University of Mary Washington faculty, staff and students hit the ground running this year, sharing their academic specialties and love for what they do over the airwaves. Since the first days of January, their voices have contributed to the live broadcasts and pre-recorded podcasts that weave their way into home conversations, office discussions and the morning commute.
UMW experts transmitted their thoughts, offering insights on topics like map-making and artificial intelligence, and issuing invitations to on-campus events. Here – touting their zeal for everything from recruiting students to leading the school – are some of them:
Biz Beat Banter: UMW President Troy Paino: On Jan. 10, UMW President Troy Paino spoke with Bill Freehling, host of the Fredericksburg Advance’s Biz Beat Banter podcast. The 45-minute conversation covered highlights of Paino’s career before his 2016 arrival at Mary Washington, his duties as president and his goals for the University.
“I felt that what would give my life the most meaning is if I was doing something where I was investing in other people’s lives,” Paino said of his journey to college presidency and his George Washington Hall corner office. “Education is an opportunity to invest in other people and to be a part of an enterprise that at its core is hope. You’re dealing with young people at a stage of life where it’s all before them.”
Town Talk/UMW’s Great Lives: On Jan. 21, UMW’s Scott Harris, director of the William B. Crawley Great Lives lecture series, joined host Ted Schubel on the Town Talk radio show, aired live from WFVA’s Stafford County studio. The hour-long broadcast explored Mary Washington’s signature lecture series, which features – for free – presentations by biographers on their celebrated subjects. Speakers present on Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 3 in George Washington Hall’s Dodd Auditorium.
“When you take biography as a vehicle, it helps give you a much more grounded sense of how the past evolved, and people can relate,” Harris, who also serves as executive director of UMW Museums, said on the show. “People like hearing stories about other people.”
Town Talk/UMW Admissions: On Jan. 28, UMW Dean of Admissions and Associate Vice President Melissa Yakabouski, along with Director of First Year Admissions Sarah Lindberg, spoke with Ted Schubel on the Town Talk radio show.
“If you have kids or grandkids going to college, send this show to them,” Schubel said at the start of the broadcast that covered filing dates, open houses and what high-schoolers need to consider when choosing the right school for them.
“We are looking to see if we can get a glimpse into what you’re passionate about, what you’re interested in, [inside and] outside of the classroom,” Lindberg told listeners, including teens heading to college.
“We’d love to consider you,” Yakabouski said. “We’d love to have you come earn your bachelor’s degree with us.”
Town Talk/Stafford African American Trail: On Jan. 30, UMW Professor of Geography Steve Hanna joined student Ethan Sweeny and Discover Stafford Director Sue Henderson to speak with Ted Schubel on the Town Talk radio show. The show previewed Discover Stafford’s new African American Heritage Trail driving tour, for which Hanna and Sweeny, a junior majoring in geographic information systems, created a story map depicting a selection of its 23 sites.
“That’s why I’m a geographer,” Hanna said of his affection for working with students to make maps that bring history to life. “Place matters. The intersection of geography and history is that we treat places as memory banks. Being in that place gives you the opportunity to dig into those memories.”
Role of Augmented Debate Learning and AI Pluralism in Education: On Feb. 6, UMW Professor of Communication Anand Rao spoke on the “Regulating AI” podcast while on a trip to speak at the AI Big Data Global conference in Olympia, London. The 18-minute podcast, titled “AI in Education: Augmented Debate & AI,” examined artificial intelligence and its role in higher education.
“Some students are able to go and use something like ChatGPT for personalized instruction when they’re stuck on a problem in homework,” Rao told interviewer Sanjay Puri, founder and chairman of Knowledge Networks. “Not to get the answer but to find out how to get to that answer, how to get that instruction so they can better prepare for the test or be able to prepare for coursework.”
Town Talk/UMW Summer Enrichment Program: On Feb. 18, UMW Associate Professor of Communication Elizabeth Johnson-Young and Biological Sciences Senior Lecturer Michael Stebar participated in an interview on the Town Talk radio show. The episode previewed the Summer Enrichment Program, which invites high-schoolers to experience a six-day slice of college life, during which they receive an immersive experience, living in a residence hall, eating meals on campus and taking classes taught by UMW faculty members.
“For many of our campers, this might be their first experience away from home,” Stebar told show host Ted Schubel. “They start off with this level of apprehension, but our counselors do such a good job, a week later … there are tears when they’re leaving … It’s mind-blowing to see just in one week that level of connection and community develops.”
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