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August 2018 Announcements

Holladay Hall
  • Packapalooza will be held Saturday, August 25 from 2 p.m.-10 p.m. on Hillsborough Street. For more information about the event, visit https://packapalooza.ncsu.edu/.
  • Several new academic department heads have recently been named. They are:
    • Don Brenner, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, College of Engineering (previously interim, now permanent)
    • Meg Calkins, Department Landscape Architecture, College of Design
    • Aaron Clark, Department of STEM Education, College of Education
    • Frank Louws, Department of Horticulture Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
    • Barb Sherry, Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine (previously interim, now permanent)
  • Alice Warren, vice provost for continuing education, has announced that she is retiring this fall, effective October 1. Warren has spent the past 39 years in various capacities at NC State and the McKimmon Center for Extension and Continuing Education. During this time, she has helped achieve the university’s land-grant mission by promoting higher and continuing education for all, leaving a legacy of learning on campus.
  • The American Council on Education (ACE) announced that Kwesi Craig Brookins, associate professor in the Department of Psychology with an appointment in Africana Studies, has been named an ACE Fellow for the 2018-19 academic yearBrookins will spend the next year at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) learning more about community engagement, the Scholarship of Engagement, and how anchor institutions in urban areas effectively collaborate with local communities. Brookins was nominated for the program by Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden.
  • SHRA and EHRA Annual Raise Process: The Appropriations Act of 2018 provides for compensation increases for employees subject to the North Carolina Human Resources Act (SHRA) and employees exempt from the North Carolina Human Resources Act (EHRA). On August 6, the UNC System Office issued SHRA and EHRA Annual Raise Process (ARP) implementation instructions for system institutions. Both SHRA and EHRA ARP salary increases are subject to the ARP salary increase caps and criteria described in the NC State University 2018 ARP Guidelines. More information on salary increases may be found on NC State’s Budget Central website.
  • Register now for Office of Information Technology (OIT) workshops! To view a complete list of OIT workshops, visit REPORTER. View monthly offerings by clicking “View Calendar” and selecting “OIT” if prompted. If you are unable to attend a scheduled workshop, simply click “Add to Watchlist” next to the specific course. Users will receive an email notice when new offerings are available.  If you are interested in scheduling a custom training session for your unit or department, please complete the Custom Training Form.
  • From NC State DELTA:
    • Register now for DELTA’s fall workshops open to faculty, staff and graduate teaching assistants. Topics include: Moodle, Top Hat, Gmail and Google Drive; recording and delivering instructional video; and creating interactive content in Moodle with H5P.
    • DELTA and Top Hat are offering financial and personnel support to faculty to participate in a pilot project to reduce textbook prices for students by using free or low-cost materials from the Top Hat Marketplace. Selected faculty who adopt or create low- or no-cost textbooks will receive $2,000-$2,500 and help from Top Hat instructional designers and, as necessary, DELTA staff. Learn more at go.ncsu.edu/tophattextbook.
  • From the Office of Assessment:
    • Each year, every academic program offering a degree or certificate is evaluated by its faculty to improve the effectiveness of the program. We’ll periodically highlight examples of what a selected program has done to become even stronger
    • In 2018, the Plant Biology – Bachelor of Science program assessed students ability to “develop scientific writing and oral presentation skills that are necessary as working plant scientists.” To measure this outcome, the Plant Biology faculty used rubrics to measure written and oral communication skills in three courses, PB 413, PB 480 and PB 493. As a result of their analysis, the Plant Biology program took two new curricular actions: students in PB 493 will now review multiple drafts of their research final reports with their research mentors; and faculty are developing a specific course for students’ whose research emphasizes teaching to offer more focused evaluation of their research experiences and written and oral works.
  • From the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity
    • Apply now for the Equal Opportunity Institute. The Institute is a year-long (approximately 20-hour) certificate program that provides workshops focused on: discrimination, equal opportunity laws, protected classes, equity and privilege, and leadership in diversity. This outstanding professional development opportunity is currently offered FREE OF CHARGE to NC State faculty, staff, and students. The Equal Opportunity Institute is sponsored by OIED in partnership with Human Resources and Leadership and Civic Engagement. For more information about the Equal Opportunity Institute or to apply, contact Erin Morant at ekmorant@ncsu.edu.
    • Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, NC State honors requests for reasonable accommodations made by individuals with disabilities. Requests can be served more effectively if notice is provided at least 10 days in advance. Direct accommodation requests to Erin Morant at ekmorant@ncsu.edu or 919.515.1152.
  • From the Office of Faculty Development:
    • The Office of Faculty Development has partnered with NCSU Libraries to offer Faculty Writing Retreats each month for tenure and non-tenure track faculty. Locations will rotate between two Faculty Research Commons spaces in both D.H. Hill Library (Main Campus) and James B. Hunt Jr. Library (Centennial Campus). During Fall and Spring Breaks, the Faculty Writing Retreat will last two days. Brief workshops (15-25 minutes) on relevant topics will be led by NCSU Libraries staff. Sign up for one or both days during Fall and Spring Break. Space will be limited for each monthly retreat, so please sign up early if interested at go.ncsu.edu/ofd-writingretreat.
    • Sign up for Fall 2018 Reading Circles now through August 29. OFD is offering two books this semester: Creating Wicked Students: Designing Courses for a Complex World by Paul Hanstedt (Stylus, 2018, 200 pages) and Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning by James M. Lang (Jossey-Bass, 2016, 272 pages). If you wish to participate in a Fall 2018 Reading Circle, please fill out the form at https://go.ncsu.edu/readingcircles and identify which text you’d prefer to read and meeting times that would work for you by checking the boxes below and submitting the form. Indicate all the times you are available; this will better allow OFD to match you into a group. The more times you indicate, the greater likelihood that OFD can match you with colleagues at a chosen time. If you have questions, please contact Jonathan Holloway (jphollow@ncsu.edu). Please submit the form by noon on Wednesday, August 29. You will be notified of your group by Wednesday, September 5. Circles will begin meeting the week of September 10.
  • NC State’s Common Reading Program creates a common educational and interactive experience for incoming undergraduate first-year students and the campus community. Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit programs to the Common Reading Calendar of Events, which is distributed to first-year students via email. These efforts will also go to supporting the Food and Housing Insecurity Co-Curricular Independent Study coordinated through Student Involvement. Submit an event to the Common Reading Calendar of Events.
    • The Common Reading Mini-Grant program provides funding to faculty, staff, and students to develop and implement programs that engage first-year students with the Common Reading selection. Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Once available funds have been distributed, the Mini Grant will stop accepting proposals, so please consider submitting early. Submissions will be notified as quickly as possible whether they will receive funding. For questions regarding the calendar of events or Mini-Grant Program, please contact Michael Coombes at mrcoombe@ncsu.edu. For questions regarding the Food and Housing Insecurity Co-Curricular Independent Study, please contact Jessica Murphy at jdmurph5@ncsu.edu.

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