Appalachian State University Chancellor Sheri Everts gives her remarks at Appalachian’s Sept. 21 Board of Trustees meeting. Photo by Marie Freeman
BOONE, N.C. — Slow and steady growth, new construction and renovation projects, and a fresh class of elementary-age students at the Appalachian State University Academy at Middle Fork in Winston-Salem framed Chancellor Sheri Everts remarks to the Board of Trustees on Sept. 21.
Everts reported this year’s class of first-year and transfer students includes 4,723 individuals, Appalachian’s largest yet, bringing total enrollment this fall to 19,108 — also Appalachian’s largest enrollment to date. Everts said the enrollment is in line with Appalachian’s commitment to slow and steady growth.
Describing Appalachian as “the premier, public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina,” Everts said the university’s goals and strategic initiatives “relate to access and student success, economic impact, community engagement and leadership in creating a better world for all people.”
The university’s percentage of underrepresented students is 16.2 percent of its overall student population — a slight increase from fall 2017 — and represents a 35.4 percent increase in the overall population of underrepresented students since 2014. For its first-year class, Appalachian has seen more than a 56 percent increase in underrepresented students in the last four years.
“Last month, we welcomed our youngest class of Mountaineers ever,” Everts said of the approximately 300 kindergartners through fifth-graders who began classes at the Academy at Middle Fork, which was formerly part of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
The academy is a lab school and serves as a center for innovation, research and teaching for Appalachian’s student teachers, as well as for a body of students who are beginning a relationship with an institution of higher learning. Everts visited the academy on Aug. 30.
Everts announced the launch of a new, comprehensive website called Appalachian's Future that provides detailed information about physical infrastructure and empowering human potential at the university. She also provided updates on eight major projects at Appalachian:
- Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences — the new, state-of-the-art home for Appalachian’s Beaver College of Health Sciences and the first completed project of the Connect NC Bond referendum. There are approximately 150 faculty and about 2,300 students teaching and learning in the building, which opened Aug. 21 for the first day of classes.
- With fundraising for the project totaling around $150,000, construction on the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) Plots and Garden project at Appalachian is complete. An increase in the project budget — due to unforeseen conditions — required the project to be approved by the board, which did so during the Sept. 21 meeting. A ribbon-cutting and unveiling ceremony was held Sept. 29 to celebrate its completion.
- Work to renovate or replace seven outdated residence halls — Bowie, Coltrane, Eggers, Gardner, Winkler, Justice and East halls — is expected to begin in 2019, with 618 beds ready for occupancy in the fall of 2020. Construction of the new parking deck at the site of the old Winkler Hall building is underway. The deck will open in the fall of 2019 with more than 450 spaces, creating a net gain in campus parking that fall of approximately 200 spaces.
- The Kidd Brewer Stadium north end zone project will transform the north end zone of the stadium into a facility providing space designed to accommodate various academic and academic uses, including athletic training and nutrition science research. It is planned to open for the fall 2020 football season.
- Work is slated to begin on Sanford Hall in May 2019 to bring its HVAC, electrical and fire suppression systems, elevators, classrooms and office space up to modern standards. The renovation is expected to be complete in the fall of 2020.
- Appalachian’s Innovation Campus “refers to both physical spaces and collaborative spirit,” Everts said. “Physically located at the site of the former Broyhill Inn and Conference Center on Bodenheimer Drive and the edge of the neighboring Nature Preserve, the Innovation Campus will embrace multiple disciplines and include collaborations both on campus and within the community, and it will include many facilities.”
- The first building of the Innovation Campus is the Conservatory for Biology Research and Education. It will advance the natural and cultural history of the Southern Appalachian region, allowing the Appalachian Community and visitors to understand the natural history and economic importance of the region’s biodiversity and gain a heightened appreciation of the research and creative endeavors being conducted at Appalachian. Dr. Neva J. Specht, dean of Appalachian’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Department of Biology faculty will meet with designers this semester to develop a design concept.
- A portion of the former Watauga High School property, now called “Appalachian 105” — a name offered by Board of Trustees member Carole Wilson — will likely be devoted to athletics, with the former track, softball field and tennis courts possibly providing a ‘footprint’ for athletic facility construction.
In other business, the Board of Trustees approved two capital projects: the replacement of the Cone Hall roof and the NPHC Plots and Garden project. The NPHC Plots and Garden project — funded through trust funds and fundraising efforts — initially did not require board approval because its budget was below $300,000, but due to unforeseen construction issues, the final cost for the project was $375,000.
The board also approved a resolution for endorsement of the Kidd Brewer Stadium north end zone project and related steam improvement, which will provide concentrated steam — used for heating the buildings — for that project as well as the university’s major housing project of renovating or replacing seven outdated residence halls. The project will be presented to the UNC Board of Governors along with the other capital projects at the governors’ October meeting.
At Appalachian’s Sept. 21 Board of Trustees meeting, Appalachian alumnus Mark E. Ricks ’89 is sworn in to the board by North Carolina District Judge Rebecca Eggers-Gryder. Photo by Marie Freeman
Mark E. Ricks ’89 was sworn in to the Board of Trustees by North Carolina District Judge Rebecca Eggers-Gryder. Ricks holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the university’s College of Arts and Sciences. He is the owner of Double Wood Farm, an equestrian sanctuary for retired horses in Bluemont, Virginia. He was director of global protective operations at Mars Inc. in the Washington, D.C., metro area from 2005–17.
In 2017, Ricks committed $10 million to support the university’s A Mountaineer Impact initiative, which provides essential resources for Appalachian Athletics. The commitment represents the university’s largest outright gift to date.
Read Chancellor Everts’ full remarks at https://chancellor.appstate.edu/messages/id/150.
The next meeting of Appalachian’s Board of Trustees is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, Dec. 6–7. Agendas and supporting materials are posted at https://bot.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian’s Board of Trustees
The Appalachian State University Board of Trustees is a 13-member body that promotes the development of the institution within the functions prescribed by the UNC Board of Governors. The board serves as advisor to the Board of Governors on matters pertaining to the university and also serves as advisor to the chancellor concerning the management and development of Appalachian. The powers and duties of the Board of Trustees are primarily defined and delegated by the Board of Governors. Individuals are appointed to four-year terms by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the UNC Board of Governors. Included as a voting member of the board is the president of Appalachian’s Student Government Association. The president of Appalachian’s Alumni Council and chairs of the Faculty Senate and Staff Senate serve as ex officio constituency representatives to the board. Learn more at http://chancellor.appstate.edu/bot.
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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