CoffeeBreak is an e-newsletter distributed to Averett faculty and staff to keep them up-to-date on campus activities and information. Please send information you would like included in CoffeeBreak via this form. For the next CoffeeBreak, please submit by Friday, Sept. 16, for a Wednesday, Sept. 21, publication.
Best Wishes, Krystal Hankins
Krystal Hankins will be departing from Averett soon for a job at New Horizons. She has completed all requirements to receive her master’s degree in business administration from Averett, and will be graduating in December. This is bittersweet for the education department in that she has chosen to take a position outside of Averett that is more suited to her new area of expertise.
Over the past three years, Krystal has been a key figure in supporting the needs of the department and the needs of students entering the teacher education program. She has contributed to streamlining the policies and procedures for the department as well as organizing key milestone events for education students. The Celebration of Success, which highlights students entering the program, and The Excellence in Education that celebrates completion of student teaching and honors our clinical educators are but two such events.
Krystal’s last day with us will be Wednesday, Sept. 21. Please take a moment to come by Frith 201 to congratulate Krystal on completing her master’s degree and to wish her well as she leaves Averett to embark on a new adventure.
VPAA Search Open Houses This Week
Dear Colleagues,
I am delighted to share that we are ready to launch the search for our next VP of Academic Affairs.
All faculty and staff are invited to participate in one of three open sessions. Faculty Open Sessions are planned for Thursday, Sept. 15, from 1:45-2:45 p.m. and Friday, Sept. 16, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. In addition, there is an Open Session for both staff and faculty on Friday, Sept. 16, from 1:30-2:30 p.m. All Open Sessions will be held in the Multipurpose Room, Student Center.
Thank you,
Tiffany M. Franks
Averett University Receives Several Rankings
Averett University was recently named as one of the best southeastern colleges by The Princeton Review’s “2023 Best Colleges” List, and has once again been designated a 2022-2023 College of Distinction, in which it was also recognized as a best school in business, education and nursing. Averett has additionally been ranked by U.S. News & World Report in the top 25 in the “2022-23 Best Regional Colleges in the South” list – the highest ranking Virginia school on the list.
For more, click here.
Family Day this Weekend
Students are encouraged to invite their family to Averett Family Day Saturday, Sept. 17! Click the flyer for more details. Register now at Averett.edu/familyday.
Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrations
The idea for Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated September 15 through October 15, began as a way to promote the history, culture and contributions of Hispanic-Americans — specifically, those whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Communities mark the achievements of Hispanic and Latino Americans with festivals and educational activities.
Look out for activities details coming soon! Contact Tammy Jackson at [email protected] or Tia Yancey [email protected] for more details.
Bookstore Hours
The Schoolfield Booksellers hours are as follows for September:
Monday -Thursday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Fridays 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturdays for September:
September 17 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
September 24 CLOSED
Ordering Ends Soon for Averett Branded Shoes!
Show off your school spirit with new Averett branded footwear! These limited edition, custom-made shoes are sure to be hit around campus!
This sale ends Monday, Sept. 19, so make sure you get your orders in ASAP.
Since these shoes are custom made, there will be no option for refunds or exchanges. All shoes will deliver to Averett’s North Campus and Averett is not responsible for shipping of any product.
Expected delivery of all shoes is the end of October.
Harvest Pack Service Project
Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 27, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Carrington Recreation Center to support food local food programs.
All proceeds will be donated to God’s Storehouse the local food panty in the Dan River Region.
For more information please contact Tia Yancey at [email protected] .
Start-Up SLAM
Share your Creative Business Idea
The Start-Up Slam is all about bringing creative business minds together, sharing ideas, hearing ideas, enjoying a meal, making connections, having fun… and at the end of the night, rewarding the crowd-favorite idea with the entire ticket proceeds, no strings attached! The more attendees, the greater the reward!
This event will be on Tuesday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m. at the River District Event Center (136 S Ridge Street).
All are welcome. It is $10/person (cash only, under 5 free) so we may provide the prize on the spot at the end. Registration is required and limited to 100 people. To RSVP call the RDA at 434-791-0210 or email by clicking here. Food will be provided.
Folks who are interested in presenting an idea will be able to put their name in at the door (up to 15 participants) and have three minutes to present their business idea at their turn. Ideas need to be for NEW businesses (not yet established). No experience or business plans required! Folks may also attend just to be in the audience and listen.
Senior Pinning
To all faculty and staff,
A Punchbowl invitation was sent to all eligible seniors on Monday morning. Students were asked to provide the name of any faculty or staff member they would like to pin them during the ceremony. As students RSVP with the name of their pinner, the VPAA’s office will notify those that have been named. The pinning ceremony will be on Thursday, Sept. 22, at 4 p.m. at Pritchett Auditorium with a reception to follow at the President’s home.
Please save the date and plan to attend if a student names you as their pinner.
If you have any questions, email [email protected].
CROP Hunger Walk to End Hunger – Join the Averett Team
The annual CROP Hunger Walk is happening soon on Sunday, Oct. 2, at 3 p.m. in Ballou Park near Averett’s Main Campus. Averett’s CCECC plans to be a financial sponsor for the event and would like to invite you to take part in the walk to end hunger in the Dan River Region.
You have the option to walk a three-mile course or a 1 mile course, depending on your level of comfort. Since 2008, we have raised over $223,000 to fight hunger. Please help us continue this success.
If you would like to join the Averett team through the CCECC, please complete the following form before Wednesday, Sept. 14, so we can get the appropriate t-shirt sizes to the walk committee.
When you register, we’ll send you a confirmation with a social media post you can share on your accounts to boost the word about the walk.
Professional Development Series Returns Soon
You don’t want to miss the first event of the 2022-2023 Professional Development series.
The CCECC, Staff Council, DEI Taskforce and Averett University Human Resources have partnered to host a Safe Zone Training on Thursday, Oct. 13, at 11 a.m. in the MPR.
Please see the attached flyer for more information. Lunch will be provided by the CCECC for all attendees, so please make sure you register for this event! All faculty, staff and students are welcome to attend. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to Staff Council, [email protected].
Interested in Football Games from the President’s Suite?
Football season is upon us! There will be limited space available in the President’s Suite this year for home football games, but we hope to have an opportunity to invite members of our faculty and staff. If you have interest in coming to the President’s Suite for one of the home games listed below, please respond to [email protected] and list the games for which you are available. We hope to enjoy the opportunity for fellowship with as many as possible, and encourage you to respond as soon as possible.
Saturday, Oct. 29, 1 p.m. – Shenandoah University
Saturday, Nov. 5, 1 p.m. – Guilford College
Weekly Health Services Hours and Info
Health Services Clinic hours this week:
Monday – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday – 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday – 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Nurse will not be in until 11 a.m., students can still be covid tested during this time)
Thursday – 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Friday – 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. (The nurse will not be in on Friday, students can still call the triage number or come down with symptoms to be tested)
Please note that even when the nurse is not in the clinic, you should still go to the clinic if you are having symptoms or call 434-203-3781 with symptoms or to report a positive test.
Reminders if you are not feeling well:
- Please contact health services by stopping into the clinic, emailing at [email protected], or calling 434-203-3781.
- If you email your professors that you are not well and will not be in class, you should then contact Health Services.
- If you start not feeling well, please start wearing a mask around other immediately.
COVID-19 Booster Update
As you all know, we pivoted from our vaccine mandate to a strongly recommend Covid vaccines and boosters approach. This was due to the fact that the boosters that were available were not designed to target the current variants, and therefore were no longer offering the community protection that they once did.
There are now Pfizer and Moderna boosters that are designed to target the BA.4 and BA.5 variants, which are the variants that are currently causing us to become sick with the Covid virus.
This is great news and means that we once again can achieve that community protection that we once had that helped us to return to normal campus functions. We are asking that everyone eligible for the vaccine and the booster please help in keeping our campus as safe as possible and get vaccinated. Here is some booster information:
- Pfizer booster is available for those ages 12 and up.
- Moderna booster is available for those ages 18 and up.
- CDC says that you can receive your booster immediately following recovery of symptoms, however studies are showing that it may be beneficial for a longer term benefit to wait 60 days a Covid infection.
- You can get either vaccine as a booster, it doesn’t matter what vaccines you have had in the past.
- If you are male and under the age of 30 yrs, there is less of a risk of Myocarditis with the Pfizer vaccine.
- The Novavax booster should be authorized for emergency use soon, however studies are not showing that there is the additional benefit to mixing this with other primary series or boosters, so it doesn’t make sense to wait for this.
- You can get the Covid vaccine and the Flu vaccine together, just in different arms.
- The Covid booster should be spaced from the Jynneos (Monkeypox) vaccine by 4 weeks.
- Studies are showing that the bivalent boosters side effects may be less than the previous boosters.
Watch out for information on upcoming booster clinics here on campus.
If you would like to get your vaccine sooner, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov or call 877-VAX-IN-VA (877-829-4682, TTY users call 7-1-1) Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Assistance is available in English, Spanish and more than 100 other languages.
Flu Season Update
Flu Season is right around the corner!
Watch for more information about upcoming flu vaccine clinics being held on campus soon.
Mental Health Training
In recognition of Suicide Prevention Month, Danville-Pittsylvania Community Services is offering FREE training. See flyer for more details. Please contact Bonnie Trammell to register at [email protected] or 434-799-0456, Ext. 3810.
It’s Wellness Wednesday!
Steppers! How is it going? Are you having fun getting those steps in? If you would like to reach out to express your thoughts and opinions about the step challenge feel free to contact me via email. In the meantime, keep racking up those steps!
Didn’t you mention rewards points and gift cards? How could I get some points to redeem said gift cards? Well here are a few ways!
Three easy ways to get points are:
- Attending a sport or campus event
- Going to a dental appointment
- Having a vision exam
These three objectives are all under the rewards tab in the wellness portal and are worth 25 points each.
Don’t let these easy points pass you by!
Until next time,
– Victor
Monkeypox Information
There are no further updates on Monkeypox to report currently. To read more about Monkeypox, please visit the VDH website
