Florence, a New Facility & Recognizing our Finest

Appalachian days — before and after the storm
Tuesday, September 25, 2018

After a brief hiatus for Hurricane Florence, we are back on schedule.

Some of our students and their families are still suffering in the wake of the storm and several of our sister universities remain closed. Our entire campus is keeping those who are working to recover from the aftermath of the storm in our thoughts. Some guidelines for assisting those less fortunate than we can be found here.

We were extremely fortunate to weather Florence with little impact. Many thanks to our Emergency Management team, App State Police, Physical Plant workers and those employees who are required to keep the university going during even the direst of emergencies. The foresight and continuous training of those who assume the enormous responsibility during such events are greatly appreciated.

On Friday, we celebrated the ribbon-cutting for the new Levine Hall of Health Sciences, our university’s newest and largest academic facility. This state-of-the-art facility was funded in large part by the Connect NC Bond, which was supported by a 2-to-1 margin by the citizens of our state. This was a vote of trust and we are pleased to be able to rise to this challenge by facilitating a response to the critical health care needs in the rural areas of our state.

Our official enrollment numbers show we welcomed 19,108 students overall and our largest incoming class. We have increased our total underrepresented student population by 35.4 percent since 2014. Among the first-year population, that increase has been 56.2 percent. We are balancing our strategy of slow and steady growth with access for all who are prepared to succeed, and ensuring the highest quality educational setting by developing both our physical infrastructure and empowering human potential. We have launched a new website that details both of those initiatives.

The work of our faculty and staff is exemplary. I was pleased to be part of honoring several faculty and staff at the Fall Semester Faculty and Staff Meeting. These individuals represent the more than 3,000 faculty and staff who share a dedication to teaching, mentoring and supporting our students. Thank you for your work, your dedication and your commitment.

We are beginning a week of homecoming activities and I look forward to seeing many of you on our campus.

/s/ Sheri Everts

Sheri Everts, Chancellor