July 1, 2017 Edition

Club Baseball Wins National Championship

Written by Justin Waters

Tanner Duncan pitched a 4-hit, 10-inning, complete game shutout in the National Club Baseball Associations World Series Championship. The #1 ranked ECU Baseball Club team captured its 2nd National Championship with Nick Venditti driving in Tyler Sholar with the walk off base hit in the bottom of the 10th inning. ECU Club Baseball went 15-0 in conference play this year with an overall record of 30-4. Under the direction of 1st year Coach Ben Fox, the Pirates scored 327 runs and only allowed 88 runs and carried a 23-game winning streak into the post season. In 18 innings pitched in the World Series, Duncan gave up only 5 hits, no runs and struck out 23. During the regular season, Tanner was 9-1 with 75 inning pitched with .84 ERA, and 132 strike outs.

Recently, the World Series MVP signed a rookie contract with the Houston Astros and becomes the club sport program’s first student athlete to sign with a MLB club. A special thanks to the officers and coaches, parents and supporters, and Campus Recreation & Wellness for their undaunted support.

Volunteers Needed for Fall Move-In

Campus Living is seeking groups and organizations to assist with Fall 2017 freshmen move-in, which begins at noon on Tuesday, August 15 and runs through Sunday, August 20. They will focus on volunteer efforts Wednesday, August 16 through the end of the day on Friday, August 18.

As in past years, Campus Living will rely on volunteers to assist residents with carrying boxes and furniture, answering questions, providing directions, and, for the first time, assisting with their indoor check-in process.

If you are involved with an organization or group interested in participating, please arrange for a representative to contact Dave Hilbert at hilbertd17@ecu.edu. They will schedule meetings with representatives of each organization in early July, at which time they will collect each group’s availability. Campus Living will distribute a volunteer schedule and provide additional updates as they approach the week of the move-in.

Orientation 2017: Welcoming New Pirates

Click the image to view the full interactive story.

Remembering Orlando

On June 12, more than 90 people gathered at the Crave restaurant in Uptown Greenville to remember the 49 lives lost at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, which included 2003 ECU graduate Shane Tomlinson. The evening of solidarity and hope included community members, politicians and local authorities who were there to take a stand against violence and hate directed at the LGBT community.

The event was covered by numerous media outlets. Click the following links to see the stories:
Daily Reflector
WCTI
WITN
WNCT

Dr. Hardy Receives Distinguished Service Award

Written by Pitt Community College

Pitt Community College administrators took time during Thursday’s graduation ceremony to show their appreciation to three Board of Trustees members for outstanding service to the college and community.

Before nearly 700 graduates turned their tassels in East Carolina University’s Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Distinguished Service Awards were presented to former trustees Virginia Hardy and Jimmy Nelson and current trustee Walter Williams.

Hardy, a Greenville native, is ECU’s Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. She served as a PCC Trustee from 2008 to 2016, after being appointed to the board by Pitt County Commissioners. As a trustee, she chaired the college’s Personnel Committee for two years and served on numerous other committees.

In presenting Hardy with her award, PCC Trustee Patti Sanders-Smith noted that Hardy utilized the student affairs and employee leadership experience she gained at ECU to provide trustees and college administrative staff with welcomed insight throughout her eight years of service.

When she first joined PCC’s governing board, Hardy called it a chance to serve the community. She praised the college for its versatility in meeting the training needs of local business and industry and for giving people “choices to better their lives.

The youngest of eight children, Hardy earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She later received a master’s in counseling from ECU and a Ph.D. in counseling from N.C. State University.

“Education has always been important to both my family and me,” she said. “My parents expected that each of us would attain postsecondary education so that we would be afforded opportunities that weren’t available to them.”

Click here for the complete story.

Global Living Learning Community

Written by Jules Norwood, ECU News Services

Jenna Price knows the transition to college to be a challenge. But she’s part of a growing number of students who are getting off to a strong start by being part of a living-learning community.

“Being a first-generation college student would have been tough if not for the support of my friends in the living-learning community,” says Price, a freshman double-majoring in English and communication. “The most valuable thing I’ve learned is that you don’t have to do college alone.

There are people that are going through the same things that you are; you just have to look around to find them.”

Living-learning communities, or LLCs, are on-campus housing options, generally for freshmen, designed to bring students with similar interests, goals or experiences together in smaller groups as they learn their way around campus and adapt to the less-structured format of college life.

Students participating in ECU’s LLCs, which range in size from 14 students to more than 150, live together on campus, share classes during their first year and participate in a range of activities based on their areas of interest. Each LLC has the autonomy to determine its own formula, but they share an emphasis on personalizing the college experience and boosting engagement and participation on campus in order to improve student outcomes.

Click here for the complete story.

LeaderShape 2017

Written by Nichelle Shuck

This past year the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE) offered two LeaderShape programs for emerging ECU students. LeaderShape is a national organization focused on transforming the world by increasing the number of people who lead with integrity and a healthy disregard for the impossible which connects directly with ECU’s definition of leadership, as relational process of inspiring, empowering, and influencing positive change.

First, in January 2017, over twenty ECU students had the opportunity to participate in LeaderShape Catalyst, a one-day workshop focused on learning to develop one’s own authentic path, connect to groups and specific causes, and commit to a plan to be a catalyst of change.

One participant shared, “Catalyst taught me to look beyond the single story that is probably the most powerful and liberating idea. It ignited a fire in me personally that I am happy this program helped me to achieve.”

The Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement is looking for campus collaborations to offer future LeaderShape Catalyst opportunities in the future.

In May, ECU hosted its fifth annual LeaderShape Institute at the Trinity Center in Pine Knoll Shores. The Institute is a six-day leadership immersion that challenges participants to lead with integrity while working towards a vision grounded in their deepest values. With over 100 applications, 58 participants, six ECU Faculty and Staff; and two On-site Coordinators (student leadership for LeaderShape Institute) had the opportunity to explore not only what they want to do, but who they want to be. Students learned from LeaderShape faculty, each other, and were inspired to live in possibility and influence positive change.

2017 LeaderShaper Godgive Umozurike shared, “In a matter of a week I’ve learned the importance of listening to understand others, my own vision and means of impacting the world, and so much more! But most importantly, I’ve learned the importance of embracing your own path and how there are people just like you who want to make the world a better place.”

Moving forward, the CLCE will continue to support LeaderShape students to stay connected through LeaderShape Day 7 workshops offered throughout the fall semester that support their vision to create a more just, caring, and thriving world at ECU and communities beyond. Please reach out to the CLCE or Nichelle Shuck with any questions or interest in future collaborations with LeaderShape programming.

Student Affairs Leading by Example at 2017 Summer Conferences

Conference Presentations:

• ACUHO-I (Association of College University Housing Officers-International) – June 2017:

  • Advising 101 by Marcus Silver, Campus Living – The session took place at the Association of College University Housing Officers International in Providence, Rhode Island. During this fast-paced 30 minute program session, we focused on retention amongst our student leaders within RHA and Hall Governments. There will be an open discussion to hear what we are doing on our campuses and how we can improve in our roles as Advisors.
  • S.H.O.E.S. Project by Waz Miller, Campus Living – This is an interactive program which addresses mental illness, and other struggles which college as well as students of all ages, experience. It combines social norming with positivity, self-love, resources, and pairs of shoes which have authentic personal stories of those experiencing a struggle, attached to them. This program tries to help students see, that on their journey, although it may seem lonely, that they are NOT alone, and, to find comfort in knowing others feel similarly as well as that there are resources including other people, who care about them.
  • Structured for Success by Waz Miller, Campus Living – Shared the outcomes of the Structured for Success program, as well as its main purpose, how it was started, how it runs, and the S4S process. The changes over the past several years, in this program were also shared, as well as some assessment outcomes and tips for implementation.

• Living Learning Programs Conference (2017):

  • Fostering Collaborative Relationships with LLC/LLP Faculty Partners by Gretchen Brockman and Esme Cabral, Campus Living – At East Carolina University, we are intentional about building collaborative relationships with faculty and academic partners connected with our living-learning communities. They shared the tools and methods we utilize to build and maintain these strong relationships which help our LLC programs and students thrive. We discussed what we learned through experience, as well as future steps we hope to initiate to continue to foster these essential connections with our faculty and campus partners.

• NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls) – May 2017:

  • Advisor Recognition Training by Marcus Silver, Campus Living – The session took place at the National Association of College University Residence Halls Conference at Purdue University. Course content included information about methods, techniques and exercises designed to improve both the recruitment of student organization members, but to keep them (i.e. retention). Information also covered training plans, tips to making training more effective, and a list of activities to work with your student organization to address these concerns.
  • S.H.O.E.S. Program of the Year by Waz Miller, Marcus Silver and ECU students: Ashley Konarski and Troy Nance, Campus Living

• NASPA Assessment and Persistence Conference – June 2017:

  • Program Review Development: A deep dive into three institutional perspectives by Jeremy Tuchmayer, Assessment – Staff members from three different institutions, East Carolina University, Miami University, and University of Houston, presented on their experience in developing, implementing, managing and using successful program reviews within student affairs and engaged their larger university community. The workshop began with a brief history of these programs and the theoretical and practical underpinnings, including use of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) in program review. Next presenters engaged attendees with a panel discussion on the nuances of implementing departmental program reviews. The session concluded with an experiential learning exercise followed by an opportunity for the presenters to engage with attendees in a working session to develop concrete steps to implementing or improving their own departmental review process. Presenters shared documents, strategies, lessons learned and worked with attendees to develop an outline of a departmental review process for the attendee’s home institution.
  • Utilizing non-cognitive assessment data to improve retention predictive models by Jeremy Tuchmayer, Assessment –Predicting retention among first-year college students is a complicated and difficult task. This session presented research using multiple non-cognitive assessment measures along with institutional data to predict student’s academic success. This session also included a review of seven validated short non-cognitive assessment instruments that can be used to assess various dispositional factors among college students. The session concluded with a discussion on the many different ways these non-cognitive instruments could be used to enhance predictive models as well as departmental assessments.

Conference Committee Appointments:

• Gretchen Brockman, Associate Director of Residence Life, is serving on the ACUHO-I Foundation Committee from 2016-2018. She was also selected to serve as a National Housing Training Institute Faculty through the ACUHO-I professional organization. The institute selects 12 faculty for two different sites and then 36 participants for each site. Faculty present on a topic then serve as a cluster leader/mentor for 3 participants throughout the week long institute. Participants are Housing professionals with 3-7 years of experience who want to learn and grow in the field and in their career. Gretchen will present on Professional Development.
• Esme Cabral, Assistant Director of Residence Life for Learning/Thematic Communities, is a Volunteer Chair for the ACUHO-I Academic Initiatives Conference.
• Janelle Keller, Hall Coordinator for Cotten, Fleming and Jarvis, will serve on the Social Justice Committee for SEAHO for Fall 2017.
• Waz Miller, Director of Residence Life, served on the ACUHO-I STARS College Committee in June.
• Marcus Silver, Assistant Director of Residence Life, was a member of the ACUHO-I Programming Committee and Member of the Steering Committee at the 2017 Conference.
• Bailey Steckbauer, Hall Coordinator for Gateway East, is a member of the Professional Development Committee for NCHO.

Dean of Students Office Relocates to Umstead Hall

Over the past two years, the offices within the Dean of Students unit have experienced tremendous growth and have been given the opportunity to bring on new staff members who are exceptionally motivated to serve our students in many capacities. While we are very excited about this progress in meeting the ever-increasing needs of our students, the increase in staff size has created some physical limitations within our currently occupied spaces and changes were necessary to meet the demands of this new growth.

At the end of May, the Dean of Students office moved from the Wright Building to the first floor of Umstead Hall. The relocation allowed the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities the opportunity to expand office space to meet the demands of their recent staff additions.

All telephone numbers and mail stop (118) have remained the same. Their new primary office address is 125 Umstead Hall.

Student Affairs Making Headlines

• Kathy Hill, Director of Assessment, Research and Retention, has been selected to serve an additional two-year term on the NASPA Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Knowledge Commission Leadership Team through spring 2019. Kathy will also be co-chairing the new Coaching and Mentorship work group. The AER KC Coaching/Mentorship work group seeks to connect persons interested in assessment to AER KC members who are experts in assessment using a coaching model. Through these short-term relationships, the coach will serve as a bridge to resources and personal experience with assessment, similar to an assessment hotline.
• Dr. Mark Villacorta, LWCC Associate Director, published A Night to Remember, A Legacy to Uphold in the Winter 2017 issue of the Association for Black Culture Centers newsletter (pages 5-6).
• Ms. Patricia Barfield has accepted the Assistant Dean of Students position. Patricia initially began working in the Dean of Students Office in the fall of 2013 as a Graduate Assistant. Upon her graduation, Patricia accepted a position with Edgecombe Community College and served as a Title IX Investigator there. In 2015, Patricia accepted the ECU Student Affairs Case Manager position in the Dean of Students Office. Patricia is a member of the CARE Team and the University Behavioral Concerns Team, covering both students and employees. Patricia holds a number of certifications: NaBITA Threat Assessment, ATIXA, Title IX Investigator, Mental Health First Aid Training, Stewards of Children (Sexual Abuse Recognition, Response, and Prevention), and Applied Suicide Intervention Training. Patricia is the recipient of the 2016 Division of Student Affairs Emerging Professional Award, ECU Centennial Award for Excellence, ECU Care Team and the UNC staff Assembly Certificate of Appreciation. Patricia was recently awarded the 2017 Division of Student Affairs Integrity Award.

Summer Internship Photo Contest

ECU Career Services will host the fourth annual Summer Internship Photo Contest this summer 2017. We know that ECU students participate in a variety of impactful experiential learning opportunities throughout the summer months. Taking advantage of the growing “selfie” culture, our goal is to spread the word on how ECU students are gaining relevant career readiness skills through internships. Students must submit a 150-word description of their internship experience and can include up to 3 photos.

Descriptions and photos should be submitted by email to: career@ecu.edu by July 27, 2017. For complete contest details click here!

CRW Now Green Office Certified

SustainECU is proud to announce that Campus Recreation and Wellness (CRW) is the first Certified Green Office at ECU! The CRW team worked through the certification process throughout the spring semester with the help of two Service Learning students.

Click here for the full story!

What is the Green Office Program?

Offices that choose to participate will be helping ECU work toward carbon neutrality and reaching its sustainability goals. This program is intended to take the guess work out of campus sustainability and to provide resources so that all employees can do their part to reduce environmental impacts. Offices that complete the certification process will receive recognition through articles published in the SustainECU newsletter as well as posts on our website and social media outlets. Certified Green Offices will also be awarded with a framed certificate to display and an official logo to upload to their website.

Welcome to Student Affairs!

Adam Denney started on Monday, June 19th as the new Associate Director for Employer Relations at ECU Career Services. He transferred from the College of Nursing where he worked as an Academic Advisor since 2015. Adam has a Bachelor of Science in Special Education and a Master of Science in Counselor Education with a focus on Higher Education and Student Affairs, both from East Carolina University. As a student, he became deeply invested in the university, community and people of Eastern Carolina. Taking on the new role as Associate Director of Employer Relations, allows him to combine his educational experience with his passion for supporting student success at East Carolina University. Adam and his wife Jaclyn were married in 2016 and are happy to call Greenville, North Carolina home.

Jessie Ashton will be the first of two new Assistant Directors in the Department of Greek Life here at East Carolina University. Jessie comes to us from Pi Beta Phi Fraternity Headquarters in St. Louis where she serves as a Chapter Services and Program Development Coordinator. In that capacity she works with Pi Beta Phi chapters in 4 regions across the country and coordinates two significant educational programs for the Fraternity. Jessie is a graduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in Human Performance and Exercise Science and Indiana University with a Master of Science in Higher Education and Student Affairs. While at IU, she worked in the Office of Student Life and Learning focusing on advising chapters, overseeing accountability efforts, and providing educational program support to their 73 fraternity and sorority chapters. Jessie will serve as the primary advisor to the Interfraternity Council along with other duties in the office. Her first day in the office will be July 17th.

Student Affairs New Hires Since June 1

• Alyssa Arnold – Title IX Mediator & Conflict Resolution – Student Rights & Responsibilities – June 1
• Alexis “Lexi” Hinson – Title IX Case Manager – Student Rights & Responsibilities – June 1
• Shayna Jones – Student Services Specialist – Student Media – June 5
  Jennifer Lee – University Program Associate – IGCC – June 5
• Adam Denney – Associate Director for Employer Relations – Career Services – June 19

Student Affairs Departures Since June 1

• Christa LaClaire – Physician’s Assistant – Student Health Services – June 30
• Suzanne Turnage – Administrative Support Specialist – Student Health Services – June 30 – Retirement