BOONE—Appalachian State University’s Board of Trustees met on June 24 and welcomed a new member, Jalyn Howard, the new Student Government Association president who will represent the interests of the student body. In addition, two ex officio representatives joined the board, Jason Marshburn, the Staff Senate chair, and Carolyn Clark, the Alumni Council president, who will serve one-year terms.

Chancellor Sheri N. Everts’ report included Thursday morning’s groundbreaking of a new building for the Beaver College of Health Sciences on State Farm Road, An Appalachian Summer Festival’s 32nd season and the fifth Appalachian Energy Summit, which will draw local citizens as well as visitors from across the state and beyond.

Everts told the audience the vision for the university remains ever present.

“Appalachian’s identity is built on the university’s tradition. Since inception, the university has had one vision – putting students first by providing access to a quality education.

“Conceived by the Dougherty brothers over a century ago, this vision has been built upon by each successive chancellor. This tradition is important to me, and I have worked to honor it by working with the entire Appalachian Community to continue building upon our distinctive identity and core values.

“Ultimately, the reason our stellar faculty and staff come to work every day is to realize this vision, which can be summed up in one key phrase: we put students first, always, and together we are building a bright future.”

Everts also said, “At Appalachian, we promote a spirit of inclusion that inspires students, faculty and staff to form relationships well beyond graduation. Our students and alumni think critically and understand the responsibilities of community engagement. I am heartened by the passion of the Appalachian Community and invite anyone to talk with me in person about the future of our great university.”

In other business, Dr. Susan Davies, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management, and Rachel Serrano, director of information analytics, provided a presentation on analytics. They previewed dashboards that better illustrate key demographics of the student body, applicants by location, enrollment trends among undergraduates and graduate students, and the wide range of majors students select as freshmen as well as changes in their majors. The dashboards also show which community colleges send transfer students to Appalachian including benchmarking graphics to indicate whether those numbers are increasing or decreasing compared to previous years.

Davies said the information is important when planning recruitment strategies including travel.

“This preview of the analytics platform demonstrates the type of data that our academic leadership will have access to for data-informed decision-making. It allows us to map data and understand it visually,” she said.

Chancellor Everts’ full comments, including recommendations from the Chancellor’s Commission on Diversity, changes in leadership and recent accolades are available at: http://chancellor.appstate.edu/messages/id/96

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, cost-effective education. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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