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Annual Report

North Carolina State University

Office of General Counsel

Annual Report 2010-2011

June 17, 2011

A.  Overview

The 2010-11 year was a turning point in the provision of legal services at NC State. The OGC transformed itself in both substance and style, and dramatically shifted its culture to place a renewed emphasis on our clients and their needs.  We are responsive and high functioning, and have garnered the trust of senior leadership.

Five people were hired this fiscal year for the following positions: University Records Officer, Paralegal, Assistant General Counsel, Associate General Counsel for Business Ventures, and Deputy General Counsel. The new hires combined with the current employees have turned us into a dynamic legal team.

We held two office retreats that have positively impacted our ability to work together for the benefit of our clients. We also took several steps to enhance our client relationships both formally and informally.

First, we revised our mission statement, which is prominently displayed on our office website and reads as follows:

We are a dedicated team of legal advisors, counselors, and professional staff committed to serving our clients by facilitating creative, collaborative solutions. We offer high quality advice to help our clients incorporate relevant legal principles into their daily decision making and further the university’s goals and initiatives. We counsel the university community on legal and risk management matters in a collegial, responsive manner. Our passion is service; our standard is excellence.

Second, we developed a program called “Run with the Pack” in which we visit a client’s office or program once a month to learn about their operations. Since January, we have visited the College of Textiles, the Nuclear Reactor, Greek Village, the Bell Tower and the JC Raulston Arboretum. 

Third, learning from our legal colleagues at Catholic University of America, we hosted an open house (aka “Pie Day”), and provided homemade pies with the hope of building more camaraderie with our primary clients.  We intend to make Pie Day an annual OGC tradition.

Fourth, we conducted and hosted 44 workshops or presentations on discrete legal topics that reached a total of 855 employees. One of the most notable forums from this year was the Enrollment Management and Services (EMAS) Spring Forum entitled “Legal Framework: Diversity in Student Body Admissions and Scholarships post Grutter and Gratz.” 

Finally, we developed and refreshed our electronic legal resources including an FAQ section and more in depth legal topics on our website:  http://www.ncsu.edu/general_counsel/

B.  OGC’s legal practice – by the numbers

The majority of OGC’s legal practice involves advising and representing clients on specific matters.  The following sections provide a graphical summary of the breadth and depth of many of the matters we helped our clients with this year.

1. Litigation

                           

    

2. Administrative Proceedings

 

    

3. Internal Grievances

 

   

4. Transactional Services

5. Public Record Requests

C.  Helping NC State meet its strategic goals

The following examples illustrate the manner in which OGC is helping NC State meet its strategic goals.

1. Enhance the success of our students through educational innovation

a. OGC assisted in the negotiation of an  agreement with the Contemporary Art Foundation, Inc., in which University employees and its College of Design (COD) students will manage Raleigh’s new Contemporary Art Museum (CAM).  Through this relationship, COD students will be able to take classes and gain valuable knowledge of the day-to-day business operations of a museum.  COD students will have the rare opportunity of directly applying what they learn in the classroom while gaining valuable hands-on experience in running a museum.

b. OGC helped finalize an agreement with SKEMA, a French business school, to allow this international institution to operate classes in the U.S. on Centennial Campus.  This provides an international component to NC State locally.

c. OGC aided NC State’s Professional Masters Program, in collaboration with UNC General Administration, in developing an e-mentoring program that will permit professional masters students to connect to and receive advice directly from leaders in their industry.

2. Enhance scholarship and research by investing in faculty infrastructure

a. OGC partnered with other offices on campus to provide workshop opportunities on a range of topics designed to equip Department Heads with tools to enhance faculty performance and improve the work environment within departments.

b. OGC assisted several search committees in utilizing a holistic approach to recruit campus administrators who can contribute on an academic level and who are also great leaders and managers of people.

c. OGC drafted new template agreements for use by the Office of Technology Transfer when licensing plant varieties, plant patents or proprietary plant germplasm to the private sector.  These new templates will improve processing time, decrease the administrative burden for faculty, and foster increased cooperation and innovation by and between NC State and the private sector.

3. Enhance interdisciplinary scholarship to address the grand challenges of society

a. OGC helped develop partnerships with the Nature Research Center to bring top scientists to Raleigh to work at the state museum in order to develop research collaborations with our faculty in PAMS, CNR and CHASS.

b. OGC assisted in facilitating NC State’s collaboration with Wake County Schools to create an Early College High School focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (“STEM”), in which some high school students will soon be able to enroll and receive college credit for courses taken on NC State’s campus.

4. Enhance organizational excellence by creating a culture of constant improvement

a. OGC played a leading role in reducing bureaucracy in the university policy system by working collaboratively with executive officers to revise and delete University Policies, Regulations and Rules (“PRRs”) while maintaining legal compliance and internal controls.  This project resulted in 51 PRRs being repealed, 68 PRRs being revised and 10 PRRs being developed.

b. OGC significantly enhanced NC State’s ability to handle public records requests efficiently and effectively by creating a new University Records Officer (“URO”)  position.  Since joining the office in July 2010, the URO has helped campus units process a record number of public record requests (see Section B.5. above) , and spearheaded initiatives related to archiving of emails and updating record retention procedures.

5. Enhance local and global engagement through focused strategic partnerships

a. OGC provided assistance to NC State’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) Global University Partnership Network in negotiating a number of agreements with foreign universities.   These collaborations permit NC State students the unique experience of studying abroad, and enhance the ability of NC State faculty to conduct research on a global scale.

b. OGC helped the Office of Technology Transfer conclude a major software license, distribution, and development agreement with ideacode, Inc., a Raleigh-based start-up company.   This agreement will make NC State’s Architectural, Engineering and Real Estate System (a university invention known as “AERES”) available to other universities nationwide, provide a financial return to NC State, and  contribute to the economic development of the State of North Carolina.

c. OGC helped to negotiate a guaranteed energy performance contract with Ameresco, a private company, which will save NC State $60 million over 20 years.  This is the largest such contract in the state to date.

d. OGC provided extensive  assistance to the Division of Finance and Business and other clients with respect to the negotiation of complex and novel ground lease transactions involving the construction of more than 250,000 square feet of private improvements valued at approximately $90,000,000 on the phased, mixed-use development of Centennial Campus.