Graduate Education is Well Represented in Strategic Planning

As NC State heads into strategic planning for the university’s next 10 years, a number of graduate students, Graduate School staff and other university professionals with graduate education roles, have been named to the task forces that will develop the next plan.

The 2019-2020 academic year will conclude The Pathway to the Future: NC State’s 2011-2020 Strategic Plan. That plan, a collaborative effort of the NC State community, has led to increased student support, increased degree complete rates, recruitment and retention of top faculty, investment in research and scholarship, inspired spaces around campus, strategic partnerships at home and abroad, and more.

A Sept. 3 leadership retreat marked the beginning of the next planning process. Out of the meeting, working with a consulting firm, Chancellor Woodson and the Chancellor’s Cabinet, created nine task forces for the next strategic plan. Task force rosters were recently announced, and they include administrators, faculty, staff and students from the university.

“Graduate education continues to be a big part of this university’s mission,” Harries said. “As we develop a plan for NC State’s next decade, I’m pleased to see the involvement of so many administrators, faculty, staff and graduate students who are committed to graduate education.”

To learn more about the next strategic plan for NC State, visit the Strategic Planning webpage.

Representatives of graduate education who are serving on the strategic plan task forces are listed below.

Advancing Inclusion and Well-Being to Enhance Excellence Task Force
Joel Ducoste
Assistant Dean, Graduate Student Advancement and Faculty Enrichment
Professor, Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering
College of Engineering

David Shafer
Assistant Dean, Outreach and Diversity
The Graduate School

Continuing to Advance the Brand and Reputation of NC State Task Force
Yiming Lin
Doctoral Student, Economics
Poole College of Management

Envisaging the Next Generation Land-Grant University Task Force
Coleman Simpson
Master’s Student, Agriculture and Extension Education
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Graduating the Successful Student Task Force
Freha Legoas
Graduate Services Coordinator, Applied Ecology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

James Withrow
Graduate Student Association President
Doctoral Student, Entomology
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Mitchell Moravec
Student Senate President
Master’s Student, Public Administration
College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Pursuing Operational Excellence Task Force
Amira Hijazi
Doctoral Student, Industrial Engineering
College of Engineering

Re-envisioning Life-Long Education and Credentialing Task Force
Darien Dixon
Doctoral Student, Sociology
College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Vanessa Doriott Anderson
Program Manager, Teaching and Communication Programs
The Graduate School

Amber Holland
Doctoral Student, Communication, Rhetoric and Digital Media
College of Humanities and Social Sciences

George Rouskas
Director, Graduate Programs, and Alumni Distinguished Professor, Computer Science
College of Engineering

Strengthening Universitywide Interdisciplinary Task Force
Kevin FitzGerald
Doctoral Student, Design
College of Design

Peter Harries
Dean
The Graduate School

Mostakima Lubna
Doctoral Student, Fiber and Polymer Science
Wilson College of Textiles