Avalon College Notes
A Quarterly Newletter for ACDS faculty and staff
Volume I Number 1 - September 2006
Dear Colleagues, this is the first official issue of Avalon College Notes, a quarterly newsletter I plan to send out about the middle of each quarter to keep us all up-to-date on what is happening at the Center, upcoming deadlines, policy changes, and news items submitted by the members of the faculty. I hope your Autumn is progressing nicely and you are ready for the beginning of Winter Term at Samhuinn.
Public Relations
We are making a push to try to get our name out there in as many locations as possible. Please network for yourselves too and post notices about your upcoming Avalon courses everywhere you can, on and off the Internet. If you want some brochures to distribute locally, just contact Alferian We also have an exciting new project initiated by Astrocelt. The journal Imramma has offered to give us advertising space in exchange for regular quarterly article submissions from our faculty. Astrocelt is the point man on this project (designated TALIESIN for the Center), so send your articles to him. Articles for Imramma should be around 1500-2000 words in .rtf format. Send to: astrocelt <danyderi@astrocelt.demon.co.uk> and volunteer for a quarter in this thread from the message board (in the Senate forum): Avalon Commitment of Articles to Imramma
In addition to the Imramma partnership, Astrocelt has offered to collect the articles from faculty members in preparation for the start of our Annual, The Silver Branch, which we hope to put out next year with a collection of articles by faculty members and scholars from the Center.
Samhuinn Quarter Dates and Deadlines
Samhuinn quarter starts October 30th and you must have your course completed on Moodle before that time. Your deadline should be October 15th. Please call or contact Alferian if you need assistance.
Course Review Committee
As noted in the Faculty Senate forum on the message board, we are inaugurating a Course Review Committee which will oversee all our courses (yes, mine too!) providing constructive feedback on the way our courses are written and conducted. This will be the virtual equivalent of having a colleague sit in on your class and offer you a fresh perspective. This does mean also that all new courses will be reviewed by the committee before being offered to students. So, it is essential that you have the course completely laid out in Moodle well in advance of the start of term.
The Faculty Teaching Agreement that is being drafted will include this policy as one of the items, so please organize your time to allow yourself plenty of room to Moodle.
For the Samhuinn quarter, the Course Review Committee will probably not be fully operational, but please expect to be visited by a member of the committee in Imbolc term and thereafter for periodic reviews.
Double-Check your Course Offerings
Please look at the list of courses on Moodle under Samhuinn Quarter. If you don't see your course listed there and you want to offer it, let me know. You can move your course into that section yourself by going through the backup and restore process, if you feel comfortable with the software. Courses, once they have run and grades are turned in, are retired to the Archived Courses section. Courses which have not been completely Moodled by the instructors should be kept in the Under Development section. If you need assistance, please contact me (alferian@avaloncollege.org) or Mangan (mangan@avalloncollege.org)
Mailbox Policy
We are tightening up our email address policy. Please use only your college address for student correspondence. Mangan has suggested that faculty mail boxes be treated as mailboxes, not as forwarding addresses because if a student's message to you leaves our system, we have no control over its security and student mail should be treated as secure and confidential. So, if you have not already done so, familiarize yourself with Squirrel Mail and use your avaloncollege.org mailbox. Mangan has some improvements in mind that will give us a web mail system more user-friendly than Squirrel Mail, but until then, it is a serviceable system. Here is the access point, which you should already have bookmarked:
https://webmail.avaloncollege.org/src/login.php
If you have problems or questions, please contact Mangan (mangan@avaloncollege.org)
Moving to Asheville
by Brenda Williams
A warm August wind carried us east in 2006. After a couple of years of researching the perfect place, we moved from Texas to Asheville, NC. It is a magical city, with the Blue Ridge Mountains on one side and the Great Smokies on the other. I began working for a health and fitness company called ChiLiving, www.chiliving.com, as Director of Communications. The company promote an injury free style of running (ChiRunning) and walking with books, DVDs and workshops around the world. It is a fun job and I look forward to coming everyday. The kids are happy and healthy, as well. We would love to hear from anyone who plans a visit to our neck o' the woods!
New Staff Appointments
Our big news this quarter is the appointment of Larry Rzepka, also known as Seeker, to be Provost of the Center. The Provost is essentially the business manager of the corporation. Under his bailiwick are public relations, finance, marketing, and the general oversight of our business plan. Larry comes to us with extensive experience working with non-profit organizations, fundraising, and consulting. Larry is also a member of several druidic orders and active in the druid commuity. Already he has proven to be a dynamic addition to the Avalon Center administrative team.
Blaine Cross (MoonCrow) and Mangan Tairis have come together to form our new Technology Committee of the Board of Governors. If you have web expertise and would like to join this committee, please let the Merlin know.
Book Recommendations
Isaac Bonewits's latest book has just come out and I recommend everyone on the faculty buy a copy from Magus Books and read it. It is called Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism and has a Foreword by Philip Carr-Gomm of OBOD. Avalon College of Druidry is named in the list of Druid organizations at the back of the book! A quick perusal of the book shows it to be an excellent overview of Druidry/Druidism old and new covering the major groups active today. Isaac's humorous style and attention to detail is always a pleasure to read. I'm planning to use this in my course Druidry Today in Imbolc.
Faculty and Staff News
Cynthia Clay has decided to leave the college to pursue other endeavors. Let us all wish her well and many thanks for all the contributions she made while she was with us.
Joey Bernard and his wife have a new baby. Congratulations to Joey and the whole family!
Brenda Williams has successfully made a move from Texas to North Carolina. Best of luck settling in, Brenda!
Alferian visited the UK this summer, touring Wales with Astrocelt and joining OBOD's Summer Assembly at Glastonbury.
Rainbow Wolf is currently traveling in Ireland [correction: returned from England - ed.] hobnobbing with traditional storytellers.
Submissions Encouraged!
Please submit your personal news items and notes for inclusion in the next issue of Avalon College Notes. Submission Deadline is January 30th for the Imbolc Quarter issue.
Avalon College Notes. Volume I: Number 1
© September 2006 Avalon Center for Druidic Studies
