HAGERSTOWN

NOTES and NEWSUniversity System of Maryland at Hagerstown32 W. Washington Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740

240-527-2060 v Voice TDD 240-527-2064 v www.hagerstown.usmd.edu

Winter 2005

College Park Brings Engineeringto USMH

The University of Maryland, College Park, launched its firstprogram to be offered at the University System of Marylandat Hagerstown during a reception on December 1. Graduateengineering courses will be offered by the System's flagshipschool beginning in January 2006.

"The University of Maryland, College Park is in WashingtonCounty as of two o'clock today," said Dr. David Warner,executive director of USMH. "I am thrilled to make that state-ment." A University of Maryland, College Park flag wasunveiled, joining the flags of the three other participatingschools at USMH.

Timothy Troxell, executive director of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission,said that having College Park join the Hagerstown campuswill benefit local business and industry, because there will bea more educated workforce available.

According to Dr. George Syrmos, director of the ProfessionalMaster of Engineering Program, students will be able to earnmaster of engineering degrees and graduate certificates.

Interested students can contact Paul Easterling, associatedirector of the program at 301-405-3017 or peaster@umd.edu.To learn more about the program go to www.enpm.umd.edu.

Weather-Related Closings and Delays

Winter weather is upon us. Please check our website,www.hagerstown.usmd.edu, for weather-related closings anddelays. During winter weather events, regular updates willappear on the home page. WHAG TV 25 and the following radiostations will also broadcast our closings and delays:

Open House Draws Crowd

Prospective students from Hagerstown and the surround-ing areas came out in the first snow squall of the season tolearn more about the programs offered at USMH.

Counselors from the four participating universities wereavailable to provide information and answer questions.

Current students participated in a poster session, showcas-ing their work for open house attendees .

Above: Casie Peterson and Jennifer Miller, FSU business students, prepared aposter and game to display during the open house.

Left: Paul Easterling (right), associate director of the Professional Master ofEngineering Program at University of Maryland, College Park, and Dr.George Syrmos (second from right), director of the program, chat withprospective students during the recent open house.

Dr. C. David Warner (left), executive director of the University System of Marylandat Hagerstown, and Dr. George Syrmos, director of the Professional Master ofEngineering Program at the University of Maryland, College Park, announced thelaunch of the new graduate engineering program at USMH during a reception forarea business leaders.

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Holiday Hours

USMH will be closed from Friday, December 23 throughMonday, January 2. The center will reopen on Tuesday,January 3.

Winter intersession classes begin on January 3 for all of theparticipating universities.

The University System of Maryland atHagerstown (USMH) has hired seven employ-ees since opening its doors to students inJanuary. Ten staff members are now in place toprovide services and manage the facility. Thefollowing employees join Dr. C. DavidWarner, executive director; Dr. JoEllenBarnhart, associate director; and LindaMcNamee, administrative assistant.

During a first round of hiring in January, ScottThomas was appointed as information technol-ogy communications associate. He holds anassociate degree in business administrationfrom Hagerstown Community College and abachelor’s degree in film and video fromUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County.Thomas is certified in network managementand administration. He came to USMH fromFrederick Community College where he was aninformation technology specialist. He lives inHagerstown.

Jeff Lugas joined USMH as maintenance super-visor in February. Lugas was employed by theUniversity System of Maryland as a project manager during therenovation and construction of the USMH center. He has a bache-lor’s degree in construction engineering technology with a minorin business from Spring Garden Institute in Philadelphia. Lugashas more than 20 years of experience serving as a project manag-er for schools, hospitals and commercial buildings. He says,“This is the most unique project that I have ever worked on,because it blends the old with the new. It was amazing to see thetransformation from start to completion—and helpful, because Iknow where everything is.” Lugas lives in Middletown.

Vichuda Wachs assumed her duties as receptionist in January.She earned a four-year secretarial diploma in her native countryof Thailand. Wachs previously worked for Frostburg StateUniversity and at Potomac Eye Specialists. She lives inGreencastle.

A second receptionist, Tamara Doleman, was appointed inOctober. She joins Wachs in providing day and evening coverageat the receptionist desk. She is a graduate of the paralegal pro-gram at Hagerstown Business College and holds an associatedegree. Doleman was previously employed by New EnglandMotor Freight in Hagerstown as an office associate. AHagerstown resident, she also writes a weekly column, “AroundJonathan Street,” for the Herald-Mail.

Jennifer Clement began her position as library media specialistin early October. She has been building the library collection andcreating and improving services to students and faculty (seeopposite page). Clement holds a bachelor’s degree in Englishfrom Michigan State University and a master of library and infor-

mation science from Wayne State University in Detroit. Mostrecently, she was a library assistant for the Capitol Area DistrictLibrary System in Lansing, MI. She also has worked as a corpo-rate librarian. In addition, she held a position as public relationswriter at Peckham, Inc., and has a 13-year background in publicrelations and marketing. Clement recently relocated to BerkeleySprings, WV.

Erin Harman joins USMH as public information specialist. Sheis responsible for marketing and public relations and assists withrecruitment and development. Harman previously served asdirector of communications for Saint James School. She holds abachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Marylandat College Park. “As a lifelong resident of Washington Countyand as a graduate of a school in the University of MarylandSystem, I am excited to be a part of this center. I believe stronglyin the mission of bringing four-year educational opportunities tolocal residents and look forward to being a part of the center’sgrowth,” she said.

Tina Pyron was hired in December as a library assistant, bring-ing expanded hours to the library. She is available to help stu-dents with reference questions and technical issues. Pyron holdsan associate degree in liberal arts from St. Leo University andplans to graduate in May 2006 with a B.S. in sociology from theFrostburg program offered at USMH. She worked as an aid atthe Library of Congress for one year while in high school.Following high school, she served in the armed forces for threeyears. Pyron moved to Hagerstown in 2002 and has worked as asubstitute teacher for Washington County Public Schools for thepast five years.

Meet the USMH StaffLibrary Fully Staffed; HoursExpanded

As the first library media specialist at USMH, Jennifer Clement’sgoal is to give students increased access to materials and broadentheir knowledge of research tools. “I am pleased to join thedynamic team at USMH while so much positive growth is takingplace. It is a great opportunity to shape valuable library servicesthat meet the needs of students and faculty, she says.”

In order to meet those needs, she has been working to increasestudent access to print materials and instructing students on theuse of various databases for research purposes. She has estab-lished an interlibrary loan connection through FrostburgUniversity, allowing students to access the interlibrary collec-tions. Materials are shipped to USMH where students pick themup. Clement handles the return shipping. Early next year,Clement plans to have software in place to allow students to bor-row materials through the University System of Maryland andAffiliated Institutions (USMAI) Consortium. Students will be ableto log in to the program and request any of the materials that areavailable through the USM catalogs. USMH will serve as a dropoff and pick up center for the USMAI materials.

To further serve students, Clement is offering basic researchinstruction using online databases. Various databases are avail-able to students through their affiliations with their homeschools. Although there is some overlap, different schools haveaccess to different databases. Hundreds of scholarly journals areavailable through the databases, Clement has found that studentsare largely unaware of this valuable research tool.

Rounding out the library services is an in-house collection.Clement has started to build the collection with a small, but well-selected general reference section.

To serve students further, USMH recently hired a library assis-tant. Tina Pyron (see opposite page) joined the staff onDecember 1, allowing for expanded library hours. Pyron is a stu-dent in Frostburg’s sociology program.

Library Hours (during the academic semester):Monday - Thursday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.Friday - 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.Saturday - 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

USMH Library Media Specialist Jennifer Clement plans to increase studentaccess to library materials and provide research instruction to give students thebenefit of a full range of library services.

Contact Us

USMH Reception Desk 240-527-2060 Voice TDD 240-527-2064

FSU Student Services Office Lew Muth, Director lmuth@frostburg.edu 240-527-2712Lorna Bock, Admin. Asst. ldbock@frostburg.edu 240-527-2708

FSU Education Dept. at USMH Dr. Kim Rotruck, Coordinator krotruck@frostburg.edu 240-527-2736Kathy Griemsmann, Secretary kgriemsmann@frostburg.edu 240-527-2741

FSU College of Business Ron Ross, MBA Coordinator rross@frostburg.edu 240-527-2750UMB School of Nursing Susan Coyle scoyle@allconet.org 240-527-2745UMUC Counseling Amy Shimko ashimko@umuc.edu 240-527-2711USMH Executive Director Dr. C. David Warner dwarner@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2727USMH Associate Director Dr. JoEllen Barnhart jbarnhart@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2710USMH Administative Assistant Linda McNamee lmcnamee@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2713USMH IT/Telecommunications Scott Thomas scthomas@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2758USMH Public Information Erin Harman eharman@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2728USMH Library Jennifer Clement jclement@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2717USMH Maintenance Jeff Lugas jlugas@hagerstown.usmd.edu 240-527-2763

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The USMH staff (l to r): Dr. David Warner, Tamara Doleman, Erin Harman, Dr. JoEllen Barnhart,Jennifer Clement, Scott Thomas, Vichuda Wachs, Jeff Lugas and Linda McNamee.