Hello from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, which we will refer to as CALS
throughout our presentation today.
Thank you for taking the time to listen in and learn!
We're here to bring you greetings.
My name is Joanna Eglinton, I'm part of the recruiting team here in our college and I
work primarily with our future CALS students.
I also work a lot with their advocates, their parents, guardians, school counselors, teachers
and more.
My name is Tricia Budden, I'm the Director of Student Services in CALS.
I work primarily with the advising team and I'm really excited to share some information
with you today about CALS.
Here in CALS, we represent one of 12 academic colleges that make up NC State University.
Regardless of where you are in your educational journey, and whether or not you've applied
to NC State already, we are looking very forward to sharing more information with you about
our college, what makes us unique, and how we support our students in various ways.
NC State is the largest public university in North Carolina and with that comes the
benefits of a very dynamic, innovative institution dedicated to academics and research as well
as outreach and engagement opportunities.
There is no doubt that if you choose to study with us, you will receive a top-notch, quality
education that can lead you through to your post-graduation goals.
A primary focus of our university is research, and with this, truly the sky is the limit.
Classified as a Research 1 institution, we are constantly working to dive into problems
and create new solutions.
Through both our undergraduate as well as our graduate and advanced study opportunities,
NC State takes higher education to the next level.
In fact, we receive federal funding for our research mission and with the skills and dedication
of our expert faculty, NC State students have opportunities to really get involved with
both gaining new skills and putting them into action and seeing those results.
Across the board, our students apply their knowledge everyday to help solve some of society's
grand challenges.
In CALS, we're very diverse in terms of what we can offer students.
We typically find that students are often interested in and attracted to the five areas
that you see on the screen.
That could be medicine, whether pursuing human medicine or animal medicine, it could be working
with animals in various ways, science and research opportunities, working with people,
this could be through business education and leadership, and plants which could be through
crop and soil sciences, horticultural sciences, plant biology, turfgrass science or overall
managing and conserving our natural resources with a primary focus on sustainability.
We have twelve academic departments offering opportunities to study within 17 four-year
Bachelor of Science degrees.
We also have 19 academic minors from which to choose.
We're very interdisciplinary in nature, meaning that with both traditional agriculture degrees
as well as life sciences degrees there are many opportunities for our students.
Agriculture is actually the largest and most diverse industry in our state and alongside
that, we're located in a hotspot for the life sciences right here in the Raleigh area.
Through high-impact experiences and both in and out of the classroom learning, our students
can gain new skills and put them into action.
Alright, already we're sharing a lot about CALS and how it fits into our university.
Tricia, I know in your role as Director of Student Services for the college you work
with a lot of CALS students on a daily basis and I'm just curious, what do you feel are
the top three best things about studying in CALS?
Well, I'm glad you asked for three and not just one because one would be hard.
CALS is a great place to study.
Hands down, its our faculty, our facilities and our students themselves that are the best
things about studying in CALS.
We have world-renowned faculty in our college, they're respected leaders in their disciplines
and experts in their fields.
They are working to transform the challenges of tomorrow and they are committed to educating
our students in the classroom and in the labs.
You mentioned us being a Research 1 institution earlier, CALS has physical facilities both
on and off-campus with state of the art equipment to support our research programs.
We offer 18 on-campus labs, 18 research stations across the state and 28 Raleigh-area agriculture
research units which offer a wealth of resources.
Lastly, it's our students.
CALS students are amazing, just absolutely amazing.
They embrace collaborative learning, they are hungry to solve the worlds problems, and
they are determined to make a difference.
You know the old saying two heads are better than one?
Well, a pack of 3,000 plus can move mountains for sure, it's so exciting.
So we do know NC State is a big place with a lot of students, and we also know that there
are just some differences between high school and college.
So Tricia, do you feel there are some things that CALS does specifically to support students
and help them with that transition?
Oh, great question Joanna!
This is actually my favorite part of CALS.
So yes academics matter, and we know you come to college to get a degree, and if you study
in CALS you're going to be well-educated and challenged too as you grow in your discipline
expertise.
But in addition to an excellent academic environment, CALS students are exposed to what we call
the perks of CALS.
What makes us unique in our college?
How do we help students transition?
What support does CALS provide?
A lot!
We'll need to tackle these individually to explain them fully, but think of it as a three-tiered
approach; meeting you where you are to support you as a student is the first.
Secondly, encouraging you to grow as you enhance your academic experience.
And thirdly, helping you confirm or deny the career field of choice as you plan for your
future.
In meeting students where they are to support them, there are a few particular aspects we
want you to know about.
First, our college is very dedicated to helping students succeed in achieving their goals
which is why we have our own college-level scholarships.
We proudly offer more than one million dollars annually in scholarships to our students which
are both merit and academic quality-based, as well as financial need-based.
We have many donors who are passionate about the work our students are doing on a daily
basis and just one online application through our NC State program called Pack Assist will
screen you for all of them.
If you do choose to study with us, be sure you apply as soon as possible to have an opportunity
to be considered.
We also focus on fostering an environment of inclusion and equity for every member of
our CALS community through our Diversity and Inclusion Office.
We often say in CALS that diversity is what we say, and inclusion is what we do.
Through various events, signature programs, student organizations, support services and
more, we build an environment where every member of our CALS family achieves his or
her potential.
So Tricia, how else can students get and stay involved on campus and in CALS?
Well, two things come to mind: academic advising and clubs and organizations.
We�ve said it time and time again, NC State is a big place with a lot happening all of
the time and that's exciting but that can also be intimidating.
If you�re curious about where to begin, we recommend building relationships and utilizing
your resources.
So, let�s start with academic advising.
CALS has an outstanding reputation for academic advising.
You will have a team of three advisors to help you as you navigate campus: a general
advisor from the CALS advising team, a faculty professional advisor from your major and the
Director of Undergraduate Programs, also in your major.
If you have a question, ask!
You may not know all the answers but our commitment is that we will connect you to the resource,
office, service or person on campus that does and can help.
And Next, we want you to think about clubs and organizations which can help this large
place seem smaller.
In fact, we recommend CALS students choose three ways to get involved on campus.
First, something that is academic or career related to meet others in your major, network
with alumni and industry leaders and again, confirm or deny this field that you�re interested
in.
Secondly, we recommend that you choose something that is service-oriented because whatever
your next step after college, they're going to want to see more than academics.
What is it that you�re passionate about?
What is it that you�re willing to devote your time, energy and effort to outside of
schoolwork?
Giving back and serving others helps students develop transferable skills but it also gives
students something to talk about in an interview where the excitement shines through.
Lastly, we want you to choose something that's fun.
College is a time for socializing and meeting people too.
How do you relieve stress?
What do you like to do to have a good time?
From the paintball club and BassPack fishing club, to the Disney movie club and intramural
sports, there's something for everyone.
What�s neat about choosing these distinct areas of involvement is that you're not likely
to see the same people in the same clubs.
So you�re surrounding yourself with three different pockets of people who have similar
interests as you, and when you see them around campus you�ll see a familiar smile.
Thanks, Tricia.
CALS also encourages you to grow as you enhance your academic experience and one of the ways
we do that is just support students in pursuing undergraduate research opportunities.
We've already mentioned that some at the NC State level.
We are known for working on some of societies biggest challenges and helping produce solutions.
We feel the fact that our CALS students can get involved in some of these high-impact
opportunities right away is very rewarding.
Research can mean different things to different people.
For some, it may mean working in one of our on-campus lab facilities.
For others, that may mean getting their hands dirty, literally, at one of our educational
farm teaching units.
We encourage you to think outside of the box and you don't have to wait to get involved.
Our students can begin research opportunities as early as their freshman year.
All of our CALS departments have faculty and staff eager to work with students who hope
to pursue research and put their problem-solving skills into practice.
Another way to expand your horizons throughout your CALS experience is to study abroad.
NC State and CALS offer a variety of opportunities for students to earn academic credit toward
their CALS degree while studying in another country.
It's a great way to expand your academic, professional and personal horizons while diving
into a new situation and culture.
The timing really depends on you; whether it's over your spring break, six weeks over
the summer, or even for a whole semester, we're ready to work with you to achieve your
goals of learning abroad.
Again all of our CALS departments have a program they recommend or have helped create that
can connect you with your particular academic interest.
At this point, we've learned a lot about how CALS students can learn in and out of the
classroom; but Tricia, do you feel there's anything else that students should know?
Oh absolutely!
CALS has additional opportunities for all of our students.
You've heard about ways to get involved but we encourage you to really own your collegiate
experience.
How will you make your impact on campus?
In CALS, we have programs of excellence such as College Honors and Thomas Jefferson Scholars,
we offer leadership programs including CALS Ambassadors, Pack Chat Reps and Dean's Student
Advisory Board.
We also offer small signature programs like CALS First, career coaches and Diversity Ambassadors.
Again, there's a lot happening in our college.
We invite you to visit the website and explore the student success programs in CALS to see
which ones might be of interest to you.
Lastly, although we do support students in many ways while they're here, we certainly
want to help them plan for their future and guide them in their journey toward what's
to come after college graduation.
One unique aspect of CALS is that we have our own Career Services Office just for CALS
students.
This is awesome because this means we have a career services team dedicated to understanding
career paths and opportunities in agriculture and life sciences disciplines.
From resume reviews, to tackling your first cover letter, to practicing skills through
mock interviews, we have ways to help students prepare from the start.
We even have an annual career fair where employers come to you.
You can interact with them, share resume and potentially land an interview and a job.
Also, whether your post-graduation plans include heading straight into the industry or pursuing
graduate or professional school, we can help along the way.
We have two professional advising centers that share strong partnerships with CALS.
One is called Health Professions Advising, that helps students prepare to enter something
within the medical field.
This could be medical school, dental school, pharmacy school or something else.
Regardless it helps students gain experiences and situate themselves to be a strong candidate
to apply for these professional school opportunities.
We also have VetPAC where the "PAC" stands for Professional Advising Center.
It's the center right on campus as well, that helps guide students on a pre-vet path who
may want to apply and enter vet school after college graduation.
From helping students gain animal hours as well as supervised veterinary hours, to networking
events with veterinarians, it's a great way to get and stay involved with animals while
working alongside a team that's skilled in helping you pursue that path.
At this point, and thanks for hanging in with us by the way, you might be thinking to yourself,
"Well this all sounds great, but how do you make it happen?
I mean really, how do you make it happen?"
So in CALS, our team is committed to serving our students and encouraging them along their
collegiate journey; it's what we call the CALS advantage.
It all starts with an eight-week class our freshmen take their first semester.
The course is ALS 103.
If you study in CALS, you will hear more about it at orientation, but for a quick overview,
ALS 103 is designed to guide students through the transition from high school to college.
We have a very intentional approach and look at all things academic-related, diversity-related
and career-related.
We want students to think about the time they have on campus and we want them to make each
semester count.
The number one reason why goals aren't achieved is because they are never written down.
If you don't write it down, it's just a thought, or an idea, that may or may not happen.
ALS 103 requires our students to write things down.
In CALS, we want you to define, explore and achieve your goals.
It's certainly okay to change your goals and tweak them along the way, but if you don't
know where you're heading and you don't know the resources, services and opportunities
available to help you, then you're leaving a lot of things up to chance.
Your success matters to us and we want to do everything we can to help you map out your
own student success plan.
So how do we make this happen?
Through guidance, advice, programs, events and classes it all starts when you decide
to join the CALS family.
So I'll end my comments on that note, but Joanna I would like to take this time as we're
winding down to ask you a question.
We've shared a lot of information about CALS from our perspective as CALS employees, but
what do they students say after they've made the decision to come to CALS?
What do they like most about studying in CALS?
Well I love that you ask this Tricia, I'm very fortunate to be able to work with many
students every day, along with their advocates as I've mentioned, whether parents, guardians,
teachers, school counselors, and it's incredibly rewarding to be able to see students find
their passion and pursue it here at CALS.
What you see here are just a few things our current students say when it comes to loving
our college, whether it's that we introduced them to their best friends or that they appreciate
that our college makes a far-reaching impact, we strive every day to provide a family feel
for our students.
In fact, our college motto is, "Small school feel, big school opportunities."
This is where we will leave off, through a family feel and small atmosphere within this
big school environment, we really love getting to know our students.
We know you've heard a lot today and there's been a lot of information shared but we always
want you to reach out if and when you have questions and we know that may come at different
points in the process.
Depending on your questions, you can find the correct contact email here.
Please reach out if you'd like and we definitely look forward to getting to know you.
Thanks you again for taking the time to join us today.
We hope this was helpful and we wish you the very best with the next steps in your educational
journey.