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July 2020 Announcements

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COVID-19 Information:

  • Effective July 1 and throughout at least the fall 2020 semester, face coverings will be required to be worn by students, faculty, staff and visitors in all NC State buildings and in all university programs held in non-university buildings. This includes face coverings being worn at all times in classrooms and laboratories. Face coverings will also be required in outdoor spaces on campus property where appropriate physical distancing cannot be guaranteed.

Face covering exceptions include private offices and residence hall rooms when alone or with a roommate. Individuals are also not required to wear a face covering when they are not in close contact with someone else, such as walking alone in an uncrowded outdoor location.

Everyone on campus is expected to carry a face covering at all times, in case they encounter an unforeseen situation where at least 6 feet of physical distance cannot be maintained. Such situations are likely to occur in hallways, stairwells, elevators, restrooms, kitchens and break rooms, for example. NC State will provide face coverings to all students, faculty and staff who need them. Individuals can also choose to wear their own face coverings.

Video recordings of the town halls are also posted on the Protecting the Pack website. Many of the questions and answers addressed during the town halls have been added to the Protecting the Pack list of frequently asked questions.

  • The Department of Registration and Records has added a new page on the Student Services Center website that addresses important questions and concerns regarding registration, the academic calendar, tuition, financial aid and more for the Fall 2020 semester. The department will continue to update this page and their other COVID-19 pages as more information becomes available and if anything changes. 
  • The following faculty have been named department heads, effective July 1.
    • Anthony Blikslager – Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine
    • Jon Carr – Department of Management, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Poole College of Management
    • Troy Case – Department of Sociology and Anthropology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
    • Derek Ham – Department of Art and Design, College of Design
    • Sebastian Heese, Department of Business Management, Poole College of Management (previously interim, now permanent)
    • Erin Sills (interim) – Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, College of Natural Resources
  • The NC State University Board of Trustees approved removing the name “Daniels Hall” from the campus building that was named for Josephus Daniels in 1938. A building named in Daniels’ honor is in complete opposition to the values of NC State. The current name is 111 Lampe Drive (the street address of the building) and the new building abbreviation is LMP. All signs with Daniels Hall have been removed from around the building and the replacement signs are in the works. The campus map has been updated on the website to reflect the name change.

From the UNC System Office:

  • COVID-19 Update from UNC Expert, Dr. David WeberRegister now for the virtual Faculty Town Hall, to be held Thursday, July 16 at 3 p.m. Dr. David Weber, Professor of Epidemiology at UNC-Chapel Hill, Medical Director of Hospital Epidemiology, and Associate Chief Medical Officer of UNC Health Care, will present an update on the current status of the COVID-19 pandemic and the latest in medical research on health and safety. To maximize time for questions and answers, please submit questions in advance. Submit your question.
  • The UNC System Office will offer Designing Effective Online Courses: An Online Workshop for UNC System Faculty and Staff starting July 20. This is an online workshop to support faculty and staff across the System in moving their courses to an online format. The workshop is free, but space is limited, and registration is required. Learn more and register.
  • The Digital Course Enhancements Resource Collections initiative has generated ten distinct collections of instructional materials, curated by UNC System faculty and staff. Each collection is aligned with a high-demand course commonly offered across most UNC System institutions: Introductory Financial Accounting, Anatomy and Physiology 1, General Biology, Calculus 1, Chemistry 1, Chemistry 2, Organic Chemistry 1, Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, and Introduction to Statistics. Interested faculty and staff can explore the materials on the Digital Learning Initiative website. Each collection features a range of open access content, including educational texts, videos, slides, software, virtual labs, and other digital materials, which vary depending on the subject matter. 

From the Office of Faculty Development:

  • Faculty Discussion of Academic Continuity: Developing a Plan in Uncertain Times – In the first Keep Teaching webinar and the Online Asynchronous Workshop, faculty were guided through constructing a basic continuity plan for their courses. The data gathered during and after these offerings suggested that there are four areas of discussion around developing and implementing academic continuity plans: 1. Best Practices for Student and Instructor Success, 2. Student Assessment and Academic Integrity, 3. Course Design and Content, Instructional Technology, and 4. Instructional Strategies for Remote Learning.

To support faculty and teaching graduate students in these areas, OFD will cohost two webinars via Zoom (July 16, 10-11:30 am and July 23, 1-2:30 pm) and an online, asynchronous workshop in Moodle. During these events, we will focus on refining and (re)designing academic continuity plans through whole-group and small breakout-group discussions facilitated by staff from DELTA, NC State University Libraries, and OFD. Join us virtually with your questions and ideas to share with colleagues in the discussion. Registration in REPORTER is required.

  • Starting this summer, Maria Gallardo-Williams will be working with OFD in the half-time position of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellow. Gallardo-Williams is a teaching professor, director of organic chemistry labs, and an Alumni Association Distinguished Undergraduate Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

From NC State DELTA:

  • DELTA’s Summer Shorts program will be presented completely online via Zoom! This year’s event will be Friday, July 31 through Tuesday, August 4 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Summer Shorts 2020 will focus on leveling up your teaching and moving from emergency remote instruction to quality online teaching. Friday’s theme is Faculty Voices and Discussions and Monday and Tuesday are focused on strategic workshops to level up your teaching. Summer Shorts is the perfect time and place to make refinements to your fall courses and get prepared for a successful semester. The interactive atmosphere will allow you to engage with and learn from colleagues and DELTA staff. To learn more, visit DELTA’s website.
  • Take a little stress off yourself this fall and prerecord your classroom content now. Sign up to safely record in a DELTA classroom, studio or ministudio this summer and receive individualized support from DELTA staff. Spaces are filling up fast! And if you can’t make it to campus, check out the other options available to record your critical course content now. Reserve your slot or learn your options.

From the Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity:  

  • NC State offers its employees a host of diversity and inclusion resources and is planning to make more available. This list includes a three-part cultural competency program for faculty.
  • OIED invites you to attend virtual professional development opportunities hosted by the Inclusive Excellence and Strategic Practice unit. 
    • Tuesday, July 21st, 3 p.m. – Microaggressions in the Virtual Workspace: Increased Vulnerability Working from Home, Dr. Savitri Dixon-Saxon, Walden University. Please sign up here to attend.
    • Tuesday, August 4th, 1 p.m. – Accessibility Amidst a Virtual Environment, Crystal Tenan, Dr. David Elrod, and Mark Newmiller, NC State. Please sign up here to attend.

From the Office of Research and Innovation:

  • The Office of Research and Innovation has launched a new website at https://research.ncsu.edu/. The site will help ORI continue to support the research, scholarship and creative activities of the NC State community by promoting collaborative research and an innovative environment.
  • NC State has launched a new online system for employees to report conflicts of interest and submit requests to engage in external professional activities for pay. The Research Enterprise Data (RED) system, which aims to streamline research administration at NC State, debuted its second module — COI/NOI — in May. 
  • Join the office for a Research Continuity Forum on July 21, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. During the interactive virtual forum, Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation Dr. Mladen Vouk will answer NC State faculty, research administration staff, graduate students and postdoctoral students’ questions about how NC State is handling continuity during the pandemic. We encourage our research community to register and submit questions they would like to see addressed in advance. Submitting your questions in advance will help us ensure the forum agenda allows sufficient time for the most frequently questioned subject matter. The forum will include discussion on pre-submitted questions as well as allow for real-time Q&A.
  • Phase III for research restart at NC State began Monday, July 13. As NC State increases research and scholarship activities on-campus, our top priority is the safety of our students, faculty and staff. In support of this effort, we anticipate research lab and workspace guidelines and processes will be in place for the remainder of 2020. At this time, all research activities will be considered for return to campus including research workspaces for graduate students and postdocs. Please use the Research Restart Phase III Process document to guide you as you submit requests to the Office of Research and Innovation. For requests that fall outside of the Phase III guidelines, please submit a special research exception request. If your college did not submit during Phase I or Phase II of research restart, but is planning for Phase III, please work directly with Laura Kroeger (lakroege@ncsu.edu) to set up the initial shared research restart spreadsheet for your college. For additional information about research continuity during COVID-19 refer to https://research.ncsu.edu/coronavirus/.

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