Seniors are invited to enjoy a two day end-of-year celebration on May 26 and 27 that will feature a variety of events - an outdoor field day, inflatable water slides, and Senior Dessert to name a few! Time Under the Tents will also be hosted again this year with your favorite NCSSM employees, as well as one last Hill Street block party, food trucks, sweet treats, and more.

Please join us as we graduate our 41st class of residential students on Saturday, May 28, at 10:00am on Watts Lawn! The ceremony is open only to NCSSM seniors and their families. NCSSM juniors will not be participating in Commencement. At this time, we are not anticipating restrictions regarding the number of family members per senior who can attend.

No tickets are required UNLESS inclement weather necessitates moving indoors. If Commencement is moved indoors, each senior will receive 4 tickets: 2 tickets for the NCSSM Eilber Physical Education Center (PEC) and 2 tickets to livestream locations around campus: the Auditorium, Lecture Hall, and Music Suite.

Guests may arrive on campus starting at 8:00am. There is no assigned seating. We ask that everyone be in their seats by no later than 9:45am. The entire event will be livestreamed on the NCSSM YouTube Channel. For more information about Commencement, please visit: https://www.ncssm.edu/commencement.

Residence halls will close on Friday, April 8 at 5:00pm and will reopen on Monday, April 18 at 12:00pm. Since this is a long break, students must unplug all items in their room, including fridges and fish tanks. Students should properly defrost their fridge to avoid puddles or mold growth over the break. This is also the last break of the year, so students are encouraged to move out as many items as possible to make move out in May much easier. 

The Senior Leadership Campus Service process is coming to a close! Senior Leadership announcements will be sent out on Monday, April 18 at 10:00am and applicants will have until Thursday, April 21 to submit their decisions to program coordinators. Please note that the SLCS process does not account for every possible senior campus service assignment. Juniors should reach out to any employees that they may be interested in working with next year if they chose not to participate in the SLCS process or are still looking for options.

The Prom Committee is excited to extend an invitation to all residential students to attend NCSSM's annual formal event! This year, NCSSM's Prom will occur on Saturday, April 2, at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. Click HERE for details about the event, how to purchase tickets, transportation options, family volunteer opportunities, and more!

Each year, the Prom Committee invites NCSSM families to participate in the festivities by volunteering the night of Prom at the Museum of Life and Science. There are many opportunities to be involved, from helping out with set up, to organizing the coat check, serving appetizers, desserts, and drinks, directing students throughout the museum, and of course the dash to clean everything up and pack it away in record time at the end of the night. For more information about volunteering at Prom, check out this link. This year, the Prom Coordinators would also like to provide families who are unable to volunteer with an opportunity to purchase desserts for students to enjoy. More information about how to contribute will be available soon!

In keeping with tradition, Student Life will also host an After Prom event for students to enjoy late night pizza in the PEC after prom ends. Additional details about the event and how to participate will be shared with students after the Extended Weekend.

As you and your student make plans for Prom 2022, please do not hesitate to reach out to NCSSM's Prom Coordinators at prom@ncssm.edu with any questions.

The March Extended Weekend (Friday, March 18 through Monday, March 21) would be a great time for students to look into formalwear offerings in their home communities if that would be a convenient avenue to pursue for attire. Ethan will send out an interest survey to 4th West residents in early March to gauge how much interest there might be in planning a hall outing to locations in the Durham area as an alternative for folks who may prefer that option or who may not have conveniently placed businesses in their hometowns. We're fortunate to have some great local resources that the Prom Committee has compiled on the Apparel Tab of the Prom Site, and can definitely plan a trip if there's enough interest!

J-Term got off to a great start on 4th West with a week of events planned by Junior Garrett Wight and RLA Jake Rose! Their 4th West Olympics consisted of eight rounds in which residents could gain points counting toward a grand total. Events included:

1. Last One Standing

2. Five Minute Roulette

3. Jenga Game Night

4. Graham Cracker Game Day

5. Odd One Out

6. Jungle Ball

7. Scavenger Hunt Game Day

8. Mafia Game Night

Congratulations to Junior Lucas Hahnenberg for coming out on top at the end of the Olympics!

The Senior Leadership Campus Service (SLCS) selection process is underway! Almost twenty different assignments participate in this process so that juniors can apply for several positions with a streamlined application. An overview of the process and the various positions can be found on the SLCS Website. Please note that the SLCS process does not account for every senior campus service assignment. There are many opportunities for leadership in campus service to consider. Juniors should reach out to any employees that they may be interested in working with next year.

January Term (J-Term) is a special session in which NCSSM provides opportunities for students to engage in unique educational experiences. These experiences include both regular coursework (offered in a different format) and unique learning opportunities beyond the standard curriculum, both in and out of the traditional classroom context. J-Term aims to engage students in a rigorous exploration of a subject area of great interest in a way that contributes to their academic and personal growth and serves them well in their future academic aspirations.

On Monday, January 17, NCSSM will celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and legacy by having a day dedicated to community service, education, and unity. The day is considered part of the academic calendar and the expectation is that students participate fully in the day’s activities and events. 

The keynote speaker, William Barber III, is a class of 2009 alum and currently works as the Strategic Partnerships Manager at The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit based in Washington, D.C. whose mission is to catalyze a global solution to the climate crisis. He also serves as a member of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary’s Environmental Justice and Equity Advisory Board, as well as co-chair for the North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign Ecological Devastation committee. In addition, he founded The Rural Beacon Initiative, LLC - a multi-member startup that provides consultation for groups looking to advance equity, climate justice, and environmental justice. Rural Beacon has evolved, exploring the role of green finance as a vehicle to address social disparities.

Just like that, we have reached the halfway point for the year! With Winter Break beginning Friday, December 10, I wanted to provide a breakdown of how students should prepare for these longer breaks. Residence Halls close on December 10 at 5:00pm. Halls will reopen on Tuesday, January 4, at  12:00pm noon. Because this is a long break we require that students unplug all items in their room, including fridges and fish tanks. During room inspections this week I will check that students have properly defrosted their fridges, so that we can avoid any puddles or mold growth over the break. Signing out for this break is handled similarly to an Extended Weekend:

• Students will sign an Extended Sheet on hall during hall meeting. On this form they indicate where they are going for the break, who they are traveling with, and how they are getting to their location.

• If a student is not departing early and their final destination is home or they are being picked-up by a parent/guardian, they do not need to fill out any other forms other than the Extended Sheet on hall, including their LiveSafe app.

• Students are free to leave campus for the break once they have completed their final exam of the week. If a student is departing before the day the break begins they will need to have a parent/guardian sign them out at Bryan desk or complete the Student Travel Permission Form. They will also need to sign out on the LiveSafe App.

• If a student's final destination is not home and they are not being collected by a parent/guardian, or if they are taking the train or GreyHound bus, they will need to complete a Student Travel Permission Form, sign out on LiveSafe, and sign out at the Bryan desk.

During January, students will take a break from their regular coursework to engage in employee-led educational opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. Examples of these J-Term experiences include computational medicinal chemistry, Introduction to Aviation, and extended domestic travel. J-Term begins on Wednesday, January 5 and ends on Thursday, January 27. You can view your student’s assigned J-Term class or classes on Blackbaud.

January Term (J-Term) is an essential part of the NCSSM Academic Program. Since class meeting patterns are different during J-Term, attendance is calculated differently. One unexcused hour of missed class will be recorded as one unexcused absence. J-Term is considered its own term for attendance purposes. The number of accumulated absences reverts to zero at the beginning of spring semester.

This will also be a great time for us to plan engaging hall programs that we wouldn't normally be able to do while students are completing their coursework each semester! I will be in touch at the start of January with an overview of programs for the month, and certainly welcome input or ideas from our students if there's something they'd like to see planned or an activity they'd like to lead themselves.

Semi-Formal - NCSSM’s annual winter dance - will take place on Saturday, December 4 from 9:00pm to 11:55pm in the PEC Gymnasium! All students are invited to enjoy the evening with friends and hallmates. Look forward to festive winter decorations, music, snacks, a photo booth, and dancing!

Students planning to attend are encouraged to bring semi-formal dress clothes back to campus after Thanksgiving if they don't have any on campus already. In past years we have extended an invitation to parents and families to be involved with Semi - if you are interested in helping out this year, families are encouraged to contribute financially to the Student Activities Board in support of the event! More information about how to provide support can be found on the Student Activities Website.

There are several extended breaks scheduled over the next couple of months! In each instance, halls will close at 5:00pm on the closure date and reopen at 12:00pm noon on the opening date:

• Closed Friday, October 29 - Monday, November 1

• Closed Friday, November 19 - Sunday, November 28

• Closed Friday, December 10 - Tuesday, January 4

For the Thanksgiving and Winter breaks we ask that students unplug all items in the room, including fridges and fish tanks. Students should defrost their fridges completely and clean out excess water before leaving for the break. They should also make sure to take any houseplants or fish home with them when leaving campus during these times.

As students continue to adjust to academics at NCSSM, it is also important for them to preserve time to have fun, relax, and enjoy all parts of the Science and Math experience. To that end, I wanted to share some information about NCSSM's Student Activities Board (or SAB for short) and all the opportunities that it provides for students here!

The SAB is made up of student and employee volunteers from across campus. Under the supervision of Student Activities Coordinator Taylor Parsons, SAB meets every other Thursday throughout the year to plan activities and events for the student body. Meetings are open to all students!

Some SAB events include:

• Friday Fun Days

• Thursday Trivia

• Weekend Movie Nights on the Lawn and in the Lecture Hall

• Block Parties on Hill Street

You can find more information about the SAB and see upcoming events on their Student Activities Website, or by reaching out to Taylor at taylor.parsons@ncssm.edu.

4th West residents will begin scheduling one-on-one meetings with me in October to give me a chance to get to know them better! One-on-ones are a great way for me to learn about and respond to any issues they may be having on hall or on campus, get input and suggestions about things they would like to see on hall, and just generally check in on how they are enjoying their time at NCSSM. One-on-ones typically last between 20 and 30 minutes and will be conducted on a semesterly basis. Our residents had a chance to meet with one of their RLAs in the same manner during September, but I look forward to meeting with everyone personally this month!

As October draws to a close, faculty will be completing grading assignments so that we can release progress reports on November 5. To view progress reports, log into Blackbaud and select the “Progress” tab. Select “Report cards” to open all of the progress reports for this year. From there, select either “Semester 1 - Durham” or “Semester 1 - Durham (No Comments),” depending on whether you want to view grades and teacher feedback, or just grades.

If you have concerns about your student’s performance, please reach out and let me know! Although support team members always meet with students who have multiple Cs or a D to help develop a plan for improvement, I am happy to meet with any of my residents on 4th West for any concerns.

It is also important for your student to be in communication with their individual teachers, their counselor, and the Center for Advising and Academic Success for advice and support. This is a good time of the semester for students to consider attending tutorials, which are a great way to spend more time with faculty engaging with the content of their courses!

After our residents had a while to grow accustomed to living with roommates and hallmates during the month of August, we worked together as a hall to draft an agreement on how we will show respect to one another, handle minor disagreements, support each other, and take care of our space.

The following points were prioritized by breaking off into small groups during a Hall Meeting with each group choosing which two points they felt were the most important to building a respectful and supportive hall community. It was important to our residents that we:

1. Respect each other's boundaries

   • Observe and respect boundaries, both our own and those of others

2. Bring our humor and have fun

   • Enjoy our time together, but not at anyone else's expense

3. Normalize emotions

   • Encourage people to express their feelings and respect how they process things

4. Listen for understanding

   • Seek to learn about and understand each other before trying to persuade

5. Label ideas or actions, not people

   • Avoid generalizations about people based on their ideas or actions that may have affected you

6. Look for growth opportunities

   • Approach mistakes or disagreements as opportunities to learn and grow together

7. Take space, make space

   • Share our own perspectives while also sharing the floor with others

8. Listen respectfully

   • Actively listen to the speaker, and talk one person at a time

9. Use "I" statements

   • Speak from our own experience and avoid generalizing that to the experience of others

10. Show up and be present

    • Set aside concerns and distractions and be as present as you are able

11. Be conscious of time

    • Be on time, help stick to it, and negotiate for more if needed

12. Share your skills

    • Share our own expertise, insights, strengths, and hopes

It is important to note that this is a living document, and we will revisit it from time to time during future hall meetings or if any issues arise. Thanks to our residents for helping draft our hall agreement!

NCSSM residential students made it to the end of their first three weeks on campus for the 2021-2022 academic year!

Although this weekend would have marked the halfway point of a six week cohort last year, this time around it only signifies the start of our first Extended Weekend for Labor Day.

I hope that our residents enjoy some rest and relaxation this weekend, and that you as the families enjoy having them back!

As mentioned in the email sent on behalf of Chancellor Roberts last week, we are erring on the side of caution by conducting a virtual Family Day on Saturday, September 18, rather than hosting one on campus. In our virtual Family Day, you will have a chance to navigate your student’s class schedule, meet each of their instructors, and experience a sample of what they are learning in each course. We will offer this experience via Zoom on the scheduled date of September 18 between 8:30am and 3:30pm!

No later than September 16, you will receive a personalized class schedule for your student with Zoom links for each class period. At that time, the school will also send schedule information for the session about college visits and financial aid. NCSSM will also be working with the NCSSM Parent Association to schedule other opportunities through the course of the fall semester for small groups of parents who wish to visit and experience life on campus while school is in session.

Questions about Family Day? Use this Google Form with your NCSSM email account to share them in advance for our FAQ!

IMPORTANT: If you haven’t signed into Blackbaud or your NCSSM email account recently, please do so soon! If you have any login issues, submit an ITS help ticket right away. If you are inexperienced with Zoom, we recommend that you download the app for your device and practice attending a Zoom meeting with your student or a friend.

Our Student Health Services Clinic is available between 8:00am and 4:00pm from Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours, students seek assistance from an open CC desk.  CCs can contact an on call medical service for professional advice!

The clinic is not open to non-emergency walk-ins.  Students should schedule a telehealth, physical exam, or medicine pick up appointment using the Clinic Appointment Form, which can also be found in the resources page of Blackbaud. If a student needs to be seen in person following a telehealth appointment, Clinic staff will schedule that visit.

Now that we have made it to our first Extended Weekend, students should be getting the hang of classes and life at NCSSM! Around this time, students also tend to notice their workload increasing. It is important that they develop strong time management skills and learn to seek out help as they begin to face challenges. Students can reach out to Ethan for support and advice, as well as any of the following resources:

Center for Advising and Academic Success (CAAS): CAAS serves all residential and online students during their time at NCSSM. The purpose and function of the Center is to provide individual, ongoing, and real-time academic support and guidance for all students. Some of the CAAS services include:

• providing guidance and advice for students on course choices and placement,

• providing academic consultation for students,

• developing and managing academic support plans,

• communicating directly with student support teams,

• working with Counseling Department on academic support, and

• providing administrative support to the Registrar and Enrollment Services Department.

Tutorials: Most classes and departments offer formal tutorial sessions for students, which are led by either faculty or student Teaching Assistants (typically referred to as TAs). You can find tutorial sessions or other resources on each department’s website:

• Math Tutorials and Office Hours

• Science Tutorials and Office Hours

• Engineering and Computer Science Website

• Humanities Website

• Fine Arts Website

Residential Education Classes: All juniors take RE102, and during their fourth week of class will be learning about academic success strategies. The skills they develop and the resources provided by their instructor will be helpful to revisit throughout the year to support them during their time at NCSSM!