Virginia
State Council of Higher Education for Virginia Approves New William & Mary School | Williamsburg Yorktown Daily
RICHMOND — The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) approved William & Mary’s new School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics on Tuesday, the university announced.
The school brings together its applied science, computer science, data science and physics programs, it said. The school will be the sixth at W&M since its inception and the first in over 50 years. All will move into the new school in the fall of 2025.
According to William & Mary, the school aligns with its academic mission and expands the university’s ability to prepare students to thrive in a data-rich world. The university submitted the formal application to SCHEV, the state agency that governs new schools and new programs, earlier this spring.
“I appreciate SCHEV’s shared commitment to preparing broadly educated, forward-thinking citizens and professionals,” said President Katherine A. Rowe. “The jobs of tomorrow belong to those prepared to solve tomorrow’s problems. Machine learning, AI, computational modeling — these are essential modes of critical thinking and core to a liberal arts education in the 21st century.”
While the school and its new administrative structure were officially approved Tuesday, its foundations are already in place, the university said. The school, brought to life by an extensive feedback and consultation process, will coalesce four programs currently operating within the Faculty of Arts & Sciences.
William & Mary’s Board of Visitors unanimously approved the new administrative structure in November of last year.
To be housed in the heart of campus with the completion of phase four of the Integrated Sciences Center in fall 2025, William & Mary said “the school will be a space where graduate and undergraduate students excel in a combination of disciplines and where research opportunities will be expanded, continuing to attract world-class faculty and external investments.”
“Innovation has been part of William & Mary since its inception, and this school will serve as the catalyst for countless new discoveries, partnerships and synergies,” said Provost Peggy Agouris. “The School of Computing, Data Sciences, and Physics is launching at a pivotal time within these dynamic fields, and I’m incredibly proud to continue our journey of interdisciplinary growth and excellence across our undergraduate and graduate program offerings. I am grateful to SCHEV Council members for their belief in our vision and to all involved who made this a reality.”
In establishing a standalone school, William & Mary will grant more visibility and autonomy to these high-performing academic areas; it will also provide a single point of contact for external collaboration, it said, adding the school will strengthen existing partnerships — for example, with the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News — while facilitating cooperation with external parties promoting scientific and technological advancement.
The four academic areas in the new school are already experiencing strong growth in external investment (over $9 million in 2023) and student numbers, it explained. Master’s students from the new school’s constituent areas represented one-third of all Arts & Sciences master’s students, with this proportion rising to almost two-thirds when considering doctoral programs.
In the new structure, high-impact research in data-intensive fields will further converge with academic and professional career preparedness, meeting increased student and employer demand while achieving goals from the university’s Vision 2026 strategic plan, according to the university.
Undergraduate candidates will not apply to the school directly. W&M second-year students in good standing will be able to enter the school as long as they meet criteria established by the school and the major, and will continue to have the opportunity to double major or minor in areas offered by other W&M programs, it said. Interdisciplinary collaborations between the school and the rest of the university will be expanded, combining “cutting-edge innovation with William & Mary’s distinctive strengths in the liberal arts and sciences.”
“We do our best work when we do it together,” Agouris said. “Aligning our computer science, data science, applied science and physics programs under one school will deepen the university’s impact on fields that are rapidly changing and increasingly important. Our students come here wanting to understand and change the world. Now more than ever, they will leave better equipped to do just that.”
A national search for the dean of computing, data sciences, and physics is underway, the university said.
Virginia
Honking on the highway: Family of geese escorted off I-66 in Virginia
Those honks you heard on I-66? They weren’t from cars.
Police officers in Northern Virginia herded a family of Canada geese off the highway Thursday afternoon, as lanes were shut down to keep everyone safe.
The geese were spotted on I-66 westbound near the exit for Sycamore Street. Metro Transit Police got to them first, and Arlington County officers and Virginia State Police also responded to help, acording to Arlington County Police.
Video shows police vehicles slowly following the geese — two adults with a cluster of fuzzy yellow goslings — as they waddled along the far right shoulder toward milemarker 69.6.
Lane closures were put into effect about 1:30 p.m., and police were able to escort the geese off the highway within about 15 minutes.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2693381161043880
County police quipped on Facebook: “What’s good for the goose…is probably to stay of I-66. 🪿 Virginia State Police , Metro Forward Police Department, Virginia Department of Transportation and ACPD officers worked together to assist a family of geese off a busy highway in a feat so great it gave us goosebumps!”
Virginia
More than 300 pounds of marijuana worth $1M seized in Bristol, Virginia State Police says
BRISTOL, Va. (WCYB) — More than 300 pounds of marijuana worth more than $1 million were seized this month in Bristol, according to the Virginia State Police.
Multiple search warrants were executed this month by VSP and the Holston River Regional Drug Task Force in at various areas across the city between May 1 and May 13.
On May 1, a search warrant was executed at a business on Euclid Avenue. Around three pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $13,500. The location was within a school zone and a childcare facility.
On May 6, another search warrant was executed at a warehouse in Bristol. Virginia State Police seized 250 pounds of marijuana (street value of $1,135,000), 192 marijuana plants ($576,000), 50 pounds of THC edibles ($22,700). Charges are forthcoming, police said.
Another search warrant was executed on May 13 at a business on West State Street. Around 25 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $112,500. Additional evidence was also seized.
In addition, another search warrant was executed on May 13 at a business on Paulena Drive. About 30 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value of $135,000. Additional evidence was also seized.
The Office of the Attorney General is reviewing the investigation for any possible applicable civil enforcement actions.
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The Holston River Regional Drug Task Force includes the Town of Abingdon Police Department, Bristol Police Department, the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, and the Town of Lebanon Police Department, as well as Virginia State Police.
Virginia
Va. governor concerned redistricting battle could make voters reluctant to cast ballot this fall – WTOP News
Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.
Days after Virginia Democrats filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court as part of their ongoing redistricting battle, Gov. Abigail Spanberger said she’s focused on the fall midterm elections and ensuring voters are motivated to turn out.
After a bill signing at Inova Schar Cancer Institute on Wednesday, Spanberger made her most extensive public comments about the state’s redistricting plan. She cited the state’s May 12 deadline for any map changes, and said as a result, this year’s elections will proceed under the current map.
Spanberger’s remarks came a few days after Virginia’s Supreme Court struck down the Democrat-led redistricting push. Primaries in the state are scheduled for Aug. 4, with the November general election to follow.
“What needs to happen is we need to focus on the task at hand, which is winning races in November,” Spanberger said.
“I believe, somewhat doggedly, that we will win two to four seats in the House of Representatives. … That is my goal. That is what I know is possible.”
The map Democrats proposed, experts said, could have resulted in a 10-1 Democratic majority representing Virginia in the U.S. House. But Republicans challenged the process Democrats in the General Assembly used to put the constitutional amendment before voters.
In a 4-3 opinion issued Friday morning, Virginia’s Supreme Court sided with the Republican challengers.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts gave Republicans until Thursday evening to respond to Democrats’ request for the emergency appeal.
Spanberger defended the process the General Assembly used, adding: “I think I certainly would have wanted to, and did want to, see a different outcome with the Supreme Court ruling.”
Over three million people participated in the rare April special election, and Spanberger said she’s concerned those voters “have had the experience of casting a ballot in an election that was very important to them, including those on both sides of the referendum vote, only to have it be overturned, essentially, by the Supreme Court of Virginia.”
Elected officials, she said, will have to work to ensure “that people know that their votes do matter, and that when it comes to the ballot they’re going to cast — whether it’s for a primary over the summer or for the general election into the fall — that they shouldn’t feel depleted or defeated, that their votes matter.”
Spanberger called the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court “important, but when it comes to the execution of elections, no matter the outcome in that case, we will be running our elections beginning next month with early voting on the current maps that we have.”
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