Dear Campus Colleagues,
Welcome to our inaugural quarterly update from the Division of Academic Affairs. We are launching this recurring series to keep our campus community informed, celebrate unit achievements, announce key leadership updates, highlight upcoming dates and connect you with essential resources.
About Academic Affairs
The Division of Academic Affairs encompasses four primary functional areas dedicated to supporting student success and institutional growth:
- Academic Affairs: Leads the university's academic framework, supporting undergraduate research, global engagement, interdisciplinary learning and dynamic classroom experiences across our colleges and schools.
- Enrollment Management: Collaborates with units across the university to deliver services that promote access, reduce student debt and support recruitment and retention.
- Student Affairs: Supports student success, health and well-being through engagement, leadership development and experiential learning.
- Arts Engagement and Cultural Resources: Enriches campus and regional cultural life through the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts and Turchin Center for the Visual Arts.
Leadership Updates
I’d like to announce these leadership appointments and welcome them to the Academic Affairs administration team.
- Jeff Cathey serves as Vice Provost for Student Affairs.
- Dr. Ashley Colquitt serves as Interim Vice Provost for Enrollment and Dean of the Graduate School.
- Dr. Cathy Marcum serves as Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development.
- Jamie Parson has moved to the Hickory campus and serves as Senior Vice Provost for App State Hickory.
Additionally, Dr. Phillip J. Ardoin is serving as Interim Assistant Vice Provost for General Education, and Dr. Herb Brown is serving as interim dean of the Reich College of Education (RCOE).
Over the next academic year, we will be conducting several dean searches. Search committees have officially been established for a College of Fine and Applied Arts dean and Hayes School of Music executive director; one will be established soon for the RCOE dean.
Academic Affairs Highlights
While important work is happening across all Academic Affairs areas, I’d like to recognize a few notable highlights.
- Congratulations to our Departmental Leadership Award recipients, Dr. Tracie McLemore Salinas (Emerging Leader Award) and Dr. Dave McEvoy (Distinguished Leader Award). Thanks to everyone who submitted an award nomination — watch for the 2026–27 call for nominations in February.
- In spring 2026, we issued a call to participate in the UNC System Common Ground Collaborative (and will share future opportunities as they are available). Opportunities included stipends for course enhancement and new course development. I’m pleased to report that seven App State faculty members received stipends for their courses:
- Dr. Sohad Abu-elzait, assistant professor in the Department of Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment
- Dr. Lorraine Affourtit, assistant professor in the Department of Art
- Dr. Phillip Ardoin, professor in the Department of Government and Justice Studies
- Dr. Mathew Foust, professor in and chair of the Department of Philosophy and Religion
- Dr. David Russell, associate professor in the Department of Sociology
- Dr. Mira Waits, associate professor in the Department of Art
- Dr. Juhee Woo, associate professor in the Department of Sociology
- App State’s ROTC program was selected as one of the Army's pilot programs for the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) initiative. Last spring, ROTC launched the pilot and partnered with the Beaver College of Health Sciences to provide comprehensive support — including kinesiology, sport psychology and nutrition — for ROTC students. The program is now fully underway and is contributing to meaningful improvements in cadet performance, while also providing valuable experiential learning opportunities for student interns and pathways to internships and employment.
- University College is expanding First Year Seminar (UCO 1200) options by integrating College Success Seminar (U_S 1200) into a three-credit structure along with a Career Discovery pathway. This will provide students with early opportunities to develop skills that they can immediately apply in their coursework.
- Jewel Davis, director of the Instructional Materials Center and the Martha and Nancy Lee Bivens Distinguished Professor, has been selected to receive a 2026 Governor's Award for Excellence in Public Service, which will be presented in November. You may recall that Davis was also recognized last spring for her work chairing the committee that selected the 2026 Randolph Caldecott Medal winner for best children’s picture book published in 2025. Nominations for this award are managed by our colleagues in the Office of Human Resources; watch for the 2027 call for nominations later this year.
Celebration of Community Partnerships
On Oct. 12, at 4 p.m., App State Hickory and the Beaver College of Health Sciences will host a Celebration of Community Partnerships, featuring our new hybrid Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program and the Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness (App Well) Interprofessional Clinic.
- The DNP program, which welcomed its first cohort of 24 students this semester, has a special focus on serving rural populations across NC and will prepare registered nurses to be family nurse practitioners.
- The Interprofessional Clinic will expand the university’s Aging Well and Growing Well programs to the Hickory campus, providing clinic experience for students and community support.
The event is open to the public and includes tours of the DNP Simulation Lab and clinic spaces.
Reminders and Requests
- This fall, Academic Affairs introduced Faculty Policy Training Week to ensure policy compliance, optimize efficiency and support faculty success. We encouraged review of several asynchronous trainings and administered 15 Promotion and Tenure workshops and 15 Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Chair and Committee Training workshops, serving 326 faculty members. Faculty Policy Training Week will continue in the spring 2027 semester — watch for the notice.
- This semester, App State transitions back to Saturday exams to mitigate winter weather disruptions. Review the University Exams Schedule and watch for additional details to be shared soon.
- Nominate a stellar student: Faculty play a vital role in identifying outstanding students; complete the Nationally Competitive Scholarships Student Stellar Scholar Nomination form to refer a student for scholarships and fellowships.
- Fall Open House is Oct. 17 in Boone and Oct. 24 in Hickory. Thanks in advance to all faculty and staff who work to highlight our campuses and engage with prospective students and their families.