Mission to Mauritius A Huge Success, Says Muganda

TAKOMA PARK, Md. (May 30) - Washington Adventist University’s (WAU) trip to Mauritius is being hailed as a success by Vice President of Ministry Baraka Muganda, who, along with assistant professor Alvin Fuentes, led a group of nine students to the island in the Indian Ocean, off the southeast coast of Africa.

“It was a very good trip,” Muganda said. “It was satisfying for all involved.”

He said the young missionaries began preaching on May 11 and continued for the next 15 days, ultimately reaching over 2500 visitors who attended the meetings.

The team also conducted devotions every morning at the only Seventh day Adventist Academy in Mauritius and played games with the students.

“The trip has brought me closer to God,” said junior theology major Danielle Barnard. “It has shown me the purpose for my life; I feel like God made me for Mauritius and the church members affirmed me as a theology teacher.”

Junior biology major Georgianna Johnson was excited about her first mission trip.

“I loved it!” she said. “My main fear was that people would not accept me, but they kept coming back. It was a two in one blessing—witnessing to members and learning about God at the same time.”

Myrna Wylyan, a native of Nevis in the Caribbean, accompanied her daughter, Janelle Wylyan, a junior social work major, on the trip.

“I went because the Lord had blessed me marvelously and I wanted to serve Him through this opportunity. I have grown closer to God in the process. I will always consider joining my daughter on these mission trips.”

For her part, Janelle is humbled “that God could use a broken vessel like me to bring others closer to Him.” She too expressed the view that the trip has shown her a purpose for her life.

Noting the success of the trip, Fuentes said he wished more faculty and staff would join the students on mission trips.

“There is such joy to work with students—preaching the word of God,” he said.

At the end of the two weeks, 65 people were baptized in several churches while another baptism is planned for June.

New Leadership Society Chartered at Washington Adventist University

TAKOMA PARK, Md. (May 16) - Twenty-eight aspiring leaders from the University community officially became members of Omicron Delta Kappa, one of the nation’s most prestigious honors society, at a Charter ceremony held inside Sligo Seven-day Adventist Church, April 14.

President Weymouth Spence, Ed.D. , five alumni, led by Charles McMillan, Ph.D. (’77) , director of the Los Alamos Lab, and 2013 alumnus of the year, and three faculty members, including charter sponsor, Ralph Johnson, Ph.D., dean, student success and faculty development, were among the new inductees.

“I am very excited that it is here,” said Johnson, a 1982 initiate of OΔK .  “Washington Adventist University is the only Seventh-day Adventist institution to have a circle. The level of exposure that it gives our campus is enormous!”

Omicron Delta Kappa (OΔK), a diverse national leadership honor society, is the first of its kind to give recognition for leadership.  It  dates back to 1914, when  on December 3,  15 student and faculty leaders met at Washington and Lee University in Virginia  seeking to unify students of “all phases of college life,” as well as faculty into one body of leaders. In the shaping of this organization, the founders sought to portray the idealism and leadership of George Washington , America’s first President, and  General Robert E. Lee.  The idea gained recognition and more and more colleges established their “Circles.” Presently, there are Circles of Omicron Delta Kappa on over 300 institutions of higher learning, a number which now includes colleges is Washington Adventist University.

To be eligible for membership, students must be in the top 35 percent of their class and demonstrate exemplary character and outstanding leadership in at least one of the five areas of campus life.

Each year the OΔK Foundation awards 20 scholarships of at least $1,000 to members planning to attend graduate or professional school. The General Russell E. Dougherty National Leader of the Year Award consists of a $4,000 scholarship and Circle grant to an outstanding member of OΔK.

For more information about the society’s awards, scholarships, membership, and activities, visit their website at www.odk.org.

Significant Growth in Learning Assessment Recorded

TAKOMA PARK, Md. (May 28) - Washington Adventist University (WAU) submitted its monitoring report April 1, in continued compliance with regional accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).   

Under the leadership of the chair of the newly formed academic assessment subcommittee, Dr. Melvin Roberts, the University demonstrated a significant increase in compliance since 2011, the time of the self-study. At that time, less than 50 percent of WAU departments had approved assessment plans in place. Today, all departments have at least one assessment plan documented, and most have curricular maps created and are documenting their learning outcomes in annual program reports.

“The real work was done by the academic departments. Without the efforts of the larger faculty in the planning and implementing stages, little progress would have been made,” Roberts said.

Over the past year, a response was required to MSCHE, on their findings from the self-study submitted and the 2012 site visit. Those processes are part of the 10-year accreditation process for MSCHE. Washington Adventist University met all 14 evaluation standard set by MSCHE.

On Standard 14, Student Learning Assessment, a monitoring report was required “documenting evidence of further implementation of an organized and sustained process to assess the achievement of student learning outcomes at the course, program, and institutional level, including (1) provision of increased institutional resources devoted to student learning outcomes assessment; (2) the integration of learning outcomes at the course, program, and institutional levels; and (3) the use of assessment results in academic planning at all levels.”

Last spring, Associate Vice President for the OIRE Janette Neufville, enlisted the services of Terra Schehr, the Associate Vice President of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Loyola to help address inconsistencies in student learning outcomes assessment. Schehr made a presentation to the faculty at their annual colloquium last August and provided feedback and advice to departmental assessment plans during one-on-one sessions from late September through late October.

Neufville also enlisted the help of former MSCHE Vice President, Linda Suskie, to address deficiencies in learning assessment and recommend a plan to address the concerns raised by MSCHE. Suskie visited the university in September 2012 to review current Standard 14 practices and advised on the institution’s approach to student learning outcomes assessment and to the Monitoring Report.

Commencement Weekend, a Fitting End to Academic Year

TAKOMA PARK, Md. (May 7) - Commencement 2013, held at the DAR Constitution Hall, Sunday, May 5, marked a fitting end to the 2012-2013 academic year.   Consistent with the trend at  Washington Adventist University  (WAU) , it was bigger than ever as  large numbers of graduates, their friends and families  attended  a weekend of activities, including  Consecration on Friday and the Baccalaureate Ceremony on Saturday at Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church, and  Commencement  ceremony on Sunday  at the historic Washington, D.C, facility.

Distinguished scientist and scholar and Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, E. Albert Reece, MD, Ph.D., MBA, delivered the keynote address on Sunday, urging students to relentlessly pursue excellence in all that they do.

Reece cited a number of influential figures who attained great success after first experiencing hardship in some ways. His list included Apple’s former CEO, the late Steve Jobs, media mogul Oprah Winfrey, and renowned author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rollins, now one of the wealthiest women in the United Kingdom.

“Live your life in the relentless pursuit of excellence if you are to make a positive impact,” Reece said. “You cannot accomplish anything without being committed and focused on your goals and on Jesus.”

Further, Reece said graduates may have to discard some “maps and charts that have been made for them and urge them to take advantage of their place “on the precipice of a special time in history when science, art and technology are converging to change the world.”

President of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventist Daniel R. Jackson, at the Baccalaureate service, urged graduates to live purposefully less they become among “the vague, the thoughtless and the foolish.”

“Do not lose your lives because you lack creativity—because you lack a plan,” he said. “Live with purpose! Live with Passion! Live proactively!”
And, at Consecration Service on Friday, Pastor Gary Wimbish, noted a changing world in which wrong and right are increasingly indistinguishable. He urged the graduates to heed the Biblical admonition and enter into the ‘narrow gate.”

“The essence of true happiness is to be an earnest seeker of truth and virtue,” he said. “This is beyond the development of the mind; one must have a passion for true virtue.”
Commencement 2013 marked the first year that WAU is celebrating this rite of passage as a single event. Historically, the school has held two ceremonies—one in April and a second in July.