If you took a holiday from AU news over winter break, here’s what you missed.
ID cards required to enter MGC after midnight
The Mary Graydon Center will now require a valid One Card, or AU ID card, to gain entrance between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., the University announced Jan. 8. The policy went into place in the early hours of Jan. 10.
The move comes in response to feedback from students, faculty and staff about campus safety, according to an email from Michael Elmore, senior director of University Center and Student Activities.
Students and other community members expressed concern when an unidentified man hung Confederate flag posters in campus buildings, including MGC, during the late evening of Sept. 26. Many buildings already require the use of a valid AU ID to gain entrance after certain hours, Elmore said.
To get into MGC after midnight, students can use the door at the main quad entrance or the entrance from the parking garage on all floors, Elmore said. All exits from the building will be operational. Elmore advised community members not to grant access to the building to unknown individuals. The protocol will be evaluated at the end of the spring semester, he said.
Vicky Wilkins named SPA dean
After serving as interim dean for the fall semester, Vicky Wilkins has been named the permanent dean of the School of Public Affairs, the University announced Jan. 8.
Wilkins came to AU in 2014 after holding faculty and administrative positions for over 11 years at the University of Georgia, according to a university release. Prior to becoming interim dean, Wilkins worked as SPA’s senior associate dean for academic affairs. She will continue to hold her faculty position as a professor of public administration and policy.
“She is a strong and collaborative leader … and is the right person to work with the school’s students, faculty and staff to take the school to the next level,” University President Sylvia Burwell said in a statement.
Tenleytown florist in AU-owned building closes its doors
After 84 years in business, the Tenleytown location of Johnson’s Florist and Garden Centers closed its doors this month due to rising rent and occupancy fees, the company said in a statement.
The University serves as the store’s landlord and has caught flack from Tenleytown residents for increasing the property’s rent costs. Several locals protested near the store last week and demanded that AU and Burwell keep Johnson’s open at its D.C. location. Johnson’s will remain open at its two Maryland locations.
“AU is going to have a black eye for many generations if they succeed in closing Johnson’s,” resident Mary Alice Levine told The Eagle.
University spokesman Mark Story said Wednesday that AU representatives and members of a local committee will meet on Wednesday night at 7:15 p.m. in MGC to discuss the closure. The two parties had previously tried to meet but failed to agree on terms for the meeting, Levine said.
“With a deep understanding of their meaning to the community, American University has worked tirelessly to keep Johnson's as a tenant, particularly over the last three years,” Linda Argo, the University’s assistant vice president for external relations and auxiliary services, said in a statement. “We have made significant concessions over a long period of time that we would not have made for other commercial tenants.”
University switches to online-only printing system
The University is implementing a new print management software known as PaperCut that will replace the Pharos printing system, the Office of Information Technology announced Friday. The new system was implemented Jan. 16.
Students will now submit their print jobs through a website that will not require the installation of software, the University said in an email. Students must be connected to the university network to access the site. More details about using the new system can be found here.
This story has been updated.
