part.
We were very pressed for time, but both Mr. and Mrs. Rodgers commented on the very favorable
impression his hospitality gave them of JMU. Mrs. Rodgers' comment when I apologized that our
time constraints did not allow me to entertain them more appropriately in the style they are used
to was that Philip's courtesy made evening dining among the students memorable.
In short, Philip helped JMU make a very favorable impression on our two visitors.
Best regards,
Peter Pham
***
Please don't forget to look for opportunities to encourage those who are out on sick leave,
especially those who are out for an extended period of time. I’m thinking of two things in particular
that will be a great blessing to those folks. First, send a card or note. It is a great way to
encourage someone who is facing an illness. Second, if you feel comfortable, let your AVP or me
know about it. I want to try to make sure I’m aware of anyone in our division who is facing such a
situation. I know from personal experience how helpful a note can be in those times.
Finally, Sherry and I want to thank the many many folks who took the time to send us cards and
notes when her dad passed away in November. That meant a great deal to us. We deeply
appreciate your kindness.
Thanks for all you do.
Charlie King