I had the pleasure of meeting with App State’s Board of Trustees this morning and sharing highlights of our successes in teaching, research, fundraising and athletics, as well as the Mountain Strong resilience our university has shown during the community’s recovery from Hurricane Helene. Thank you to Chase Reynolds in University Communications for this photo.
Message from Interim Chancellor Heather Norris
We’ve reached the end of the fall semester, with final exams underway since yesterday. With just one week remaining until Fall Commencement, I’m looking forward to next Friday’s ceremonies, when we’ll celebrate the achievements of our newest graduates. This semester brought many challenges, but many accomplishments as well, and I’m excited to honor the hard work and dedication that have led to this moment.
Earlier this week, university leaders, along with faculty and staff at both the Boone and Hickory campuses, gathered for our annual holiday receptions. I enjoyed these opportunities to celebrate and share fellowship with our dedicated faculty and staff.
Monday night, my leadership team and I attended the Hayes School of Music’s 32nd annual Holiday Scholarship Concert. It was a lovely showcase of the incredible talent of our School of Music students and faculty, and it was wonderful to see so many people from the university and community supporting the School of Music’s largest fundraising event. Thank you to everyone who helps support this scholarship concert, and thank you to the students, faculty and staff of the Hayes School of Music for adding to the High Country’s holiday cheer.
Yesterday and today, we hosted the university’s Board of Trustees on the Boone campus. My report to the Board focused on App State’s enduring resilience, as evidenced by our Mountain Strong recovery from Hurricane Helene, as well as our successes in teaching, research, fundraising and Athletics. You can read my full remarks here. Highlights are below:
We’re still supporting our students, faculty and staff, some of whom may be feeling impacts for quite some time, and I continue to be inspired by the amazing acts of kindness and humanity we are witnessing every day.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the university community has seen outstanding acts of kindness and generosity from the community, our alumni, the UNC System, other universities within the System and Sun Belt Conference institutions. More than 5,100 people across the state, nation and world contributed to App State Disaster Relief Fund, representing 48 states and seven countries. App State alumni across the region, as well as faculty, staff and fans at universities across the nation, and many other individuals — including 1,700 who had no prior affiliation with the university — were among the fund’s supporters.
We express our sincere thanks to our sister institutions in the Sun Belt Conference for their kind and generous outpouring of support, and to the James Madison University community in particular, which raised more than $64,000 to support the App State Disaster Relief Fund.
On behalf of all Mountaineers — near and far — we want to say thank you. I shared this video with the Board, which exemplifies our Mountain Strong theme, and our appreciation to everyone who has been, and continues to be, so generous to our university and community.
As we continue to assess the financial impacts of Hurricane Helene, we will have more information to share in the coming months and at the end of the fiscal year. At this time, we estimate that approximately 75% of our incurred and anticipated expenses are eligible for FEMA and/or insurance reimbursement. We also anticipate receiving additional relief funding from the state in the upcoming fiscal year, which would be allocated to any expenses for which federal or insurance reimbursement is not received.
Through its recent passage of Part II of the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024, the North Carolina General Assembly will provide $800,000 to App State for emergency grants for postsecondary students, intended to cover needs such as tuition, fees, living expenses and other disaster-related expenses. Universities receiving these benefits have been provided guidelines for eligibility criteria and the application process, as well as awarding and reporting requirements. We also expect Next NC funding through a legislative provision, as well as through UNC System-secured funding, for additional need-based scholarships — again, with specific criteria for eligibility, awarding and reporting.
We are so grateful for the support from our state and federal leaders, including the General Assembly and UNC System, who authorized relief funding to support our students and university with the recovery.
Fundraising is more important now than ever, especially for students in need, and I was pleased to report a promising outlook. Since July 1, new pledges and outright gifts total more than $38 million, nearly one and a half times where we were at this time last year. And, outright gifts and pledge payments are up 35% from this time last year, totaling more than $14 million. This level of successful fundraising requires a high level of support and collaboration, and I would like to especially thank the Trustees and my leadership team, including Will Sears and Doug Gillin and their teams, for the strategic and proactive work that has brought us this important momentum.
Private funding, as well as grant funding, is critical to support and sustain the research and creative endeavors of our faculty as well. As we selectively expand our research and creative endeavors enterprise, informed by our academic strategic plan and our research strategic plan, we are bringing in research dollars and engaging in innovative academic work that has long set us apart from other institutions similar to our size and classification.
Last fiscal year, the university brought in a record $25.8 million in awards in support of the innovative research our faculty are conducting, in many cases with our students directly participating. Over the last five years, App State’s funded research has increased by nearly 75%.
We've been steadily increasing our research dollars because of the dedication, involvement and success of faculty in innovative and meaningful research. As a long-standing teaching institution, our research provides critical opportunities for learning, and the applied nature of much of this research serves as a conduit for innovative solutions and economic development.
The great ideas being developed by our faculty and staff span a range of strengths and areas of expertise, including educational and training innovations, laboratory devices, and clean energy, economics and agricultural technology concepts, just to name a few. Moving forward, our research strengths will help the university, our community and the region with recovery and preparedness.
The Office of Research and Innovation team, led by Vice Provost of Research and Innovation Dr. Christine Ogilvie Hendren, is also focusing on the work of connecting and coaching faculty on their paths to protecting and commercializing intellectual property that has the potential to generate value and financial impact for the state of North Carolina. Additionally, to further support innovative work beyond the startup phase, the Chancellor's Innovation Scholars Program is increasing funding for big ideas that will have a lasting impact and become part of the fabric of the institution, with an emphasis on ensuring faculty can develop self-sustaining funding models so their work and the associated funding will last beyond the startup phase.
- As we end several athletics conference seasons, I want to acknowledge the success of both Cross Country teams, which won their conference championships; the Field Hockey team, which won their regular season conference championship; the App State Tennis program, represented by juniors Savannah Dada-Mascoll and Isabella Romanichen, became the women’s tennis program’s first nationally ranked doubles team; and the East-division champion App State Volleyball team, which is playing a postseason game against Northern Colorado this afternoon at 3 p.m.
I’d also like to acknowledge the transitions the Mountaineer football program is experiencing, and I’d like to thank Doug Gillin for his leadership and his work underway to quickly hire a new head football coach.
As we look to next week, I wish everyone a strong finish to the semester. For those graduating next week, Fall Commencement will be especially meaningful. For some, it will be their first formal, in-person commencement ceremony, as their high school graduations were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They faced adversity again just before their college graduations, when our region experienced one of the most significant natural disasters in our 125-year history. This ceremony is not just a celebration of academic success but also of the resilience and perseverance we’ve collectively shown in the face of unprecedented challenges. We look forward to seeing our graduates cross the stage on Friday, and to the wonderful futures they have before them.
Heather Norris
Interim Chancellor
From left to right: The talented musicians in the Hayes School of Music’s Steely Pan Steel Band put a festive flare on their signature sound for the school’s 32nd annual Holiday Scholarship Concert — an annual tradition that supports Hayes School students; Much merriment was had by the App State faculty and staff attendees of our annual holiday receptions at both the Boone and Hickory campuses — events that I look forward to each year. Thank you to Chase Reynolds and Kyla Willoughby in University Communications for capturing these photos.
