January 2020 Announcements

January 15, 2020 Emily Packard 7-min. read

RPT General Information Sessions will be offered this semester. The sessions include details about the process, an overview of the RPT website and a question and answer period. New faculty in all tracks (tenure track, teaching, research, etc.), those who will be entering the RPT cycle and anyone involved in the RPT process are encouraged to attend. Sessions will be on Wednesday, February 26, 3:30–5 p.m. in Cox Hall, Room 206 (Main Campus); and Friday, March 20, 9-10:30 a.m. in Engineering Building I, Room 1007 (Centennial Campus). No registration or RSVP is required. Please familiarize yourself with the Reappointment, Promotion and Tenure website prior to the sessions. If you have questions please contact arjinnet@ncsu.edu.
A 2018 survey of faculty and staff led to a host of workplace improvements across campus. In February, employees will have the opportunity to weigh in again. Beginning February 4, faculty and staff will have two weeks to weigh in on the same questions when the UNC System conducts the confidential survey for the second time. Watch for an email with a survey link and instructions from ModernThink, an independent research and consulting firm that is administering the survey. Learn more about the upcoming UNC System Employee Engagement Survey.
NC State Sustainability will host the 2020 Make-A-Thon from Friday, January 24-Sunday, January 26 in the Hunt and Hill Libraries. During this three-day challenge, NC State student teams research, design, prototype and build a new solution that addresses a sustainability challenge. On the last day, community and industry sustainability experts evaluate solutions and award nearly $5,000 in prizes to the top teams in each category, as well as a grand prize to the overall winner. Learn more about Make-A-Thon.
It’s easy to connect your academic courses with Arts NC State events, including performances, arts and crafts exhibitions, music concerts and theatre productions. The Curricular Connections Guide highlights meaningful, logical links between the substance of academic courses and the content of Arts NC State events. Stay tuned to Arts NC State social media for updates and new programming that may be relevant to your course: Facebook and Twitter. For more information on the Curricular Connections Guide, Arts NC State or engagement opportunities, email amy_sawyers-williams@ncsu.edu

Administrator Search Updates:

Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Division of Academic and Student Affairs: A mid-search review meeting will take place on January 15. Finalist candidates will be brought to campus in mid-spring 2020 for interviews and open forums. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/dasa-search.
Dean of the College of Natural Resources: The nomination committee will meet on January 15 to identify a small handful of candidates for first round interviews, which will take place the week of January 27. On-campus interviews will be conducted late February/early March. Communication will be sent to campus soon on the dates for on-campus forums. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/natural-resources-search.

From NC State DELTA:

Are you ready to jump into leveraging NC State’s learning technologies to improve student success? Join DELTA this semester for workshops focused on exploring the features, strategies and best practices for using learning technologies such as WolfWare, Moodle, Top Hat, Zoom and more. All workshops are free and open to faculty, staff and graduate teaching assistants. Both in-person and online workshops are offered throughout the semester. Check out the upcoming opportunities and register now!
Did you know there are several options for uploading and storing your videos? To ensure students have the most reliable access to the video, choose a tool such as My Mediasite, Google Drive or YouTube and then embed or link to the video in your Moodle or WordPress site. Find out which tool is best for you!

From the Office of Faculty Development:

Registration is now open for the Teaching and Learning Symposium, which will be held on Friday, February 28, 2020 (9:30 a.m.–3:15 p.m.) at the McKimmon Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in interactive sessions led by NC State faculty, attend a keynote lecture, and meet and talk with NC State peers who are interested in teaching and learning.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Thomas J. Tobin, co-author of Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education, our Fall 2019 Reading Circle selection. Dr. Tobin is an internationally-recognized speaker and author on topics related to quality in distance education, especially copyright, evaluation of teaching practice, academic integrity, and accessibility/universal design for learning. Since the advent of online courses in higher education in the late 1990s, his work has focused on using technology to extend the reach of higher education beyond its traditional audience. Please register to attend the Teaching and Learning Symposium at: https://forms.gle/b8EC1zDMHEFpsbAo9. The Symposium (including lunch) is free of charge. Registration is for the full day, but attendees may come and go as needed. If you are interested in submitting a session, roundtable, or poster proposal, please see the Call for Proposals.

From the Office of Global Engagement:

Faculty and staff who have made significant contributions to global engagement at NC State are eligible to be nominated for two different global award categories; the Jackson Rigney International Service Award and the Outstanding Global Engagement Award. The awards aim to laud individuals at NC State who are making a difference in internationalization. NC State Global coordinates the efforts with our advisory committees to select deserving awardees every spring semester. Nominees for the Outstanding Global Engagement Award and Jackson Rigney International Service Award will be recognized at the annual Global Engagement Exposition, featuring an awards ceremony, poster session, networking and lunch. 2020 nominations are due Friday, January 31, 2020.

From the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity:

Registration is now open for the 2020 Sisterhood Dinner, which will take place Monday, February 24 in Talley Student Union, State Ballroom. The Sisterhood Dinner is an annual university wide event open to all members of the campus community. This event celebrates the contributions and accomplishments of NC State women. This year’s theme is “Writing the Next Chapter” in recognition of the 35th anniversary of this event. Event registration information can be found on the Council for the Status of Women website: go.ncsu.edu/sisterhood Table registration is $350 for 8 seats. Individual registration is $45 per seat. Registration deadline is Friday, January 24 unless tables are sold out prior to that date.
Nominate someone today for the Equity for Women Awards. The NC State University Council on the Status of Women invites you to nominate NC State faculty, staff and students for the Equity for Women Award. This award is made annually to recognize faculty, staff and students for their outstanding dedication to establishing equity for women at NC State University. Nominations are solicited from all members of the campus community. This year, we will be giving up to four awards. Faculty, staff and Students and be nominated here. Further information can be found on the Council on the Status of Women website. Nominations will close at Noon on Friday, January 17. If you have any questions, please email sisterhooddinner@ncsu.edu or call 919-515-2012 and ask for Lisa LaBarbera-Mascote.

From the Office of Research and Innovation:

All new faculty at NC State to join us for the 2020 New Faculty Research Orientation — to be held Wednesday, February 12 from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in Talley Student Union’s Mountains Ballroom — hosted by the Office of Research and Innovation. The half-day program agenda includes panels, networking sessions and updates where you will have the opportunity to: meet the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation and his leadership team; connect with teams who can provide you with support and resources; explore funding avenues; understand the Research and Innovation process at NC State; and discover how recently tenured faculty navigated the junior faculty world of research and scholarship. Lunch will be provided. Register today!
The NC Department of Transportation has announced funding for the creation of three University Research Centers of Excellence. One of the three multidisciplinary centers is focused on the reduction of congestion and improvement in mobility and will be led by Billy Williams, in conjunction with his role as director of NC State’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education.
NC State has played a key role in developing some of biotech’s most meaningful agricultural innovations. Now it’s pioneering a new, interdisciplinary approach to training the interdisciplinary scholars who will shape the debate in the future. The Agricultural Biotechnology in Food, Energy and Water Systems (AgBioFEWS) program is showing graduate students the full spectrum of issues in biotech and genetic engineering, from the lab, to the field, to the public square.
Delta Air Lines, the world’s largest global airline, will be the founding industry partner to join the IBM Q Hub at NC State, as part of a multi-year collaborative effort with IBM to explore the potential capabilities of quantum computing to transform experiences for customers and employees. Last year NC State became the first university in North America to establish an IBM Q Hub as part of the global IBM Q Network, a collaboration between IBM and Fortune 500 companies, national research labs, startups and leading universities to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications for science and business.