On Deck with Student Affairs- Special Edition Year in Review 2023-2024

From the Desk of Vice Chancellor Brandon Frye

Dear Colleagues and Friends of Student Affairs:

The Fall 2024 semester has wrapped up, and hopefully some well-deserved reflection, rest, and relaxation is coming with the Winter Break. In lieu of our typical format for On Deck with Student Affairs, this month it’s my pleasure to share our digital version of the Division of Student Affairs annual report for July 2023 – June 2024. I hope as you review this special edition of On Deck with Student Affairs, you will gain a greater understanding of the positive impacts our division has on the East Carolina University (ECU) campus and beyond.

During this past year, the Division of Student Affairs updated our mission, vision and values to align with ECU’s Strategic Plan “Future Focused. Innovation Driven.” We have operationalized these values throughout programs, activities, and events hosted by the division.

The Division of Student Affairs has also worked to align our resources to focus on ECU’s three commitments: 1.) Public Service, 2.) Regional Transformation and 3.) Student Success. Here are just a few examples:

The Military Veteran Resource Center (MVRC) moved to a new home in the Main Campus Student Center. The MVRC provides a centralized space for our military affiliated students to study, engage, and connect with the campus community.

Two local dental care providers, Dr. Billy Williams and Dr. Dennis Ross, provided support to name the ECU Purple Pantry to become the Williams-Ross Purple Pantry, which continues to focus on decreasing food insecurity among ECU students and increase access to food and personal care items.

In March, the Division of Student Affairs enjoyed its most successful Pirate Nation Gives campaign. In the 24-hour period, the division had 387 total donors with 526 gifts raising nearly $160,000 including several matching gifts throughout the day. The Club Sports Challenge, a new initiative with Pirate Nation Gives, garnered more than 300 donors for club sports teams including the first gift of the day and the last gift of the day.

I hope you enjoy exploring our annual report with stories and features tied to Student Success, Public Service and Regional Transformation as well as sustainability, collaborations, scholarly activity, belonging and more.

Starting in 2025, the Division of Student Affairs will share our annual report each July as a special edition of On Deck with Student Affairs.

Thanks for your service to ECU and our students. Enjoy the winter break.

The Pirate Experience

The first couple of weeks of the fall semester is a critical time for building that bond as Pirates and getting engaged on campus – inside and outside the classroom.

Student Affairs staff generated tens of thousands of touchpoints at events and programs with new and returning students and their families from the start of the summer into September 2023.

Here’s a peek inside the numbers for Student Affairs:

• 8,062 – number of students and families attending new student orientation and Camp PIRATES
• 5,341 – students living in ECU residence halls this fall (+233 students from fall ’22)
• 201 – participant tables at Get-A-Clue on the Mall (student orgs, departments, and community partners)
• 11,899 – student attendees at Opening Weekend events (Movie on the Lawn, Raid the Rec, Pirate Palooza, New Student Welcome, First Year Photo and Greek Fest)
• 65,184 – number of visitors to the Main Campus Student Center and Health Sciences Campus Student Center during the first week of classes

And of course, every student loves a T-shirt, right? We distributed 3,500 t-shirts to students during our Opening Weekend events!

Focus on First Generation Students

ECU was awarded the 2023 First-Generation College Celebration Grant from the Center for First-Generation Student Success. This grant supports efforts to celebrate, raise awareness, and build community for first-generation students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Grant recipients were selected based on innovative plans to reach more first-generation college students, launch new events, and provide additional services.

Thanks to this grant funding, the Office of Student Transitions hosted the First-Gen College Celebration week of events in November. At ECU, roughly 33% of our first-year students identify as a first-generation student (neither parent graduated with a four-year degree) on our first-year assessment instrument; this has been consistent for nearly a decade. ECU is recognized as a First-Gen Forward Institution by the Center for First-Generation Student Success which values the initiatives to support this important student population.

Student Success Hubs

The Center for Student Success opened its doors in the 2024 spring semester by utilizing valuable ‘real estate’ in the newly rebranded Student Success Hubs located in the Main Campus Student Center.

Student Success Hubs

The Well-Being Hub is a holistic well-being destination serving students and employees as they strive for optimal health.

The ECU Financial Wellness Hub provides financial education, coaching, and resources that empower our students to utilize their knowledge and skills to manage their financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.

Career Services supports and empowers students in their career development to succeed as professionals in a global community.

Case Management Expansion Initiative

The Dean of Students Office was awarded a $162,000 grant from the UNC System’s Case Management Expansion Initiative. This funding enabled the hiring of two case managers dedicated to supporting incoming students identified as needing assistance during their first year at ECU. Additionally, plans are in place to secure funding that will make these positions permanent, further strengthening the university's commitment to supporting first-year students.

Association of Student Governments

ECU SGA hosted the NC Association of Student Governments (ASG) in March 2024 for the first time in over six years. At this meeting, ASG elected ECU student leader Cameron Brown as their statewide president and selected immediate past SGA President Javier Limon as their Chief of Staff.

Student Code of Conduct

The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities revised the Code of Conduct in partnership with representatives from the faculty, staff and the Student Government Association. This change better met the student body’s needs by providing a clearer understanding of the code for students and their parents or partners going through the conduct process.

New Testing Center Opens

In 2023, Disability Support Services (DSS) opened a new Health Sciences Campus Testing Center and administered 982 exams during the first year of operation.

For the 2023-2024 academic year, DSS proctored a total of 3,389 exams. This includes Summer 2023, Fall 2023, and Spring 2024 semesters, and across both Main Campus and Health Sciences testing centers.

Disability Support Services is about removing barriers that may or could hinder a student's academic progress and they do it with a personal outreach to more than 3,200 registered students. DSS is ultimately responsible for providing services for students, faculty and staff, regarding course accommodations, housing accommodations and so much more.

Homecoming Food Drive

In partnership with the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, organizations donated over 25,000 pounds of food to support local families with food insecurity.

CCSD Grant Funding

The Center for Counseling and Student Development (CCSD) received grant funding to support substance use prevention initiatives on campus for the 2023-2024 academic year. The funds were provided by Addiction Professionals of NC (APNC), the professional association for substance use professionals and providers in the state of North Carolina.

The Student Affairs Health and Well-Being Unit utilized the funds to support the following existing programs:

• First-year student online safety courses provided through 3rd Millennium Classrooms.
• A new initiative focused on prescription drug safety, modeled after the Department of Health and Human Services’ “Lock Your Meds” campaign. This program offers students access to medication lock boxes to encourage proper storage of prescription medications and ensure that they are only accessed by those to whom they were prescribed.

For the second time, CCSD received a micro-grant from the UNC System from GEER (Governor’s Emergency Education Relief) funds. This grant is intended to help cover off-campus mental health services for students facing financial challenges and requiring more intensive care than CCSD can provide. Services that may be covered by the grant include hospitalization, intensive outpatient treatment, testing, psychiatric evaluation and treatment, counseling, assessment, and specialized mental health care.

Menstruation Station Project

The Student Government Association (SGA) collaborated with the Women and Gender Center (WGC) and the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE) on a pilot program to install menstruation stations on the first floor of the Main Campus Student Center. As part of the initiative, SGA funded the purchase of products and two wall dispensers.

In the summer of 2023, SGA, WGC, and CLCE began working with Monthlies, a student-led initiative managed through the Entrepreneurship Hub in the College of Business, to install temporary countertop dispensers in the first-floor women’s restroom near the Ledonia Wright Cultural Center (LWCC). This partnership aimed to assess the broader campus need, with the goal of expanding the initiative to restrooms in the Main Campus Student Center and Health Sciences Campus Student Center.

Pirate Media 1

Pirate Media 1 students produced new on-air sports and news programs, blogs, live media events, and over 575,000 radio streams. They also produced 26 newspapers and newsletters, three magazines, and a mental health section in collaboration with nine other state universities. In addition, Pirate Media 1 students contributed to the Purple Pantry and the Pitt County Humane Society.

Dining Services

4,137 sustainable, reusable “to go” boxes were used during the 2023-2024 academic year, saving the landfill, as well as a financial savings of $3,888.78.

Assessment

Student Affairs Assessment, Research and Planning developed and published the Methods and Measures Guide for ECU Student Affairs team in support of enhancing division’s quality of evidence and improvement efforts.

5 Design Tips for Campus Inclusivity

To help campus communities feel valued and included, many colleges and universities are investing in identity spaces. These spaces foster a sense of belonging and provide platforms for individuals with shared identities, experiences, or interests to find community and thrive.

Here are five lessons learned from university staff (including 3 staff members from ECU) who helped design identity centers on their campuses.

• Lesson 1 - Gain design input
• Lesson 2 - Actively encourage engagement
• Lesson 3 - Balance transparency and privacy
• Lesson 4 - Be open to change
• Lesson 5 - Design to pay it forward

Read the complete article here by Perkins & Will.

All Colors of the Rainbow Symposium

The Dr. Jesse R. Peel LGBTQ Center hosted ALL COLORS OF THE RAINBOW, a half-day symposium in November 2023, featuring the voices of LGBTQ and Ally writers and illustrators.

The symposium featured keynote speakers, an author roundtable, two “Meet the Author” sessions which allowed the authors/illustrators to discuss their work, as well as a book-signing opportunity at the close of the symposium.

Living Learning Communities

617 LLC students, spread across 17 LLCs and 1 Thematic Community

The First Aboard Scholars, a group of Campus Living first-generation scholarship-recipient students, were transitioned into a formal Living-Learning Community in Jones Hall for the Fall 2023 semester, serving as Campus Living’s newest LLC.

HOiST

What started as a brief conversation about connecting faculty and staff with student-focused resources has evolved into a popular ongoing series. The programming launch of HOiST (Helping Our Students Thrive) began in the Spring of 2020 and over the past three years, the series has featured dozens of programs that emphasize strong partnerships across university divisions. With a focus on collaboration and support services, HOiST continues to be a part of the Office of Faculty Excellence’s calendar of workshops and events.

Each semester, the HOiST planning team identifies key topics and areas of interest that align with the academic year and the needs of the campus community. Every topic and panel of experts are thoughtfully selected to showcase available campus resources. Past session topics have ranged from civil discourse to managing difficult classroom behavior, along with discussions on recognizing students through award opportunities, addressing basic needs insecurity, and getting involved in campus events and volunteering.

The HOiST series was shared at the University of North Carolina System Behavioral Health Convening in 2022 as a positive example of cross-campus collaboration and initiatives supporting student mental health and well-being resources.

Getting Campus Buy-In on Financial Wellness

East Carolina University established the Financial Wellness Hub to provide financial education, coaching and resources to empower students in managing financial resources effectively. Students can receive one-on-one financial coaching, attend presentations and or participate in other programming from the hub. Read more about the ECU Financial Wellness Hub featured by Inside Higher Ed.

Additionally, the Financial Wellness Hub provided leadership and support for the UNC System Office’s Financial Wellness Working Group and presented on Financial Literacy. ECU is a leader on the North Carolina Financial Literacy Working Group as the NC system works to enhance the financial well-being of all NC college students.

Student Success Ecosystem

In September 2024, Chancellor Rogers discussed ECU’s focus on Student Success during the University Day program. The approach is a holistic ecosystem to make sure students are achieving timely progress in their studies, in their career preparation, and toward graduation. It’s an all-hands effort that depends on everyone – faculty, staff, and students themselves. From the campus experience & overall well-being to our learning environments, professional readiness, & data-informed policies, the components that determine student success require a OneECU effort. Committees and teams began actively working throughout the fall and will continue into spring and beyond.

Goodbye Key Fobs

To improve campus safety, Campus Living (Housing) prepared for the transition from key fobs to 1-Cards for access control, with a phase one rollout scheduled in August 2024.