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Chancellor Donald J. Reaves

There has certainly been a tremendous amount of activity on campus over the past several weeks, and we still have our Homecoming celebration to come later this month.

As students arrived on campus in August and we began to look at our enrollment, it became obvious to me that there was certainly a shift in the make-up of our student body for 2009-2010.  While we had approximately 500 fewer first time freshmen enrolled, our overall total number of students appears to be remaining at slightly over 6,400.  We had originally thought that the total would remain stable based on an increased number of transfer students.  In the final count, the increase will probably come from returning students.  That is very good news, and we are hopeful that this is a trend that will continue since it means that we are making progress with our efforts to improve our student retention rate.  We know that improving retention is a necessary step in being able to increase the number of students who graduate from WSSU.  As you know, both of these areas continue to be my top priorities for the university.

Another area that has been receiving a great deal of attention is our strategic plan, “Achieving Academic Distinction: The Plan for Student Success.”

After much discussion and input from the university’s stakeholders, the plan defines the new vision for the university:  “Winston-Salem State University develops graduates of distinction known for leadership and service in their professions and communities.”  This vision certainly supports our heritage of “Enter to learn.  Depart to serve.”  It also sets the stage for our mission to prepare students for success in the twenty-first century.

Over the next several months, you will be hearing much more about the strategic plan as we finalize some of the strategies necessary to support the objectives that will be outlined for each of the goal areas:  academic excellence, student success, community engagement; efficiency, effectiveness and resources; and university culture and pride.  You will also hear me speaking more to the aspirations that I believe are necessary to support our vision of graduating students of distinction.

Finally, I feel I should comment one last time concerning the decision I made to terminate the transition to NCAA Division I for our athletic program.  As you have heard me say, that was the hardest decision I have had to make in my entire academic career.  While I believe WSSU should be a Division I school, my highest priority commitment is to academic excellence.  Our athletes and our teams are extremely important to this university.  They help bind students and alumni to the school and they are wonderful marketers for our name as well.  Yet, I could not continue to allow athletics to siphon resources that we desperately need to support all of our students in their pursuit of higher education.

I also have committed to taking the time necessary to find the right athletic director for our program and to ensure that the new AD is capable of raising the revenue that we need to have the best possible program in Division II.  While I hope to make the selection before Thanksgiving, we must ensure that the person selected can provide the leadership we need for the athletic department and for the university.

In academics and athletics, I believe we are positioning Winston-Salem State for a successful future.<–>

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) announced September 11 that it was informing the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) that the university intended to remain a Division II institution for intercollegiate athletics.   The process to remain in Division II began immediately, but the school will continue to compete in the MEAC at the Division I level through the 2009-2010 season.

At a special called meeting, the university’s Board of Trustees  voted unanimously to support the recommendation of Chancellor Donald J. Reaves to bring to a close the reclassification to Division I process that was begun in 2004.  Reaves praised the vision of former WSSU chancellors who had supported the move to Division I, but stated that “in the final analysis the resources to complete the reclassification simply were not available, currently nor prospectively, in sufficient amounts”.          

“This decision is probably the hardest one I have ever had to make because I believe that WSSU belongs in Division I,” said Chancellor Reaves.  “If there were any reasonable way to complete this transition without diverting resources from competing academic priorities, I would have recommended that we stay the course. 

 ”Over the past two years, we have continued to be concerned that budgetary constraints would not allow us to successfully complete the transition,” Reaves added.  “As the athletics deficits continued to mount, there appeared to be no rational way we could continue the process.   I believe that this is the right decision for WSSU at this point in time given our resources.  Our goal now is to complete the move to NCAA Division II.

“With regard to our students-athletes, some of whom will be affected by this decision, we will be working with each affected-student to ensure that to the extent possible they are held harmless.  Those who may be affected by this move, either through loss of scholarship or the move from Division I athletics, will be given as much guidance and assistance as possible,” Reaves explained.  “While our athletic program is very important to the university, our number one short-term priority is the well-being of our student-athletes.”           

On October 2, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s (CIAA) Board of Directors voted to reinstate WSSU as a member of their Division II Conference effective with the 2010-11 season, based on the university being in compliance with the NCAA Division II requirements.  WSSU was a member of the CIAA for more than 60 years.

“The announcement by the CIAA Board of Directors to reinstate WSSU helps to provide a direction for the future of our athletic program,” said Tonia Walker, interim athletic director.  “Having a home in the CIAA for our athletic department as we move to reclassify the program and realign the department within full compliance with Division II mandates is certainly a positive.  It affords us the opportunity to receive the benefit of a conference schedule, and gives our student-athletes the opportunity to compete for conference and national champions.”

The decision to end the transition to Division I was based on finances.  The spending side of the budget for the WSSU athletics program has grown during the three-year period of 2005-2006 through 2008-2009 from approximately $2.88 million to $5.58 million while total revenue grew from $2.07 million to $3.77 million.  Just for the fiscal year that ended June 30, the athletic program generated a deficit of approximately $1.8 million.   The increase in expenses was directly connected to the transition to Division I which requires that an institution field a minimum of 14 teams and add substantially more resources such as scholarships, coaches and facilities.  

“While our expenses have increased as one would reasonably expect, the budget problem that we have encountered is a revenue-side problem” Reaves added.  “Currently, nearly 80% of total revenue comes from a single source, student fees.  While the university has the second highest athletic fee in the UNC system, our fee is among the lowest in the MEAC where we are competing.  With the size of our student body, it became evident that we were always going to be at a financial disadvantage.”

UNC President Erskine Bowles also expressed support for Chancellor Reaves’ recommendation.  “I know that Chancellor Reaves explored every viable option before reaching this difficult decision, but in the end WSSU – like every other UNC campus – must operate its athletic department on a fiscally responsible basis. And it cannot put the burden of doing so all on the backs of its students.  Particularly in light of current economic conditions, Chancellor Reaves made the hard – but right – choice to put academic priorities ahead of athletic aspirations.”

“Even though the decision has been made to remain at Division II, we will continue to develop options for increasing revenue for our athletic program,” said Reaves.  “We have increased our marketing efforts for the 2009 football season and we hope that will support our efforts to increase ticket sales, sponsorships and other fundraising activities.”

John Payton

John Payton, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, will deliver the J. Alston Atkins Memorial Lecture in Constitutional Law at Winston-Salem State University on Thursday, October 15. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Anderson Conference Center’s Dillard Auditorium.

Payton has defended some of the most important civil rights cases in the U.S. in recent years. As the lead counsel for the University of Michigan, he successfully defended the use of race in the admission process, including the undergraduate school argument before the United States Supreme Court. He was a partner at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr prior to joining the Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Payton has taught at the Georgetown Law Center, Howard University Law School and Harvard Law School, where he had earned his law degree in 1977.

“We have been fortunate to have such impressive civil rights activists participate in the Atkins Law Lecture,” says Donald J. Reaves, WSSU chancellor.  “John Payton joins, among others, Julius Chambers, civil rights activist and former chancellor at N. C. Central University; Lani Guinier, who was the first black woman appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law School; and Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

Payton’s guest appearance for the Atkins Memorial Lecture is sponsored by Kilpatrick Stockton LLP of Winston-Salem. For additional information, contact the WSSU Foundation at mcclarypa@wssu.edu or 336-750-3131.

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) has received a $3 million U.S. Department of Education grant to enhance graduate education in the STEM areas — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — and in allied health fields.

The funding will provide $500,000 in support for each of the next six years.

Dr. Fidelis Ikem

“The dearth of minorities, especially African-Americans, in the STEM areas and allied health fields is well documented with African-Americans comprising fewer than 5 percent of those who hold master’s degrees in biology, as an example,” said Dr. Fidelis M. Ikem, dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the university’s chief research officer, who serves as principal investigator for the program.

“We will use these funds on a variety of activities to increase the university’s ability to produce master’s degree graduates in nursing, physical therapy, computer science and information technology, rehabilitation counseling, occupational therapy, mathematics education and science education from the under-represented groups. The ability to enhance and strengthen our programs will support our efforts to contribute to the national goal of increasing the number of African-American and low-income students who pursue and earn their master’s degrees in one of these disciplines.”

The grant will support additional scholarships, tutoring, student and faculty attendance at professional conferences and faculty development, as well as establish an endowment to ensure continued support when the grant has expired.

“Winston-Salem State has a strong track record of producing underrepresented minority graduates with master’s degrees in these areas,” Ikem added.  ”For the 2008-2009 year, these programs produced 93 graduates with master’s degrees and nearly 60 percent of them were African-Americans.”

The university also recently received a $700,000 grant for the undergraduate program that could amount to nearly $1.75 million over five years.  The funds will be used to implement a new program designed to increase the number of science and mathematics majors who graduate from WSSU.  That grant was from the National Science Foundation.

Winston-Salem State University has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant that could amount to nearly $1.75 million over five years.  The funds were designated to implement a new program, “Raising Achievement in Mathematics and Science (RAMS).”

The initial grant is for nearly $700,000 to cover the costs of the program for the 2009 and 2010 school years.  Contingent upon the availability of funds, the NSF expects to continue support by awarding the project an additional $1,049,900 to carry the program through the 2013 school year.

Dr. Abdul K. Mohammed

“The RAMS program is designed to increase the number of science and mathematics majors who graduate from WSSU,” said Dr. Abdul K. Mohammed, chair of the chemistry department and director of the project.  “It also will support our efforts to increase the number of those students who then enter graduate programs in the STEM areas which includes science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“In addition to providing more scholarship for STEM students, the cornerstone of the program is engaging students in research on and off campus,” Mohammed added.  “We believe the learning through research approach and providing faculty research mentors will increase the retention and graduation rates for these students.”

The RAMS program will also establish strong partnerships with area high schools and community colleges to broaden participation of under-represented groups in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.   Using RAMS as a recruiting tool, the university hopes to create a larger pool of students graduating in these areas.

Dr. Joy Gleason Carew, granddaughter of Winston-Salem State University founder Simon Green Atkins, recently visited WSSU and discussed her recent book, Blacks, Reds, and Russians: Sojourners in Search of the Soviet Promise and shared insights about her travels and Afro-Russian relations.

Dr. Joy Gleason Carew

Carew teaches Pan-African Studies and directs the study abroad program at the University of Louisville. A longtime proponent of international studies, she has led numerous student and professional groups to the U.S.S.R.

Click to here to see video of her lecture.

Dr. Morris Clarke is associate professor of biochemistry.

Dr. Morris Clarke, WSSU associate professor of biochemistry in the Department of Life Sciences, will partner with Clemson and Ohio State University researchers on a three-year, $499,890 funded study of motivational factors of STEM students at historically black colleges and universities. Specifically it will examine pre-college and college factors, institutional characteristics, intellectual orientations, and vocational competence and commitment.

“National data indicate that the number of underrepresented women and men receiving STEM degrees has increased over the years,” says Clarke. “However, there is a general agreement among stakeholders that we need to recruit, retain and graduate more racial and ethnic minority students to enhance America’s competitiveness in the global economy,” Clarke noted.

Other study objectives are to better understand the impact of individual characteristics and institutional environments on the academic motivations and persistence strategies of female and male students majoring in STEM disciplines. The study will determine if the academic environment at HBCUs influences students’ vocational interest and commitment to STEM careers.

Professor Robert Anderson (third from left) visits with the WSSU and UNCC students studying at CELIN/UFPR in Curitiba.

Winston-Salem State University students will have the opportunity to see the colorful historic towns, the famous rainforests, the huge urban center of Rio de Janerio and meet student peers in Brazil, thanks to a federal grant WSSU will share with the University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC) to foster student exchange and faculty collaboration with three Brazilian universities.

WSSU and UNCC will share a four-year, $249,896 U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) grant to foster student exchange and faculty collaboration with three Brazilian universities.

The initiative called “Legacies of the African Diaspora in Brazil and the United States: Persistent Inequalities,” began July 1, 2009 and will end June 30, 2013. FIPSE funds pay for 100 percent of student, faculty and staff mobility, while nongovernmental sources will cover almost all salary and material costs.  The Brazilian counterparts receive federal funds from the Brazilian government’s Office of Higher Education Training to cover their portion of the activities.

Through the consortium grant, WSSU will receive $88,814 over four years, $45,000 of which will go to direct support for student stipends to study in Brazil, approximately three per year in academic years 2010-2011, 2011-2012, and 2012-2013.  WSSU expects to receive an equivalent number of Brazilian exchange students during that period.  Grant funds will also pay for $31,181 in faculty and staff travel, especially for professional development and presentation in capstone conferences.

Dr. Robert Anderson, WSSU associate professor of Portuguese, is the project director and will develop and conduct instruction in Portuguese Language and Brazilian Studies.  WSSU faculty collaborators in the activities are Dr. Bryan M. Jack, assistant professor of African American History, Department of Social Sciences; and Andrea Patterson, instructor of Speech and Cross-Cultural Communication, Department of English and Foreign Languages.  WSSU’s Office of International Programs, under the direction of Dr. Joti Sekhon, will oversee the project and manage student services and advising.

The theme of the four-year project builds on that of a previous FIPSE U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortium that also included the University of South Carolina at Columbia, called “The African Diaspora in Brazil and the United States: A Comparative Approach.” The earlier project ended on Aug. 31, 2009, after exchanging 25 U.S. and 22 Brazilian students and conducting seven conferences or symposia in the two countries.  The last group of students on this exchange included two WSSU and seven UNCC students who completed an intensive five-week course in Portuguese language and Afro-Brazilian history and Culture at the Universidade Federal de Paraná’s Center for Language and Intercultural Studies (CELIN) in Curitiba, Brazil.

In the new FIPSE project, UNCC (U.S. lead) and WSSU are collaborating with the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG, Brazil lead), the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), and the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) in a four-year consortium to develop a student exchange program that will support a shared curriculum situating the United States and Brazil within the Africana Diaspora, examining twentieth- and twenty-first century legacies of slavery and the quest for inclusion.  The project will also bring institutions from both countries together for faculty collaboration.

Student exchanges between the U.S. and Brazilian partner institutions is the primary focus of the project, providing training in the theme of the project in Portuguese and English language respectively.  An intensive pre-semester Portuguese language program for U.S. students is built into the exchange.

The consortium total goal is sending 24 students from each country to spend one or two semesters in the host country.  The target population is advanced undergraduates and, in the U.S., master’s degree students specializing in the social sciences or humanities with an interest in the following areas: African-American/Afro-Brazilian history, literature and culture; comparative race relations; civil rights; history of race and ethnicity; and public policy regarding questions of race.

In both countries, optional internship opportunities in museums and other local cultural institutions can be arranged for participants who have specific professional interests.  In these courses, students examine the legacies of the Africana Diaspora as they manifest themselves outside of their host country and develop language and communication skills.  There is also a required core course in comparative African Diaspora studies. This interdisciplinary seminar includes an Internet-based discussion group, a joint reading list, and student- and partner faculty-led discussion.

A second important focus of the grant activity is faculty interaction between U.S. and Brazilian institutions in the form one or two capstone conferences per year.  These not only support the student exchanges but also foster and enrich the dialogue that is the central desired outcome of the grant proposal.

The goals for the “Persistent Inequalities” consortium are:

- To create a new interdisciplinary, curricular focus at all participating universities that has at its center a core course in comparative twentieth- and twenty-first century African American and Afro-Brazilian Studies, and to train students in this area.

- To foster dialogue among scholars at participating institutions around the topic of legacies of the African Diaspora.

- To enable a total of 48 students to participate in the exchange program for at least a semester.

- To enable students and faculty who participate in the project to attend at least one of the capstone conferences.

- To create a minor in Brazilian Studies at UNCC and to reinforce the existing Portuguese minor and African and African American Studies major programs at WSSU, and to train students in Portuguese language and Brazilian culture.

Rev. Deborah K. Blanks

The Reverend Deborah K. Blanks, associate dean of religious life at Princeton University, opened Winston-Salem State University’s 2009-2010 James A. Gray “Religion and Ethics in 21st Century America” Symposia Series on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 9:45 a.m. in Dillard Auditorium of the Albert H. Anderson Conference Center.

Her lecture was on “Scandalous Grace: The Call of the Kingdom In the 21st Century.”

Blanks is a native of Mount Vernon, NY.  She earned her bachelor of arts degree in political science from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, and a master of divinity degree from the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, GA.

She was among a select group of Navy Chaplains chosen to do post- graduate study during the 1989-90 academic year, and earned her master of theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ. For ten years Blanks served as an active duty United States Navy Chaplain. She was featured in Ebony and Jet magazines during her time in the Navy. Blanks was honorably discharged from the United States Naval Reserves at the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

Upon her return to the civilian world, Blanks accepted the position of assistant university chaplain at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Currently, she serves as associate dean of religious life at Princeton University. The scope of her work is liturgical, pastoral and sacramental. She serves as “pastor” to faculty, administrators, students and staff.

In April 2003, she was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College in Atlanta. In the October 2005 edition of Ebony magazine, Blanks was spotlighted as one of the eight African-American chaplains serving at Ivy League institutions. She is an ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and a member of the New Jersey Annual Conference.

As a soror of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Rev. Blanks is an integral part of many charitable initiatives. Chaplain Blanks served as president of the Association for College and University Religious Affairs, a national collegium of deans of religious life, chaplains, and directors and coordinators of religious affairs.

WSSU’s “Religion and Ethics in 21st Century America” lecturers will all speak at 9:45 a.m. in Dillard Auditorium.   Other noted lecturers in the series include:

• Reverend Dr. William C. Turner, Jr., associate professor for the practice of homiletics at Duke University, on Thursday, Nov. 12;
• Reverend Dr. Noel L. Erskine, professor of theology and ethics at the Chandler School of Theology at Emory University, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010; and,
• Reverend Lawrence E. Aker, III, senior pastor of the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY, Thursday, April 1, 2010.

Sponsored by the James A. Gray Endowment and Winston-Salem State University, the lecture series is designed to spark thought-provoking discussion about some of the most pressing moral and ethical considerations of our time.  Dr. Cedric S. Rodney is James A. Gray Professor of Religion and Ethics at WSSU and the program coordinator. For more information about the lecture series, contact Dr. Rodney at 336-750-2479 or e-mail him at rodneycs@wssu.edu.

The Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC) has donated a $30,000 gift to Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) for scholarships.

Clark Gibson presents check to Chancellor Reaves.

IIANC Board member Clark Gibson, president of Jones & Peacock, Inc., Insurance Agency of High Point, NC, presented the check on September 1.  The scholarship will help support the academic pursuits of several deserving WSSU students, according to university officials.  The check was presented to WSSU Chancellor Donald J. Reaves and Michelle Cook, WSSU vice chancellor for advancement.

“We are pleased to receive this donation which we will put to good use helping to change the lives of qualified young people,” Reaves said.

“We are a people business and one of the greatest things we can do is give back to the communities where we live and work,” said Gibson. “There are young people who will be superstars, and this scholarship will allow those who have everything but the funds to finish college to become superstars.”

The IIANC scholarship at WSSU was established in 2000 with a $50,000 initial contribution.  The gift was followed by $10,000 in 2003 and $10,000 in 2005.  The current contribution of $30,000 finalizes IIANC’s commitment to give $100,000 to each school in the UNC system.

IIANC is a professional trade association representing nearly 1000 independent insurance agencies and branches across North Carolina.  The mission of IIANC is to advocate for independent insurance agents and to satisfy the business and professional needs of its members.

Dr. Robert A. Herring III

to Dr. Robert A. Herring III, professor of Management, who has been actively involved in professional development activities over the summer.  His activities have included:

- running of the “Organizational Behavior Teaching Group” 2009, June 7-10, a personal and professional development pre-conference activity. Herring planned and organized the activity during the preceding academic year.

- participation in the Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference for Management Educators -2009, which took place June 10-13 at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. With colleague M. Eileen Higgins of Frostburg State University, he presented a session entitled: Ice-breaking or time-wasting? The effective use of “ice-breakers” in class.

Herring and professor M. Eileen Higgins

Icebreaker session in action

- participation along with Dr. Nikolaos Karagiannis in Faculty Development in International Business (FDIB) seminars at the University of Memphis Center for International Business, Education, and Research June 18-21. Herring and Karagiannis represented the WSSU School of Business and Economics in the third year of a three -year grant for faculty of HBCU’s to attend the FDIB’s.

- attendance at the initial seminar of the newly-formed organization “WNC Lean,” a newly-formed organization to promote “lean” business practices in western North Carolina on July 14 in Cherokee, NC.  Lean business and management practices are one of the topics in the course Herring teaches at WSSU, “Management and Control of Quality.”

Delores Turner

to Delores K. Turner, special assistant to the Chancellor, who recently earned certification as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR).

The certification, awarded by the HR Certification Institute, signifies that Turner possesses the theoretical knowledge and practical experience in human resource management necessary to pass a rigorous examination demonstrating a mastery of the body of knowledge in the field.

To become certified, an applicant must pass a comprehensive examination and demonstrate a strong background of professional human resource experience.

The HR Certification Institute is the credentialing body for human resource professionals and is affiliated with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest organization dedicated exclusively to the human resource profession. The Institute’s purpose is to promote the establishment of professional standards and to recognize professionals who meet those standards.

A retired cardiologist and former NFL quarterback and a retired NFL player turned motivational speaker will both deliver the Founder’s Day Convocation address Oct. 30 at 9:45 a.m. in Kenneth R. Williams Auditorium.

Dr. Archie Roberts

is founder of the nonprofit Living Heart Foundation. He is also a co-director of the NFL Player Care Foundation Cardiovascular Testing Program.

Leonard Wheeler

The entire community is invited to join Winston-Salem State University in “Celebrating the Mighty Ram Tradition” Homecoming 2009 during a week-long schedule of festivities Oct. 24-31.

The celebration will include the Founder’s Day keynote address, musical, theatrical, and comedic performances, coronations, a parade, the game between the Rams and the Pirates of Hampton University at Bowman Gray Stadium, after parties and dances. Click here to see more information about homecoming activities.