{"id":3413,"date":"2017-04-12T17:36:50","date_gmt":"2017-04-12T21:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=3413"},"modified":"2017-04-13T20:12:16","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T00:12:16","slug":"staff-member-accepts-position-at-fort-caswell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/?p=3413","title":{"rendered":"Weir accepts position at Fort Caswell"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Chelsea Sydnor<\/strong><\/p>\n

After nearly 17 years at Gardner-Webb, student activities director Karissa Weir has accepted a position with Fort Caswell Coastal Retreat and Conference Center in Oak Island, N.C., \u00a0beginning this summer.<\/p>\n

Weir will serve as the Guest Services Team Leader, overseeing positions such as \"\"<\/a>coordinators for summer staff, recreation and marketing. She will assist with programming as Caswell hosts youth groups for a week at a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be doing food services, guest services, recreation and programming,\u201d said Weir. \u201cI will oversee the hospitality part of it, hoping that the students will see the message behind the ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weir took interest in the position when she found out the director of Fort Caswell, Rick Holbrook, was planning to retire this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cA friend of mine from Caswell, Brian Hemphill, will be moving up to director, and told me that his position would be open,\u201d Weir said.<\/p>\n

Weir majored in Recreation Management at Appalachian State University because of her interest in camps and retreat centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI liked going to camps growing up and the week of fun that you have,\u201d said Weir. \u201cI was also in Girl Scouts and went to camp at Mundo Vista.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weir has previous experience with Caswell, including during the summers while she was in college. Later, she spent four years as the recreation director for the facility.<\/p>\n

According to Weir, it was God\u2019s timing that led her to Gardner-Webb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was visiting Laurie Varley, another Caswell friend of mine that worked here in the alumni office in August of 2000,\u201d Weir said. \u201c[Varley] told me about a position she thought I would be good at, and it was the student activities director.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weir inquired about the job via email, and was able to start in October of that year. She started out as the Student Leadership and Activities Director, overseeing SGA, clubs and organizations and orientation.<\/p>\n

According to Weir, the need for another role became apparent as the student population continued to grow. With that change, Weir\u2019s job title became Director of Student Activities, Campus Recreation and New Student Orientation. The department has since continued to expand, adding members such as Brian Arnold as the Assistant Director of Student Activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt allows us to help each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Arnold has also enjoyed working with Weir.<\/p>\n

“Over the last 13 years, I have had the opportunity to work with Karissa\u00a0and she has become a part of my family,” he said. “During our time of working together she has been very supportive and helpful as I have learned about Campus Recreation and Student Activities. She has challenged me to grow personally and professionally. My wife (Dr. Tracy Arnold, GWU Nursing) and I are very grateful for Karissa and the love that she has shown to our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another big change Weir has seen throughout her time at Gardner-Webb is in the way she promotes events.<\/p>\n

\u201cFacebook and social media have changed for the students,\u201d she said. \u201cGetting the word out to students is very different. At that time, you had to have an \u2018edu\u2019 account for Facebook, and Twitter was not even well-known. We also have to compete with Netflix, and getting students out of their rooms to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Weir also experienced the transition to Tucker Student Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful facility over here,\u201d Weir said.<\/p>\n

While Weir will miss Gardner-Webb and the people there, she has always hoped to make her way back to a career in camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the position opened up, I felt it would be a good time to move on,\u201d she said. \u201cI always wanted to get back to doing conference center resources.”<\/p>\n

According to Weir, she will miss the students the most.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to interact with students the whole time they\u2019re here has been my favorite part of the job,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m here the first day they move in, and then get to see them walk across the stage and see how much they have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weir has also made a lasting impact on the university. According to Brad Vaughn, Office Manager for Student Activities, he has learned a lot through working with Weir, even during his time as a student.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur personalities are a little different,\u201d said Vaughn. \u201cWhile she is more easygoing, I\u2019m more upbeat and stress-inducing. She\u2019s taught me to relax and let things go. She\u2019s made it easy to learn the ropes for when she leaves. I will definitely miss her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Dean of Students Sarah Currie is appreciative of Weir’s dedication to her job.<\/p>\n

“[Weir]\u00a0is approachable and is always willing to work with students to make their ideas a reality when it comes to events at GWU,” said Currie. “Most importantly she cares about students and wants the best for them. We will all miss her constant support and fun personality.”<\/p>\n

Weir is excited to experience the change, including the chance to do more event planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more of a behind-the-scenes person,\u201d Weir said. \u201cI don\u2019t really think my talents are in public speaking, but instead handling the details to make something happen. I think my gifts are in hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weir’s last day in the office will be April 28.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Chelsea Sydnor After nearly 17 years at Gardner-Webb, student activities director Karissa Weir has accepted a position with Fort Caswell Coastal Retreat and Conference Center in Oak Island, N.C., \u00a0beginning this summer. Weir will […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3417,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[811,2],"tags":[53,946,94,907],"class_list":["post-3413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-campus-recreation","category-news","tag-chelsea-sydnor","tag-fort-caswell","tag-karissa-weir","tag-student-activites"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gwu-today.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}