The weakness of North Carolina's economy during the last several years has led to a continuing series of state funding reductions in NCSU's operating budget. Budget reductions imposed by the state of North Carolina have forced cutbacks in some institutional activities. Although NCSU has been spared the level of cutbacks experienced by some state university systems across the nation, many of NCSU's most pressing challenges are directly connected to budget constraints.
Over the past three decades NCSU's growth (both in size of the student body and in diversity of programs) has strained its facilities and its administrative structures. A scarcity of resources has sometimes discouraged individual colleges and schools from endorsing development of the entire institution. Although new facilities provide state-of-the-art support for education in some units, other units cope with less satisfactory supplies, space, facilities, and equipment. The NCSU Libraries, a national leader in the application of new information technologies to support teaching, learning, and research, struggles to maintain and develop its basic monograph and periodical collections in the face of rapidly rising costs for journals, especially in scientific and technical fields. Computing resources range from excellent to less than desirable.
Budget constraints on instructional and research support, coupled with a decline in compensation relative to the compensation of faculty in peer institutions, have taken a toll on the morale of NCSU's faculty. Emphasis on research in assessing professional development has led many to question the extent of support for teaching (especially at the undergraduate level) and for extension and service activities. Many NCSU faculty believe that teaching and extension activities need more emphasis in assessing the faculty's professional development. NCSU must develop effective and consistent processes for ongoing review of faculty.
NCSU's faculty are seeking a larger role in institutional decision making and a closer connection between effort put into planning and actual outcomes. To ensure broad participation in more effective and streamlined decision making, NCSU must enhance communication within the institution.
In curriculum matters, NCSU is challenged to balance the needs of students in technical curricula to begin major studies early in their college years with the needs of students who change their minds about their majors after a year or so of college experience. The University's commitment to educate its students broadly sometimes conflicts with the need to dedicate credit hours to mastery of major fields and applied disciplines. Faculty and students need more organized support for teaching and learning. Advising in some areas needs improvement.
To serve North Carolina's needs for citizens trained at postgraduate levels, NCSU must increase its support for graduate students. Funding formulas for support of graduate education do not adequately reflect the costs of equipment and instruction required for the most effective graduate instruction. Many faculty feel that development of new graduate programs should be guided by the needs of students for doctoral studies in a comprehensive array of fields characteristic of preeminent land-grant universities.
In research, outreach, and extension activities, NCSU is challenged to strengthen the continuum between development and discovery of knowledge and its application to societal issues and needs for human betterment. Faculty need more opportunities for professional development and better support for facilities and equipment acquisition and maintenance.
NCSU is also challenged to enhance its services for its students. Students need stronger personal and career counseling. Programs to provide appropriate educational opportunities for outstanding students, such as the University Scholars Programs, need more support. NCSU is challenged to enhance its efforts to value cultural diversity and to ensure racial and gender equity.
