General Faculty Meeting Comments Larry Nielsen February 23, 2006
General Faculty Meeting Comments
Larry Nielsen
February 23, 2006
Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you “briefly” this afternoon. I just have a moment or two to fill you in on a few items of interest that are about to be born on our campus.
First, and long anticipated, is the PackPromise. PackPromise is our university’s commitment to assure that financially needy students will be able to attend NC State and succeed here. Starting this fall, we will assure that every financially needy student whose family income falls below 150% of the federally determined poverty level will have all their financial needs met. We expect to announce the program formally within the next few weeks, so look for details. The PackPromise will also include special advising for these students, who often come from families that have little experience with college and from communities that provide limited preparation for college. The PackPromise will include other important and innovative components, such as assigning a portion of our federal work-study funds to undergraduate research opportunities, so our students can take full advantage of learning at a research-extensive university.
In a similar vein, our Vice Provosts are working together to craft a systemic approach to student success. We are currently studying all our functions and we are well on our way to developing a strategy that focuses all our vice-provosts and their staffs on enhancing student success at NC State. Our students are the best, and they deserve the best chance to succeed.
In fact, as President Bowles will surely emphasize in a few moments, we need to be working so that all students in North Carolina, from kindergarten to college graduation, get the best education possible. NC State has a big role in this, and we intend to make that role even more effective and efficient. You already know about the newly opened Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and our soon-to-be implemented new degree in Elementary Education, but there is more. Soon we will be formally announcing a major piece of Chancellor Oblinger’s STEM initiative—the Center for Discipline-Based Science Education, to be led by Dr. Bob Beichner of our Physics Department. Along with the Friday Institute, the Center will be a nexus for improvements and innovations in science and math education at the college, high school and middle school levels. This program will stretch across all missions, including teaching, research and outreach—especially outreach to existing teachers.
Also, I have asked Dean Kay Moore to lead a task force to make specific recommendations for how NC State can increase our production of science and math teachers. She and this group will look top to bottom to help streamline our current programs, generate new programs, and cooperate with partners to help address this state and national crisis.
Now, let me mention extremely briefly, a few other items of interest. We are now writing an RFP that will invite proposals from existing day-care centers to provide day-care slots for our faculty and staff children. We plan to have this program in operation by next January, as an interim measure while we are finalizing a plan to build our own day-care center on campus.
We will soon open a new Office of Pre-College Programs, which will coordinate the more than 50 programs we offer to K-12 students and teachers. The office will provide a one-stop source of information for prospective participants and their parents, and a service center for our program sponsors to improve their offerings, marketing and collaboration.
Our inaugural Millennium Seminar will be held March 15. The Millennium Seminar program is led by First Lady Mary Easley, a member of our faculty. The Millennium Seminar Series presentations are designed to engage, encourage and inspire NC State students. The university’s newest seminar series will bring speakers from diverse backgrounds and professions, including business, government, academia, the sciences, the arts and philanthropy. Presentations will address world issues from the perspective of the speaker, putting local and national events in a global context. Our first speaker is Dr. Ken Thompson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wachovia Corporation. Put March 15 at 2 p.m. on your calendars and plan to attend.
And, finally, please remember that the Provost’s YES button is up and operating on our website. The YES button stands for “Your Effectiveness/Efficiency Suggestions,” and I stand ready—eager, even—to hear how you think we can make NC State an even better place than it already is.
Thank you for your great energy, your professionalism, your intelligence and creativity, and, most of all, your unparalleled commitment to our mission and our people. Thank you for listening and thank you for being here.