Updates from the Office of the Provost

September 27, 20232

Tony Scinta

BIG Goals

As I noted in our last thrilling installment, I’m working on our BIG Goals for the coming year. The running list of scintillating projects includes:

An updated Strategic Enrollment Management plan (this particular type is known as a “Tactical Macro Plan,” or TMP, because that’s the name I made up for it)
A twofold effort regarding our Dual Enrollment Program – one focused on a plan for the program itself, and another that emphasizes how we can best recruit participating students to NS (the latter of which is well underway)
The completion of at least the initial phases of our Student Success Equity Intensive projects, one of which builds a qualitative database of student feedback (e.g., focus groups, surveys) to rival our quantitative infrastructure, and another that improves our degree auditing system and processes
The finalization of the Scorpion Path followed by its publication on our new website
An emphasis on our transfer enrollment pipeline, including the completion of a new MOU with CSN that strengthens our partnership and the implementation of a new plan for our entire transfer operation under academic advising
Continue to work with Tom Nicholas to develop and launch workforce development programming in his division.

A few other ideas continue to germinate, but these are the projects I’m confident we’ll pursue (in addition to the day-to-day work that keeps our operations running).

BoR Reports

With the submission of our Low Yield Report and Existing Program Review Reports, the Board of Regents Report Season is officially underway (it’s like the holiday season, only no one receives any gifts and not a single person has ever referred to it as the “most wonderful time of the year"). There will be more to come on our existing program review reports, which evaluate our programs, define pathways to improvement, and play a critical role in addressing our accreditation obligations.

Complete College America Convening

I’ve continued my (modest) participation in the planning for the 2023 Complete College America Convening, which will take place in Las Vegas this December and – if everything goes as planned – will feature different facets of the institution, including the work of our students.

Multicultural Collective Grand Opening

Finally, this past week I enjoyed the opportunity to attend the grand opening of the Multicultural Collective in the Dawson Building. From everything I have seen so far, the CEDI team has done a wonderful job with the center, and we’ve begun to have discussions with them about how the provost’s office can play a collaborative role, including – potentially – the offering of “satellite” tutoring and writing center services at the center.

Gwen Sharp

On October 17th, the Provost Speaker Series will host a virtual talk by Professor Marc Watkins on the promises and challenges of integrating AI into pedagogy. The talk will take place 3:30-4:30 pm on Zoom (link forthcoming).

Free COVID Tests

You can order more free tests from the federal government at covidtests.gov.

Updated IRB Forms

I have updated all the IRB forms with the new @nevadastate.edu emails throughout. If you're filling out an IRB protocol, please use the new forms, found in the IRB Canvas page. This is especially important for the consent document.

Publications & Grants

Three Biology students who are doing an internship were mentioned in the Nevada Department of Wildlife's newsletter (see the Conservation Education article).
Molly Appel (English) is co-author on the essay "Rethinking the Hero Narrative of Critical Pedagogy: Teaching Creative Writing with and for Women at the County Jail," which was published in Teaching Literature and Writing in Prisons.
El Hachemi Bouali (Geosciences) was interviewed for Inside the Issues with Alex Cohen regarding land slides in California (segment starts at 34:40).
Jamie Palmer (Sociology) wrote the chapter "From 'Good Immigrant' to 'Undesirable Refugee': Controlling Metaphors and the Role of Race and Racism in Shifting (Un)desirability of Cuban Refugees in U.S. Media," published in Latinx Experiences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives.
Kayla Bieser (Biology) had three co-authored articles published. "Fly-CURE, a Multi-Institutional CURE Using Drosophila, Increases Students' Confidence, Sense of Belonging, and Persistence in Research," was accepted by the Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, while "Genetic Mapping of the Mutation p47^L.3.2in Drosphila melanogaster" was published in microPublication Biology, with 26 undergraduate co-authors. Finally, "Supporting the Democratization of Science During a Pandemic: Genomics Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURES) as an Effective Remote Learning Strategy" was published in the Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education as well.
Erica Tietjen (Biology) was recognized by the Ecological Society of America for her scholarship and contributions regarding ESA's Four-Dimensional Ecology Education framework.
André Lindsay (Speech Language Pathology) submitted a Department of Education grant proposal that would provide $1.6 million over 4 years for mentoring and outdoor education for SOE students.

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

More 2023 NSSE Results

This year's NSSE included a modules on students' experiences with writing as well as mental health. Both are divided into responses from first-year students and seniors, and they provide some valuable insights about our students.

School of Education Dean Search Update

The SOE Dean search committee (which I am serving on) began their work this summer. The committee is collaborating with WittKieffer to facilitate the search during the fall.

Policy Updates

The following policies have been approved and posted:

RE 2: Use of Student Educational Records in Research (administrative)
AE 15.2: Multiple Majors, Simultaneous Degrees, Additional Degrees, Academic Minors, and Concentrations Policy (revision)
AE 22: Supervised Independent Study Course Policy
AE 23: Graduate Student Policies (administrative)

Livable Centers Study

The City of Henderson is still accepting comments/feedback at their survey about what you'd like the university area to be like as it develops out. More information available here. The survey closes September 30th.

Gregory Robinson

Kudos to our Amazing Faculty!

Ms. Penrod, who teaches ENG 101/102 in our dual credit program at Southwest Tech, is the Nevada Teacher of the Year! We have some fantastic instructors in this program.

Also, this article mentions a student who was inspired by GEOL 101 at Nevada State. It doesn’t name the instructor, but we have our suspicions. I love that the student got excited about geology and learning:

José Robles, a nursing student at Nevada State College, told us about being surprised at the connections he built with a professor in a required science course that he thought would be “as boring as rocks.” This professor’s teaching inspired him to love geology – and to get excited about learning in general. Jose’s experience is not unusual. A national poll of college graduates found that 60% met their most influential faculty mentor in college during their first year.

Dual Credit This Fall

Jennifer Lamoreaux, Camille Easterling, and all our faculty liaisons did TERRIFIC work again with dual credit. This fall, we have 3,099 students participating in our dual credit program, an increase of about 6.5% from last year. The program continues to be one of the best ways to encourage students in our partner high schools to finish their degrees at Nevada State.

Día de los Muertos

Here's a reminder to save the date for Nepantla's 6th Annual Día de los Muertos celebration, which will occur on November 1st from 4-8pm.

Writing Center Updates

Want to get things done this fall? Join a Writing Group! Administrative faculty, academic faculty, and Classified Staff members are all welcome. You'll meet once per week and focus on accountability at a time that works for you. Applications are due by September 4th. Contact writingcenter@nevadastate.edu for application questions and more information.

Also, here are there are three more events scheduled for the Social Justice Speaker Series this fall:

October 17th— Dr. Wonderful Faison

November 7th — Dr. Aimee Morrison and Dr. Melissa Forbes

Nov. 28th— Poetry Roundtable

Finally, TikTok. There are soooo many reasons to love this Writing Center video, but I particularly like that the tangerines use Penji.

Key Dates

10/13: Assessment Professional Development Day, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Ballrooms
10/17: Provost Speaker Series hosts Prof. Marc Watkins on the topic of AI and pedagogy, 3:30-4:30, Zoom (link TBA)

Important Resources

Academic Calendar (printable versions)
Center for Teaching & Learning Excellence (CTLE) Canvas page and website
Grants & Sponsored Projects Canvas page
IRB Canvas page
PEER Project Canvas page and 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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