June 5, 2017
Vickie Shields

After two days on the job, I am settling into my new office and position as your NSC Provost. The Provost’s office staff welcomed me with a sign, gifts, a scrapbook of notes and quotes and an official ribbon-cutting on my office door! Other well wishes arrived from many of you across campus and it was one of the warmest welcomes I have ever experienced. NSC is truly a joyous and positive place and I am grateful to be a part of it.

Over the next weeks and months, I will be on a listening tour of the College units, finding out in more depth what you are working on, what your concerns are, and how we might best work together. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who responded to my email survey. Fifty-five of you responded and your thoughtful comments are helping me shape a better picture of what makes NSC tick and the challenges we face as an organization. On initial review, this informal data is proving quite complementary to the findings of the climate survey. I will be discussing my findings in more depth at Convocation on August 23rd. This week I look forward to attending my first Board of Regents meeting at UNR.

I would like to heartily thank Tony Scinta for taking on the Interim Provost position these last months. He has done an outstanding job in the position and I am looking forward to working closely together in the Provost’s office in the future. Many thanks go out to Gregory Robinson and Laura Naumann for their interim roles in the Provost’s office also. Their contributions continue to be outstanding for the good of the College. They exemplify the seasoned competence and entrepreneurial spirit that sets NSC apart.

As I acclimate to the region (not to mention the heat) I will be looking for help navigating things like: where to find a great hair stylist, who is a good chiropractor, and where to pick up a good yoga class. I know I can count on you to help me out. Thank you for welcoming me into your community.

Vickie Shields
Tony Scinta

My most important achievement of the week was to welcome Dr. Vickie Shields to Nevada State College.  I cannot speak for Vickie, but for me it was a comparatively easy and welcome task. As I noted last week, this marks the start of an exciting new chapter in our institutional journey, and I’m looking forward to doing what I can to continue moving us in a positive direction. 

Today we will be submitting our annual report to the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. This is not a major self-assessment of the college; rather, it is a handful of pages that lists some institutional “vital signs,” including our enrollment headcount, number of full-time and part-time faculty, institutional finances, student loan default rates, and new academic programs (degrees and certificates). Thankfully, all of these vital signs are healthy or trending in that direction. 
 
I am very much indebted to Sita Sales and Sandip Thanki for assembling the data for this report. 
 
Tony
Math Placement Data
Our use of EdReady to help students prepare for the math placement exam is showing very promising results. In 2016, over 100 students enrolled in MATH 120/120E using Ed Ready preparation and placement. Most of these student either placed in Math 95M with NSC’s placement test (Accuplacer) or had not taken a placement test; with EdReady, they were able to go into MATH 120/120E. Out of those, 89% of the students received a grade of C or better.  In the same year, about 75 students enrolled in Math 120/120E with a placement from ACT, SAT or NSC’s placement test; 89% received a grade of C or better – an identical performance compared to those with EdReady placement.

This is excellent news: using EdReady is allowing students to move immediately into more advanced math courses, and it appears they are adequately prepared for those courses. Thus, use of EdReady means a higher proportion of students should complete a college-level math course in their first semester at NSC.

Marydean Martin Library Updates
Faculty Workshop on Developing Collaborative Research Assignments
The Marydean Martin Library will hold a faculty workshop on assignment design on Friday, June 23rd from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in RSC 236. The workshop will focus on incorporating information literacy outcomes into collaborative research assignments. RSVP to Maya Hobscheid or Francesca Marineo by Monday, June 19. Coffee and light refreshments provided.   

New Team Member  
Heather Williams is the new Library Systems Technician; she supports the Library’s growing digital collections and interlibrary loan services.  

Recent Scholarship from Library Faculty  
How Do Students Hear about General Elective Options?
To get a better idea of effective methods to advertise classes to our students, Dr. Shantal Marshall (Psychology) worked with Kat Mulvey in ITS to run a portal survey asking students how they are most likely to hear about courses that aren't required for their major.

Almost 700 students responded; word of mouth and schedule fit were the most common answers, but students also look for classes with instructors they already like or see an announcement about a class in the portal:
(Students could only select one option, so if they learn about courses through multiple avenues, that isn't captured here.)

If you have an idea for a portal survey, contact Kat Mulvey in ITS; she generally tries to have a new poll every week during the fall and spring semesters.
Staffing Changes
Recent Hires: Abraham Pease-Byron and Thomas Saia both accepted positions with ITS, and Pam Pereira joined the Office of Community Engagement and Diversity Initiatives.

Recent Departures: Ellen Guerra stepped down from her position as Director of Marketing; Elenis Wong left advising; and Valerie Bugni left the School of Education.

Transfers: Janice Le moved from the Provost's office to ITS.
Academic Advising Center
Cheyenne Rogers has accepted a position with UNLV as their new Academic Transitions Coordinator and will leave the Academic Advising Center on June 9th. Cheyenne was instrumental in the development of our New Student Orientation, and her impact is evident in NSC’s 15-to-Finish and Continual Math and English Enrollment figures.  Since the 15-to-Finish initiative was implemented by NSHE, the number of freshman students who are enrolled in at least 15 credits has increased by 400%. This is the largest increase of any institution in the state, and is a direct reflection of Cheyenne’s work. Please wish Cheyenne well as she moves into the next stage of her professional career.

We are working diligently to hire advisors to fill out our staff in the AAC and are currently searching for four advisor positions. While the advising staff is addressing all of the challenges associated with being understaffed at this time, we are also excited about bringing a new energy and dynamic to the AAC with our new hires. Our new Director, Alex Kunkle, is working with our staff on improved training and a new team structure, and we hope to build on the progress we’ve made with academic faculty and staff into the 2017-2018 academic year.  
Workday Updates
The NSC Workday implementation team continues to prepare for the October 1st go-live date.The Workday updates May and June newsletters provide more details about what they're doing. Thank you to Penny Morris & Kat Mulvey for keeping campus updated!

Training for faculty and staff will be available September 25-29 in NSE 255; more information about session times will be provided later. Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to attend a session. Workday will replace several other programs/processes; here are examples of items you'll complete in Workday:

Questions? Contact Penny Morris, Kat Mulvey, or the Workday Champion for your school:
Education: Sally Starkweather
LAS: Kimberly Smith
Nursing: Susan Tomasevich and Daniela Mihal
Upcoming Events & Deadlines
NSC Office of the Provost | 702-992-2663 | http://nsc.edu/provost
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