Thank you, Chair Ricks, and I’d like to take a moment to convey a special thank-you also to Vice Chair Sofield, Secretary Harris and the full board for your support and encouragement during the last 11 months. I am deeply honored to be Appalachian State University’s chancellor, and I look forward to continuing to work with all of you.

We are at a pivotal moment in Appalachian State University’s history. Last month, the university was recognized for our high research activity and doctorate production with a Research Activity Designation of Research 2 from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. App State is one of only five institutions of higher education in North Carolina with an R2 designation.

Research designations are based on two quantitative metrics: research expenditures and doctoral degrees awarded. I want to acknowledge the faculty and staff in the Reich College of Education, which houses the university’s first doctoral program, for producing the required number of doctoral degrees. This was a significant contribution to our achieving R2 status. With the addition of our Doctor of Psychology in clinical psychology in 2019 and our new Doctor of Nursing Practice program, which will begin admitting students in fall 2026, we’re increasing our doctoral degree portfolio to meet the needs of our state and region.

Innovation is central to who we have always been at App State, and over the last three years, our faculty and staff have accelerated their innovative research, increasing research dollars invested in our university. This has allowed more students to work side by side with faculty who are seeking and applying knowledge to solve problems and share their findings in peer-reviewed and published academic research and creative activities.

With our founding 125 years ago, our leaders desired to create a school that was both innovative and practical in order to meet the needs of the community that surrounded it. From humble beginnings, our founders wanted their students to rise to challenges, overcome obstacles and make the High Country a more educated region.

One hundred and twenty-five years later, App State is a leader in the region in various disciplines — from education to sustainable technology, to business and rural health care — and a university recognized around the world.

At our core, we are still a teaching institution, and that will always remain fundamental to our identity; and, our emphasis on undergraduate and graduate research opportunities and creative endeavors has set App State apart from other research universities. Our students benefit from hands-on experience with impactful projects and avenues to present their research at major conferences — deepening their learning experiences and preparing them to excel in their future careers and graduate studies.

The work of our faculty, staff and students yields real-world solutions and technologies that drive innovation — answering the needs of our communities and strengthening economies.

This innovative Mountaineer spirit permeates throughout the App State Experience, whether our students are solving medical problems in a laboratory, building a championship solar race car or documenting the stories and challenges of regional communities devastated by Hurricane Helene.

True to our founding mission of ensuring access to education, student success is at the heart of everything we do, and true to our Appalachian roots, innovation drives us to think differently to solve complex problems. These foundational aptitudes inform the way we approach teaching, research, service and operations.

The academic partnerships we share:

• With the U.S. Department of Education, resulted in a seven-year, $35 million GEAR UP grant designed to increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education through a wide range of research-based services to students, families and teachers. This will open college access to even more middle and high school students within our communities. It also affirms our commitment that every student should have the opportunity to pursue higher education. By investing in their futures, we are investing in the future of our entire region.
• With community colleges, ensure students have a seamless and economical path to four-year degrees and beyond.
• With Project Kitty Hawk, enhance the flexibility of our program offerings to placebound adult learners, and have potential for significant growth, as this partnership has, in less than a year, grown to comprise nearly 7% of our online student enrollment.
• With NCInnovation, translate university research into solutions that benefit the people and economies of our state and region, and direct research funding into our local community.

At the college level, our research enterprise emphasizes applied problem-solving, designed to meet the needs of our communities and enhance economic development:

• In the Walker College of Business, we expanded our cybersecurity offerings to include a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity at both the Boone and Hickory campuses. This program addresses the urgent need for trained experts to secure and safeguard information, infrastructure and digital assets for public, private and nonprofit organizations.
• In the Beaver College of Health Sciences, the first class in our Doctor of Nursing Practice program will begin in August 2026. The hybrid degree will combine online learning with in-person intensive clinical training so we can meet the needs of our students while helping address critical health care shortages, particularly in rural areas of our state.
  
  In advance of a $2.2 million nursing grant from the North Carolina legislature and the UNC System last year, we took quick action to increase training and preparation for nurses, earning praise from the UNC System at last month’s Board of Governors meeting as we help answer the call to alleviate an expected statewide shortage of more than 18,000 registered nurses over the next decade.
  
  And, we continue to develop programs to support health care professionals within our communities, thanks in part to a multiyear grant from Public Health AmeriCorps to enhance public health preparedness and mental health training for rural Western North Carolina counties. Our campus, the Watauga County community and the High Country benefited firsthand from this AmeriCorps program in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Many of our students involved with AmeriCorps supported the various health agencies that began the healing and recovery efforts.

• In the College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Lab for Innovative Design at Appalachian, which opened in 2020 and provides students in the Department of Applied Design with access to state-of-the-art resources and equipment, is facilitating the integration of technology into furniture, interior and product design projects. The accomplishments in these learning environments have led to national and international student awards and increased corporate funding to support continued educational opportunities for our students.
• In the College of Arts and Sciences, a grant in excess of $640,000 — earned by Dr. Rahman Tashakkori, our Lowe’s Distinguished Professor of Computer Science — led a honeybee hive monitoring system, with the potential to preserve our agriculture and food supply, to open doors to other researchers. App State is now a hub for NCInnovation, supporting other researchers in bringing their ideas to the commercial world.
• In the Reich College of Education, we are changing lives and communities — through our laboratory schools, in particular — with robust, exploration-based academic programs focused on literacy and STEM. Innovative and flexible learning models and support for teachers promote personalized learning, positive school culture and learning communities that foster opportunities for lifelong learning and forward-looking community impact. It’s a remarkable example of what higher education can do, with legislative backing and support from individuals with a passion for helping children learn — thank you, Gov. Byers!

A strong emphasis on applied undergraduate research opportunities has long set App State apart from other research universities across the nation. When we blend our operations with applied research, the university benefits in myriad ways. Student, faculty and staff research has long maximized energy efficiency for the university and the state. These efforts have helped our university avoid more than $64 million in energy costs since 2002 — and has also saved our state nearly $2 billion in the last 12 years.

Our Innovation District, which you saw on our tour yesterday afternoon, will soon come online, offering additional research opportunities — not only to App State students but to students in area K–12 schools as well — while also helping the university realize additional significant energy savings and reducing our reliance on steam power.

Our creative approach to enrollment growth includes tailoring our offerings in Hickory to ensure we’re meeting market demand and increasing Hickory and online enrollment while managing growth in Boone. 

As we ready for our next cycle of master planning, we continue to explore infrastructure solutions that will help us maximize limited space on our Boone campus, and find mutually beneficial ways to work with business and civic leaders to enhance economic growth in the communities we serve.

And, as we continue to navigate the new world of collegiate athletics with all of its complexities and opportunities for educational institutions and student-athletes, we are thinking differently, embracing unconventional ideas and welcoming new perspectives.

At App State, we relish a challenge. With each eyebrow raise and thoughtful nod we elicit, we’re developing  practical solutions to complex problems, and teaching others to employ them.

Our university community is beginning a new chapter, empowered by a commitment to advance and drive innovation in our communities and industries that has been more than a century in the making. I thank you for your support of our students, faculty and staff as we work together to advance a brighter future for all.

Chair Ricks, this concludes my remarks.