Greens, organically grown in a shipping container behind Jones Residence Hall, were served with a soy salmon bowl to the more than 5,000 students who attended the event.

Freshman Allison Clemmer of Greensboro was one of the first students to try the greens. She’s happy to know she has additional options when choosing what to eat on campus.

“I try to eat as healthy as possible, so knowing it’s organic helps a lot,” said Clemmer.

Unbeknownst to Clemmer and the other students, the greens started off in the container as a seedling eight weeks ago. The shipping container was put together by Freight Farms in Boston. ECU’s Dining Services, a part of Campus Living within Student Affairs, purchased the container to be used and managed by Aramark, which provides all dining services at the University.

The container provides the perfect environment for growing leafy vegetables, and the process is relatively straightforward. Seeds are introduced to seedling plugs. These plugs are then flooded with water while in a seedling trough. With the appropriate amount of moisture, the seeds germinate for a week in an environment of ideal, controlled humidity and 16 hours of light.

Then, they are moved back to the seedling trough for two weeks where they are flooded with water every eight hours. Then, they are moved into a crop column, which looks like a PVC fence post with a slit down the side and has an elaborate watering system. It’s here they will grow for five weeks before harvesting.

From this process alone, ECU will be able to harvest 500 heads of lettuce – the equivalent of 2 acres of traditional crops, every five weeks. Annually, the freight farm will have 10 growing cycles and produce 5,000 heads of lettuce. These harvested greens will be added to prepared, specialty salads and salad bars.

Click here to read the full story.

Design for Change

The Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE) kicked-off their Fall Week of Service on Saturday, Sept. 9. During the week, CLCE promoted positive change by hosting service projects throughout Pitt County.

Community partner service sites included local organizations such as Making Pitt Fit Community Garden, A Time for Science, MacGregor Downs Health & Rehabilitation, and River Park North.

On Monday September 11, CLCE partnered with the University Writing Center, and Student Government Association to host a unique program called Design for Change. This event provided the opportunity for attendees to promote positive change in remembrance of September 11, 2001. There were four stations with which participants could engage:

Write for Change: Participants wrote letters for change they wish to see on a local, national, and/or international level.
Design for Change: Participants painted ECU Peace Rocks to keep or to hide around campus as reminders of peace and positive change.
Commit to Change: Participants wrote on a chalkboard/poster board their commitment to positive change by completing the sentence, “I will commit to change by…”
Post for Change: Participants took a photo with the event Instagram cutout and posted to social media using the hashtag #Pirates4Peace.

Additional coverage on this event provided by:
The Daily Reflector
The East Carolinian
WNCT

To learn more about the national 9/11 Day of Service visit www.911day.org/.

The Circle of Assessment Life

Submitted by SA Assessment

Whew! Outcomes reports and strategic/annual reporting are complete for the 16-17 academic year. Now we can sit back and forget about it until July 2018…or can we? The answer, of course, is no; this is the beginning of the circle of assessment life. It’s time to take our 16-17 report information and make 17-18 an even better year. Let’s PLAN, ACT, EVALUATE and RESPOND.

Let’s PLAN and use our “actions planned” to improve our programs. If you’re forming a new program/service, you’ll want to: 1) develop goals and outcomes that reflect your departments vision, mission, and values, 2) align the assessment method(s) and measure(s) to your outcomes, 3) identify stakeholders in which you want to present your findings to, and 4) identify the theoretical framework in which you will be basing the program/service on.

After the plan is constructed, it’s time to ACT on our plan and implement the methods and measures we set out to do. This includes the collection of the data from the participants you wish to understand better through the method you set out to complete.

Once all data is collected, EVALUATION of the data needs to be completed. The data needs to be analyzed in order to determine if the program/service met its outcomes and goals.

Last, we RESPOND to the findings and develop actions steps based off of the data. In other words, we discuss and decide what steps are needed to improve the program next year. Information then needs to be reported/presented to the stakeholders to communicate and educate them on the program. This can be done in a variety of ways including but not limited to: reports, presentations, briefings, and infographics.

This information is then taken and implemented in the planning period of the program, which takes us back to beginning of the circle of assessment life.

For more in-depth information related to the Assessment Planning Cycle, click on “The Circle of Assessment Life” image.

Connect with CRW at HSC

Submitted by Dr. Greg Corack, CRW Associate Director of Leadership & Programs

Connect with CRW Campus Recreation and Wellness held a welcome back event at the new Health Sciences Campus Student Center for students, faculty and staff on Monday, August 28.

Catered by 501 Fresh, the event hosted 180 participants over three hours in the HSC Recreation and Wellness Center. Attendees completed a variety of activities including fitness challenges, basketball hot shot, safe archery, an adventure slack line, group fitness classes, and wellness trivia. At the completion of the event participants received an eight dimensions of wellness T-shirt and various promotional items including sweat towels, Pirate swords, and water bottles.

The event attracted numerous faculty and staff whom had never visited the facility, and entertained students clamoring for fun and engaging events on-campus. Group fitness offerings that evening filled in just minutes, while others remarked “I’ve never shot a bow and arrow before, how do I do this,” as they promptly missed the target by ten feet. Participant interaction in the facility was at an all-time high, as the buzz around the building was electric. CRW plans to host future activities in the facility including organization fairs, sports tournaments, as well as health and safety courses.

Pirate Parents Live – Hurricane Irma

In the midst of Hurricane Irma descending upon eastern North Carolina the office of Parent & Family Programs, and other ECU offices, began receiving questions and concerns from parents and family members. Even when Irma shifted to the west, the questions continued via phone, email and social media. Knowing that this hurricane season has been quite active thus far and that questions were still coming in, Student Affairs hosted a special edition of Pirate Parents Live on Friday, September 8.

A panel of University officials talked about Hurricane Irma, and other possible systems including Jose, and the potential impact on ECU. The panelists included Bill McCartney from Campus Living, the Dean of Students Dr. Lynn Roeder, Lauren Mink from Environmental Health & Safety, and Jeannine Hutson from News Services.

The moment the video became available online, ECU was instantly accessible to thousands of concerned parents and family members despite many of them being many states away. Hundreds of people tuned in live to watch the discussion and ask questions during the program and there were more than 7,500 views over the next 72 hours.

Reviews following the event were extremely positive. One mother even posted the following on the ECU Parent & Family Programs Facebook Page:

Received an email about this Live video ECU made concerning Hurricane Irma. Being 4 hours away from my baby at times like this is not easy. However, this video the panel took the time to create has really been a blessing! They answered many if not all of my questions and concerns!!! Sending hugs to the ECU staff, as they promised to continue to keep watch of the hurricane. You are appreciated from a Charlotte, NC – Mom!

To view the 30-minute program, you can see the archived version at www.facebook.com/ECUParents.

Raid the Rec

Submitted by Jalen Courts, Marketing Graduate Assistant for CRW

Campus Recreation and Wellness started the year off on a great note as we hosted our first annual Raid the Rec! The Student Recreation Center was rocking and attendance numbers cracked at about 2,300 students for our first event of the year.

A plethora of attractions were offered for student’s enjoyment, ranging from free food from places like Clean Eatz, Dominos and Muscle Maker, to fun and games with attractions like an indoor roller rink, bubble sumo, a putt-putt golf course, an escape room, a DJ, and even the rock wall was up and running for students to enjoy.

We were thrilled to offer this event to the students for their first Friday back on campus, as it gave us the opportunity to highlight the wide variety of events and programs we host throughout the year. Thank you to our Raid the Red sponsors, North Carolina National Guard for the popular challenge course, ECU’s SGA and RHA for activities and transportation, and Captains Quarter’s. Additionally, a big thank you goes out to Campus Living and all the resident advisors that helped to spread the word about Raid the Rec!

Upcoming Events

Pledge Purple

October 2-4, 2017
The events are designed to bring awareness to ending sexual violence, harassment and bullying.
For more details visit https://ecunited.ecu.edu/

Cupola Conversations

Wednesday, September 27 at 5pm in MSC 244
Topic: Understanding DACA

Culture, Context, Coverage, Communications

Culture Poster Thursday, September 21 from 6:30pm-8:00pm in Rivers Room 102
Student Media staff members are invited to this diversity and inclusivity workshop to make them more aware of diversity issues and learn how to better reflect inclusiveness in their reporting.

NAACP Unity March

Wednesday, September 20 at 4pm on the MSC Brickyard
This march was organized to show that despite what is occurring outside of our campus we are still unified. The march is being sponsored by multiple student organizations as well as Student Affairs Student Involvement and Leadership.

New Hires and Departures in Student Affairs

Student Affairs New Hires Since August 1

Luc LaBonte – Clinical Nutritionist – Student Health Services – August 14
Janel Drake – Professional Nurse – Student Health Services – August 21
William Williams – Director of Development – SA Development – September 5
Reginald Jordan – Administrative Support Specialist – Student Health Services – September 6
Lydia Strayhorn – Administrative Support Specialist – Student Health Services – September 11
Emily Reynolds – SAO Student Program Coordinator – Student Involvement and Leadership – September 11
Joshua Lockhart – SAO Student Program Coordinator – Student Involvement and Leadership – September 11

Student Affairs Departures Since August 1

Suzannah Lott – Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement – August 4
Marcus Silver –Campus Living – August 4
Christopher Block –Counseling & Student Development – August 14
Mary Beth Pruitt Allen – Career Services – August 15
Yvonne Moye – Student Media – August 31 (Retirement)
Robin Linkous – Campus Living – August 31
Jennifer Williams – Student Health Services – August 31 (Retirement)
Frank “Bill” Jackson – Campus Living – August 31