| On Friday, Aug. 12, North Carolina A&T celebrated its opening day for the 2016-17 academic year at the Faculty and Staff Institute, themed, Flight P2020: Destination Preeminence. The annual event invites all university faculty and staff to meet in preparation and anticipation of the upcoming academic year.
Attendees were welcomed by “flight attendants” who issued flight bags with boarding passes and inflight reading materials, including a Preeminence 2020 progress report and this year's strategic priorities for student success (i.e., student engagement; institutional effectiveness; regional development integration; and resource generation).
Chancellor Harold L. Martin Sr. took the opportunity to review the university’s numerous accomplishments over the prior year, including its year-long 125th anniversary celebration, retaining designation as the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in the nation and No.3 for research dollars in the UNC System; regaining the rank as the No.1 public HBCU in the nation and remaining top producers of degrees awarded to African Americans in engineering, agriculture operations and related sciences, and mathematics and statistics.
As Martin congratulated the university community on the successes of 2015-16, he keenly focused on the 2016-17 academic year, the university’s future and march toward Preeminence 2020. As a land-grant, doctoral higher research activity institution, the university’s new academic reorganization is an important and necessary component to position N.C. A&T to award degrees that support careers of the future, increase its competitiveness in the global marketplace and advance teaching, learning, research and engagement.
Dr. James H. Johnson Jr., of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise and the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presented the keynote address, discussing the changing demographics of the State of North Carolina and beyond. With provoking statistics, Johnson encouraged attendees to understand the role of diversity in higher education and its implications.
Attendees also had the opportunity to view the new “Destination Preeminence Video," displaying the university’s tradition of excellence and pathway to preeminence as well as introducing its new and reorganized colleges.
The group was encouraged to be committed leaders, mentors and change agents, using their intellect to: create an intellectual climate; drive excellence in teaching, research and engagement; foster entrepreneurship and civic engagement; create a diverse and inclusive campus community; commit to academic and operational excellence; and become a premier research, science and technology-focused institution.
Send Us Your News
Do you have good news to share? Have you recently received a promotion or special recognition? If you’d like to be considered for a future story, click here. |
