All permanent, full-time faculty and staff will have the opportunity to participate in the UNC System Employee Engagement Survey between March 28 and April 11. The biennial online survey — the third since 2018 — documents employee satisfaction in 11 subject areas, including professional development, communication, senior leadership, employee well-being and institutional pride. The survey is being sent to all permanent, full-time (75% time or more) faculty and staff employed as of Jan. 31, 2022. Watch for an email March 28 with a survey link and instructions from ModernThink.
If you have general questions about the survey initiative, contact Tim Danielson, associate vice chancellor for human resources, at tjdanie4@ncsu.edu. For technical issues, contact Nancy Whelchel, assistant vice provost for institutional survey research and analysis, at nancy_whelchel@ncsu.edu. For more information, visit the survey website.
The UNC System is refreshing its strategic plan and wants the NC State community’s feedback on the current plan’s goals and metrics, as well as ideas for potential new goals and metrics. You are invited to:
Please keep in mind that the UNC System strategic plan is separate from, and is supported by, NC State’s current strategic plan, Wolfpack 2030: Powering the Extraordinary. You can learn more about the UNC System’s strategic plan refresh at northcarolina.edu/strategic-plan-2022/.
Administrator Updates
Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) Director and Vice Provost for Outreach and Engagement Leslie Boney will retire, effective May 1. In the interim, Boney’s position will be divided into two parts to reflect his two different roles. Kwesi Craig Brookins, director of NC State’s Center for Family and Community Engagement, and a professor in the Department of Psychology, will serve as interim vice provost for Outreach and Engagement. Sarah Langer Hall, IEI senior policy and program manager, will serve as IEI’s interim director. Provost Arden plans to start the search for a permanent replacement, which will encompass both the IEI director and vice provost for Outreach and Engagement roles, toward the end of the spring semester and will announce next steps at that time.
Joshua Pierce was named director of the Integrative Sciences Initiative, effective Feb. 1. Pierce, an associate professor of chemistry, LORD Corporation Distinguished Scholar and University Faculty Scholar, also serves as co-director of NC State’s Comparative Medicine Institute and director of the Chemistry of Life NIH T32 training program. He will work with a large team to coordinate the design and realization of the Integrative Sciences Building (ISB). He will also lead collaborative efforts by ISI theme leaders to bring together scholars and students from biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, engineering, biomedical sciences and microbiology in one place.
Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine search: On-campus interviews for two finalists were held between Feb. 10 and 16. A new dean will be announced soon. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/cvm-search.
Dean of the College of Education search: On-campus interviews for three finalists were held between Feb. 23 and Mar. 3. A new dean will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/ced-search.
Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences search: The nomination committee met for the first time and was charged on Feb. 25. The Provost’s Office held four listening sessions (three external stakeholder sessions and one faculty and staff session) between Feb 24 and Mar. 2 to hear what the college and its stakeholders are looking for in the next dean. Finalist candidate interviews and open forums will be held in late spring 2022. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/cals-search.
Senior Vice Provost for Instructional Programs search: First round interviews were held the week of Feb. 28. The committee will make a recommendation to the provost this week on two to four candidates for in-person finalist interviews during the weeks of March 21 and 28. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/svp-ip-search.
Senior Vice Provost for University Interdisciplinary Programs search: The nomination committee met on Feb. 21 for a mid-search review to ensure that they’re receiving the caliber of candidates expected. The committee will meet next week to identify a small handful of candidates for first round interviews which will take place in late March to early April. Finalist candidate interviews and open forums will be held later in April 2022. Stay up to date on the search by visiting the search page on the Provost’s Office website or go.ncsu.edu/svp-uip-search.
From the Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative:
The Coastal Resilience and Sustainability Initiative will host a panel discussion on March 23 from noon – 1 p.m. Join us as our panelists discuss, “Engaging with North Carolina Communities– programs and perspectives from NCORR and the NC Coastal Federation.” North Carolina’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) and the North Carolina Coastal Federation will share about their work, and how they partner with university faculty to do engaged research with communities. NCORR’s Andrea Webster will discuss projects currently underway, where communities need help, and how NCORR has partnered with faculty to date. The NC Coastal Federation’s Todd Miller will also share examples of their collaborations with faculty and communities, and both will discuss opportunities coming in the future.
From the Data Science Academy:
The Data Science Academy (DSA) has expanded its course list! In Fall 2022, students can choose from over 20 DSA data science courses, listed under the DSC prefix. The courses are open to undergraduate and graduate students from any major in any college. Faculty, postdocs and staff are also welcome and encouraged to enroll. The DSC 495 – Special Topics in Data Science sections are one-credit, project-based courses designed to reflect the DSA vision that data science is for everyone. Read more about the DSA course model. Please share widely with students, advisors, faculty and staff. Review a sample of DSC course descriptions (updates for all Fall 2022 courses are coming soon).
DataFest is coming to NC State this Spring. The Data Science Academy (DSA) is excited to host a weekend-long competition in which teams of students work to find insights from a large, complex dataset. NC State is an official host site for the American Statistical Association (ASA) DataFest. The DSA will host the competition from April 8-10. This is a great way for students from all disciplines to get authentic experience working with big data. More information and registration are coming soon. Check DataFest @ NC Statefor updates.
From DELTA:
It is almost time for DELTA Grant proposals!
This year’s DELTA Grants cycle includes a brand new grant category, Course Improvement, formerly known as OCIP. Learn more about DELTA grants!
Ready to expand your knowledge of instructional technologies and methods? DELTA offers many opportunities to learn more!
DELTA-Con, NC State’s annual unconference, brings together attendees from across local higher education institutions to share their insights into the field of higher education. Faculty, staff and graduate students are welcome to attend this discussion-based event, either in person or virtually, so register today!
The latest Panopto upgrade contains many new features including: audio description, student assignment submission (with Moodle plug-in for grading), reference copy and discussion notifications. Discover Panopto’s upgrades.
From the Office for Faculty Excellence:
Back to Basics: Facilitating and Managing Engagement in Flexible Course Experiences (Tuesday, April 5, 2-3 p.m.): Flexible course experience can make it difficult for students to feel a sense of connection and belonging. Creating opportunities for student-student interaction and teacher-student interaction is critically important for student success. Led by Dr. Maria Gallardo-Williams (Senior Faculty Development Specialist) and Dr. Diane Chapman (Executive Director and Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development). Register here.
Faculty Conversation Series: Three Simple Ways to Bring Scholarship into Your Teaching Practice (Thursday, April 14, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.): How does your teaching inform your scholarship, and how do we turn that into published work? Join us for a session filled with tips, inspiration, and information. Register here.
From the Office for Global Engagement:
The 2022 University Global Partnership Network (UGPN) Annual Conference brings together delegates from UGPN member institutions to promote and facilitate innovative collaborations in research and education. The event provides an opportunity to hear from senior academics and professional service staff on salient topics in Higher Education as well as key research areas for the network. The UGPN network, founded in 2011, is comprised of four partners: NC State, Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil), University of Surrey (U.K.), and University of Wollongong (Australia). This year’s conference will reflect on how UGPN partnerships can impact sustainability in research and education. The conference takes place virtually between March 14-24, 2022, and has no cost to attend. All NC State faculty, staff, and students are invited to participate. Register here.
As part of NC State’s commitment to theUniversity Global Coalition, NC State recognized February 28 – March 4 as Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Action and Awareness Week on campus. The purpose of this week is to promote awareness of the17 SDGs among students in higher education and inspire them to take action in support of achieving the goals on their campuses and in their local community.
From the Graduate School:
The 15th Annual NC State University Graduate Student Research Symposium will be held in the Jane S. McKimmon Center on Wednesday, April 6, 2022. The poster session will be from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. This year, there will be approximately 200 poster presentations representing research being conducted in 68 graduate programs from all colleges. This event is co-sponsored and organized by the Graduate Student Association and the Graduate School. The primary goal of the symposium is to showcase the outstanding quality and diversity of graduate research at NC State. This is a great opportunity for all to take a look at the interesting research projects being conducted at the graduate level. Undergraduates who are interested in applying to graduate school will certainly benefit from talking to our graduate students about their research, and perhaps getting ideas as to how to present their research at conferences where they may participate in the future. The Symposium is open to the public! Parking is plentiful and free at McKimmon. Further information is available on the Symposium Web Site. Questions should be directed to Dr. David Shafer at dmshafer@ncsu.edu.
From the Office of Information Technology:
The Office of Information Technology will perform extended IT maintenance from 6 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 3 that will involve the shutdown and movement of equipment, hardware replacement and infrastructure configuration. Campus IT services that might be degraded or unavailable during this time include, but are not limited to: MyPack Portal (Self-Service); WolfTime, including Kaba web-based timekeeping; other human resources, financial and student systems; self-service password management; OnBase document management system; and RedHat network satellite service.
From Institutional Strategy and Analysis:
This year’s Common Data Set (CDS) has been published on ISA’sCommon Data Set webpage. The CDS initiative is a collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers as represented by College Board, Peterson’s, and U.S. News & World Report. It includes extensive data and other information of interest to prospective students and their families on topics such as first-year and transfer admission, enrollments and graduation rates, campus life, cost of attendance, and financial aid. If you have any questions please contact Jim Price.
TheNC State Official Peer University Dashboard, a resource that presents metrics using theIntegrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data for NC State in comparison to our 12 official peers, has been refreshed to include 2020-2021 provisional data. This detailed report provides peer comparisons of student admission, enrollment, success, charges, and financial aid, as well as institutional data such as finance and instructional staff. For more information, contact Theint Theint San.
Data refreshes to select dashboards on the ISA Factbook webpage are complete. TheFaculty and Staff Dashboard refresh includes Fall 2021 data, a report feature to include employees “On Leave Without Pay” and additional filters for “Academic Rank” and “EHRA Employee Type”. TheStudent Credit Hours (SCHs) Dashboard refresh includes Spring 2022 census data, a change to the report feature to reflect the “Career” category and an option filter to view “Non Fundable SCHs”. TheStudent Headcount Dashboard refresh includes Spring 2022 census data. Dashboards are located within the “For the Pack” links under each section. For more information, contact Theint Theint San.
