Thank you, Jim. Good afternoon, everyone.
I want to begin by giving you an update: Last month, I spoke about planned salary adjustments and indicated that work was underway on post-tenure review salary adjustments. I can share today that full professors who received a rating of Exceeding Expectations on their post-tenure reviews will be earning a salary adjustment that will be reflected in their November paychecks, retroactive to July 1.
Additionally, today I would like to address:
- Recent enrollment efforts;
- Updates on RECAST;
- Institutional accreditation; and
- My recent visit with a student leadership class.
The university recently concluded its free application week. This year marked the first time in recent years that we extended this opportunity to first-year students, resulting in a clear success with over 9,700 applications submitted.
We have historically offered this free event to transfer students, and this year, we saw a 22% increase in submitted transfer applications compared to last year. Graduate admissions applications also remained consistent throughout the process.
This success is a direct reflection of the hard work across many departments and by our faculty — from communication and campus visits to recruitment efforts. I would especially like to thank the more than 30 faculty members who were involved in App State’s Transfer Preview Day. These dedicated efforts are what continue to drive our enrollment success and advance the university. I also worked around Open House this weekend and saw so many faculty and staff working to recruit our next classes of students. I chatted with some families and they were all so excited about App State. So please let your departments know how critical they are to recruitment and that I appreciate all who work to support Open House and other enrollment events.
Many of you are aware of the RECAST initiative to explore a potential reorganization of the College of Fine and Applied Arts and the Hayes School of Music. I received the steering committee’s report last week and will be meeting with them on Nov. 17. I will continue to keep the Senate updated as we take the next steps.
As many of you know, recent changes to U.S. Department of Education regulations allow colleges and universities to select an institutional accreditor. Previously, most colleges and universities were assigned to an accreditor based on geography.
This summer, the UNC System and five other public university systems announced the formation of the new Commission for Public Higher Education, which is developing an accreditation model for public universities that will focus on academic excellence, student outcomes, process efficiency, and the pursuit of quality assurance for public postsecondary education.
Last month, the commission’s board of directors published initial accreditation standards, which will be supplemented by evidentiary guidance and which are subject to review and revision. The standards were developed with input from faculty, students, administrators, national higher education associations and members of the public.
If you have questions about the Commission for Public Higher Education, this Wednesday, at the invitation of Faculty Senate, UNC System Vice President of Academic Affairs Dan Harrison will attend a meeting at Plemmons Student Union (in Room 112) from noon to 1 p.m. Mr. Harrison will share perspectives on the commission’s development and answer questions from faculty and staff. I encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity, and I will have more information to share about CPHE at our December meeting.
Finally, I wanted to share a quick comment or two about my visit with the students in Senior Vice Provost Jamie Parson and Vice Provost Jeff Cathey’s Advanced Leadership Development course. This course is housed in the Reich College of Education and offered as part of the Leadership minor.
I was asked to talk about the ups and downs of leadership with the class.
These were some of the questions:
- How do you work to strengthen others through your position and personal leadership style?
- Do you have reflections on impactful times during which someone acted in ways that strengthened you?
- They asked about top-tier university leadership structure (EVCs, Chancellor, BOT and System Office levels) and how decisions tend to take place.
Thank you for your time and commitment. I look forward to our continued collaboration on our academic mission and in supporting the success of our students, faculty, and staff. The next time we gather, Fall Commencement will be in sight. Let’s finish the semester strong.
Chair Westerman, this concludes my remarks.