BLACK LIVES MATTER – Education is the Path
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Early Childhood Education and Data Science Degrees at Board of Regents
I was honored to present the Early Childhood Education degree for final approval to ARSA (Academic, Research, and Student Affairs subcommittee) at the Board of Regents meeting on June 11th, 2020. The degree was approved with full support of the Board. The last step in the process will be approval from NWCCU, our regional accreditors. We are seeking that approval now.
I was also excited to present the Interdisciplinary Data Science BA and BS degrees to the AAC (Academic Affairs Committee) on June 10th. The AAC is the Board subcommittee made up of NSHE Provosts and headed by Vice Chancellor Crystal Abba. The AAC is the first stop on the road to new degree approval by the Board of Regents. The Vice Chancellor has asked for a few very minor adjustments. I will seek final approval of the Data Science degrees at ARSA at the September Board meeting.
Other Board of Regents Updates
Budget. The Board approved use of NSHE investment reserve funds to cover the additional 5% reduction requested by the Governor on top of the 14% plans previously requested. No new budget reductions are required at this time. The 14% reductions will begin July 1st, 2020 - coming right up. Consistent with the Governor's plan to implement one furlough day per month on all state employees including classified employees, we expect NSHE will also implement an equivalent furlough starting July 1, 2020. No specific details have been provided as to implementation at this time.
Capital Projects. The Board re-ranked capital projects so that planning and construction were ranked together. Several Regents decided that construction-ready projects were more likely to be funded by the Legislature than planning projects. As a result, Nevada State’s Academic Village moved up from 5th on the construction list to 3rd on the overall list, with only the second phase of the UNLV Engineering School and the GBC Welding Lab coming out ahead of us. However, the STEAM building planning money project fell to toward the bottom of the list.
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In our last newsletter, I waxed philosophical and wrote about what success really means. Today, I’m writing about a few of the concrete, new campus efforts that help make this success happen (not all of them, unfortunately, but we’ll get there).
Scorpion Sting Program – an academic enrichment program designed to improve the overall chances of college success for incoming freshman, beginning with students who are admitted with a GPA below 2.5, but eventually extending to other students.
Retention outreach – we have conducted this kind of outreach to unenrolled students for years, but this semester a collaboration among advising, financial aid, and cashiering is making this our best effort yet.
Undecided students – undecided students are one of our largest incoming cohorts and yet have very low rates of retention, so the Academic Advising Center and Career Services are teaming up to provide a new level of guidance and support through multiple initiatives.
RISE Peer Mentor Program – technically, not entirely new (we launched a small pilot this year), but the program is tripling in size and should improve the fortunes of hundreds of our incoming first-year students.
Gateway math redesign – student success also is about the quality of the learning experience, of course, and the math faculty continue to redesign our gateway curriculum as we address the NSHE mandate to eliminate remedial courses, with a particular focus on MATH 126 at this time.
ACUE/CTLE instructional training – along the same lines, ACUE and our own CTLE are combining powers to provide new instructional development opportunities for our faculty.
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Learning More about Black History and Current Events
With the recent attention to racial injustices in the criminal justice system, many of us want to know more about an array of issues related to race in the U.S. Our colleagues of color are likely facing an influx of questions, and we don't want to overwhelm them with expectations that they educate the rest of us.
There are a lot of great books available, and a little searching will bring up
tons
of
reading
lists
(including
for kids
), whether you're wanting general information or want to know more about a specific topic (
The New Jim Crow
is a modern classic about the criminal justice system). Netflix has also added a
Black Lives Matter
category of films;
13th
is a good starting point.
For faculty, the anti-racist pedagogy group created by
Laura Decker
and
Molly Appel
is a great resource; email them for more information.
Policy Updates
Two new policies were recently approved and are now active:
Call for Proposal Applicants
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
Summer Stipends grant program provides up to $6,000 to pay summer stipends for research in the humanities. The application deadline for summer 2021 stipends is September 23, 2020. Faculty (tenure- and non-tenure-track) and staff are eligible to apply; details are provided in the
NEH call for proposals.
Tenured/tenure-track faculty must be nominated by the College, and we can only forward two nominations. Other groups do not require a nomination; see the call for proposals for more information). We are holding an open call for tenured/tenure-track faculty interested in applying; a panel of three (including myself) will judge submissions and select those to be nominated by NSC.
Tenured and tenure-track faculty interested in applying should
email Gwen a summary of up to one page, explaining your proposed research project and how the summer stipend would assist you in making progress on the project.
You must email your summary by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 17th, to be considered. Decisions on nominations will be made no later than July 31st.
Online Local Farmer's Market
Garden Farms, the organization that helped us build and now maintains our campus garden next to the LAS building, has created an
online farmer's market. You can order fruits and veggies from carefully chosen local suppliers, as well as locally-produced honey, baked goods, jams, and some other local food items. You can also donate supplies for CCSD elementary schools to use in their school gardens, which are integrated into the curriculum. Items are available for pick-up or delivery each Thursday.
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Purpose, Solidarity, Grit
The Nepantla Program is finalizing its planning for the first-ever online summer bridge program at NSC. Remarkably, we have over 30 students participating. This will be a particularly challenging task, given the program's focus on community and the difficulties of remote communication, but the Nepantla Team has been very optimistic in their planning efforts and I'm excited to see what they can achieve.
Online LNAP
Student Engagement Task Force
A small group of faculty from various units on campus came together to develop a list of ideas we can implement this fall to help students engage with our various support services. We know that the more students interact with services on campus, the more connected they feel. We're making serious strides to incentivize student participation and get students engaged despite our challenging circumstances. I want to thank this team for their commitment to this project: Phil Lamotte, Alexander Kunkle, Alicia Lamotte, Nicole Wesley, Lakiasha Hollingsworth, Cristina Caputo, and Rachel Herzl-Betz. I'd also like to thank Stefanie Coleman and Tony Scinta for their leadership and guidance in this effort.
Dual Credit Task Force
Now that we're on the subject of task forces, I'm excited to announce the creation of a Dual Credit Task Force, which will help various units on campus stay informed and help to guide this important initiative. We predict it will enroll over 2000 students this fall. Jennifer Lamoreaux. our Dual Credit Specialist, will be chairing this committee.
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Student Life
NSSA is transitioning very well even under the current circumstances. They have completed three different retreats through MS Teams as well as other shorter training sessions. With an approved budget at their last open meeting, this year's group is ready to hit the ground running and serve the student body in the best way possible.
Nevada State is currently leading UNLV and CSN in the Battle for Southern Nevada Summer Olympics! Join us on Thursday, June 18th at 4:30 pm to show your Scorpion Pride and help us win the Household Scavenger Hunt! Email
Yesica Placencia-Flores for more details.
CARE Team Online Screening
Since its inception on May 28th, the
CARE Team's online mental health screening tool has had 184 visits; 123 screenings have been completed and the average time to complete a screening is 2.5 minutes. Every screening contains campus, local, and national resources in the results section.
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What is Juneteenth?
It may be surprising, but many non-African Americans don't know what Juneteenth is - even those who actively support Black Lives Matter. This date and the history it represents are now more important than ever.
On June 19th, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, announcing the end of the Civil War and that slavery had been abolished with Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, TWO YEARS EARLIER. The slave reaction to the news was overwhelming! Pure jubilation - the terror and forced enslavement was over! Former slave masters were left scrambling because once the announcement was made, many African Americans left, quickly, into an unknown future that was much better than a continued life in bondage. It was FREEDOM!
Before they left, it was a day of celebration and jubilation, including games, fishing, barbecues, rodeos, and, of course, prayer services. This celebratory tradition has been passed down through the generations. The day also included reflection on the journey, education, self-improvement, and remembering those who did not live to see the day.
Many people do ask about the two-year delay of the important news (my Louisiana family has some interesting takes on the topic). Some say the messenger was murdered, others say the message was withheld to allow the slave masters to continue to benefit from one last harvest. Lincoln’s leadership was not supported very well in the South, so who knows the real reason. Nevertheless, June 19th is a day of celebration for African Americans; we survived.
This was a quick overview of Juneteenth. I strongly encourage everyone to challenge themselves to read one book about Juneteenth to better understand why having a rally on June 19, 2020 was such a controversial idea.
Stay Safe.
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Fall Enrollment Predictions
Given the factors that could affect our enrollment (e.g. COVID-19 and our increased High School GPA requirements), how is Fall 2020 enrollment looking like?
Short answer: Good.
Last year, we had 49% of our Fall 2018 enrollees (minus the degree completers and dual credit students) re-enroll for Fall 2019 by June 15th. This year, we are at the same number: 49%. Based on applications received, we are expecting a larger first-year and transfer classes compared to last year. A larger number is also projected for our dual credit students. If we add continuing students, new students, and dual credit students, we are once more projecting our largest fall semester for 2020.
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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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