Faculty and Staff Notes

WolfWheels, a campus bike rental program scheduled to begin March 29, was cited in the ranking.

 

NC State Named Top 5 Green School in Southeast

NC State University has been named one of the Top 5 Greenest Schools in the Southeast by Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine. Backed by achievements in energy, transportation and academic programs, NC State’s balanced approach to sustainability helped garner the No. 4 ranking, published in the March issue.

Alternative transportation options were specifically lauded, including free commuting options like the GoPass that is available to all faculty, staff and students for use on the regional bus system, as well as WolfWheels, a bicycle-rental program launching March 29.

NC State scored high for infrastructure improvements, such as converting Cates Steam Plant into a co-generation facility. The combined heat and power plant is expected to provide 11 megawatts of power and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 13 percent. Other recent improvements, such as retrofits to make Bragaw the nation's largest residence hall with LED lighting, highlight NC State’s green commitment. The university’s comprehensive approach to sustainability includes an interdisciplinary agroecology minor and environmental policy classes.

Time to Act: Update Your Benefits Online

To maintain health insurance at the 80/20 level of benefits, employees must act during the annual enrollment period, which began Monday, March 15, and ends Friday, April 9. The Benefits Office has created an online guide to assist employees with the State Health Plan annual enrollment Web site. After reviewing the instructions, employees can access the online enrollment site in one of three ways:

• Through the Benefits site, which provides additional information
• Through MyPack Portal. The employee ID number will be available after log in.
• Directly at https://ncsubenefits.hrintouch.com 

Did you miss the signup help during Employee Appreciation Day? You can still have your questions answered at open meetings March 31 and April 1.

Two open meetings about benefits changes are scheduled:

• Wednesday, March 31, noon, D.H. Hill Library, Faculty Senate Room
• Thursday, April 1, Talley Student Center, Room 3118

For meeting details, contact Joe Williams, assistant director of university benefits, at 515-4318 or joe_williams@ncsu.edu.

What’s Happening with Technician?

Students and former writers for Technician, NC State’s student newspaper for 90 years, are working together to keep the presses rolling. Check the Web site for updates or to share ideas: http://savetechnician.com.

Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less Returns in April

If you’ve been hibernating this winter, now is the time to get ready to look and feel your best by summer. The Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less program will provide you with do-it-yourself tips to eating healthier and living more mindfully. Take control of the new you by committing to the lifestyle changes taught in this 15-week course, beginning in late April. The program will be offered many different days across campus, making it convenient for you! Register now for only $30. Sign up online.

If you work outside of Wake County and would like to bring the Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less Program to your worksite please contact Surabhi.Aggarwal@dhhs.nc.gov. Contact and additional information about programs throughout the state can be found online at: www.EatSmartMoveMoreNC.com.

Roger Manley will begin work  as director of the Gregg Museum on June 1.

New Gregg Director Announced

Roger Manley has been appointed as the new director of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design, effective June 1. Manley has worked nationally and internationally as a curator, film director, photographer, folklorist and writer, with interests ranging from outsider artists and tribal peoples, to fairy tales and gardens.

Manley, who served as the curator for the Gregg Museum in the 1990s, has worked as a curator with more than 40 other institutions, including the Asheville Art Museum, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Center on Contemporary Art/Seattle, Collection de l’Art Brut in Switzerland, Columbia Museums of Art & Science, Duke University, Green Hill Center for NC Art, Illinois State Museum, Intuit/Chicago and NC Museum of Art.

As a photographer, filmmaker and writer, Manley received the National Endowment for the Arts Artists Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Humanities Scholars Fellowship, along with many other fellowships. His feature documentary film Mana—beyond belief premiered at Lincoln Center in New York in 2005 and has won awards at several international film festivals.