Admirable Scholar Visits FSU

Update: Due to a weather related closure of the university, Dr. Fritz’s visit has been postponed until March 31. If you have any questions, please contact Elesha Ruminski at elruminski@frostburg.edu.

From March 3 to 5, Dr. Janie Harden Fritz presented a series of leadership events for Frostburg State University students, faculty, and staff.

To kick-off the week, Fritz led the first of her sessions, “Promoting a Culture of Citizenship in Student Organizations” on March 3 in the Atkinson room. This session was open to all students, aiming to assist them with the development of leadership practices to help organize campus organizations.

Fritz also delivered a keynote address to FSU faculty and staff about leadership ethics and organizational culture on March 4 in the ARMAH.

Leadership Studies Coordinator Dr. Elesha Ruminski said she was “excited” for Fritz’s sessions. According to Ruminski, Fritz is an individual with a “personality worth meeting, who is always constructive, dynamic, and will help you feel passionate about anything.”

With a Ph. D. in communication arts from the University of Wisconsin, Fritz is the director of the B.A. and M.A. programs for the Department of Communication and Rhetorical Studies at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

Fritz is a woman who invests her time on communicative practices that are aimed to guide people involved with organizations, and groups.

This incredible leadership advocate has been a leader at the state, regional, and national levels. Fritz has written several journal articles, including “Professional Civility: Communicative Virtue at Work.” She has also co-edited “Communication Virtue Differences in Public and Private Spheres,” and co-wrote “Communication Ethics Literacy: Dialougue and Difference.”

Not only has Fritz written articles, but she has also been quoted in a plethora of newspapers, including the “New York Times,” “The Baltimore Sun,” and “Reading Eagle.”

Among her other accomplishments, Fritz is also a part of the Scholarship-in-Residence Program. This program is a part of the leadership studies minor and hosts leadership educators to FSU.

In 2001, the leadership studies minor came to FSU.  Ruminski, said, “Dedicated faculty and staff made a collaborative, grassroots effort [to start the program.]”

FSU’s leadership studies minor, on average, has 15 to 25 students involved in the program. The minor is designed to help students learn how to “work well with others to move forward,” according to Ruminski.

“The Leadership Studies Program is for anyone who has an interest in contributing to a more common work culture and learning environment,” said Ruminski.

The leadership studies minor has made a tremendous effort to get students involved including its Advisory Committee, who promotes and recruits through advising, leadership studies events, and supporting outreach efforts. The Advisory Committee also gives students options for curricular development and learning experience to gain from the program.

Ruminski said, “[Leadership studies] has always been linked with Student Educational Services.”

Those interested in joining FSU’s leadership studies program should stop by the Performing Arts Center, adjacent to the clock tower, in room 315, and talk to Ruminski.

Featured image: Janie Harden Fritz (FSU)