Faculty and Staff Notes

Action Needed to Keep Current Level of Health Insurance

Your State Health Plan benefits will decrease in July unless you act during the enrollment period from March 15 to April 9. All health plan members will automatically be moved from the 80/20 level of benefits to the 70/30 level as part of changes to the State Health Plan that take effect July 1. To stay at the 80/20 level, you will need to complete an online attestation about tobacco use. The attestation form states that you and your covered dependents do not use tobacco or that those who do are enrolled in a qualified tobacco cessation program.

The university Benefits Office will be providing instructions and offering a series of information sessions on campus. Updates will be posted to the Benefits page at http://www.fis.ncsu.edu/hr/benefits, beginning Monday, March 1. The online enrollment forms will be available on Monday, March 15, the first day of the enrollment period.

Visit Graduate Student Research Symposium

This year’s Graduate Student  Research Symposium features almost 200 poster presentations highlighting work in 60 graduate programs across campus. Faculty and staff are invited to attend and to encourage undergraduate students to visit the symposium, which will be held from 1 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, in the McKimmon Center. Questions? Send an e-mail to to David Shafer at david_shafer@ncsu.edu. You can also view a list of all participating grad students' abstracts.

Student Publications Honored

Three of NC State’s student media outlets placed in the top three in the Best of Show competition at the North Carolina College Media Association’s third annual convention.

In the first year of statewide competition, Agromeck, NC State’s yearbook, placed first in its category. The student newspaper’s Web site, technicianonline.com, tied for first with dailytarheel.com in the online news competition. The printed Technician placed third in the large schools newspaper category. Windhover, the campus literary and arts magazine, was second. In addition, 18 individual students received awards for their work. To view a list, visit http://ncsu.edu/sma.

Marcy Engler comes to NC State after 10 years at Yale.

Engler Named CHASS Development Director

Marcy Engler has been named executive director of development for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, effective May 1. In her new role at NC State, she will work with volunteer, college and university leaders to plan, implement and oversee a long-range development program to support the vision and funding priorities of the college. 

Engler comes to NC State from Yale University, where she serves as associate director of major gifts. Most recently, she supervised a team of 14 volunteers and managed relationships with 250 major gift prospects within Yale’s current $3.5 billion capital campaign framework. She also cultivated and solicited six- and seven-figure gifts, resulting in new donations of more than $25.5 million. She was responsible for advancing one of Yale’s top donor relationships from initial cultivation through an outright $50 million donation that established the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs. Engler holds an M.B.A. from Yale and graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University, where she earned an undergraduate degree in English. 

Volunteers Needed

NC State faculty, staff and students are invited to represent NC Cooperative Extension by volunteering to answer phones for UNC-TV’s annual fundraiser, Festival, this Saturday, Feb. 27, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Extension has committed to providing 20 volunteers on that day and still needs a few more.

Volunteers will answer incoming calls and accept pledges live in UNC-TV’s studio, located at 10 T.W. Alexander Drive in Research Triangle Park. Friends and family are welcome to volunteer as well. All volunteers must be at least 16. Refreshments and lunch will be provided. For more information or to volunteer, contact Sonya Williams Harris in Communication Services by Friday at 513-3170 or sonya_harris@ncsu.edu.

Win prizes and update your benefits March 17 during Employee Appreciation Day at the Talley Student Center.

Employee Appreciation Day Set for March 17

Mark your calendars for Employee Appreciation Day, March 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Talley Student Center. The day will feature lots of fun and a convenient opportunity to take care of your benefits updates.

Enjoy carnival games, karaoke, popcorn, musical chairs, ice cream and much more. There’s a team trivia contest, so be sure to register your team of three online. If you don’t have a team, simply submit your name and the folks in Benefits will find some teammates for you. Enjoy lunch for $1 (your choice of a beef or bean burrito and a canned soft drink or two beef soft tacos and a canned drink).

Visit annual enrollment headquarters on the second floor of Talley to make your benefits selections on site and win prizes. You will also learn more about the State Health Plan wellness initiative at 11 a.m.

NC State joins Apple iPhone Developer Program

NC State is now officially part of the Apple iPhone Developer Program, which allows the university to develop, test and distribute applications for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch from within Apple’s App Store. A campus committee is currently being formed to manage NC State’s mobile presence. In the meantime, OIT Outreach Technology will review applications and manage the program. For more information, contact the NC State Help Desk at 515-4357 or via e-mail at help@ncsu.edu.

Phi Kappa Phi Announces Spring Nomination Criteria

NC State’s chapter of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, which recognizes and promotes academic achievement in all disciplines for undergraduate and graduate students, has announced its academic criteria for spring nominations.

• Seniors: top 10 percent of class, 3.798 GPA
• Juniors: top 7.5 percent of class, 3.850 GPA; both classes with at least 45 NCSU hours
• Graduate students: top 10 percent of class, minimum of 18 letter-graded NCSU graduate hours, no “U” grades. 4.0 GPA was the top 10 percent cutoff.
• D.V.M. students: fourth  year, top 10 percent of class, 3.879 GPA; third year, top 7.5 percent, 3.971 GPA

Deans have received lists of eligible students, and students have been invited to apply for membership. If you are aware of any eligible undergraduates who are not already members and have not been invited, contact Grace Finkle at 513-1846 or glfinkle@gw.fis.ncsu.edu, or Kathy Brown at kathy_brown@ncsu.edu. For graduate students, contact David Shafer at david_shafer@ncsu.edu.

State Tax Tips

Working on your taxes? Here are some tips on filing your state return from experts with the North Carolina Department of Revenue. Learn about electronic filing, the Earned Income Credit and more. Questions? Call the toll-free taxpayer assistance line at 877-252-3052.

Waschka’s film premieres in U.S. and Australia

Horizons, composer Rodney Waschka’s film collaboration with director Zlatko Cosic received its world premiere screening at the Macon Film Festival in February and was selected as a prize winner in the “Experimental” category. Horizons now goes down under where it will have its Australian premiere as an official selection of the Byron Bay International Film Festival, March 5-13.

Horizons is an experimental film inspired by a driving shot filmed in New Mexico, and the music composition, Horizons, by Waschka. The challenge was to explore the possibilities of a simple shot in order to make a complex video piece. The film uses the idea of a puzzle, assembling the pieces of an image, with the use of over one thousand effects and multiple layers. The visuals follow the rhythms and articulations of the music, typically changing every four to eight frames, creating a synchronization between the images and the sound. The film develops a unique sense of motion as the visuals dance.

Horizons was given a preview screening at the Association of Moving Image Archivist (AMIA) conference, St. Louis Cinema on the Edge, in St. Louis las November.

Waschka is a professor of arts studies in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies.

In Memoriam: Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson

Maria Ragland Davis (’85 M.S., ’92 Ph.D.) and Adriel Johnson (’89 Ph.D.), both of Huntsville, Ala., were killed Feb. 12,  in a shooting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville (UAH). A breast cancer survivor, Davis was an assistant professor of biology who studied molecular biology and plant genetics. She had been at UAH since 2002. “Dr. Davis served as a source of inspiration to so many of us and will always be my role model,” UAH graduate student Talitha Caudle told The Huntsville Times.

Johnson was an associate professor of biology who conducted research in cell biology and nutritional physiology. A member of the UAH faculty since 1989, he worked to recruit minority students to the university. He was an active leader in the Boy Scouts and won the Silver Beaver, the highest volunteer award the organization offers.

The Davis family has requested scholarship donations in her memory to NC State’s A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship. Donations may be sent to Jason Gipe, Alumni Affairs, Campus Box 7503, Raleigh, NC 27695-7503. Checks should be made payable to the NC State Alumni Association. Gipe can be contacted at 515-0519 or jason_gipe@ncsu.edu. Credit card gifts can be made through the "giving" link at www.ncsu.edu. Select "other" for gift and specify the A.M. Witherspoon Graduate Scholarship. There is a space to note that the gift is in the memory of Maria Ragland Davis.