Thank you, Jennifer, and good afternoon, everyone.
I hope you’re all finding a sense of routine that is helping you continue to move forward in your recovery efforts as we approach the end of the semester.
Today, I’ll share updates with you on:
- Faculty Workload, Post Tenure Review and Annual Program Reviews;
- Post-census withdrawal numbers, and our point-in-time enrollment for Spring; and
- Research and Creative Endeavors and progress made under the university’s Strategic Plan for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities.
Faculty Workload, Post Tenure Review and Annual Program Reviews:
On October 30th and 31st, I joined the UNC System chief academic officers for an in-person meeting at the NC School of Science and Math in Morganton. We discussed the changes to these three policies — Faculty Workload, Post Tenure Review and Annual Program Reviews. The System tasked each university to update their policies accordingly.
This past summer, we updated both of App State’s Faculty Workload and Post Tenure Review policies. They were approved by the Board of Trustees in September. Since then, Jamie Parson and her team have been working on updating the Annual Program Review Policy. This update will be presented for review and approval at the December Board of Trustees meeting.
Post-census withdrawal numbers, and point-in-time enrollment for Spring:
This morning, I received the numbers from IRAP Interim Executive Director Rick Sears about both our post-census withdrawal numbers, and our point-in-time enrollment for Spring.
Post-census withdrawal ended on Friday, and this year’s numbers were lower than fall 2023 withdrawals.
- As of Friday, we had 185 drops this year, compared to 243 last year. This is a drop of 23.9% year-over-year.
- Additionally, we had 123 fewer course drops ( a 3.1% decrease) compared to last year. The fact that we were able to achieve this in the wake of Hurricane Helene is a testament to your dedication and commitment to ensuring our students stay on track to successfully graduate on time.
Our point-in-time enrollment for Spring is currently a little behind last year’s numbers; however, I expect this to rise heading into this second week of registration. We’ll be reaching out to those who haven’t registered to check in with them and see what we can do to help them.
These numbers are particularly important as we look ahead to next fall, with fewer high school graduates and declining enrollment across the nation. Thank you for your role in continuing to provide new ways for more students to earn a degree from App State. Whether students are coming straight out of high school, transferring from community college or are adult learners working toward career advancement, and whether they are learning in Boone, Hickory or online, we’ll continue removing barriers so students can pick the best path of success for themselves.
Research and Creative Endeavors and progress made under the university’s Strategic Plan for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities:
Working with faculty from across the institution, the members of the Office of Research and Innovation, led by Christine Hendren, has been focused on co-articulating App State's Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities identity, based on existing strengths within our faculty’s Areas of Excellence. A broad umbrella theme of Appalachian thriving and resilience is emerging.
App State’s excellence comes from the intersection of our creative people and this amazing place. Harnessing the intersection of those strengths is how we make big things happen together. Our breadth of expertise positions us to generate significant impacts with local to global applications, drawing on history and tradition, navigating our present times, and adapting technology, business and social systems to build a vibrant future.
Based on increases in our research dollars generated and the number of doctoral degrees awarded in the last three years, we expect to hear in December from the American Council on Education that App State will be reclassified from our current Carnegie Classification as a Master’s Comprehensive institution to an R2 university. This designation review takes place every three years, and the upcoming round of designations will place us in a new category for the first time in several decades.
Christine is preparing resources for campus to help understand what this shift will mean. She is gathering questions from faculty, and she will visit the Senate as part of the process to provide information as we anticipate this shift in designation.
One key piece of information to understand is that the new designation isn’t prescriptive. We do not need to require additional faculty to do additional research. The designation is assigned based on a review of what we have done over the last three years.
Our innovation efforts are expanding through App State’s relationship with NC Innovation — As Chancellor Norris noted in her message on Friday, App State was recently named as an NCInnovation Hub campus. This comes with additional staffing support from NCInnovation to help coordinate external industry partners that faculty may want to work with.
Currently, five teams are working toward proposals for projects with NCInnovation this winter. Christine’s area is also starting the second cohort of the Entrepreneurship Accelerator program, with nine faculty members moving through training on how to take ideas from concept to protected intellectual property for broader impact.
Additionally, Christine plans to hold campuswide discussions around the many meanings and manifestations of the word "innovation." These conversations will explore how we work in new ways and will extend to the many ways Academic Affairs can support the research and creative endeavors at App State.
This semester, we added the Blackburn Vannoy Estate to the research and innovation enterprise portfolio. Management of the opportunities and goals of the estate will be a direct focus in the Office of Research and Innovation. As we more fully engage with the research possibilities of this important campus asset, we’ll include interested parties throughout campus and the community.
As RSCA makes progress toward several of the primary goal categories within the Strategic Plan for Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities, that area is working with University Communications on increasing the volume and types of communications about our research successes. In addition to sharing research news with statewide, regional and national media outlets each week, a new podcast called "Appalachian Excellence: Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities" will feature faculty sharing information about their research, paired with a highlight from a student research experience.
We remain focused on student and faculty success, and welcome the participation of the Faculty Senate in developing a shared vision for the university’s academic enterprise. Thank you for your contributions to this process.
This concludes my remarks.
Thank you.