Elon University - Project Pericles

Service Sabbaticals

As part of Project Pericles at Elon, Service Sabbaticals make it possible for university employees with two or more years of service to be relieved of their duties to the university for one month or less in order to work full time for a community organization. Recipients will continue to receive their university paychecks during their sabbaticals. Project Pericles supports projects and organizations whose goals and principles are consistent with the Elon University Mission Statement.

It is important to note that all staff members with two or more years of service to Elon are eligible for these sabbaticals. Any full-time university employee who has a record of service to a community organization — and who has an idea of how his or her full-time service for one month will benefit that organization in a significant way — is welcome to apply.

If you have questions about the program, download this general information sheet, refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page or contact Tom Arcaro at extension 6442. Download an application form in Word or pdf format.

Service Sabbatical Recipients

	Dianne Ford, coordinator of serials and government documents In April 2008, Ford spent a week in Mexico tutoring students in English. She plans to start a program that takes Elon students to Mexico each spring to help their counterparts learn the language. For more information about the trip, click here.
	Marianne Janssen, director of clinical education for the DPT program Janssen traveled to Suriname in spring 2008 to help its largest university develop a stronger physical therapy program. She spent four weeks reviewing curriculum and assisting professors at Anton de Kom University. For more information, click here.
	Brian Chandler, HVAC mechanic Chandler, a volunteer firefighter, spent April 2008 working for the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources in his home region of Caswell County, N.C. He learned how to control brush fires that promote healthy forests, and to monitor logging companies that work near water supplies. For more information, click here.
	Bryan Baker, senior audio producer In July 2006, Baker created a Christmas CD to raise money for a local charity. "Christmas Cheer: From Alamance County Musicians" is a compilation of eclectic holiday music performed by local artists and recorded by Baker at the Elon University sound studio. Proceeds from the recording will benefit Christmas Cheer of Alamance County. For more information about the project, click here.
	Hurricane Katrina Relief Trip Ten Elon staff members, several faculty and students were among a group of 30 who traveled to Bay St. Louis, Miss., over Memorial Day weekend to continue providing relief to the Hurricane Katrina victims there. Staff members were able to utilize Project Pericles Service Sabbaticals to help fund their trip. For more information and photos, click here.
	Wayne E. Thompson Jr., computer hardware specialist Thompson and his wife, Tonya, came up with the idea of completing a "home makeover" for the Halls, a local family who attends their church. Close friends for years, Thompson knew that Ross Hall struggled to work two jobs, while his wife, Karen, home schooled their eight children. The project was completed in May 2006. For a first-hand account of the project and photos, click here.
	Scott Rivera, gardener In June 2005, Rivera completed a Service Sabbatical for the Sword of Peace, an outdoor drama located near Snow Camp, in southern Alamance County. He worked for two weeks getting the stage area ready for the summer performances. For more information on this project, click here.
	Lorraine Allen, director of accounting From August 19-29, 2005, Allen traveled with a mission team to the Village of Hope in Bucha, Ukraine, to work on remodeling structures at a boy's camp operated by the former Soviet Union. The Village of Hope is a ministry to the street children of Kiev, Ukraine. For more information on this project, click here.
	Emma Jones, former study abroad advisor and publicity coordinator For two weeks in mid-July, 2005, Jones worked with the Women's Resource Center of Alamance County to help develop publicity materials, including their first annual report celebrating the Center's 10-year anniversary and a Working Women's Wednesdays brochure. For more information on this project, click here.
	Marion Aitcheson, office manager for Elon Television Aitcheson completed a four-week Project Pericles service sabbatical in early summer 2005 to her hometown of Eisenach, Germany, where she conducted interviews and shot video at the AWO-Kinderheim children's home. For more information on this project, click here.
	Morgan Lasater, office manager During April, May and June 2005, Lasater aided in the development of a Web site to showcase research that has been done over the past two years by Preservation North Carolina. The new Web site focuses on innovative projects in which developers renovate historic mill buildings for a wide range of uses. You can view the Web site at http://facstaff.elon.edu/mlasater/mill/index.htm.
	J.W. Thompson, irrigation technician In April 2005, Thompson worked with the North Carolina Friends Disaster Service in Clyde County, North Carolina, to repair a flood-damaged home. More recently, Thompson assisted with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. For more information, click here.
	Bradley Thompson, HVACR mechanic II Earlier this year, Thompson used his month-long sabbatical to help out Grace Haven Ministries in Graham, a Christian boarding school ministering to troubled and at-risk youth. Thompson performed various maintenance and yard work for the school, helped with the students and assisted with fund-raising for missionary work. For more information on Grace Haven Ministries, view their Web site at www.gracehavenministries.org.
	Scott Hildebrand, director of instructional technology services St. Mark's Church, a non-denominational church of about 1,600 members located in Burlington, was the beneficiary of a service sabbatical by Hildebrand in January 2005. He redesigned the church's Web site and made it easier for the church secretary to update the site using templates. Hildebrand continues to work with St. Mark's to design new pages and features. View the church's Web site at www.stmarkschurch.org.
	Kimberly Rippy, secretary, Music, Performing Arts, Visual Arts In June 2004, Rippy worked for Harvest Baptist Church to organize food bank information into a database, input church member information into Excel spreadsheets, and organize choral music by ensembles and dates performed.
	Annette Orbert, associate director of admissions/director of minority recruitment Orbert devoted the month of July 2004 to working for the Allied Churches of Alamance County, which provides emergency shelter for the homeless, assistance with overdue utility bills and medicine, and provides meals through the Good Shepherd Kitchen. She assisted with daily operations, interviewed applicants for financial assistance, checked in residents for the shelter, helped prepare meals, did clerical work and listened/talked to the residents.
	David Morton, PC software support specialist In 2002, Morton managed a project for the Alamance-Burlington School System titled "Casting a World Wide Web." For more information on this project, click here.
	Christopher Eyl, graphic designer Eyl bicycled across the United States in 2002 to raise money for the Children's Advocacy Center of CrossRoads Sexual Assault Response and Resource Center.
	Ray Pruitt, fleet mechanic II In May 2003, Pruitt worked as a handyman with his church, working on much-needed repairs and updates to the facilities. For more information on this project, click here.
	Susan Patton, associate registrar Patton researched the possibility of area schools establishing an internship program with Room at the Inn of the Triad, a Christian ministry helping homeless, single, pregnant women before and after the birth of their children. For more information on this project, click here.