1780 – The Official Blog of Transylvania University

1780 | The Official Blog of Transylvania University

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Transylvania VPs selected for leadership programs

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Two Transylvania University vice presidents have been accepted to leadership programs that will give them valuable training and an active role in local and national government and education issues. Holly Sheilley, vice president for student affairs and athletic director, is one of 23 senior-level administrators in higher education nationwide selected by the Council of Independent Colleges to participate in the 2016-17 Executive Leadership Academy. The program is designed to prepare educators to eventually serve as effective college presidents. “I am excited about the opportunity to learn and grow,” Sheilley said. “I appreciate the CIC and President Seamus Carey allowing me to participate.” The academy includes summer seminars in Washington, D.C., readings, webinars and a mentoring program. Sheilley will develop an experiential learning plan focused on specific areas of presidential responsibility. “Competition for the available places in the program was intense,” CIC President Richard Ekman said. “The review committee found the nomination materials to be most impressive. They and I believe that Dr. Sheilley has the potential for highly effective leadership as a college or university president.” Laura Bryan, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the university, has been accepted into the 2016 Leadership Kentucky class. The program brings together a select group of people who possess a broad variety of leadership abilities and career accomplishments to prepare them to take charge in advancing the state for the common good. “I am honored to be selected for the 2016 class

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Two Transylvania seniors earn Fulbright ETA grants

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Two graduating Transylvania University seniors will head abroad this fall after being awarded highly competitive Fulbright English Teaching Assistant grants. Samantha Easterling from Wilmore, Ky., will go to Macedonia, and Courtney Smith from Batavia, Ohio, will travel to the Slovak Republic. Since 1997, 23 Transylvania students have been awarded Fulbright ETA grants. Through the program, the pair will serve as a resource for conversation, vocabulary and reading and writing courses at an assigned school. Easterling, a teaching art major, plans to facilitate a photography project where students in Macedonia and eastern Kentucky will compare the mountain cultures of both areas. She was a Morrison Scholarship recipient at Transylvania and was awarded a 2015 Kenan-Jones Summer Research Grant, which she used to conduct a photo-ethnographical study of modern-day pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago in northern Spain. She walked the 490-mile Camino interviewing and photographing other walkers. She exhibited the project in the Susan Shearer Student Art Gallery last fall.  Smith studied in Poland and Ukraine and participated in a service trip to Guatemala. She was captain of the volleyball team and earned a certification as a Teacher of English of Students of Other Languages. A psychology major, Smith wants to create a joint blog between her Slovakian students and students from her Ohio high school and teach weekly volleyball clinics. “I look forward to representing Transylvania and the United States in the best light possible while abroad, and I can’t wait to see where this new adventure takes me,” Smith said. “I feel more than

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New roles for Transylvania admissions, student affairs leaders

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Three Transylvania University administrators recently have assumed new roles to enhance the school’s efforts in admissions and student affairs. Rhyan Conyers has been named the new vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions. Conyers had served as an interim in this role, making a significant impact on the operations and structure of the department. Before that, he was director of institutional research and assessment. Holly Sheilley, vice president for athletics, has taken on the additional role of vice president for student affairs. Athletics will return to its traditional home in the division of student affairs, and Sheilley will continue as athletic director. Michael Covert, interim vice president of student affairs, has been named dean of students. In this newly created position, Covert will oversee the day-to-day operations for student affairs and will continue working with student success and retention initiatives. Prior to Covert serving as interim vice president this past year, he was associate vice president for retention and associate dean of students.

Sheilley inducted into Asbury Hall of Fame

Posted on by Office of Marketing and Communications

Holly Sheilley, Transylvania’s vice president for athletics and student affairs, has been inducted into Asbury University’s Hall of Fame. She graduated from the Wilmore, Ky., school in 1994. Read the exerpt below from the Asbury news release about Sheilley’s accomplishments. Received Asbury’s Gamble-Walker Award as a senior for the top graduating senior in athletics and academics while participating in volleyball, basketball, and softball for Asbury College. Led softball team in hits, doubles, triples, homeruns, RBIs and batting average her junior season and hit .543 as a sophomore. Four-time coach of the year during stints as the head volleyball and softball coach at Lindsey Wilson College from 1996-2001. Also became just the third female Athletic Director in the State of Kentucky when hired in the role at Transylvania.

Transylvania to empower children on Superhero Day

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LEXINGTON, Ky.—Transylvania University’s Community Engagement Through the Arts class will collaborate with local elementary schools and community heroes for Superhero Day on Monday, April 18. The event, which will be from 10 a.m. until noon in the Clive M. Beck Athletic and Recreation Center, will empower children to think of themselves as superheroes through activities such as games, art, a photo booth, robots, drones, free books—and capes custom-designed by the elementary school participants and CETA students. “We wanted to do something we have never done before: bring together all the kids we have worked with and make a really fun experience for them that also has educational elements,” said English professor Kremena Todorova, who co-teaches CETA. “Because they share a neighborhood, we want these children to also share a morning together.” This event—for students from Arlington and William Wells Brown elementary schools and Sayre School—is part of Transylvania’s Project One diversity and inclusion initiative. “The best part so far was seeing the incredible enthusiasm and creativity of the students at William Wells Brown when they were making their own cape designs,” Transylvania junior Elly Maddy said. Other Superhero Day activities will include a superhero play by Transylvania theater students, a performance by the university’s cheerleading and dance teams and demonstrations by the Lexington police and fire departments. “It’s exciting to invite all of the children we have worked with to campus,” said art professor Kurt Gohde, the other co-teacher of CETA. “It’s

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