SAVE THE DATE: Provost Lecture Series for Social Analysis and Critical Thought
I'm excited to announce
Documentary Art and Truth Weaving, a seminar that will take place during the College Common Time on October 16th from 4-6pm. This seminar follows a film screening of
El monopolio de la memoria/The Monopoly of Memory on October 15th, from 5-7pm. Both events are in the NSE Auditorium. (Click on the image to enlarge.)
Strategic Planning Moving Forward
The campus community will have another opportunity to lend your voices to the development of the strategic plan, Delivering on the Promise, in October and November. Members of College Leadership will host town hall discussions on each of the five themes of the plan:
- Students
- Organizational Culture
- Curriculum and Instruction
- Growth and Capacity
- Community Engagement and Economic Development
Keep an eye out for announcements on times, dates, and places for the Town Halls. Attend as many as you want!
Nevada State Partners with CSN and UNLV to Improve Student Pathways
One of the foremost keys to Nevada State’s success is a robust transfer population. Transfer students represent a significant proportion of our overall population (over 50%), and they often are our most successful students, exhibiting graduation and retention rates that are significantly above average (their recent 4-year graduation rates are nearly 35%). Consequently, it is with great enthusiasm that we will be partnering with the College of Southern Nevada and UNLV on a Complete College America (CCA) grant that promises to improve transfer numbers and overall success rates.
The grant, which was awarded to CSN and offered under CCA’s Metro Momentum Pathways Project, incorporates evidence-based practices that have increased transfer, retention, and completion rates in other college and university systems. These practices include clear academic maps that guide student progression from the first term at a community college to the attainment of a baccalaureate degree at a 4-year institution. Degree pathway experts from CCA will conduct three workshops with NSHE representatives across 18 months to help establish a plan for the implementation of these practices. Importantly, the grant will facilitate an unprecedented partnership among UNLV, NSC, and CSN, which have all agreed to collaborate in the pursuit of transfer student success.
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Know Thyself
The aphorism “know thyself” is commonly and mistakenly attributed to Socrates, the pretentious ancient Greek philosopher. However, the saying actually traces back to the early days of learning outcomes assessment, which was notoriously arduous at the beginning (owing, mostly, to the challenge of reviewing artifacts with a hammer and chisel). At NSC, we are proudly continuing the tradition of outcomes assessment – sans chisels and stone tablets – with our assessment retreats. This past Friday we held our our annual retreat for academic faculty to assess how well students are mastering the learning outcomes for their degree programs (essentially, are students learning what we hope they will learn?).
The annual retreat replaces the previous process in which faculty would often spend weeks or months assessing student artifacts (i.e., key assignments). The retreat helps faculty develop initial recommendations for program improvement in a single day, leaving more time and (hopefully) energy for implementing changes. Though aspects of the retreat have lived up to our expectations, implementing program improvements still requires a substantial effort, and we plan to work with faculty on the best means to that end. Much of that remains to be determined, but one we thing we know for certain is that Gwen Sharp and our faculty assessment chairs deserve a huge round of virtual applause for bringing the retreat to life.
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I will be out of town October 12-21. If you need my input on anything, be sure to catch me before then unless it can wait. All emergencies are prohibited during my absence.
Grants Update
- Kimberly Williams's applications for supplemental funding for both TRIO-Upward Bound grants were approved. This provides an additional $80,000 for Upward Bound activities.
- As part of our CCAMPIS childcare grant, Christina Squires (LAS) is offering a 6-week parent education series at the Valley View Recreation Center in downtown Henderson. The series is free and open to the public. It helps parents develop positive ways of managing stress and discipline.
- Congressional Representative Jacky Rosen released a press release applauding Paul Buck's NSF GEOPATHS grant.
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Welcome New Grants Specialist Christine González
A big NSC welcome to Christine González, who accepted the position of Grants Specialist. She will work with me to support faculty and staff during grant proposal development, and will serve as a liaison and resource for Principal Investigators after a grant is awarded.
Christine is a California native with research interests in reproductive justice, community health, migration, race, class, gender, and sexuality. She earned a BA in Political Science from UC San Diego and a Master's in Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University. She has experience with grants management from her work in the nonprofit sector, including working for a Federally Qualified Health Center as a Youth Programs Supervisor. She helped expand their programs by securing grant funding.
I'm thrilled to have Christine join us, and she's excited to contribute to NSC's development by helping our PIs with successful grant submissions and management.
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Día De Los Muertos
The Nepantla Program invites you to participate in our first annual
Día De Los Muertos Celebration. This event will bring our campus together to celebrate a traditional holiday honoring the dead and celebrating life. Altars, or
ofrendas, will be displayed to commemorate the life of family members and friends.
The proposal deadline is October 17th, 2018. For inspiration,
take a look at these photos. We look forward to reviewing your submission.
See Real HeLa Cells & Learn about Becoming an Organ Donor
As part of this year's Common Read Program, we're celebrating Henrietta Lacks with two events this week.
On October 2nd, 10am-11am in LAS 120, students will present a panel discussion on HeLa cells. Come join us! After the panel, you can look at HeLa cells in a microscope in the LAS Lobby and view the summer INBRE students' posters.
On October 4th, we'll have two events:
- Student organizations will celebrate Henrietta Lacks Day in the RSC Lobby from 11am-1pm, just outside the café.
- 1pm-3pm in the NSE Auditorium: Joe Ferreira from the Nevada Donor Network will be presenting.
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We now have over 15 years of enrollment data at NSC! The following chart shows the total enrollment of distinct students, as of Fall 2018, for the top 20 lower-division courses and the top 20 upper-division courses since fall 2002.
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NSC Office of the Provost | 702-992-2663 | http://nsc.edu/provost
Be Bold | Be Great | Be State
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