Colleges and universities are constantly creating new programs, or expanding facilities or just offering glimpses of campus life. Here's a roundup of news items submitted by the schools profiled in this section:

Accolades

Last winter, the women's basketball team at the University of Mary Washington advanced for the first time to the NCAA Final Four and finished third in the nation with a 31-3 record. UMW was also recognized as the "Prettiest College Campus" in Virginia by readers of Cooperative Living magazine, and editors at MSNBC listed UMW among the nation's most beautiful campuses.

In a tradition dating to 1908, students at Washington and Lee University are preparing for the university's 100th Mock Convention. Using state-by-state research, students will predict the presidential nominee for the Democrats. The convention has been wrong only once since 1948.

At Hampton University, students who receive one of four scholarships are eligible to live in Kennedy or Pierce residence halls. The Merit Achievement scholarship is awarded to top students. Recipients receive a partial tuition scholarship.

The Hampton Scholar award goes to students with an SAT of 12001290 or an ACT of 27-28. Recipients of this award receive a four-year tuition scholarship. The Presidential scholarship goes to those with an SAT of 13001390 or an ACT of 29-31. This four-year scholarship covers tuition, room and board.

The Trustee scholarship at Hampton provides a four-year scholarship that includes tuition, room, board, a $500 book stipend and a computer.

An agreement signed by the presidents of Emory & Henry College and the University of Appalachia College of Pharmacy will allow E&H science students to receive preferential admission to the university's Doctor of Pharmacy Program. Last fall, more than 950 candidates applied for the class of 65 students at UACP.

A student-run nonprofit organization at the University of Mary Washington, Students Helping Honduras, which was founded by then-UMW senior Shin Fujiyama and his sister Cosmo, a student at the College of William and Mary, raised money to completely rebuild a town in Honduras devastated by Hurricane Mitch. Through a series of fund-raising efforts, the students surpassed their fundraising goal of $100,000.

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New Programs

Eastern Mennonite University is a "Participating College" of the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. Au Sable is a Christian institute whose mission is to bring healing to the biosphere through college courses and programs, research projects and seminars. Au Sable courses are offered at its Great Lakes campus in Michigan, and at campuses in the Puget Sound, Kenya, South India and Tangier Island.

George Washington University's Graduate School of Education and Human Development's Educational Leadership and Administration Program at its Hampton Roads center in Newport News has partnered with Norfolk public schools to create a program that allows current teachers to pursue advanced degrees in educational administration while maintaining their full-time positions.

Virginia Union University freshmen and sophomores can enroll in the new School of General Studies. The school's Academic Empowerment Center offers the Freshman Institute, College Orientation and Sophomore Experience programs as well as advising. A new Office of Continuing and Professional Studies will also open during the 2007-08 academic year to address the career, educational and lifelong learning needs of nontraditional adult students.

The University of Virginia's LASE 360 course is now in its second year. Created by a chemical engineering student, the class is designed to show students "360 degrees" of the university by inviting a different professor to speak each week on a variety of topics. U.Va. has also created a new department of East Asian Languages, Literatures and Cultures and plans to launch the first graduate program for East Asian languages and literatures in the southeastern United States.

This fall, Hollins University introduced a series of special seminars to teach first-year students research techniques. Classes are no larger than 15, and the professor of each seminar will serve as academic adviser for his or her students. Each seminar counts toward the student's major and general education requirements.

Hollins also launched the Certificate in Leadership Studies this fall to give students practical and academic experience in leadership studies. Students will complete courses in leadership theory and skills at the university's Batten Leadership Institute and conduct a leadership project.

Washington and Lee University is offering a new major in environmental studies. Students will acquire grounding in the sciences, with additional coursework in economics, English, religion, politics, history and philosophy. A required internship is supplemented by public lectures, service learning projects and monthly luncheon seminars. The major's U.S.-Brazilian Consortium matches students with families and professors in South America.

Four American University students became the first in the nation to graduate with a minor in Israel studies, offered by the Center for Israel Studies at AU's College of Arts and Sciences. Launched in summer 2006, the pioneering minor focuses on Israel's history, unique political democracy, multicultural society and other factors. AU students are encouraged to study in Israel and earn credits for the program administered by the Jewish Studies Program.

Old Dominion University has launched a new Ph.D. program in criminology/criminal justice. The program will enhance the regional and national reputation of the department.

Also, beginning this fall, ODU will be one of three universities in the state to offer a bachelor's degree in African-American and African Studies.

The new interdisciplinary degree will focus on issues surrounding race and ethnicity in American society. Students will study history, sociology, political science and criminal justice as well as complete an internship in a public, private or nonprofit program that specializes in services for African Americans, women or disadvantaged populations.

At Virginia Commonwealth University, changes in the core curriculum for freshman have been made. The Focused Inquiry courses (Focused Inquiry I and II) will replace English 101 and serve as the central component of the freshman curriculum. Focused inquiry will target written and oral communication, critical thinking and problem solving, development of quantitative abilities, information retrieval and evaluation, and collaborative work.

A record freshman class of more than 600 joined Lynchburg College this fall as it embarked on "A Greener Tomorrow Today: LC's Year of the Environment." Student-led initiatives include creating the Alliance for Energy Awareness, which plans to sponsor energy usage competitions among residence halls.

Radford University now offers two sections of its popular cryptography class taught by math professor Neil Sigmon. This honors math class, which covers the study of message secrecy and code breaking, usually fills during the pre-registration period. Radford's Department of Accounting, Finance and Business Law in the College of Business and Economics also now offers two new tracks in the finance major: one in financial planning and one in international finance.

Radford has also formed two new collaborations with schools in China and Thailand. RU's School of Nursing and Nantong University in China recently signed a memorandum of understanding that opened the way for students and faculty from both universities to take part in an exchange program. In 2008, students and faculty members from Nantong University will spend six weeks studying at RU. Likewise, students and faculty members from RU will have the opportunity to travel to Nantong where they will receive four weeks of clinical and class instruction followed by a two-week tour of China. A new collaboration between RU's College of Education and Human Development and the Darunsikkhalai School for Innovative Learning (DSIL) in Bangkok, Thailand, opens opportunities for RU students. RU Dean Patricia Shoemaker and Santi Tisayakorn, provost of DSIL, met with faculty at RU to discuss potential collaborations, including internships for RU teacher preparation students at the Bangkok school and a summer camp for DSIL students at RU.

Endorsing its sixth new academic program in the past year, Bluefield College officials approved a new forensic science major. Students will study the history of forensic science, organization of crime labs and functions of the forensic scientist as well as crime scenes, toxicology, fingerprinting, drug identification and DNA evidence.

Marymount University is offering new information technology programs to support increased demand for IT professionals. Students can pursue a four-year bachelor of science degree or a five-year bachelor of science/master of science degree in information technology.

This year, Averett University freshmen are participating in a six-week university success seminar that stresses time management, test-taking strategies and effective note taking.

"We launched this new initiative to help our students transition effectively from high school to college-level work," said Dr. Jeff Fager, Averett dean of arts and sciences. The classes are team taught with upperclassmen assisting staff and faculty instructors.

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Faculty News

Theodore C. DeLaney, associate professor of history, has been appointed chair of the history department at Washington and Lee University. He is the first black man to fully head a department at W&L.

Dr. Jennifer L. Braaten will celebrate the beginning of her sixth year as the first woman president of Ferrum College by welcoming the largest group of new students in over 20 years. Other milestones that occurred throughout Braaten's tenure include completion of a major building and renovation project, and 37 percent growth in the college's endowment.

The George Washington University welcomes Dr. Steven Knapp as its 16th president. Knapp brings nearly 30 years of higher education experience. Most recently, he was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs of The Johns Hopkins University.

Emory & Henry College welcomes Dr. Rosalind Reichard as its 20th president and first female president. During her inaugural speech in late September, Reichard challenged E&H to develop a Public Policy Institute for research, policy development and service in environmental science, education and community building.

In July, American University's Board of Trustees selected Dr. Cornelius M. Kerwin as the 14th permanent president. Kerwin has served as acting and then interim president since August 2005. Prior to becoming president, Kerwin was provost from 1997 to 2005, and dean of the School of Public Affairs from 1988 to 1997.

Dr. Karen Waters, professor of English at Marymount University, has just returned from teaching as a Fulbright scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia (National Islamic University) in Delhi. She taught graduate courses in literature and gave the Vidvatva Fulbright Lecture on "The Place of Literature in a Multicultural Society."

Marymount's School of Arts and Sciences also reached out to Dr. Waters' host university, donating and sending over 1,000 pounds of books (literature, composition, math, and science texts) to the University.

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Campus Expansions

A $7 million expansion of historic Byars Hall at Emory & Henry will provide additional classrooms, studios and rehearsal halls for the Division of Visual and Performing Arts. In May, Emory & Henry will begin a $3 million renovation of its main administration building, Wiley Hall.

A new arts center and major enhancements to the E&H athletic stadium in honor of the late Fred Selfe are the targets of a $16.5 million fund-raising effort. The new Center for the Arts, which is expected to cost approximately $12 million, would include a large performance hall, a black box theater, rehearsal rooms, exhibit space, a three-dimensional art classroom, office space and theatre storage areas. The Fred Selfe Athletic Stadium, which honors a beloved football coach and athletic director who died in 2003, would include enhancements to Fullerton Field, including a new field house, an improved press box, artificial turf, lighting, an expanded visitors' section and a new entrance gate. The $4.5 million improvements would provide expanded use of the football field for football, baseball and soccer practices and for football and soccer competitions.

A 30-foot climbing wall, two full-court gyms, and more than 80 pieces of cardio and strength equipment are among the offerings in Longwood University's new health and fitness center. The $16.6 million, 74,683-square-foot building also includes a fitness center, exercise rooms, racquetball courts and walking/jogging track.Students, faculty, and staff can take advantage of a variety of classes including yoga, pilates, spinning, and aerobics while specialized equipment in the circuit training room allows participants to complete a full workout in 30 minutes. The center is open more than 95 hours each week and includes a Freshens Energy Zone Juice Bar.

"We believe that this new center will shape the mind, body, and spirit -- the whole person, if you will, and that has always been a goal of higher education," said President Patricia Cormier. In addition to Campus Recreation, the building houses the Counseling Center and the Student Health and Wellness Center, effectively integrating three primary services of Longwood's student affairs division.