Appalachian Today

App State alumni Preston Powell ’01 and Adam Scherer ’01 are leveraging their Boone business, Mountaineer Mania, to give back to their alma mater — providing T-shirts to first-year students, supporting Helene disaster relief and donating proceeds from the sale of Mountain Strong apparel to critical university needs. Together, these efforts have contributed $130,000 to the university.

Brad Cooper, CPA, CGMA, has been appointed chief financial officer at Appalachian State University, Chancellor Heather Norris announced. The appointment is effective Oct. 6.

Three App State faculty teams have been awarded grants of up to $25,000 each as part of the 2025 Chancellor’s Innovation Scholars Program. Their winning projects aim to increase the number of special education teachers in NC’s public schools and better quantify flood–health risks by fusing data, AI and community input.

With more than $1.4 million in federal grant support, App State has developed a new career pathways initiative aimed at addressing the shortage of special education teachers in rural Appalachia. More than 100 regional teacher’s assistants, educators and school administrators will take part in the program this fall.

On Aug. 12, new and returning Mountaineer students began moving into their Boone campus residence halls, in preparation for the first day of fall 2025 classes at App State on Monday, Aug. 18. More than 6,000 students will have settled into their App State homes by Monday.