August 13, 2018
Vickie Shields
As August 2018 flies by and another fall semester is upon us, I am invigorated by our accomplishments as a College in my first year as your Provost. I have felt a deep responsibility to deliver on the promises I made to the campus community last summer in the form of first-year goals. Together we took on an overhaul of the policies and procedures for the College; we introduced a more evidence-based and visionary procedure for making requests for new faculty; we improved PTI pay and pay for all overload teaching; we introduced a career ladder for administrative faculty to have increased opportunities for advancement; we restructured the Provost’s Office to provide more efficient, quality service to students, faculty, and staff; we developed a new class scheduling grid as a first step in improving the student-centeredness of our class scheduling ; we added a common time for faculty to meet and collaborate; we launched our first Common Read, using  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ; and we began our initial strategic planning efforts; to name a few.
 
Pause…declare victory…celebrate!!
 
I feel it is at the core of our Nevada State values to “do what we say we are going to do.” Therefore, it is fitting that the name of our strategic planning efforts is  Delivering on the Promise . I look so forward to working with members of the campus community and the community at large in discussions this fall about envisioning the shining future of this great College. New buildings will be great, but we all know it is people who build a community and perpetuate a positive culture. Our strategic planning efforts are in their preliminary stages, but we’ve made great progress on the foundation, including a refined mission statement and a new vision statement that will serve as our North Star as we chart our future. I am pleased to share the mission and vision here.

Delivering on the Promise
Nevada State College Strategic Plan 2020-2027
 
MISSION

At Nevada State College, excellence fosters opportunity. Excellence in teaching leads to innovative, technology-rich learning opportunities that promote the acquisition of interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. Quality, affordable degree programs open doors to career success and enhanced quality of life for a diverse population of students. Our graduates, in turn, foster the greatest opportunity – the promise of a stronger community and a better future for all of Nevada.

VISION
 
Nevada State College will deliver on its promise to Nevada by becoming a model of teaching excellence, a pioneer in innovative student support, and an agent of economic growth and social justice.
 
Nevada State College will
Fulfill its promise to our students . . .
  • by becoming a leader in teaching excellence, with an emphasis in active learning, real-world experience, creativity, and diverse perspectives
  • by bridging the gap between opportunity and achievement through affordable and student-centered pathways to a degree
  • by fostering student life experiences that promote intellectual curiosity, social engagement, and civic responsibility
 
Fulfill its promise to our faculty and staff . . .
  • by creating an exemplary community that leverages our inclusivity, creativity, and innovation to strengthen the college
  • by enabling a positive culture of collaboration, trust, transparency, support, and recognition
  • by encouraging critical inquiry and the scholarly pursuit of knowledge
 
Fulfill its promise to Nevada . . .
  • by forging strong community partnerships and developing informed citizens with a commitment to civic engagement
  • by cultivating future leaders who reflect our state’s demographics and aspire to solve its most challenging problems
  • by gaining recognition as a leader in fostering the success of an ever-evolving diverse college-going population
  • by modeling exemplary stewardship of state resources
Tony Scinta
Accreditation Update 
If you have been losing sleep wondering about our final, Year 7 accreditation report, I’m here to help. We recently received notification that the Northwest Commission on Colleges & Universities – our accreditation body – is tentatively set to conduct a culminating review of the institution from October 9-11 in fall 2019. In preparation, Dr. Sharp has been doing some initial report writing, and her and I have been meeting to analyze our assessment data assessment data and plan the next outcomes assessment retreat.

Dean of Students Search
On Friday, the search committee conducted phone interviews with six Dean of Students candidates, and we are hoping to bring our top prospects to campus shortly after the start of the semester. At that point, our plan is to provide forums where campus stakeholders can interact with the candidates and provide feedback on what is undoubtedly a vital position on our campus.

Freshman Enrollment
To date, we have enrolled 510 first-time freshmen in fall courses, which aligns rather well with the projections we developed with Institutional Research in March of this year. Orientation is over, but we are still advising and enrolling a relatively small number of students on an individual basis, so the final number is still subject to change.  

Degree Pathway Partnership with UNLV & CSN
The College of Southern Nevada recently received a grant that allows them to receive consultation on degree pathways from Complete College America, who are recognized experts in this area. As part of this work, CSN plans to collaborate with both UNLV and CSN to cultivate pathways that help effectively guide students from their work at the community college all the way through to the attainment of a baccalaureate degree. We’ll provide more information about this promising partnership in a future update.
Gwen Sharp
Publications, Honors, & Awards

Summer Scholarship Institute
We had another successful SSI this summer! NSC provided structured work time, feedback, and support for faculty to make progress on five scholarly projects:
  • Heidi Batiste (Business) worked on a manuscript about relevant program review metrics for teaching-focused business programs.
  • Nathaniel King and Tiffany LeMaistre (Library) developed a rubric and began data collection for their project evaluating academic libraries based on changing demands for resources and services.
  • Adam Davis (Visual Media) worked on a teaching-oriented book about film production.
  • June Eastridge (Nursing) finished up a manuscript on collaborative testing (co-authored with Wendi Benson-Psychology).
  • Vanessa Mari focused on a manuscript about Puerto Rican teachers' and students' perceptions of the use of translanguaging by English teachers.

DRC Hosted a Successful Training
Sandi Patton, DRC Director, organized an excellent training by an outside consultant on several assistive technologies that are now available (free!) to all NSC students. Nearly 30 people attended, including employees from CSN and Easter Seals. The technologies allow students to take active notes, use a screen reader to read documents, and other things that are useful to a wide array of students. Thank you to Sandi and her team for all their hard work getting our students access to these resources.

Grant Updates
  • Sarah Bryans-Bongey (SOE) worked with colleagues at UNLV to submit a pre-proposal for a NV EPSCoR grant. If approved in the initial round of review, they will develop a full proposal.
  • Edith Fernández and Nicholas Mathews submitted a proposal to renew their GEAR UP funding. Thank you to Al Hardimon for his help on the budget.
Gregory Robinson
It has been a busy summer! Here are a few highlights from my areas:

The M.Ed. in Speech-Language Pathology
We submitted requested revisions to ASHA and we’re looking forward to a site visit this fall. As we wait for that visit to be scheduled, we’re working on the behind-the-scenes tasks required to accept applications to a graduate program. I’d like to thank Adelfa Sullivan, Andrea Martin, Cory McDonald, Anthony Morrone, and Mick Haney for their efforts to get our first graduate degree started.

In other speech-language pathology news, we welcomed two new speech-language pathology faculty this week: Dr. Angel Pool (Program Director) and Dr. Sharon Jones. They’ll be working with Dr. Meyerowitz to get the program ready for fall 2019.

Concurrent Enrollment Programs
We’re making some terrific progress with our partner high schools, SECTA, ECTA, and Liberty. We’ve got about 250 students enrolled now, and we’re expecting as many as 600. Students in concurrent enrollment classes get college credit for courses like ENG 101, PSY 101, and MATH 126.

Peer-to-Peer Training
Danette Barber and the Peer-to-Peer Training Team have been working hard to plan our annual Peer-to-Peer Support Training, which will take place August 14th to August 17th. The four-day training addresses a variety of topics relevant to all peer-support specialists on campus. 

Nepantla
On August 3rd, the Nepantla Program celebrated its Summer Ceremony of Completion. Bev Rogers and Senator Segerblom were both on hand to congratulate the cohort of 41 students. 

Common Read
Congratulations to Laura Decker, Shantal Marshal, Darlene Haff, and the Nepantla program, who all received mini-grants from the Provost Office allowing them to get copies of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for one of their classes. We’re excited to get this program started this fall.

Online Quality Assurance
As I write this, a team of five faculty are working with the CTLE to develop a robust tool for evaluating the quality of our online classes. They’ll be completing a series of three workshops together. Once they’ve developed an evaluation rubric, we’ll be working on a system that will allow a small group of faculty evaluators to review multiple online classes with the goal of improving the overall online experience for students. 
Sandip Thanki
Each fall for the past five years, approximately 35% of NSC students have been Nursing students. Among Nursing students, 65-70% have been in the pre-nursing program, partly due to the availability of seats in the program. In efforts to meet this demand, NSC made significant changes such as expanding the program and re-structuring the RN-to-BSN program. After these changes, the percent of pre-majors in the program has fallen to 59%. The following chart shows the changes in proportion of Nursing students who are admitted into the program compared to those who are in the pre-nursing program.
Staffing Changes
New Hires
We have had a lot of new faculty and staff join us over the summer! A big welcome to all of the following:
  • Staff:
  • Carmen Royce, Admin Assistant (CEDI)
  • Clare Harris, Admissions Specialist (Registrar's Office)
  • Natasha Cruz, Admin Assistant (LAS)
  • Diana Morgan, Director of Annual Giving and Advancement
  • Trudy Tatum, Records Assistant (Registrar's Office)
  • Issy Graham, Employer Relations and Career Advising Coordinator (CSC)
  • Holley Risdon, Senior Director of Advancement
  • Megan Cogliano, Data Analyst (Institutional Research)
  • Shannon Bryant, Admin Assistant (Financial Aid)
  • Gregory Ross, Program Coordinator (TRIO/Upward Bound)
  • Anthony Herrera, Assistant Director of TRIO Upward Bound
  • Connie Feltner, Records Analyst (Registrar's Office)
  • Faculty:
  • Shartriya Collier, Associate Dean of Education
  • Douglas Turner, Dean of Nursing
  • Anna Taber, Nursing Lecturer
  • Kelly Morrow, Nursing Lecturer
  • Angel Ball, Program Director/Professor of Speech Pathology
  • Sharon Jones, Assistant Professor of Speech Pathology
  • Becky Cash, History Lecturer
  • Ben Nolting, Assistant Professor of Math
  • Krystle Oates, Math Lecturer
  • Seth Churchman, Math Lecturer
  • David Cooper, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
  • Derric Carter, Interdisciplinary Studies Lecturer
  • Emily Hoover, English Lecturer
  • Heidi Batiste, Assistant Professor of Business

Departures
Over the summer, the following individuals left NSC: Janielle Losaw (School of Nursing), Pat Olds (Controller's Office), Cordellia Vanover (Grants), Cheri Canfield (HR Director), Kat Mulvey (ITS), Paige Ribera (Registrar), Tagg Archibald (Admissions & Recruiting), Cordellia Vanover (Grants Coordinator), Candace Morris (TRIO/Upward Bound), Yvonne Morris (TRIO/Upward Bound), and Maya Hobscheid (Library).
NSC Office of the Provost | 702-992-2663 | http://nsc.edu/provost
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