Interim Provost Heather Norris' Faculty Senate Comments
Delivered by Dr. Mike Mckenzie, Vice Provost of Academic Program Development and Strategic Initiatives
Greetings from the Provost’s Office.
I have several short updates since the last Faculty Senate meeting held two weeks ago.
1. SPRING FACULTY/STAFF MEETING
Chancellor Everts provided a COVID-19 update and spoke to some key university priorities and accomplishments at our Spring Faculty/Staff meeting last Friday, February 5. Vice Chancellor Paul Forte gave a brief budget update, and we recognized our faculty and staff award winners. We also heard from Faculty Senate Chair Michael Behrent, Staff Senate Chair Kelli Wilson, and the President of AppState’s Chapter of the AAUP, Laura Ammon.
Chancellor Everts emailed a link to her remarks in her weekly campus update on Friday, which you can find on the Chancellor.appstate.edu website.
2. BRIDGE STRATEGIC PLAN (led by Lee Ball)
The bridge strategic planning group met again on Friday, February 5. The committee will submit a final draft of the bridge plan to the Chancellor’s Council mid-February, in time for submission to the Board of Trustees in March.
3. GEN ED REVIEW (led by Ted Zerucha)
The Gen Ed Review steering committee is continuing to gather input from groups and individuals this spring, with upcoming Zoom sessions scheduled at 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm on Thursday, February 25; Thursday, March 25; and Thursday, April 22.
4. BUDGET
The Cost Savings Task Force has collected cost savings suggestions from all divisions. Working groups of faculty and staff will be formed soon to study, quantify, and implement those initiatives reviewed by each Vice Chancellor and approved by the Chancellor.
As the Chancellor announced in her remarks at the Faculty/Staff meeting on Friday, we will be holding campus Budget Presentations this April.
5. SACS-COC
As a reminder, in less than 3 years, our Full Decennial Review report (the “Compliance Certification) will be due for off-site review, and in just a little over 3 years, we will have our On-Site Decennial review.
SACSCOC High Level draft schedule for upcoming years:
- Spring 2021 or Fall 2021 identify a faculty lead/director for the review
- 2021-22: Select QEP (Quality Enhancement Plan) topic
- 2022-23: Write Compliance Certification full draft report, and draft QEP proposal, send to external reviewers by summer
- 2023-24: Fall off-site report due, response in winter, spring campus site visit
6. DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
I continue to work alongside our students on the Diversity and Inclusion Accountability Steering Committee, formed by Chancellor Everts in July 2020 and led by Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) Willie Fleming. The Steering Committee, which includes six students, CDO Willie Fleming, Vice Chancellor JJ Brown, and me, helps plan upcoming Diversity and Inclusion Accountability Team meetings. The team meetings are held with the Chancellor and the larger Accountability group members, comprised of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
7. UPCOMING MEETINGS with Faculty Senators
I look forward to having meaningful discussions with you in our upcoming Faculty Senate committee meetings, including:
- The Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Shared Governance Committee meeting on Wednesday, February 10
- The Faculty Senate Chancellor’s Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, February 11
- The Faculty Senate Budget Committee meeting on Monday, February 22