The Counseling Center provides 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-per-year emergency walk-in and on-call service to all students, and an appointment system for students needing assistance with a wide range of issues such as depression, sexual assault, stress, childhood abuse, alcohol and drug problems, suicide attempts, and a wide range of psychological or psychiatric disabilities. Although most students who use psychiatric evaluation, medication, or hospitalization services of the Counseling Center do so during regular work hours, during the 1991-92 academic year, 128 hours of on-call coverage per week were put in by the Counseling Center staff for emergency-crisis work. During office hours, there were over 800 psychiatric evaluations. The Counseling Center provides psychiatric evaluation to identify longer-term psychiatric illnesses, and networks with area mental-health-care providers to help students get additional assistance. Group counseling sessions are also available.
The Counseling Center evaluates students who need vocational and academic assessment , and recommends appropriate services and resources. This process is facilitated by a testing and computer guidance process, which assesses interests, values, and personality factors. The vocational guidance services of the Counseling Center are designed to complement the more general services provided by freshman orientation and Career Planning and Placement. Services are closely linked with follow-up services of Career Planning and Placement.
Department EPA employees SPA employees----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Air Force ROTC 0.00* 2.00
Army ROTC 0.00* 0.00
Career Planning and Placement 6.00 4.00
Counseling Center 10.00 2.00
Handicapped Student Services 2.00 1.00
Financial Aid 10.00 10.50
Associate Vice Chancellors 3.00 1.75
Vice Chancellor's Office 1.00 2.00
International Student Office 2.00 1.00
Merit Awards Program 1.00 1.00
Music Department 9.00 2.00
Navy ROTC 0.00* 1.00
Registration and Records 4.50 19.50
Student Development 7.00 2.00
African American Student Affairs 2.00 1.00
Student Publications 2.00 2.00
Study Abroad 1.00 1.00
Upward Bound 3.00 1.00
Talent Search 4.00 1.00
Housing and Residence Life 19.00 27.50
Health Services & Education Programs 13.00 46.75
Student Center 20.00 36.00
University Dining 3.00 125.00
Totals 122.50 291.00
* Military personnel are not paid through the University. There are 24 military personnel operating these programs: eleven Army, seven Air Force, and six Navy.
Degree Frequency Percent Cumulative Cumulativefrequency percent ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bachelor 26 26.3% 26 26.3%
Doctoral 11 11.1% 37 37.4%
Master 52 52.5% 89 89.9%
Other 1 1.0% 90 90.9%
First professional 9 9.1% 99 100.0%
The Counseling Center also provides evaluation and consultation to University administrators who need to make decisions concerning student behavior. For example, the center assists colleges at NCSU in making academic decisions about students who appear to have medical or psychiatric problems. When initiated by the colleges, the center coordinates procedures necessary for withdrawal from NCSU. The center also, when requested by a college, evaluates students who are requesting course drops on medical or psychological grounds.
The Counseling Center administratively houses and supports Handicapped Student Services. The mission of the Handicapped Student Services Office is to identify students with disabilities and to provide quality services that will enable them to compete equally with other students at NCSU. The learning disability coordinator provides services and advising to students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. The coordinator of handicapped student services provides services to students with other disabilities such as mobility, hearing, visual, or other health-related problems. The center evaluates off-campus tests for learning disabilities in order to place students in the learning-disabilities program. Support is also provided to students suddenly or severely disabled.
Handicapped Student Services at NCSU steers students into special programs, providing assistance with physical and academic needs. For the past few years, this program has served approximately 250 students per year. Some of the most frequently used services include transportation (van); tutors (2,141 hours provided in 1991-92); readers (792 hours of taping in 1991-92); note taking; and issuance of elevator keys, hearing packets, and interpreters.
The Counseling Center also provides psychological educational programs and classes for NCSU students, staff and faculty. For example, staff members teach courses and provide psychological educational programming for other Student Affairs departments.
Because Counseling Center services are free and confidential, staff members must have a broad base of knowledge in psychology and counseling, and their levels of education and experience must meet current legal liability and profession standards. The center is currently staffed by a director, associate director, and eight counselors or psychologists. The director, associate director, and counselors are Licensed Psychologists or Licensed Psychological Associates and hold either a Ph.D. or master's degree. Also housed under the Counseling Center are the coordinator of disabled-student services and the coordinator of learning-disability services, who both hold M.Ed. degrees [5.5.1.5].
Approximately one third of all students seek counseling while at NCSU. In a 1985 and 1990 study of cohorts, it was found that about half of the students who came to the Counseling Center were seen only once any given year. Although academic advising is not performed by the Counseling Center, 94 percent of students in the 1985 and 1990 cohorts who visited the center reported that they were in academic difficulty.
Counseling services are evaluated through a computerized evaluation form given to students by counselors. The form asks respondents to identify whether the session was walk-in or scheduled and to list the number of sessions to date. In addition, respondents evaluate how counseling has helped their academic performance, self-understanding, personal growth, and clarification of problems. A series of questions also ask respondents to evaluate counselors and support staff. This computerized evaluation, initiated only recently, is providing much needed feedback on services rendered. Student ratings indicate that the Counseling Center is doing a good job and is meeting the needs of students.
Vocational counseling is evaluated before and after the computerized-guidance segment. Results have shown that the program helps to identify specific career directions for students to explore and to clarify things they need to consider in a good decision-making process.
On the self-study survey distributed to undergraduate and graduate students, 78 and 83 percent, respectively, had no opinion of the Counseling Center. However, of students rating the service, less than 20 percent of each group gave the Counseling Center a negative rating (see figures 10.2 and 10.3). Thus, among students aware of the Counseling Center's work, satisfaction is high.
The Counseling Center is limited in its ability to deliver high-quality service to NCSU students because it has relatively few counselors, as compared to national standards. The current ratio of counselors to students at NCSU is approximately 1 to 2,700, nearly 1,000 more than the national average of 1 to 1,765. Counselors report that they spend at least two thirds of their time in direct student counseling and related telephone calls or letter writing. This leaves little time available for other services (administrative responsibilities, student programming, and continuing education).
Although there have been significant increases in NCSU's student population since 1988, there have been no new staff positions in the Counseling Center. This has occurred at a time when the seriousness of underlying student problems seems to be increasing and there is a decrease in the availability of long-term resources for help in the off-campus community [5.5.1.2]. NCSU has begun to develop a new facility that will provide badly needed new space for the Counseling Center. This is scheduled to be completed in spring 1996. Given the disparity between NCSU's ratio of counselors to students and the national average for this figure, there may also be a need for additional counselors.
Recommendation 10.1: NCSU should add additional counselors, office space, and support staff to its Counseling Center in order to bring NCSU's services closer to the national average.
Some faculty distrust the current practice in the Counseling Center that permits counselors to withdraw students from courses retroactively. For example, if a student makes an F in a course, the Counseling Center can retroactively withdraw the student from the University, thus nullifying the F grade and permitting the student to avoid the consequences of his action. This is done without the faculty member's knowledge. There are occasions when the faculty feel that this has sent the wrong message to some students.
Recommendation 10.2: NCSU should review the policy that allows Counseling Center staff to withdraw students retroactively to ensure that appropriate academic standards are
maintained.
The Career Planning and Placement Center provides counseling both on an individual and a group basis. Access to employers is maintained through referrals, on-campus interviews, job listings, and internship information. The center also maintains information resources on careers, employers, the job market, and job-search strategies, which it delivers through workshops, seminars, and presentations to classes, professional associations, student organizations, and residence halls.
The center provides employers with opportunities to recruit students through on-campus interviews and serves as a referral service, matching resumes and job listings. To assist employers in planning recruiting activities, the center provides profiles of NCSU students (including demographics) and information about curricula and course content.
The Career Planning and Placement Center also serves as a resource to academic departments at NCSU. The center facilitates dialogue between academic units and employers, provides units with information on employment trends and placement statistics, and coordinates classroom presentations. By providing software for career direction, the center also participates in the First Year Experience. Center staff present material and assign and evaluate student projects in three courses: Accounting 300 (The Accounting Profession), Agriculture and Life Science 103 (Introductory Topics in the Agricultural and Life Sciences), and Communication 190 (Introduction to Communications).
During the 1992-93 academic year, the center initiated a program through which it provides information on NCSU alumni to employers who are seeking individuals with experience. Every two weeks a newsletter with over fifty opportunities is sent to participating alumni. Plans are in place to coordinate with other universities in the Southeast to network employment requests and available alumni.
In addition to the director, and associate and assistant directors, the staff of the Career Planning and Placement Center consists of three full-time counselors, one half-time professional who works with alumni, and one half-time professional who coordinates workshops. All professionals have M.Ed. degrees [5.5.1.5].
The center provides all information free to students. A placement manual is distributed during Senior Orientation, which is held during fall and spring semesters. This manual is also available upon request. A 24-hour-a-day telephonic information service, the Career Line, provides information on interview schedules, employers' pre-screen lists, workshop lists, and other special events.
During fall 1992 the Career Planning and Placement Center organized and held 4,118 (3,893 undergraduate) interviews. A total of 905 students attended workshops sponsored by the center; this, combined with 193 students served through Communication 190, and 426 served through Agriculture and Life Sciences 103, brings the total to 1,201 students served through workshops or classes. Also during fall 1992, 1,192 seniors registered with the center.
The Career Planning and Placement Center evaluates its services in several ways. Graduating seniors are surveyed every year. On February 1, 1993, student evaluations of workshops and individual counseling were computerized. In addition, employers who use the services provide two kinds of evaluations. First, they evaluate the staff and general operating procedures. Second, they evaluate NCSU students with particular regard to preparation, communication, etc. Paraprofessionals who conduct workshops are continually trained and evaluated. Results from a spring 1993 evaluation, for example, revealed scores from 3.2 to 4.4 (1 = poor, 3 = average, 5 = excellent) averaged across eight workshop leaders. Scores for leaders ranged from 3.2 to 4.7.
Feedback is also garnered from academic units that use services provided by the Career Planning and Placement Center. In particular, classes in which staff participate are evaluated by students.
Information gathered in the various evaluations is used to develop annual goals and objectives [5.5.1.1]. The center is currently planning to use electronic technology to improve communication capabilities with their major constituencies (students, employers, and academic units) (e.g., becoming part of the local area network). For example, this system would allow remote interview sign-ups, job listings, transmission of career-development information, etc. Funding for software and hardware is needed to complete these goals.
The Career Planning and Placement Center has been successful in providing services geared to enhance career development and career education. Information from undergraduate and graduate students surveyed indicated 61 percent and 65 percent, respectively, had no opinion of services offered by the center. However, of those who rated the services, over 70 percent were satisfied with the services (figures 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3). Enhancement of electronic capabilities, particularly at multiple locations on the campus is the best avenue to ensure further improvement of services provided to clients.
Recommendation 10.3: NCSU should provide the computers and communications system currently being planned for Career Planning and Placement.
The African-American Symposium, offered prior to each regular summer and fall orientation session, assists African-American freshmen with their transition to campus. Orientation for new Lifelong Education students is offered prior to each fall semester. Students are informed about a variety of issues pertinent to adult students, including how to get admitted as full-time students, the availability of support services on campus, and academic requirements in various curricula.
Orientation for all first-year students is a two-day program that focuses on academic-and social-success strategies and on course registration. Students meet with the orientation staff, academic deans and faculty, and student-orientation counselors in large and small groups and individual sessions that address a variety of topics related to success in college. Orientation sessions are offered throughout the month of June, and directly prior to the beginning of the fall semester. Students are encouraged to attend orientation with others enrolled in their college or school and program.
During orientation, students are offered assistance in deciding on a fall-semester course schedule and are given help in the use of the TRACS registration system. Each student receives a partial schedule upon arrival at orientation, with some required courses already scheduled. Students complete their schedules with elective courses. During orientation, computer terminals and telephones are available in the residence halls for students' convenience in completing their schedules.
All students who attend freshman orientation are given the opportunity to evaluate the program. These data are examined for trends and opinions, and improvements are made accordingly. The most recent study suggested several areas in which orientation could be improved, particularly in programming (what program sessions to offer), style of presentation (interactive presentations as opposed to passive presentations), and increasing the amount of interaction with academic advisors.
The Department of Student Development conducted an extensive evaluation using focus groups during 1992-93. In this evaluation, students were asked to evaluate the orientation sessions they attended and also to express their concerns before and after the orientation. The study suggested several areas in which orientation could be improved, particularly in programming, style of presentation of the programs, and amount of interaction with academic advisors [5.5.1.7].
Although the current orientation program for freshmen provides an excellent introduction to the University and to University services, some faculty feel that orientation should focus more on academics. Steps in this direction have been made by increasing the amount of interaction between freshmen and academic advisors during orientation. More attention to this issue will help to refocus the emphasis of the orientation. It should be made clear to students that the major purpose of the orientation program is their transition to the University's academic environment. However, social and interpersonal issues should continue to receive attention, since they interact with academic success.
Recommendation 10.4: NCSU should strengthen the academic focus of orientation.
Recommendation 10.5: NCSU should provide new students with more personal interaction with academic advisors during orientation.
The Financial Aid Office offers individual counseling to students and their parents and conducts workshops on applying for aid. The Financial Aid Office awards aid to students based on financial need and administers or coordinates the following programs: the federal Pell Grant, the federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, the North Carolina Student Incentive Grant, the federal Family Educational Loan Programs (Stafford, Unsubsidized Stafford, Supplemental Loan for Students, Plus Loan for Parents), the federal Perkins, the federal Work-Study Program, and a limited number of need-based scholarships. A staff of twenty-one in the Financial Aid Office serve graduate and undergraduate students.
Financial aid has grown significantly over the past five years at NCSU, as can be seen in table 10.3.
Financial aid is available through individual colleges and departments within the University. Specific information on this aid is not available through the Financial Aid Office, but students are advised to check with the dean's office of their college to learn of availability.
Merit (no-need) scholarships for incoming freshmen are administered not by the Financial Aid Office but primarily by the Merit Awards Program. The Merit Awards Program also administers special scholarships for continuing students that are based on need and merit. The Merit Awards Program is mentioned neither in the Financial Aid section (pp. 46-49) of the Undergraduate Catalog nor in the Financial Aid section of the Advisers' Handbook (p. 21). The Merit Awards Program is, however, mentioned in an information packet provided by the Financial Aid Office entitled North Carolina State University Financial Aid General Information under the heading "Additional Information," which advises students to call Wolfpack Teletip.
Year* 1987-88 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92* 1992-1993 numbers are not yet available since award year is still in progress-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total amount awarded $17,023,894 $17,476,785 $19,815,859 $21,588,109 $25,528,807
Total number of students 6,167 6,083 6,380 6,619 7,222
Number of undergraduates 5,792 5,578 5,910 6,015 6,543
Number of graduates 365 485 470 604 679
Percent of full time 38.4% 38.9% 38.0% 37.0% 40.0%
undergraduates on aid Total number of all applicants not available 7,923 8,110 9,124 10,210
Average award $2,765 $2,883 $3,106 $3,257 $3,535
Percent of federal aid 69.1% 65.0% 67.0% 71.0% 72.8%
Percent of outside aid not available 18.0% 16.5% 14.0% 11.8%
Percent of university aid not available 15.0% 14.5% 14.0% 14.3%
Percent of state aid not available 2.0% 2.0% 1.0% 1.3%
Average loan $1,960 $1,959 $2,051 $2,764 $2,753
The Graduate School administers the following programs of fellowships, scholarships and financial support for minorities and women: U.S. Department of Education Patricia Roberts Harris Fellowship Program, National Physical Sciences Consortium Fellowship Program, National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Advanced Industrial Concepts Materials Program, Ford Foundation Predoctoral and Dissertation Fellowships for Minorities, NASA Graduate Student Researchers Program Underrepresented Minority Component, National Institute for the Humanities Predoctoral Fellowship Awards for Minority Students, National Science Foundation Minority Graduate Fellowship, National Science Foundation Women in Engineering Minority Graduate Fellowship, American Association of University Women Educational Foundation American Fellowships, Vista Institute of Hispanic Studies Leadership through Advances Education Awards, National Hispanic Scholarship Fund Scholarships, American Indian Doctoral Fellowship Program, Minority Presence Grants, and African-American Graduate Assistance Grants.
Limited information on outside scholarships and loans is provided by the Financial Aid Office, and scholarship resource books are located there. Generally students must research and apply for this assistance on their own. The Financial Aid Office informs students that information on these sources can be found in books available in bookstores and libraries and posted on bulletin boards.
Recommendation 10.6: NCSU should centralize information on aid in the Financial Aid Office, including information on outside aid and the types of scholarships available in specific departments and colleges.
All funds for financial-aid programs are audited in compliance with all federal and state requirements [5.5.3.6.2]. The Financial Aid Office is audited by state auditors each year, fulfilling the federal law. The Financial Aid Office is also audited every two years by the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority and is subject to random federal program reviews.
Student surveys revealed that of those students who had an opinion of the Financial Aid Office a majority (65 percent) were either satisfied or very satisfied. Unfortunately, 35 percent who had an opinion were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. Though we cannot determine all the reasons for their dissatisfaction from this survey, some specific responses relating directly to the Financial Aid Office included receiving bad information and discourteous service. Other comments that may have influenced overall satisfaction included high out-of-state tuition and low stipends for graduate students.
The Financial Aid Office is sensitive to these complaints and has set as a goal for itself of improving service to students. The Financial Aid Office even had a team of graduate students conduct a Quality Improvement Study. The team made several recommendations. The Financial Aid Office plans to implement one of these: a feedback questionnaire to monitor service quality. The office also initiated a series of staff-development workshops during spring 1993 called Personal Quality Strategies for Achieving Customer-Driven Service. All staff were involved and improvements have already been noted. The office has also created work units (teams of professional and support staff members), who have been charged with improving specific office procedures and providing training to other staff.
Recommendation 10.7: NCSU should train staff in the Financial Aid Office to provide full and accurate information in a pleasant and helpful manner.
The Department of Registration and Records maintains two separate sets of files for each student: student records and academic records. Student records includes admission records, financial data, housing information, and related topics. Academic records includes permanent academic records for all coursework taken by each student.
In addition to records on individual students, the department keeps the following files:
Grade-report rolls, which list student grades for each course. This file also includes final-grade rolls and related records concerning grades.Student rank, which lists student ranks for each major and class.
Repeat course and raised-grade, which contains course-repeat requests, approvals, and related records, and the records of students who have raised grades by repeating courses.
Extra-hour registration, which lists students who have registered for extra course hours (such students must secure approval).
Student withdrawal, which contains the records of students who have withdrawn from the University.
Student-records changes, which records changes in student records.
Credit by examination, with data concerning credits received by examination.
Transfer equivalent, with reference copies of data concerning transfer equivalents from other colleges and universities.
The Department of Registration and Records also supplies student drop/add forms and pass/fail forms.
Student files are stored in a mainframe computer operated by the University Computing Center. The Computing Center generates a tape backup of data on a regular basis [5.5.3.4.1]. To ensure the accuracy and security of student records, authorization to update files is controlled by the registrar. Authorization to update student records is given to two clerks in the Registrar's Office [5.5.3.4.2]. The day following data entry a printout of all updated files is sent to the Registrar's Office and checked for accuracy. Other administrative and academic units within the University have inquiry-only access to records.
A document, Records Retention and Disposition Schedule, explains, in detail, policies concerning the kind of information that will be made part of the permanent record of each student as well as policies concerning retention and disposal of records [5.5.3.4.3]. These policies are in the process of being reviewed and updated.
Recommendation 10.8: NCSU should review and update its records retention and disposition schedule.
Information-release policies that respect the rights of individual privacy, the confidentiality of records, and the best interests of the student and institution are published in the 1992-1993 Advisers' Handbook (pp. 102-106) [5.5.3.4.4]. The University aims to ensure that legal rights of students, established under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, are clearly understood and protected.
Although the Department of Registration and Records fulfills its mission, its efficiency is hindered by the lack of resources to improve office operation and service to students by such innovations as computerizing routine office procedures and student-record inquiry with local area network technologies. The lack of resources in Administrative Computing Services has delayed plans for on-line, on-demand services. Other plans such as the open-access office concept, a centralized and on-line certification process, and new TRACS applications have not been implemented as planned.
Recommendation 10.9: NCSU should increase availability of administrative computer-services resources to the Department of Registration and Records so they can implement plans to provide on-line, on-demand services.
Recommendation 10.10: NCSU's Department of Registration and Records should implement the open-access office concept.
Recommendation 10.11: NCSU's Department of Registration and Records should arrange their computer systems so that colleges and departments can access information.
A frequently mentioned flaw in the registration system is the inability of faculty to access the rolls during the critical period of the early part of the semester, when University policy permits students to drop and add classes freely. Students' work and attendance habits are being formed during these first few weeks, and it is very important that faculty have a convenient way of knowing who is enrolled on a day-by-day basis so that they can take corrective action when necessary. These rolls are on computers, and faculty have computer terminals that could easily access this information through existing networks.
Recommendation 10.12: NCSU should provide easy access to up-to-date class roll information for the faculty via e-mail or file-transfer protocols.
The Student Health Service offers health care to students in a campus facility staffed by eight full-time physicians, four nurse practitioners, one full-time pharmacist and one three-quarter-time pharmacist, four full-time laboratory technicians and one half-time laboratory technician, twenty-two registered nurses, and four health educators and support staff. The Health Service is open twenty-four hours a day, five days a week and from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. During summer sessions, the Student Health Service is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Health-care providers are seen by appointment. Urgent medical problems are seen at the walk-in clinic twenty-four-hours a day. Physicians maintain office hours Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and are on call at other times.
The health-care program continually assesses services or needs through patient-satisfaction questionnaires, comment cards, and surveys.
A special service of the Student Health Service is the Center for Health Directions, which strives to assist students adopt healthy-lifestyle behavior patterns through promotional awareness activities, outreach programs, and other educational formats [5.5.3.7.1]. The activities and programs of the center are designed to meet students' needs by increasing awareness of behaviors that can be detrimental to the students' physical, social, and emotional well-being, by teaching students skills and coping strategies to enable them to bring lasting change in lifestyle habits and overall health, and by promoting a supportive environment for lifestyle awareness and behavior change. The staff includes a coordinator, one substance-abuse professional, one generalist in health promotion, and one position combining sexual-assault and substance-abuse prevention.
The center offers general awareness programs and all-campus events. The Alcohol Assessment Program and the Drug Education Program provide information and values clarification to referred and self-referred students. Consultation and intervention services for alcohol or drug-related problems are available.
Programs are offered in the area of rape and sexual assault, promoting healthy male-female relationships, and prevention of sexual assault. Individuals who desire consulting can find support and sources of information through the sexual-assault-prevention educator located on the fourth floor, as well as through the Counseling Center at Harris Hall. Both departments work very closely with Interact, the Raleigh area's rape-crisis service.
The Center for Health Directions has an active Peer Program, which offers students many ways to work with other students in maintaining their health. Students can be trained as peer educators, peer health consultants, or work as health-project assistants.
During the 1991-92 academic year, 221 programs were offered in the areas of peer education, alcohol and other drug education, rape awareness/sexual assault, and general programs. Participants and contacts in these programs totaled 10,677.
Of the self-study survey respondents who had an opinion of Student Health Services, 83.7 percent were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service. However, Clark Hall, the building that houses Student Health Services, has many deficiencies. Clark Hall has limited handicapped access; mechanical problems create an uncomfortable environment for patients; the location is inconvenient; and patient and staff movement is inefficient and conflicting. Although health-care staffing is currently adequate, it has been difficult to recruit and retain qualified health professionals. Two physician positions have been vacant for almost a year.
Recommendation 10.13: NCSU's Student Health Services should implement a salary schedule that will improve recruitment and retention of qualified health professionals.
The Department of Housing and Residence Life provides nineteen on-campus residence halls for graduate and undergraduate students, grouped into three key campus areas: east, central, and west campus. Each area houses from 750 to 900 students and is managed by a full-time professional residence life coordinator, who resides in one of the halls within that area. The residence life coordinator is assisted by one or more residence directors, who are graduate students, usually majoring in counselor education, student personnel services, or a related field. Resident directors also reside in a hall in the area. Trained upper-class students also reside in each residence hall and serve as residence advisors.
The staff of the Department of Housing and Residence Life are skilled in counseling, crisis intervention, and conflict resolution. They are informed about campus policies and resources. The department monitors student concerns through a variety of means, including telephone calls to the housing office concerning facilities issues, and through a resident survey. These student and professional staff members are concerned about the quality of life in the residence halls and are actively involved with structuring the environment to meet the needs of all students.
Several halls provide special themes. These include an international hall, a hall for University Scholars, a hall for students interested in the arts, a hall for students interested in computers, and Metcalf Hall, a living and learning hall focusing on first-year students. The Metcalf Living and Learning program provides special staffing and activities to assist students in their transition to NCSU. Students in Metcalf take part in the First-Year Experience program, which provides a seminar on adjusting to college and a specific mentoring program. The department also operates an apartment complex, E. S. King Village, which provides family-student housing. King Village provides 295 two-bedroom, one-bedroom, and studio apartments. The rent for King Village apartments ranges from $250 to $285 per month. Because comparable off-campus housing is considerably more expensive, there is a long waiting list for family-student housing.
Recommendation 10.14: NCSU's Department of Housing and Residence Life should provide more housing for married students.
Students report a high degree of satisfaction with the services provided by the residence halls. On the Self-Study Surveys of Undergraduate and Graduate Students, 17.0 percent of respondents reported they were very satisfied, 64.1 satisfied, 13.3 percent dissatisfied, and 5.6 percent very dissatisfied. Several students offered positive comments:
Other students expressed concerns:
Although the facilities provided for students living on campus are generally of high quality, the lack of air conditioning in some residence halls is a problem during the hot months. Furthermore, even though the Department of Housing and Residence Life does renovate the residence halls regularly, some of the older residence halls are in need of upgrading.
Recommendation 10.15: NCSU's Department of Housing and Residence Life should establish a minimum standard of quality for residence halls and achieve it through renovation of older facilities.
Although responsiveness to students needs from the staff is excellent, the noise level in some residence halls inhibits academic focus for some students. Staff should continue their efforts to enforce quiet hours.
University Dining has thirteen campus locations. All students, staff, faculty, and campus guests may use the dining facilities as desired, even if they have not subscribed to a specific meal plan or card.
The largest University Dining facility is the Dining Hall, located on West Campus. The Dining Hall offers an all-you-can-eat menu in a modern, comfortable atmosphere. The Dining Hall is open seven days a week, with brunch and dinner served on weekends. A registered dietitian is on staff to assist with dietary restrictions and to provide nutritional or diet counseling, and a vegetarian option is available.
The University Student Center is home to several separate dining facilities, including national franchise fast-food outlets. The Atrium, located in the D.H. Hill Library, is near academic classrooms. University Dining also offers "C-stores," on-campus convenience stores built in or near the residence halls. These units offer meal choices as well as snacks and grocery items.
Freshmen who live in the residence halls are required to participate in one of three University Dining meal plans, each tailored to meet different needs. The all-campus card allows students flexibility in using the various dining facilities.
The staff of the dining services include both professional and student employees. The department has designed an opinion survey to assess customer satisfaction. The department also gathers information with focus groups and through direct customer comment and reply cards. They also track usage of meal plans by area and plan.
The Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students asked students about their degree of satisfaction with the location of food services and with the quality of food services. A majority of the respondents reported satisfaction with the location of food services (15.4 percent reported they were very satisfied; 61.3 percent satisfied; 17 percent dissatisfied; and 6.3 percent very dissatisfied). Students were somewhat less satisfied with the quality of the food services (5.5 percent very satisfied; 50.2 percent satisfied; 29.8 percent dissatisfied; and 14.6 percent very dissatisfied).
Although availability of food services on campus is good and the quality of the food and service is high, some prices are high (particularly in the C-stores), and greater attention should be given to providing a healthy nutritious diet. The latter effort should be accompanied by efforts to educate students in healthy food selection.
Recommendation 10.16: NCSU's University Dining should examine ways to decrease the cost to students without compromising the quality of service.
Recommendation 10.17: NCSU's University Dining should provide more nutritional food choices at all locations.
Students are invited to participate in the University Scholars programs on the basis of selection criteria specific to each school or college. Participants may enroll in sections of academic courses especially reserved for Scholars. These courses, which are taught by distinguished faculty members, encourage the development of a learning environment that is intellectually stimulating. Scholars also attend a weekly Forum Series, which includes presentations by guest speakers and discussions on issues of contemporary social and educational significance. Extracurricular opportunities and educational field trips are also made available to broaden the personal and cultural horizons of participants. To continue in the programs, Scholars must meet specific academic expectations defined by the respective schools or colleges.
By participation in the University Scholars programs, NCSU Scholars are members and participate in the activities of the North Carolina Honors Association, the Southern Regional Honors Council, and the National Collegiate Honors Council.
All aspects of the University Scholars programs are evaluated through annual surveys of participants. Survey results consistently show high to very high student satisfaction with the University Scholars programs.
These programs are funded year-to-year by the individual colleges, which is an inappropriate means of support for programs so important to the University's efforts to recruit academically talented students.
Recommendation 10.18: NCSU should establish centralized, University-level support for the University Scholars programs.
The Study Abroad Office maintains descriptive literature and directories for over 1,000 individual programs sponsored by NCSU, other U.S. colleges and universities, U.S. educational institutions, and foreign universities. The staff advisors assist students in selecting and evaluating various programs, assist in the procedure for approval of academic credit transfer, and suggest basic orientation readings and activities.
The resource library materials also include information on grant sources and competitions. These include annual competitions such as Fulbright Grants for graduate study; Marshall Scholarships for graduate study in the United Kingdom; Rhodes Scholarships for Oxford University, England; and many programs that award specific country or specific academic curriculum grants for foreign study.
Short-term employment and internship positions in a foreign country are also available. A program sponsored by the Council on International Educational Exchange assists students interested in summer or short-term (three to six months) employment in Great Britain, France, Ireland, West Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and Costa Rica. This program provides for employment visas and assistance in obtaining short-term employment.
For students interested in summer and vacation-period travel, the Study Abroad Office provides information on passport and visa applications, low-cost accommodations, Eurail and other public-transportation discount programs, International Student Identity Cards, overseas travel arrangements, and background information on specific countries.
Upward Bound coordinates 520 projects in the United States, including sixteen projects in North Carolina. NCSU Upward Bound serves 120 students in six target high schools in Franklin, Vance, and Wake Counties: Louisburg, Bunn, Fuquay-Varina, Southern Vance, Northern Vance, and East Wake Senior High Schools.
The NCSU Talent Search program provides services to students from Durham City, Johnston County, and Wilson County. Programming activities, which are provided in the respective communities, include SAT-preparation workshops, study-skills workshops, transfer and re-enrollment information sessions, application completion, tutorials, college visitations, and individual and group counseling.
