On Deck with Student Affairs April 2025 Edition

From the Desk of Vice Chancellor Brandon Frye

Colleagues and Friends of Student Affairs:

As we approach the final weeks of the Spring 2025 semester at ECU, our focus as a team turns to helping our students “finish strong” as they complete their academic requirements and, for many, earn their degree(s) at East Carolina University.

Last April, I wrote about keeping our focus centered on our students and their success. My message remains the same this year, as our support can make a meaningful difference in helping them close out the semester successfully.

At the same time, we must remain focused on recruiting new, transfer, undergraduate, and graduate students. Recruitment of students is part of our Student Success Ecosystem – we can’t support students if we don’t first bring them into Pirate Nation.

Each of us plays a key role in recruiting and welcoming perspective and new students. Orientation begins very soon, and throughout the summer the experiences and services we provide for all our incoming students could shape their final decision on attending ECU. Never underestimate the power of a positive experience or a helpful interaction.

As I stated last month, please take care of yourselves. Maintaining our own well-being is essential to providing optimal support for our students. Thanks to all of those in Pirate Nation that place our students front and center.

With Pirate Pride

ECU's #YouMatterECU Week and ARRRGH™ U OK? Day Strengthen Community Ties and Well-Being

Submitted by Steven Trotter, Director of Well-Being

In March, ECU, in collaboration with local businesses and organizations, hosted #YouMatterECU Week, culminating in the impactful ARRRGH™ U OK? Day on March 26, 2025. This initiative, spearheaded by ECU Student Affairs and the Health & Well-Being Unit, highlighted the university's deep commitment to cultivating a culture of well-being.

ARRRGH™ U OK? Day

Packed with fun, engagement, and well-being, ARRRGH™ U OK? Day featured activities that allowed participants to experience wellness actively as a community. The day included two Health and Well-Being Fairs, located at the Main Campus Student Center Lawn and the Health Sciences Campus, brimming with interactive activities, wellness resources, and valuable health tips.

The Center for Counseling and Student Development offered the "Let’s Talk" program, providing informal drop-in sessions for mental health support, while various locations across campus facilitated Mental Health Check-Ins to give Pirates a moment to pause, reflect, and recharge. Videos for social media distribution were also created starring key leaders on campus providing mental health support for the ECU community. The day culminated with a movie night on the lawn featuring “Inside Out 2,” focusing on the importance of understanding and managing emotions.

Special Event: Making Connections in Work and in Life

On the preceding day, March 25, People Operations, Success, and Opportunity (POSO) featured guest speaker Liz Priestley from ComPsych. Held at the POSO Annex, the session titled "Making Connections in Work and in Life" focused on practical tips for building meaningful connections. This session aimed to help attendees create new friendships, deepen connections with colleagues, and find mentorship, enriching the campus community's social and professional networks.

Community-wide Engagement

The day's events were supported by partnerships with key community stakeholders including the Greenville–Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, Pitt Community College, and local businesses like Hyster-Yale Material Handling and Orthopedics East. These collaborations ensured the outreach extended well beyond the university, involving over 50,000 students and employees across Pitt County.

Impact and Feedback

The event was a resounding success, attracting over 500 attendees to the health & well-being fairs, with 338 people completing the exit survey. Achieving an impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +81, the feedback underscored the event's wide-reaching impact on student well-being. A significant 83% of participants affirmed that the day had improved their personal well-being, with comments like,

“It made me feel like the school cares” and “I’m in a much better mood! This made my day!”

Volunteers and Acknowledgments

ARRRGH™ U OK? Day was made possible through the dedication of 144 volunteers, who ensured the day ran smoothly and had a lasting positive impact. Their hard work and commitment were crucial to the week's success, reflecting ECU's dedication to supporting its community and well-being.

ECU’s #YouMatterECU Week, and especially ARRRGH™ U OK? Day, proved pivotal in fostering an environment where every Pirate felt valued and supported. Student Affairs and the Health & Well-Being Unit look forward to building on this success in future events, continually enhancing the well-being of our campus community.

Videos

Additional Articles on ARRRGH™ U OK? Day

Pirate Nation Gives 2025

Submitted by Keith Tingley, Student Affairs Development Director

ECU had a prosperous Pirate Nation Gives 2025 on March 5th. The Division of Student Affairs had overwhelming support from alumni, community members, current students, families, and faculty and staff.

The Division of Student Affairs had 481 individuals make 607 gifts, contributing $77,180.27. The division had the highest number of donors among all colleges and departments, earning $2,000 in bonus money and bragging rights.

The second consecutive Club Sports Challenge brought in over 325 donations and won first place (Club Sports Men’s Soccer $3,000) and second place ($1,000 for Club Sports Tennis) in the first gifts after midnight challenge. This is remarkable, as over 100 gifts came in the first minute across the University!

The Division exceeded its goal of 25 gifts for the newly established Military and Veteran Mental Health Priority Fund and unlocked a $25,000 gift from Lt. Col. Bill '82 and Nancy Miller.

Pirate Nation Gives 2026 will be the 10th annual, and excitement is already building. If you have an idea or want to get more involved, contact Keith Tingley at tingleyk@ecu.edu.

Student Transitions driving Student Success through collaborations

Submitted by Jocelyne Alfaro-Ruiz, Student Transitions Program Coordinator

Graduation is Coming. What’s Next?

The Office of Student Transitions and the ECU Alumni Association hosted "Graduation is Coming: What’s Next?" on March 18. This event brought together a panel of ECU alumni to share their post-graduation journeys with current students, offering invaluable insight into life after graduation.

This event was crafted with the goal of helping our students prepare for life after graduation by providing them with tools, advice, and connections they may need to navigate their next steps.

During the discussion the alumni panelists spoke candidly about their experiences transitioning from college to the real world.

Topics ranged from navigating grad school, professional networking, career advice, leadership, and handling unexpected shifts. The panelists emphasized the importance of adaptability, perseverance, and the reality of changing career trajectories.

The event offered a real, unfiltered look at the highs and lows of life after graduation, encouraging students to approach their futures with confidence and an open mind. It was a reminder that, no matter what path they choose, the skills, connections, and resilience they cultivate during their time at ECU will continue to serve them in the future.

Students also participated in a networking bingo activity—an engaging twist on traditional game of bingo. This professional networking game encouraged students to connect with one another and helped break the ice before the panel discussion began.

After the event, students were asked to share their thoughts in a brief survey. One student remarked:

“Thank y’all for coming out and being supportive alumni. I can tell your appearance will make a big difference to many of the students that attended.”

Another student remarked:

“Thank you for your wonderful insight. I appreciate what was being said and I will definitely take it into consideration.”

Consider This Dinner

The Office of Student Transitions hosted the 12th Annual Sophomore Student, Faculty, and Staff Consider This Dinner on March 19, 2025. This dinner invites a leader in the community to share insight on their career journey, the challenges they encountered, and the pivotal moments where they had to consider alternative paths to achieve success.

“Consider the concept that you are the real deal”. - from Hillary Liles

This year’s dinner welcomed Hillary Liles, from ECU’s Center for Counseling and Student Development, as the guest speaker. The attendees enjoyed hearing Hillary’s inspiring narrative, highlighting her resilience and how her perseverance led to discovering her true passion. Hillary talked about her journey as a first-generation college student at ECU. One key takeaway she offered was to “push yourself to say “yes” to things that you would normally say “no” to”, encouraging students to embrace opportunities that will push them out of their comfort zone and unlock their full potential. A student attendee stated:

“I loved listening to the life story of Hillary. I think guest speakers like her allow students to see themselves and their future success.”

The dinner provides a unique opportunity for students to interact with faculty and staff on a personal level and build meaningful relationships that can have a lasting impact. There is an opportunity for students to connect with one another, facilitating new friendships, the discovery of mutual support networks, and cultivating a sense of belonging within ECU. Another student attendee stated:

“This was a great event that let me know it was okay to not have everything figured out.”

SA Making Headlines – Conferences/Presentations

Annual Registrar Drive-In:

Parent and Family Programs joined the Registrar’s Office for the UNC System Registrar Drive-In in March. The Registrar Drive-In, hosted by ECU for the Spring, is a time for the Registrar Offices within the UNC System to meet, address timely topics, and share best practices.

Carter Fenwick, Director of Parent and Family Programs, joined Beth Dawson, Associate Registrar for Records and Registration, for a presentation about ECU’s transition away from the Buckley Form and to the ECU Parent and Family Portal (CampusESP) as ECU’s FERPA permissions platform.

NASPA

In March, Carter Fenwick, Director of Parent and Family Programs, and Dr. Lauren Thorn, Director of the Center for Student Success, represented ECU at the 2025 NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans, LA. The National Association of Student Professional Administrators (NASPA) is a professional organization for the field of student affairs.

Carter joined Merrill Magrudder from the University of Mississippi, and Mel Greiner and Elizabeth Harris from CampusESP in a panel-style discussion, where presenters shared why they view families as constituents, and steps they’ve taken to create multi-pronged engagement plans to enable families to appropriately support student success.

Lauren presented her doctoral research on the “digital divide” and the impact of COVID-19 on student accessibility to necessary technological supports. Her presentation, “Home Is Where the WiFi Connects: Defining the Digital Divide on a Post-pandemic Campus” was sponsored by the NASPA Technology Knowledge Community and included updates on how ECU has utilized some of the research outcomes to improve the student experience related to hardware, software, and digital efficacy skills.

ACUI

Dean Smith, Student Centers Senior Director, presented at the ACUI annual conference in March in New York. His presentation, "Career Center Session: Transitioning from Corporate America to Higher Education" highlighted Dean's time working in corporate America for 12 years before transitioning to higher education.

TEC Awards

The East Carolinian, the student run newspaper which turns 100 years old in 2025, won Best of Show at the North Carolina College Media Association Conference held at Appalachian State University in February. In addition, several students won individual awards.

• Abby Brennan, Pryor Shelton and Parker Smith won second place for Digital Storytellng with their Doggie Jams 2024 video.
• Gabe Key won second place in photography for his Kamala Harris photo.
• Parker Smith won second place in Literary Magazine Two-Page Spread for his Women/Untitled design in Expressions magazine.

The North Carolina College Media Association was formed in December 2007 and is based in the N.C. Scholastic Media Association offices in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media at UNC-Chapel Hill. The first N.C. College Media Conference was held in 2008 at UNC-Chapel Hill. Its annual Statewide College Media Contests include categories for student newspapers, yearbooks and literary magazines.

New Hires in Student Affairs

Jon Wall – Campus Recreation and Wellness

Jon Wall returned to Campus Recreation and Wellness in March as the Senior Assistant Director of Sports Programs. He oversees the administration and programming of Club and Intramural Sports.

Jon previously worked for CRW from 2007-2021. He has four kids, ages 10, 7, 3 and 1. He referees NCAA basketball and enjoys playing golf.