To meet the needs of its undergraduate students, NCSU must aspire to excellence in undergraduate education. The conclusion of this report is that NCSU's undergraduate programs are substantially in compliance with the criteria for accreditation of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. If NCSU is to fulfill its mission in undergraduate education and achieve recognition for the preeminence of it undergraduate programs, however, it must measure itself against the highest standards and aspirations to excellence and devote further attention to several areas of institutional activity.
First, attention must be paid at the highest levels to the quality of instruction at NCSU, the extent of teaching by non-tenure-track faculty, the adequacy of classrooms and laboratories, the extent of library holdings and student services, the availability of computer and other support facilities and programs, and the maintenance of appropriate class size and sufficient numbers of course sections, especially at the freshman level and at nontraditional class hours.
Second, NCSU's recruiting and admissions literature should stress the rigor of NCSU's programs and the importance of adequate preparation at the high school level. The admissions process and administrative structures for undergraduate students should be revised to promote diversity among the student body and to encourage qualified students not ready to commit to a major to attend NCSU.
Third, teaching and learning should be enhanced through the development of centers for developing and evaluating teaching skills, and for enhancing students' skills in writing and other forms of communication, and through creation of more opportunities for sharing instructional ideas among faculty and students across departments, disciplines, and colleges.
Fourth, NCSU should recognize the role of all disciplines and faculty members in the fulfilling its institutional mission. As a land-grant university, NCSU shares a proud heritage of leadership in higher education. The land-grant's distinct combination of basic and applied programs within a framework of disciplinary comprehensiveness and a broad concern for public service needs to be more fully understood and appreciated.
Fifth, NCSU should support, evaluate, and reward faculty and staff who are involved in advising. It is critical to recognize that "advising" goes well beyond course selection to include support for undergraduates on an individual basis. Such support might include planning for professional development, support for changing majors, and learning effective means of communicating with and supporting nontraditional and minority students.
Finally, to be able to meet the intellectual needs of an increasingly diverse student body and to complement strengths in applied and professional disciplines, NCSU should continue to develop its undergraduate programs. Such development should maintain NCSU's strengths in technical and applied disciplines while strengthening current programs and seeking appropriate new programs in the humanities, social sciences, the basic natural sciences, and the fine arts. It should take advantage of the special setting of a research university and integrate the quest for new knowledge and deeper understanding into an innovative model for undergraduate curricular development.
North Carolina State University has the potential to emerge as a national model for a balanced blend of teaching and research. Such a model must recognize that successful research and scholarship, supported by external agencies, is expected of the faculty of a Research I institution. But a balanced model of teaching and research would not base its faculty reward system solely on effectiveness in research, grant acquisition, and scholarship. To address the quality of all our efforts, a balanced model of teaching and research would recognize that quality teaching takes time; that "in class" effort, done well, is scholarship of the highest form; that the encouragement and motivation of our large undergraduate and graduate student body has a great economic impact; and that the true motivation and successful instruction of undergraduate and graduate classes, whether large or small, whether lecture, laboratory, or seminar, is truly important.
As North Carolina State University begins its second century of service, it needs to renew its commitment to its undergraduate program. Making higher education more available to undergraduates is the heart of the mission of a land-grant university. The NCSU faculty and administration must join in making a firm and unwavering commitment to undergraduate educationa renewed effort to create an undergraduate education program to rival the best at public and private institutions nationwide. The basis of our aspiration to recognition during the next century as a preeminent university in the land-grant tradition must be the achievement of excellence in undergraduate education, rejuvenated through innovation that transforms human understanding.
