November 15, 2018 Edition
Inside the Edition
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Best Colleges for Student Voting
Student Affairs Making Headlines
LGBTQ Grand Opening Celebration
Give to Student Affairs
From the Desk of Vice Chancellor Virginia Hardy
R-E-S-P-E-C-T. When we respect others, we are acknowledging their value. Respect makes a colleague your partner; someone willing to work with you to make your efforts successful. It is your responsibility to treat all people with dignity and respect. It is your right to receive the same. It’s called mutual respect. Unfortunately, you can’t control when and where others decide to show you respect.Respectful relationships yield trust, and trust in return makes people work together toward shared goals. Colleagues who feel treated with respect are highly invested in the success of the division. So, my challenge to you is to consider how you can encourage and maintain mutual respect in the workplace. RESPECT. Realize Everyone Seeks Politeness, Esteem, Consideration and Trust.Respect: We treat each individual with high regard, appreciation and courtesy. We honor the contributions of individuals, departments, tradition, theory and practice.
ECU Named to Washington Monthly 2018 Best College Guide For Student Voting
East Carolina University was named to Washington Monthly’s 2018 America’s Best Colleges For Student Voting. A part of The College Guide and Rankings – which rates colleges and universities on their contributions to social mobility, research, and public service – this is a first-of-its-kind list of the schools doing the most to turn students into citizens.
East Carolina is the only school in the state of North Carolina on the Washington Monthly rankings list for 2018. Inclusion on the list demonstrates ECU’s commitment to promote civic engagement among the student body, encouraging students to vote and actively participate in community decisions.
“We are very focused on helping our students become engaged citizens,” said Dr. Dennis McCunney, director of ECU’s Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement. “One of the greatest ways to accomplish this goal is to educate our students with the election process and empower them to go out and make their voices heard by voting.”
According to Washington Monthly, “ Since voting habits tend to crystallize in young adulthood—vote in one election, and you’re far more likely to do so again—colleges and universities have an unparalleled opportunity to create voters not just for the next election, but for life. The colleges that invest in student voting aren’t just helping their Washington Monthly rankings—they’re helping the country.”
Ensuring that the nation’s young people – it’s future leaders – are inspired to engage civically is key to strengthening democracy. On many college and university campuses, less than half of eligible student voters exercise their democratic right to cast a ballot in presidential elections.
To do its part in improving youth civic engagement, ECU participates in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE), which offers colleges and universities an opportunity to learn their student registration and voting rates.
ECU also hosted a number of events to help student get registered to vote as well as provided transportation on Election Day from campus to the polls.
For more information, contact Dennis McCunney at (252) 328-2802 or mccunneyw@ecu.edu. To view the complete 2018 Washington Monthly list visit https://washingtonmonthly.com/2018/11/01/which-colleges-encourage-their-students-to-vote/
ECU hosts third annual Fresh Check Day focusing on mental health, suicide prevention
Provided by Tyler Hardin and Katie Caviness, WCTI
East Carolina University hosted Fresh Check Day on November 14th, an initiative aimed at raising awareness of mental illness and suicide prevention.
ECU, in conjunction with the Jordan Porco Foundation, is one of five universities in North Carolina that participated in Fresh Check Day this year. The Porco family started the foundation in 2011 following the death of their son Jordan due to suicide.
ECU won the 2016 Outstanding Fresh Check Day Campus Award, which goes to a college campus for outstanding planning, promotion, implementation, engagement, impactful messaging at interactive booths and high student attendance.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young adults between the ages of 15-24 in the United States. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 2 million college students (out of 20 million total) contemplate suicide, and about 1.2 million high school students (out of 14.9 million total) attempt suicide each year.
Click Here to read the complete story.
ECU Student Media director wins Distinguished Newspaper Advisor award
East Carolina University Student Media director John Harvey received one of the nation’s top awards for collegiate media advisers at the annual College Media Association (CMA) Convention on Oct. 28 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Harvey, Student Media director at ECU, was one of four to receive the 2018 award for “Distinguished Newspaper Advisor at a Four-Year College.” Harvey attended the conference with four students from The East Carolinian: Darby Hubbell, Jenna Price, Daniel Roberts and Trajan Warren.
ECU student Gregory Arnold also picked up a CMA award, earning a Pinnacle Honorable Mention for “Best Feature Photo” that appeared in Expressions magazine.
“It was quite an honor to receive the award from my peers in the industry, and it was especially great to do it in front of my students,” Harvey said.
Since coming to ECU, Harvey has overseen an extensive remake of Student Media, instituting a training program called the Media Academy, restructuring the professional staff, forming the student executive committee, establishing the Student Media Advertising & Marketing Agency, and creating a magazine division that features The Hook, Rebel, Expressions and Anchors Away, a new graduation magazine.
Harvey’s most significant accomplishment at ECU is the development of the Media Academy, especially the Candidate Program for first-time reporters. The semester-long program provides instruction for students who wish to become reporters at The East Carolinian with classes on ethics, libel law, newswriting, feature writing and editing.
Cherie Speller, adviser of The East Carolinian, coordinates and teaches the Candidate Program, while radio adviser Shayna Johns runs a similar program for WZMB 91.3 FM called the Radio Corp, or Zombie Program.
Javeria Salman, former managing editor of The East Carolinian, applauded Harvey for the award.
“He has been a great source of knowledge over the years, from the candidate classes to my post-grad life,” Salman said. “John’s guidance during my college years pushed me to work harder and become a stronger journalist.”
Harvey spent nearly 20 years as a journalist in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, serving as editorial page editor, managing editor and executive editor. He shifted to education in 1998, becoming news adviser of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. He took an expanded role as Student Media director at Georgia Southern in 2010 before coming to Greenville in 2012.
For additional information, contact Harvey at harveyj@ecu.edu.
Student Affairs Making Headlines
At the 2018 International Conference for the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), Dr. Linda Campion received the Special Service Award from the organization for her Dedicated Service to AECT as Conference Co-Planner for 4 years and Leadership Development Chair for 3 years.
Inter-Generational Community Center
Click on the video above to view a story from IGCC that aired on WNCT-TV in Greenville.
Busy Times in the Office of Student Transitions
Dave Evans, Co-Author of Designing Your Life
Dave Evans, Co-Author of Designing Your Life spent a day on ECU’s campus meeting with various groups to share the process of design thinking – how we can design and build a life – at any age – in which we can thrive. Along with his co-author Bill Burnett, Dave is a lecturer in the Stanford Program in Design and co-teaches the popular course Designing Your Life for junior and seniors which “launches students from campus out into the world.” This course became so popular, the two lecturers created Designing Your Stanford for freshmen and sophomores in order to help “students arrive” and “learn how to be a student.” A third course, Designing Your Professional is offered for graduate/PhD students.
Dave spent the morning with staff and faculty from Business, Engineering & Technology, Arts & Sciences, Health and Human Performance, Honors College, Student Affairs and members of the Regional Transformation Committee and Economic Development Council. He attended the Lightning Talks: Integrating Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Engagement into Faculty Productivity before presenting the keynote address at the 2018 Faculty Symposium.
Following the symposium, Dave met with a group of students in the Miller School of Entrepreneurship, and Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization Student Club. Students had the opportunity to share their work as well as ask questions of him. Dave ended the evening presenting to approximately 200 first year students, faculty and staff on “Designing Your ECU.”
These events were made possible by partnerships with the Office of Student Transitions, Office of the Provost, Division of Student Affairs, ECU Career Services and Division of Research, Economic Development & Engagement.
Wiley Cash, Author of 2018 Pirate Read Selection The Last Ballad
Wiley Cash visited campus November 6 for this year’s Pirate Read author presentation and spent the afternoon with a group of invited students from English and COAD classes. During this time, he shared his journey of becoming a writer beginning with a love of reading and an environment surrounded by print – his mother read novels and his father read the newspaper and magazines. He talked about his time in college, living away from North Carolina and how the feeling of loss for this home state served as a catalyst for his writing.
Wiley had dinner with Pirate Read Committee members and guests and discussed how he researched each of his books but specifically The Last Ballad. He ended the day with a presentation to over 300 students, faculty, staff and community members discussing the specifics of writing The Last Ballad, particularly he detailed thoughts on characters and ended with a reading about one particular character, Hampton. He finished the evening with a question/answer session and signed books.
This event was made possible with the help of the Pirate Read Committee, co-chaired by Mary Beth Corbin (Office of Student Transitions) and Tracy Morse (Associate Professor, Dept. of English) and members – Lisa Brown, Todd Fraley (Honors College), David Hisle (Joyner Library), Valerie Kisler-Van Reede (Counseling and Student Development), Dennis McCunney (Leadership and Civic Engagement), Carol Woodruff (Career Services), Abby Morris (student) and Sarah Mitchelson (community member).
Women Veterans Luncheon
The Student Veteran Services Office hosted its 2nd Annual Women Veterans Luncheon on November 6 for female students, staff, and faculty who have served in the armed forces. Currently ECU employs 554 women veterans who served or are serving in the U.S military. This luncheon is an opportunity to celebrate their service, along with the service of our many women student veterans.
Speakers included Ms. Christiane Russell, a senior majoring in Psychology, and Ms. Karen Goble, Assistant Director Continuing Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Education Brody School of Medicine/Eastern AHEC Education Center.
Field of Honor
Over 1,000 flags were planted by Student Veteran Services and the Pirate Veterans Organization to honor those who have and are serving. 962 of the flags represent the faculty and staff who have indicated that they have or are serving in the U.S military. 554 of those flags have a pink ribbon tied around the flag, denoting the female faculty and staff who have indicated that they have served or are serving. In addition, the Pirate Veterans Organization sold 94 flags as a fundraiser to the campus community to honor a specific service member, or service members in general. These flags are outside Joyner library on the mall area and will be displayed until the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving.
Student Success Conference
The sixth annual Student Success Conference is scheduled for Friday, January 25th, 2019. The theme for the 2019 conference is “Focused. Motivated. Engaged. – A Journey Toward Student Success.” Laura Pappano, award-winning journalist, community leader ad author is the keynote speaker.
Links to submit program proposals as well as conference registration can be found at https://studentaffairs.ecu.edu/studentsuccessconference/. Early Bird Registration ends November 15th. For more information, contact Dr. Lathan Turner at turnerla@ecu.edu.
2nd Annual First Generation College Celebration
The 2nd Annual National First Generation College Celebration was held on Thursday, November 8. This event is sponsored by NASPA and AACU. The purpose is to celebrate and support first-generation students, administrators, faculty and staff. Three current students provided remarks for the event including an update on the newly formed student organization, “I’m The First.”
Administrators, faculty and staff shared their stories of attending college for the first time – some noting they didn’t even realize they were first-generation but could relate to the overwhelming feelings our current students shared. Two ideas evolved from the event – a resource list of names and emails of first-generation administrators/faculty/staff available to students and a “I’m The First” door/wall decal denoting a welcoming, safe space for our first-gen students.
If you are first-generation and interested in including your name and email in a First-Generation Directory for students and/or would like a decal image for printing/hanging, please reply to Mary Beth Corbin at corbinm@ecu.edu.
Campus Recreation & Wellness on the Go!
Lift Like a Girl
CRW’s Lift Like a Girl program takes place on various Tuesday’s and Thursday’s throughout the semester at both our Health Sciences Campus Student Center and Student Rec Center (SRC) facilities. Our personal trainers provide tips surrounding various exercises.
“I had the pleasure of having a Lift Like a Girl Clinic all to myself tonight… Katie and JoAnn were fantastic and it was such a great clinic. I’m a grad student and I learned a lot! These ladies did such a good job at giving me tips and correcting my form while they cheered me on! I feel way more competent and confident lifting now and Katie and JoAnn were so friendly and made me feel so comfortable. I really wish my undergrad had offered a program like this!” – Juinell Williams, ECU doctoral student
Cycling
During the Month of October, Cycle 60 fitness classes began in our new Indoor Cycle Zone within the SRC. Cycle 60 is an hour-long workout that will get your heart pumping. The class includes sprints, pedaling through hill climbs, and other challenging drills and exercises. Our Indoor Cycle Zone includes 16 bikes for clients and one instructor bike. Campus Recreation and Wellness is now offering four classes a week for members!
Hurricane Florence
From September 17th through October 10th, Campus Recreation and Wellness opened its doors to students from universities across the state that were displaced in Greenville. CRW was able to provide a space for these individuals to maintain their goals. This arrangement allowed ECU and CRW to serve the community and to aid the students of UNC Wilmington, UNC Charlotte, Fayetteville State, Wake Tech, Coastal Carolina Community College, Mount Olive, NC A&T, and Pitt Community College.
ROTC Workout
The Air Force ROTC participated in an early morning group workout with group fitness instructor, Lilly, a few times this week at the Student Recreation Center.
If you know of any student groups or organizations looking for a group fitness class, please contact Courtney Johnson at johnsoncou17@ecu.edu or 252-328-5791 and she will check on instructor availability and space.
New Fall Break Experience Focuses on Hurricane Recovery
Provided by Erin Shaw, ECU News Services
East Carolina University students will travel to Washington, North Carolina, during fall break to volunteer with local nonprofit organizations and aid recovery efforts for Hurricane Florence.
The three-day trip, offered by the ECU Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement, includes 25 hours of community service and a chance to learn how area leaders design the change they want to see in their communities.
ECU’s alternative break experiences include a variety of locations and emphases. Past experiences range from community gardening at home in Greenville to youth work as far away as Northern Ireland. Washington was chosen as a new alternative break location because organizers wanted to focus on regional transformation and help areas close to the university, according to the CLCE.
“We are excited to expose our students to local communities within the region to learn more about how leaders and community members are creating positive social change. Although Hurricane Florence shifted our focus a little, it is another opportunity for students to learn how local communities can come together in times of natural disasters and lead eastern North Carolina on the road of recovery,” said Nichelle Shuck, CLCE’s associate director.
Click Here for WITN Coverage
Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center
On behalf of the LGBT Resource Office (soon to be the Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center), you are invited to join us on January 12, 2019—whether it be at the Open House or for our evening Celebration!
Tickets are on sale now and you can order by clicking here.
Just the Facts – Main Campus Student Center and Fall Career Fairs
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Just the Facts is a regular communication from the Division of Student Affairs Office of the Vice Chancellor highlighting some of the amazing things happening in our area in a quick, simple, and easy-to-read manner. What we do as SA educators and staff members demonstrates our commitment to student success, public service and regional transformation.
Has something exciting happened in your area within the past few weeks? Send the fact to VCSA@ecu.edu, subject line: Just the Facts and we will include in the next edition.