Interim Provost Heather Norris' Faculty Senate Comments
Recognizing that you have a particularly long agenda today, I will keep this brief.
As the Chancellor shared in her Friday update:
1. App State is proud to be part of the vaccination efforts underway in our state. To date, we have administered nearly 4,000 COVID-19 vaccines at our campus clinics, including 943 [last Thursday]. We welcome and encourage anyone in North Carolina to register for future vaccine clinics on our campus. Our next clinic is scheduled for Thursday, April 15.
2. With national, state, and local efforts to return students to classrooms underway, and a nationwide increase in COVID-19 vaccine supply, we are preparing for the full return of students, faculty, and staff to campus for the fall 2021 semester.
3. The Chancellor and I, along with several other members of her cabinet, met with the Chancellor Advisory Committee last week to discuss fall planning, budget, DEI work, along with a variety of other topics. The committee members asked that I share, in particular, this from Student Affairs, in response to a question about who is charged with updating the Student Code of Conduct:
The Office of Student Conduct, led by Erin Bunton, is charged with updating the Student Code of Conduct each year through the following process.
- Office staff meet with students and others who have suggestions for proposed changes to the Code.
- Proposed revisions are reviewed by General Counsel before they go to the Committee on Student Conduct for review.
- The committee, as outlined in Article IX of the Code, includes:
- The Faculty Senate Chair
- The Chair of the Council of Chairs
- Two members of the Deans Council
- Two members of the Division of Student Affairs
- The student body president and vice president
- The president of the Graduate Student Association Senate,
- The president of the Residence Hall Association,
- The chair of the Student Conduct Board,
- The director of Student Conduct
- Proposed revisions are ultimately submitted to the Chancellor for approval.
Current language in the Code regarding False Information can be found in Section 4.08. Complaints can be filed by anyone. The Code provides for a fundamentally fair process in addressing complaints, to ensure due process.
Other Updates:
Dean Searches for College of Fine and Applied Arts and the Libraries are underway. See searches.appstate.edu for materials and feedback forms.
VPFA role – Jacqui Bergman has shared with me her desire to return to the faculty full-time this summer. I am taking time to listen to input from faculty and others about the position and related duties. If you have input you’d like to share, please email me.
Budget – I’d like to remind you of our upcoming Budget Briefings and Strategic Initiatives presentations. As I shared in an email to campus last Thursday morning,
We are pleased to announce the return of a full slate of “budget briefings and strategic initiatives” presentations this year. You are cordially invited to view the 2021 presentations beginning on Friday, April 30th. Viewing links and details will be provided in a forthcoming email.
Finally, Paul Forte and I will be meeting later this month with the Faculty Senate Budget Committee.
Thank you for your time. This concludes the provost report