Focus Area 2: Programs

FOCUS AREA 2:

Programs

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2.1:

Transform Education and Instructional Delivery Systems to Serve All Student Needs

As student populations are changing, CALS—like many colleges and institutions—is seeing significant demand for new types of coursework, degree programs and ways of learning that are only expected to continue evolving. The rapid influx of new technologies and demand for virtual or hybrid learning options, in particular, has prompted our college to completely rethink the delivery systems, models, structures and mediums we use to best connect with and teach our students, which ultimately affects how we recruit and retain future students, both traditional and nontraditional. Our student profile is changing and will continue to evolve in the coming decades. Traditionally, many of our students have come from rural parts of our state. Our rural students, families and communities will continue to be an integral part of our college and future. We also recognize that the growth of our state’s urban communities will generate new students and partners. We must intentionally address, cultivate and support their needs with the same focus and rigor that has helped make rural parts of our state so integral to our college.

As an institution, we are also aggressively moving toward greater interdisciplinarity in all we do. In fact, some of NC State’s most successful interdisciplinary initiatives have involved multiple colleges, such as through faculty clusters and academies. This trend will not only lead to more remarkable outcomes in the research we conduct but in spurring stronger, more intentional collaboration across all facets of NC State and CALS, internally and externally. Internally, we see tremendous possibility in changing the way we teach and the way our students learn—from expanding the accessibility of our lecture-based courses and increasing co-teaching opportunities to building a community of practice around new modalities for teaching and implementing best practices for hybrid teaching and technology-based learning. Leveraging the philosophies and functional examples from successful programs of how to build new and innovative interdisciplinary bridges between departments, colleges and institutions, we understand outcomes are strongest when research topics are viewed and analyzed through multiple lenses. Externally, there are limitless partnership opportunities that can catalyze

We also see tremendous potential for strengthening existing partnerships like the one with North Carolina A&T State University that underscore our statewide impact through N.C. Cooperative Extension, as well as other Historically Black Colleges and Universities and minority-serving institutions, providing co-teaching, co-learning, internship and coursework opportunities that align with both of our respective missions and at the same time spur greater diversity among our student population. The same is true for partnerships with other collaborators, including our research-based industry partnerships and county partners, who offer unique, experiential learning opportunities for our students that we must be diligent about leveraging and facilitating.

Above all, we must be nimble in how to advance this priority and achieve corresponding goals. As conditions change, new technologies like artificial intelligence develop, or the needs of our students evolve, we must be poised to react in a way that not only aligns with these changing conditions but positions us and all we serve to thrive in response to them.

GOAL 2.1.1: EXPAND CALS COURSEWORK AND DEGREE PROGRAMS TO FOCUS ON ACCESSIBILITY AND INTERDISCIPLINARITY

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Modify learning systems, coursework and degree programs based on hybrid, virtual and face-to-face teaching best practices

Key Initiative 2: Expand co-teaching and co-design opportunities across CALS departments

Key Initiative 3: Launch community of practice within CALS focused on new modalities for teaching

Key Initiative 4: Create undergraduate and graduate issues courses and extracurricular offerings aligned with the needs of their chosen field

Key Initiative 5: Create college-wide interdisciplinary majors

Key Initiative 6: Create a new technology teaching laboratory to explore and implement artificial intelligence-based individual learning

GOAL 2.1.2: GROW PARTNERSHIPS TO EXPAND PATHWAYS INTO CALS

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Form partnerships with North Carolina community colleges to facilitate inroads to CALS degree programs and support rapid upskilling and career development for students

Key Initiative 2: Expand partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions to facilitate joint learning opportunities and build a pipeline of diverse graduate applicants

SUCCESS METRICS

• Annual CALS enrollment • Annual CALS enrollment of nontraditional and underrepresented students • Annual enrollment in Agricultural Institute • New or alternative degree programs and courses • Participation in new degree programs and courses • Participation in online courses or alternative degree programs • Student retention rate • Formal partnerships with other higher education institutions, prioritizing other North Carolina institutions

• Goal 1: Empower students for a lifetime of success and impact • Goal 2: Ensure preeminence in research, scholarship, innovation and collaboration • Goal 6: Lead in developing innovative partnerships, entrepreneurial thinking and applied problem-solving

STRATEGIC PRIORITY 2.2:

Transform Our International Profile

NC State is strongly committed to elevating the university’s national and global reputation and visibility. We enthusiastically share in this commitment. As the world has become increasingly interconnected, we have seen similar advancement in the importance of agriculture and life sciences and how the work of institutions like CALS can and must help build a more sustainable future for all.

This focus on helping address our world’s most pressing issues supports and interconnects with how we fulfill our landgrant mission to North Carolina residents. In fact, a leading international profile can and should have a multiplier effect on how we positively impact North Carolina as we import new thoughts and leading perspectives that can help solve challenges intrinsic to our state; create, incubate, and export solutions that return real value to our statewide economy; and foster more significant interest in and demand for CALS on a global level. We can achieve this level of prominence through not only growing our international affiliates, joint research activities and exchange programs, but leveraging unique resources and assets like the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative that provides an environment for global collaboration and serves as a magnet drawing in new ideas and perspectives.

To do so, we must completely rethink and restructure how we invest in and cultivate our international footprint. Today, a lack of dedicated resources combined with cumbersome business practices challenge our ability to facilitate international experiences for faculty and students, thereby limiting the impact of this programming. We must also lean further into becoming a more diverse college that is welcoming to all, so that scholars of all types from all backgrounds and geographies view CALS as a place where they belong.

GOAL 2.2.1: EXPAND IMPACT OF CALS INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS OFFICE

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Enhance business processes, structure, programming, funding, and support for International Programs office

Key Initiative 2: Develop a funding model to better recruit, retain and support international graduate students

GOAL 2.2.2: GROW FORMAL INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATIONS

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Establish a dedicated function within the CALS International Programs office for pursuing and facilitating international partnerships

Key Initiative 2: Leverage partnerships to facilitate international student internship and graduate work opportunities in the U.S. through CALS and expand international internship and work study opportunities for CALS students and graduates

Key Initiative 3: Develop credit-granting programs that provide undergraduate students with international experiences

GOAL 2.2.3: POSITION CALS AS A HUB FOR INTERNATIONAL DISCOVERY AND COLLABORATION

KEY INITIATIVES

Key Initiative 1: Develop interdisciplinary teams, form partnerships with institutions and establish the necessary infrastructure to pursue and maintain more large-scale grants

Key Initiative 2: Establish a graduate student summer exchange program

Key Initiative 3: Establish a visiting scholar affiliation program

SUCCESS METRICS

• International students enrolled at CALS • Memoranda of understanding with international partners • Visiting professors from international institutions • Joint research agreements with international institutions • Study abroad program participation • Summer exchange program participation • Transferrable credit or degree programs between international institutions and CALS majors • International ranking • Contracts and grants with international collaborators

WOLFPACK 2030 ALIGNMENT

• Goal 1: Empower students for a lifetime of success and impact • Goal 7: Elevate the national and global reputation and visibility of NC State