New Chancellor Installation

submitted by skankinande on Wednesday, March 16 2005 at 4:53 PM

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:

All members of the NC State community are cordially invited to the Installation of
Dr. James L. Oblinger as the Thirteenth Chancellor of North Carolina State
University on Wednesday, April 20, 2005.

The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. in Reynolds Coliseum with a reception
immediately following in the Talley Student Center courtyard. To allow faculty and
student participation in this event, I encourage faculty to consider canceling or
adjusting class schedules between 10:15 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on April 20, 2005.
Students involved in the actual ceremony or reception will be excused from classes
during this time period in accordance with the University's attendance policy

Additional information about the installation is available at
www.ncsu.edu/installation .

I hope you will join me on this day as NC State celebrates this historic occasion.

Sincerely,
Larry A. Nielsen
Interim Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
for Academic Affairs

posted by JAllen1127 on Monday, April 18 2005 at 8:15 AM

ha- no cancelling my class on wednesday

4/18/2005 10:22:51 AM

They schedule things like this at the stupidest times. Then they wonder why student attendance is low.

4/18/2005 12:21:43 PM

Originally we were all told they would cancel classes that day, but then figured that it wouldn't be wise w/ exams approaching...

they really did put a lot of thought into choosing wednesday, but you can never please everyone....based on enrollment figures, and class patterns, wednesday is the best day (the weekend would never work for the amount of students either going home or who just wouldn't come to campus for something other than class)

4/18/2005 12:33:34 PM

Well not many students are going to go to this. I, for one, have class right in the middle of that block, and it will not be cancelled. They should have done it in the evening, not during the middle of the day or lunchtime.

[Edited on April 18, 2005 at 12:38 PM. Reason : ]

4/18/2005 12:38:35 PM

Yeah, I know....it's really an attempt to get the most people to come

Those that are not students that are coming are already doing many other events this week at night for the installation....it's not just this one ceremony

they also thought that by not cancelling classes they could get teachers to actually come to school and then cancel during the 10:30-1pm time period to go see the ceremony



again, it is really a long list of things that contributed, but you can't really get everyone involved all the time...I'm pretty sad/pissed they didnt' cancel classes after leaking that they would

4/18/2005 12:41:13 PM

Why can't they just double click setup.exe like everyone else?

Who says NCSU is a technical school....

4/18/2005 12:59:56 PM

4/18/2005 2:37:23 PM

Quote :

"again, it is really a long list of things that contributed, but you can't really get everyone involved all the time"

One likes to think that the students are an important part of this university, and that their schedules should be considered, but that seems to consistently fall by the wayside to make way for more media and dignitaries. I do not feel included. Nothing has changed.

4/18/2005 5:04:28 PM

I understand your frustration....but....

The idea was to get the most students to actually come, not so that the most students can come....

The idea to have it in the week is that students will already be on campus, and there will be some teachers actually cancelling classes for the ceremony...

if it was on the weekend, students simply would not come

so yeah, it would be nice to make it accessible, but that's really not the idea...the idea is to make it probable that students will come

4/18/2005 9:02:55 PM

^^
Don't use class as an excuse. If it was something that was important enough to you, you'd skip class and go to it. I agree the timing could have been better, say late afternoonish; however, I can't justify that unless I know the exact reasons for the choice of 10:30 in the morning.

4/19/2005 5:21:32 AM

The very fact that it is scheduled when it is, and class cancellation is not mandatory indicates to me that the university does not consider it important enough to skip classes. Absences are only excused for those directly involved with the ceremony. My professor, regrettably, does not post his notes online, so with exams approaching, I cannot justify skipping class, as much as I might like to.

4/19/2005 4:32:26 PM

it is sad that people would skip class just so they'd be in an AE commercial filming outside their dorm, but not attend the installation ceremony....

4/20/2005 12:43:30 PM

Dammit, the point is that you shouldn't have to skip class. It's a conflict of interest, and it's poor planning. The students are no longer the primary consideration of this university. As minor as this is in the grand scheme of things, Oblinger's reign starts out on a sour note for me.

4/20/2005 1:34:29 PM

Quote :

"The students are no longer the primary consideration of this university."

just laughed when I saw that...and was wondering, were you even born when the students were ever the primary considering of this university?

4/20/2005 1:49:59 PM

Probably not. Now why don't you quit making excuses and just admit this was a stupid time?

[Edited on April 20, 2005 at 2:04 PM. Reason : ]

4/20/2005 2:02:34 PM

I'm not making the excuses, I'm passing on the reasons from the people who used them. Based on turnout, it was a success for what was planned...it wasn't something that students would have benefitted from attending, so why put out more effort for people who probably wouldn't have come anyway had you canceled classes? there's a large percentage of students who I am sure did not want classes canceled, or cared what time the ceremony was to be held.....and the last reason, of course, was to allow the reception to be a free lunch to the ncsu community (students as well)....many participated in that as well

4/21/2005 12:24:15 AM