Celebrating the Present, Planning for the Future

Dear NC State Community:

November is always an exciting time of transition here on NC State’s campus. The beginning of the month means there are just five weeks left of classes in the fall semester, bringing students closer to the completion of their degree and graduation. It means fall sports will be winding down and the winter sports will be starting up. It means the weather will be getting cooler, the nights longer, and the foliage around campus more colorful.

One of my favorite parts of early November is Red and White Week. This is a time for our university to celebrate our community, to share our accomplishments, and to embrace the Wolfpack spirit. We kicked things off this morning with Pack Appreciation Day, where current students showed their appreciation for donors who support our university’s research, scholarship and more. You can take a close look at the calendar of events here and plan your week accordingly. We have a number of new events as well as some Pack favorites like Wear Red, Get Fed and our Homecoming parade and football game. My Fall Address will be on Friday, November 8 at 1pm in Talley – I hope to see you all there as we reflect on the university’s past and look to the future.

This academic year will be my tenth at NC State, and it has been a privilege to watch the university grow during that time. Much of that growth is thanks to the Pathway to the Future strategic plan, which has been guiding decision-making and program development across our campuses over the last decade. As you all know, the current strategic plan is coming to a close in 2020, and we began the process of developing a new strategic plan, one that seeks to build on our past successes and carry NC State into a period of further growth, at leadership retreats earlier this fall. Campus leaders have been meeting since to discuss the planning process, and we are making steady progress. In the coming weeks, we will begin assembling task forces composed of faculty, staff and students to concentrate our efforts on the areas that matter most to our campus community, similar to the process used in creating the Pathway to the Future.

I am incredibly proud to be a part of this university community. NC State is a place where people come together to cultivate and share knowledge – knowledge that has the power to change lives. NC State would not be the university it is without clear goals for growth and our alumni, students, faculty and staff who make this growth possible with their Think and Do mentality. As your Chancellor, I am grateful to be a part of NC State’s traditions and rich history and look forward to the bright future we have ahead of us. I am eager to see what else we can accomplish.

Sincerely,

Randy Woodson
Chancellor