Well, this is it…after six years, my last newsletter column as Provost and Executive Vice President of Nevada State College (soon to be University). The year has flown by. I have done my best to wrap up as many important projects and assignments as possible before handing off my duties to Dr. Tony Scinta, who will be Interim Provost until the national search concludes. After this week, I will be taking the rest of June off on leave, so after June 9th, all Provost correspondence needs to be directed to Tony.

This week in Reno (Thursday the 8th, to be exact) I will be taking the proposal for our Master of Science in Nursing Leadership to the Board of Regents for final approval. If successful, the program will launch in Spring 2024. I am extremely proud that we entered into the level of graduate education boldly under my watch. The Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology has been incredibly successful and NWCCU very recently approved our Ed.S. in School Psychology, ready to launch in fall 2024. With the Master’s in Nursing Leadership as our third graduate program, I would highly recommend that a priority in next year’s budget be a Director of Graduate Studies position. Graduate programs have unique administrative needs and demands that should not consume the time and energy of the graduate directors.

Finally, I want to thank everyone who gave me a fantastic retirement celebration on May 9th. A great time was had by all, and I believe my granddaughter Skye had the best time of her life! She pretty much stole the show, that little cutie! Thank you, President Pollard for surprising me with the gift of naming the Library’s quiet room after me. I’m deeply touched by this gesture and I look forward to coming back to see it. Special thanks go out to the Advancement and Events team, especially Danielle and Mellynn, for putting together an intimate, thoughtful, and fun evening during one of their busiest times of the year. That fact was not lost on me. Also, thanks so much to the Provost team for their planning and personal touches. Gregory, Gwen, Angela, and Sita knocked themselves out to make it memorable for me, and I will always treasure their words and thoughtfulness. Thank you to all who made remarks, including my daughter Claire, who was so choked up that she could hardly get her words out. I will cherish all the amazing gifts and plaques, but mainly I treasure your friendship.

This has been the best gig of my career with the best team of people who made it a joy to come to work each day. I get asked about my plans a lot. Robert and I are buying 10 acres with a lovely home and guest house north of Spokane, WA. We will be physically moving in mid-July. After a long stretch of time off, I would like to turn my hand to coaching professionals (especially women), consulting, running leadership retreats for non-profits and executive organizations, and returning to some part-time teaching in Communication Studies.

Be well. Please don’t be a stranger; I promise to do the same. This is your Provost signing off…

I’m hammering out this update from the Harry Reid International Airport as I await my flight to Reno and what is sure to be a thrilling Board of Regents meeting. This will not be a banner month in terms of getting to sleep in my own bed, but it is an all-timer for racking up frequent flyer miles. My air travel itinerary: return from a family vacation on June 1, Board of Regents on June 7, off to Asheville for a presentation at a Gardner conference on June 11, then a trip to Indianapolis on June 26 for our AASCU project on closing equity gaps in college attainment. It should be an interesting – and hopefully fulfilling – journey, but I’ll say this: thank goodness for TSA PreCheck.  

Accreditation Milestones

After a thorough panel review, the Northwest Commission on Colleges & Universities (our accrediting body) approved our proposal to rename the institution to Nevada State University. That’s not the final hurdle – we have the legislative step for that – but it’s a monumental step toward a new chapter in our institution’s history. On the same day, we also received word that the NWCCU approved our proposal to launch an Education Specialist (Ed.S). degree in School Psychology. Because this is a new degree level for us – above a master’s degree but below a doctorate – this also involved a substantive review, and I have to thank Dennis Potthoff, Shartriya Collier, and especially Katie Dockweiler for their work on assembling a tremendous proposal. This degree is still a little ways off, slated to launch in fall 2024, but it marks yet another new frontier for Nevada State.  

Scorpion STEAM Academy

Way back in January of this year, I wrote about Tom Nicholas’ efforts to develop a “Scorpion STEAM Academy” that aims to increase interest in STEAM pathways among middle school-aged children. Now, after months of planning and contributions from several corners of the institution, the program is off and running on our campus. The general approach is to provide rich engagement through hands-on activities and field experiences, with areas of emphasis that include robotics (“Rockin’ Robotics”), visual media (“Digital Art Adventures”), healthcare (“Healthcare Heroes”), and science (“Science Explorers”). Additional information can be found on the program’s website. 

In acknowledging the many efforts to get this endeavor off the ground, we would like to give a shout-out to Stefanie Molina, our Program Specialist, our marketing department, Erin Keller and her advancement team, and MGM for providing us with a $111k gift for the program.