Update from Appalachian State University
This afternoon, faculty and staff gathered for the annual Spring Faculty and Staff Meeting, hosted by Academic Affairs. While the agenda for this meeting does not typically include remarks from me, I appreciated the opportunity to share an update with faculty and staff in this important setting. We enter 2022 with many exciting accomplishments underway and much to anticipate in the coming weeks and months.
My remarks are posted to my website. Highlights are below:
- It’s been a little more than two months since
the passing of the biennial budget bill — the
best budget for App State in history.
Since then, our administrative teams and their
staff have been diligently working to allocate the funding designated for App
State.
- After two years without legislative salary
increases or authority to provide discretionary
Annual Raise Process salary increases, we
have welcomed the opportunity to both apply
across-the-board legislative increases and
leverage authority to provide additional
discretionary increases as allowable. I
have been working with the Provost and the other
Vice Chancellors to perform a comprehensive
review of our universitywide budget. Our goal is
to identify as much campus funding as possible
for discretionary increases for faculty and
staff, within the limitations of our authority.
Since I arrived at App State, I have
been committed to leveraging any authority
granted to me by the legislature and the Board
of Governors to increase compensation for our
employees, and I remain dedicated to doing so.
- Building and enhancing our physical
infrastructure supports and empowers the
incredible human potential on our campus. The
places where faculty, staff and students work
and learn should demonstrate that you are
valued. The biennial
budget allocates nearly $123
million in funding for capital repairs and
renovation/initiative support. In the
current year, $54 million was included
to formally establish App State’s Innovation
District, which will bring together
expertise across disciplines and facilitate
collaborations on campus and with communities
across the region.
- This semester, we will break ground on the
first building in this long-envisioned
project — the Conservatory for
Biodiversity Education and Research,
which will serve as a vital link between the
campus and the regional community through
education, research and outreach.
- The Innovation Campus Working Group is
exploring multiphased development
concepts for a Zero-Carbon District —
meaning they will be highly energy
efficient, and powered by carbon-free,
renewable energy sources — as
well as options for faculty and
staff housing, as one way to
help address housing shortages that affect
our ability to recruit and retain talented
faculty and staff.
- This semester, we will break ground on the
first building in this long-envisioned
project — the Conservatory for
Biodiversity Education and Research,
which will serve as a vital link between the
campus and the regional community through
education, research and outreach.
- We are eagerly anticipating the
completion of our Child Development Center
expansion in May, which will allow licensure
for nearly 125 children. Under the
direction of Moriah Stegall, the Center’s
director, our Child Development Center has
earned the highest possible licensure rating of
five stars, making it one of the most
sought-after child care facilities in the
community. This expansion will help meet the
high demand for child care with exceptional
quality care for the children of students,
faculty and staff.
- Each time I ask for more for App
State, I share examples of the stellar work
being accomplished by our faculty, staff and
students. Two recent examples of
faculty and staff accomplishments include:
- Dr. Andrew Koricich,
Associate Professor in the Higher Education
program in the Reich College of Education
and the Executive Director of the Alliance
for Research on Regional Colleges, is among
a group of five researchers who developed
and recently launched a tool that uses
evidence-based criteria to define what it
means to be a Rural-Serving Institution. This
groundbreaking work has been nationally
recognized and is sure to help shine a
brighter spotlight on the contributions
rural-serving institutions are making in the
higher education landscape.
- App State’s Police Chief, Andy
Stephenson, has been named one of six
national finalists for Campus Safety
Director of the Year for his
outstanding leadership skills, ingenuity,
selflessness and overall achievement. Chief
Stephenson is among an elite group of campus
safety leaders who are being recognized for
excellent community relations, extensive
involvement with the public, fostering high
officer morale and motivation, and
implementing innovative solutions in the
face of complex problems.
- Dr. Andrew Koricich,
Associate Professor in the Higher Education
program in the Reich College of Education
and the Executive Director of the Alliance
for Research on Regional Colleges, is among
a group of five researchers who developed
and recently launched a tool that uses
evidence-based criteria to define what it
means to be a Rural-Serving Institution. This
groundbreaking work has been nationally
recognized and is sure to help shine a
brighter spotlight on the contributions
rural-serving institutions are making in the
higher education landscape.
- App State’s advancements in education will
benefit the citizens of our state and region for
generations to come.
- Last month, the Board of Governors voted
to approve the creation of App State's online,
four-year Bachelor of Science in
veterinary technology degree. An
interdisciplinary team of faculty,
staff and external collaborators has
worked to develop the curriculum,
which is based on the American Veterinary
Medical Association Committee on Veterinary
Technician Education and Activities
standards. App State’s curriculum
will become a model for
developing veterinary professional talent
and will help address the market demand for
skilled veterinary professionals, especially
in rural areas. We are proud to
engage in this innovative partnership with
Banfield Pet Hospital, which will advance
the profession and elevate the role of
licensed veterinary technicians, and we
are excited to welcome our first class of
students in fall 2022.
- App State’s Board of Trustees recently
approved the creation of a distinguished
professorship in early child literacy
in the Reich College of Education. This will
be the first named professorship in
the college and will be funded by a
generous gift in the amount of $2 million
from the C.D. Spangler Foundation.
- In August, we will open our second
laboratory school, in partnership with
Elkin City Schools, which will
serve approximately 100 students in second
through fourth grades. App State
will be the only UNC System institution to
operate two lab school programs.
- Last month, the Board of Governors voted
to approve the creation of App State's online,
four-year Bachelor of Science in
veterinary technology degree. An
interdisciplinary team of faculty,
staff and external collaborators has
worked to develop the curriculum,
which is based on the American Veterinary
Medical Association Committee on Veterinary
Technician Education and Activities
standards. App State’s curriculum
will become a model for
developing veterinary professional talent
and will help address the market demand for
skilled veterinary professionals, especially
in rural areas. We are proud to
engage in this innovative partnership with
Banfield Pet Hospital, which will advance
the profession and elevate the role of
licensed veterinary technicians, and we
are excited to welcome our first class of
students in fall 2022.
- This semester, Interim Chief Diversity
Officer Jamie Parson will provide our campus
with a comprehensive set of recommendations
for how App State can better serve the
university’s underrepresented populations.
Jamie is compiling the work of several groups
who collaborated last summer to gather input and
develop recommendations. I appreciate the time
and consideration these individuals have
dedicated to this important work, and look
forward to reviewing the collective
recommendations.
- Since last fall, my leadership team
and I have met regularly with university
leaders representing Faculty Senate, Staff
Senate, Student Government Association,
Department Chairs and Deans. These university
leaders represent you, and they bring
questions and discussion topics from the
groups they represent. Following each
meeting, we share meeting notes they can
distribute, share and reference as needed, and I
often include topics discussed in my Friday
updates to campus. The vast majority of feedback
my team and I have received has been supportive,
positive and appreciative. As we persist
together in the face of new and lasting
challenges, please know your encouragement
remains greatly appreciated.
- As dozens of individuals across campus
have worked to address the many COVID-related
concerns from members of our university
community, the most consistent information
from public health experts indicates that
getting vaccinated and staying up-to-date with
vaccinations is the single, most effective
strategy we have to mitigate the severity of
the impacts of COVID.
- I am very proud that our university community has stepped up to this challenge. Eighty-one percent of our students and ninety percent of our employees have submitted vaccine records that have been verified by our team. Thank you for taking this important step to protect yourselves, your colleagues, your students and your loved ones.
The faculty and staff at App State are passionate about their work and dedicated to the academic enterprise and the success of our students. When we keep these values central, there are no limits to what we can accomplish.
I wish you all the very best for the new year, and the rest of the spring semester.
Sheri Everts, Chancellor