Achieving Excellence. Success Beyond Measure.

NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY®

WWAAVVEESSOctober 2012, Issue 11

Achieving Excellence. Success Beyond Measure.

Dr. Tony Atwater, President A Monthly Newsletter for Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Friends of Norfolk State University

The newly established Spartan Student Success Center is expected

to increase the retention rate among fall 2012 freshmen and decrease the

attrition rate for second-year students, improve student achievement and

reduce the amount of time it takes students to complete their degrees.

Under the Center’s umbrella, in collaboration with other University

offices, a full complement of academic support services will be provided.

Those services include tutoring, academic enrichment, mentoring (life skills,

the NSU citizen, engagement), advising, co-curricular activities, service

learning activities, external scholarship opportunities, academic enrichment,

a sophomore year program and faculty/staff development. The Student

Success Center is located in the Bowser Building, Suite 118 and some of

the services offered formerly through the First Year Experience/ACCESS

office are still currently in place.

It is anticipated that this comprehensive effort will increase the fall 2012

freshman cohort retention rate by 1.5 percent by September 30, 2013, and

decrease the attrition rate of the fall 2011 freshman cohort by 1 percent.

Ultimately, by September 30, 2017, the major objectives are to increase the

retention rate for the freshman cohort from 73 percent to 80 percent and

increase the six-year graduation rate for freshmen who entered the

University in fall 2011 from 34 percent to 40 percent.

Students Gain Access to E-Advising

E-Advising, a web-based advising tool

that allows students and advisors to

monitor course selection more efficiently,

will begin Monday, October 22. This

convenient, paperless program will empower

students to manage their progress and

forecast their course offering needs in

advisor-approved courses only. Records

of questions or recommendations will be

easily accessible.

The system allows students to design

their academic plan for up to four years.

They also can seek online approval of

courses from their academic advisor,

view transcripts and look at requirements

should they decide to change majors.

Students gain access to e-Advising

through the MyNSU portal

by going to the Spartan Self

Service bar, pulling down

the menu and clicking on

student academic plan.

E-Advising is just one

additional tool that

students can

use to monitor

their progress.

Face-to-face

interaction, however,

continues to be available and is important

for the mentoring process.

President Tony Atwater was elected chairman of the

Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education

Board of Directors on Wednesday, October 10. He

replaces Old Dominion University President John Broderick,

who served as chairman for the past two years.

“I am looking forward to working with the other members of

the consortium in enhancing collaboration,” said Dr. Atwater,

“and I strongly believe that the Virginia Tidewater Consortium

can have a major impact on higher education and providing

educational services to the citizens of the region.”

Consortium President Dr. Lawrence G. Dotolo said he

and the board members are pleased with Dr. Atwater’s election.

“I have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Atwater, and I am

very impressed with his strong interest in promoting

cooperation among the institutions in the Hampton Roads

region,” said Dr. Dotolo.

The Virginia Tidewater Consortium for Higher Education,

formed in 1973, is a consortium of 15 institutions of higher

education. The primary mission of the consortium is to promote

regional cooperation in higher education.

Dr. Atwater Elected Chairman of Higher Education Consortium Board

Spartan Student Success CenterAims to Improve Retention

Dr. Joseph C.

Hall, professor and

director of the Center

for Biotechnology,

was appointed to

the board of Synergy,

a non-profit

biotechnology

incubator company located in Boston.

The company will provide minority life

science entrepreneurs with space,

business and scientific guidance

and working capital to promote and

develop their companies. Dr. Hall,

who started his own successful

biotechnology firm, will provide

business expertise.

Dr. Cathy Jackson,

associate professor

in the Department of

Mass Communications

and Journalism,

presented “Ladies

or Wenches?:

Black Women

in Reconstruction Strove for One,

Lived the Other,” at the 75th annual

convention of the Association for the

Study of African Life and History

in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Joe Cook, ’10, mass communications

and journalism, has been named the

news sports reporter/anchor at KTVF

in Alaska.

Dr. Ron Thomas, professor of

psychology and the current president-

elect of the Virginia Conference of the

American Association of University

Professors, attended Capitol Hill Day

in Washington, D.C., and assisted the

Virginia delegation in advocating for

higher education to Virginia’s

congressional members.

Dr. Ernestine A.W.

Duncan, associate

professor and acting

chair in the Department

of Psychology, has

been appointed by the

State Board of Human

Rights to the Riverside

Local Human Rights Committee. The

board appoints local human rights

committees to address alleged

violations of consumers’ human rights.

Dr. Luay A. Wahsheh, assistant

professor and Information Assurance-

Research, Education and Development

Institute faculty member, received a

$453,000 grant entitled “Addressing the

Shortage and Quality of Cybersecurity

Workers through Relevant and Dynamic

Training,” from the National Nuclear

Security Administration. It’s a

collaborative grant with North Carolina

A & T State University, Bowie State

University, Voorheese College, the

University of the Virgin Islands and

Sandia National Labs.

Dr. Rasha Morsi,

associate professor,

graduate program

coordinator and

director of the

Creative Gaming

and Simulation Lab,

has received an

acceptance for an article entitled,

“BINX: an XNA/XBOX 360 Educational

Game for Electrical and Computer

Engineers,” for publication in

the journal Consumer Electronics

Times. The article is co-authored

with Chad Richards.

Sandra Olanitori, instructor, advisor

and recruiter in the Department of

Nursing and Allied Health, was an

honoree at the recent Virginia Nurses

Foundation Gala sponsored by the

Virginia Nurses Association and the

Virginia Action Coalition. She was

honored for her work and participation

in the Future of Nursing Campaign

for Action.

Dr. Jessica Parrott,

assistant professor

and director of the

BSN program, had

an article published in

the Infant, Child and

Adolescent Nutrition

(ICAN) journal titled,

“The Predictive Relationship of Pediatric

Body Mass Indexes and Comorbid

Diagnoses Including the Current

Findings Regarding Abscesses.” She

collaborated on the article with other

nurses including Dr. Carolyn Rutledge

of Old Dominion University, Dr. Kathie

Zimbro of Sentara Healthcare and

Dr. Laurel Shepherd of Old

Dominion University.

The Lyman Beecher Brooks Library

and Harrison B. Wilson Archives

hosted the State Council of Higher

Education for Virginia and the VIVA

Steering Committee quarterly meeting

in September for library deans

and directors from across the

Commonwealth.

Rudy Grimes, ’95,

was recently promoted

to lieutenant colonel.

Grimes serves as an

acquisition officer at

Fort Hood in Texas

and has served

17 years.

Have You Heard?

Joseph Hall

Cathy Jackson

Making Waves

Making Waves is publishedby the Office of Communications

and Marketing.

(757) 823-8373

Tony Atwater, Ph.D.President

Stephen McDanielInterim VP for University Advancement

Cheryl Bates-LeeAVP of University Relations

Stevalynn Adams

Regina Lightfoot

Christopher Setzer

marketing@nsu.edu

WAVESWAVES

Ernestine Duncan

Rasha Morsi

Jessica Parrott

Rudy Grimes