"Marianne Magjuka" Archive

A thank you to Vice President of Campus Life Penny Rue

Left to right: Cherise James, Marianne Magjuka, Betsy Chapman, K. Monet Rice-Jalloh, and Zachary Blackmon

The following is a guest post from Cherise James, associate director of orientation, and Betsy Chapman, executive director of family communications.

Earlier this summer, Vice President of Campus Life Penny Rue announced her intention to retire. Her last day will be December 31.

Dr. Rue’s work at Wake Forest, which began in 2013, built on a distinguished career of leading student life teams, including those at the University of California-San Diego, the University of Virginia, and Georgetown University.

Penny Rue

Another hallmark of her leadership has been her commitment to lifelong learning and the professional growth and development of Wake Forest staff members. This has manifested in two important ways: advocating for financial support for doctoral programs and serving as a committee member on staff members’ doctoral committees.

In Fall 2015, the Division of Campus Life piloted the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP), proposed by Campus Life Staff Development Committee members Zach Blackmon, Cherise James and Shelley Sizemore. The adoption of the TAP program highlighted Dr. Rue’s commitment to encourage and support the interests of Campus Life employees who wish to advance their personal and professional development while still working full time.

We have both personally benefited from Dr. Rue’s academic mentorship: she served on both of our dissertation committees. She asked tough and important questions and pushed us to be better researchers and scholars. For that, we will be eternally grateful.

As the University looks to honor Dr. Rue in her retirement, we want to recognize the important contributions she made towards the following staff members’ doctoral degrees, and the resulting expansion of knowledge within the field of higher education.

Zachary Blackmon, Ph.D. in Educational Studies
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Dissertation: Microaggressions, Sense of Belonging, and Sexual Identity Development among LGBQ Students: A Moderation Analysis

Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. in Educational Studies*
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Dissertation: A Quantitative Examination of the Ways Parents and Families Interact with their Students’ College Following Campus-Sponsored Engagement Opportunities: Events, E-newsletters, and a Daily Blog

Cherise James, Ph.D. in Educational Studies
University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Dissertation: Conflict Management Skills Acquisition and Usage in Student Affairs Mid-Managers: A Phenomenological Study.

Marianne Magjuka, Ed.D.
University of Pennsylvania – Higher Education Management
Dissertation: Deliberative Dialogue as a Tool for Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement

K. Monet Rice-Jalloh, D. Min
Duke University
Dissertation: No More Gallery Sections: Exploring Spiritual Wellbeing for Descendants of Enslaved Africans at Predominately White Institutions of Higher Education

We are grateful for the significant support that Dr. Rue and Wake Forest provided on our doctoral journeys.

In honor of Penny Rue’s 46 years of dedicated service to student affairs, we ask that you consider making a $46 gift (or of any size) to the WFU Chaplain’s Emergency Fund, which offers help to students, faculty, and staff in times of financial hardship. http://go.wfu.edu/cef

*Dr. Chapman is not a member of the Division of Campus Life but is included in this list because of the role Dr. Rue played on her dissertation committee.

Categories: Inside WFU

Magjuka and Virgil recognized as civic engagement leaders by NC Campus Compact

Marianne Magjuka and Steve Virgil were each honored by North Carolina Campus Compact during its annual Pathways to Achieving Civic Engagement (PACE) conference, winning the Civic Engagement Professional of the Year and Engaged Faculty Award. This is the first time that one institution has claimed both awards in the same year.

Magjuka, assistant dean of students and executive director of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement (OCCE), was named 2021 Civic Engagement Professional of the Year.

Headshot of Marianne Magjuka, Wake Forest University assistant dean of students and executive director of the Office of Civic and Community Engagement

Marianne Magjuka

The award recognizes a North Carolina higher education administrator who works to realize a campus-wide vision of service, supports the engagement of faculty and students and forms innovative campus-community partnerships. As the  founding executive director of the OCCE, , Magjuka provides visionary and strategic leadership to institutionalize civic engagement at Wake Forest. She has established and advanced many of the University’s  foundational programs related to social justice, civic learning and democratic engagement.

Virgil, executive director of experiential education and clinical professor of law, received the 2021 Engaged Faculty Award.

Headshot of Steve Virgil, Wake Forest University executive director of experiential education and clinical professor of law

Steve Virgil

The award recognizes one faculty member in the state for exemplary engaged teaching and scholarship, including leadership that advances students’ community and civic learning, conducting community-based research, fostering reciprocal community partnerships and building institutional commitments to service-learning and community engagement.

Since joining the Wake Forest School of Law in 2008, Virgil’s impact has been felt throughout the regional nonprofit and social enterprise spaces through the creation of in-house clinics and field placement courses, which provide students first-hand legal experience. Virgil founded the Community Law & Business Clinic and the Veterans Legal Clinic, through which Wake Forest law students have provided thousands of hours of pro bono services to help address the legal needs of underserved populations in the state.

Visit the OCCE website to learn more.

Proposals funded: Magjuka, Joshi

Congratulations to Marianne Magjuka, assistant dean of students and executive director of the Office of Civic & Community Engagement, whose proposal entitled “AmeriCorps VISTA Campus Recruiter” has been funded by Corporation for National and Community Service.

Congratulations to Amol Joshi, associate professor of strategic management, whose proposal entitled “Kauffman transfer grant – Fellowships to support research in entrepreneurship by junior faculty members” has been funded by Ewing M. Kauffman Foundation.

Office of Civic & Community Engagement reflects expanded Pro Humanitate commitment

There’s no mistaking the purpose of the Office of Civic & Community Engagement as Wake Forest’s central hub for community-based activities, including service, teaching and research. 

The recently reconfigured office combines the spirit of Wake Forest’s beloved Pro Humanitate motto with a new name, website and physical footprint that reflect its mission to engage community partners, faculty, staff, and students to affect meaningful social change.

“The Office of Civic & Community Engagement builds on the work of generations of Wake Forest students, faculty and staff by maintaining our philanthropic and service traditions, supporting new and existing community partnerships, and refining our commitment to civic learning and social justice education,” said Marianne Magjuka, executive director of the Office of Civic & Community Engagement and Assistant Dean of Students. 

The rollout is the culmination of a yearlong community engagement mapping project to better understand how Wake Forest is engaged beyond campus. Faculty and staff identified 86 distinct programs, initiatives or projects supporting community-based service, engagement, research or teaching. 

More information available here.

Magjuka named recipient of NASPA award

Marianne Magjuka

NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) recently selected Marianne Magjuka as the recipient of the James E. Scott Outstanding Mid-Level Student Affairs Professional Award.  The award will be presented officially this summer at the NASPA Region III Summer Symposium.

Magjuka is executive director of the Pro Humanitate Institute and assistant dean of students. In her leadership role with the institute, Magjuka is responsible for providing its direction, strategic vision, oversight, and development for curricular and co-curricular initiatives.

At Wake Forest, Magjuka is the founder and co-chair of the Civic Learning & Democratic Engagement Knowledge Community.  Her nomination documents note that she has spearheaded many other professional, social justice and democratic engagement initiatives at Wake Forest.

Some of her other accomplishments at Wake Forest include the following:

–leading a campus climate assessment process
–establishing a regional VISTA program to address poverty in Winston-Salem through campus-community partnerships
–initiating the BRANCHES social justice retreat for undergraduates
–supervising the staff of Campus Kitchen and multiple pre-orientation programs for first-year students

Categories: Inside WFUStaff News

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