Updates from the Office of the Provost

October 18, 20232

Tony Scinta

I’m at the tail end of a short stretch where my wife was out of town, and I’m happy to report that my house is still standing, my middle school-aged children and I have not made a single trip to the emergency room, and we’re even getting some stuff done in the provost’s office, including but not limited to:

Board of Regents Workforce Development Update

The System Office asked us for a 4-slide presentation and 2-page briefing paper on workforce development efforts at Nevada State. The documents, one of which is linked above, are still a work in progress, but attempt to capture relevant initiatives at the level of degree programs as well as short-form certificates and credentials.

BIG Goal update

A few selected updates on our progress so far on the BIG goals (which were detailed in our prior newsletter update):

Strategic Enrollment Management plan – this is a big undertaking that will involve a number of stakeholders, but I’ve laid the groundwork for the plan with an initial outline of the purpose of the document, our goals, the guiding principles, and key contextual information, including the national and regional enrollment picture and an assessment of our strengths and weaknesses in relation to student preferences
Student Success Equity Intensive – this really is a Gregory Robinson update, who has admirably led the charge to implement our “Elevating Student Voices” component of the project, which aims to establish a qualitative database of student feedback that complements our strong quantitative infrastructure
Transfer enrollment pipeline – our teams are in the process of reviewing a brand new draft of an MOU with CSN that is designed to support their enrollment initiatives while simultaneously helping greater numbers of CSN students successfully transfer to NS. The advising team that now oversees our transfer operations also put the finishing touches on a new Transfer Advising & Recruitment Plan (once again with an excellent assist from Ivan in Marketing). The only caveat is that we are still fine-tuning the enrollment projections, but the goals and strategies in the plan give us a strong foundation for a successful year. Finally, I want to thank CSN for inviting me to their high school counselor event, where I had an opportunity to present about the success rates of CSN transfer at NS, including a graduation rate for associate degree earners that reached 62% in the most recent year on record.

First-year Recruitment

While we’re on the topic of transfer recruitment plans, it bears mentioning that the Admissions & Recruitment team also did a fine job of assembling a new First-Year Recruitment Plan. This work was completed a while back, but it was one of many things that didn’t make it into a prior version of the newsletter. That said, we are well into the recruitment season for first-year students, with Open House – our largest recruitment event of the year – just around the corner. Our many thanks to the people who have already signed up to volunteer at the event and help make it a showcase for prospective students.

Gwen Sharp

CTLE Director Candidate Interviews

We will host two candidates for the CTLE Director position on campus in early November.

Nov. 2nd: Dr. Morgan Iommi

11:45-12:10 Meeting with faculty in RSC 370; academic faculty invited
2-2:30 Presentation in CEB 255; campus invited

Nov 3rd: Dr. Marieta Simeonova-Pissarro

11:45-12:10 Meeting with faculty in RSC 370; academic faculty invited
2-2:30 Presentation in CEB 111; campus invited

Publications, Grants, & Awards

Erika Abad (Communication) had her poem "Farm of Forgetting" published in Meridians. She also gave the keynote at the last FORMAT 23 conference; you can view the video (she starts at about 4h 35m in).
David Cooper (Chemistry) and Lance Hellman (Human Health Sciences) are co-authors, along with four students, of the article "Utilizing Repeated LED Exposure to Measure Photobleaching Kinetic Decay Rate of Acridine Orange," published in the Journal of Undergraduate Chemistry Research.
Laura Naumann (Psychology), Sam Jewell (Biology), and Erin Rider (Assistant Director of Faculty Development and Diversity) had their article "Scaffolding Faculty Development in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning" accepted by the Journal of Faculty Development.
Sierra Adare-Tasiwoopa ápi (CTLE) and Nate Silva (Biology) co-authored Gamification in Higher Education: A How-to Instructional Guide, which will be published by Routledge later this month.
Angela Brommel (Executive Director for the Arts) published her poem "Mid-season" in Double Down with Nevada Humanities. Her essay "Miss Atomic" was published in Feather Shows: Las Vegas Writers on Movies, TV, and Other Spectacles (Las Vegas Writes). Finally, an excerpt of her poem "Mojave in July" is included in The Meth Lunches: Food and Longing in an American City.
June Eastridge (Dean of Nursing) received the Dean of Nursing People's Choice Award from the Nevada Nurses Foundation and Nevada Nurses Association.

If you have a publication, grant, or honor, reach out to me!

AI Teaching Tools Resources

If you'd like to access the materials Prof. Marc Watkins shared during his talk about integrating AI into teaching, you can find them here. You can watch a recording of the talk as well. Use Passcode: Hr4hy%Cc

More 2023 NSSE Results

The multi-year report provides longitudinal results for several years regarding a number of our students' experiences on campus.

Get with Grants Session

You are invited to drop in at this month’s session of Get With Grants, presented by the Office of Grants Award Services. It will take place on Wednesday, October 25^th, from 10:00am to 11:00am in CEB 233.

This session is in-person and will focus on all things pre-award (how to find grant funding and proposal development/submission processes). If you have any questions, email Grants Award Services at postaward@nevadastate.edu.

Summer Research Opportunity for Undergraduates

UNR is welcoming applicants for their summer research program in biosensing. It includes a $6,000 summer stipend and housing at UNR. If you have students who might be interested, pass this information along.

Gregory Robinson

Thank you so much, Open House Volunteers!

I’ve loved seeing Open House come together this year, and I’m so proud of all the collaboration going into making this a fabulous event for prospective students. If I haven’t asked you to join us, please consider this your invitation.

I want to thank everyone for their hard work so far, particularly the Admissions & Recruitment Team and the Marketing & Events Team. I also want to thank all the faculty and staff for volunteering their time to meet new students and tell them about us. We have faculty representing every major, which is wonderful. Go us!

Please sign up here if you’d like to volunteer or have a table at the resources fair.

Student Focus Groups

As part of our broader efforts with the AASCU Student Success Equity Initiative project, Tony Scinta, Laura Decker, and I met with NSSA Senators this week to discuss their experiences. Not surprisingly, it was wonderful to hear their insights and suggestions. This is just one of many group conversations we’ll be having this semester, including:

Part-Time Students, October 26th from 11am-noon in CEB 251
Nepantla Students, October 19th, from 1pm-2pm in RSC 370
Veterans, November 1st from 2pm-3pm in CEB 251
Parents/Caregivers November 2nd from 2pm-3pm in CEB 251
Transfer Students, November 8th from 1pm-2pm in CEB 251

I hope that we can make these kinds of meetings a regular part of each fall semester and then use the spring semester to analyze the feedback we get. I’d love to see this information guide some of our decision-making. We’re also looking into partnering with Motivate Lab to develop a more comprehensive system for gathering student feedback. We’re in the early stages, but it seems promising.

Día de los Muertos

NS faculty and staff are encouraged to participate, volunteer, or attend Nepantla's 6th annual Dia de Los Muertos Celebration on Wednesday, November 1st, from 4-8 PM in the RSC Ballrooms and Plaza. You can read more about the ways to participate here and then sign up here.

Key Dates

10/25: Get with Grants Pre-Awards Info Session, 10-11 am, CEB 233
11/1: Dia de los Muertos Celebration, 4-8pm in the RSC Building

Important Resources

Academic Calendar (printable versions)
Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence (CTLE) Canvas page and website
Grants & Sponsored Projects Canvas page
IRB Canvas page
List of activities that offer stipends
PEER Project Canvas page and October Newsletter
Writing Center Canvas page (see the Faculty Resources page)

NSC Office of the Provost | 702-992-2663 | http://nsc.edu/provost

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