The Decree
since 1960 “of, by, andfor the Wesleyan community. ”
April 14, 2017
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, NORTH CAROLINA 27804
Provost Evan Duff Elevated from Interim Status
Dr. Evan Duff, head of NC Wesleyan’s
adult-degree program during a period of
dramatic expansion, has been appointed
the college’s Provost and Vice President
of Academic Affairs.
Duff, 38, succeeds Dr. Michael
Brown, who left the college last spring.
He becomes Wesleyan’s 13th academic
dean in the past 25 years. He served as
interim provost in 2012-13 and then
again during the current school year.
A graduate of Mt. Olive College with
a doctorate from Nova Southeastern
University, Duff moved to Wesleyan in
2011 to direct the adult-degree program
after serving in a similar position at his
alma mater. During the past six years,
Wesleyan has increased the number of
sites in its adult-degree program, known
as ASPIRE, to nine, stretching from the
Research Triangle to Manteo and Wilm
ington on the coast. Total enrollment has
almost doubled—from 650 to 1,218.
Residents of Clayton, Duff and his
wife, Marcy, have four children, Tyson, 14,
Landon, 12, Peyton, 7, and Chloe, 6. Tire
family belongs to Hope Community Church.
The Decree conducted a recent inter
view with Duff about his new position, his
goals and his interests outside of work.
Q. What prompted you to pursue a
career in education in the first place?
A. My father was a teacher (secondary)
and there were many teachers in my
family (K-12). I started my career in what
would be called "Business and Industry"
and came to a crossroads around the age
of 23. Having completed my master’s
degree, I was just not happy with what
I was doing. Knowing my strengths and
interests, I focused on three areas: higher
education, human resources, and working
for the federal government like my
mom. My first interview was with Lenoir
Community College. I was offered the
position and in a short amount of time, I
knew I had found my passion.
Q. What drew you to the provost's
position at Wesleyan?
A. Serving as interim provost the first
time really gave me a perspective of what
it would be like to be an academic dean
and the provost of this college. Back
then I’d only been with Wesleyan for a
year, so I didn’t feel the time was right to
pursue the position. But when I was given
the opportunity again in 2016, the timing
was right. What drew me to the position
was the ability to make a greater impact
on Wesleyan and the community while
working with excellent faculty and staff.
Q. As head of the ASPIRE program,
you’ve been cited for extending the reach
of NCWC into Eastern North Carolina.
This has required vision and an entrepre
neurial sense. Why make such a dramatic
shift to the provost’s office, which requires
a different focus, a different skills set?
A. I'm not sure I would consider it a
dramatic shift. Having an entrepreneurial
spirit is having the ability to make things
happen while growing and thriving. I’d
like to accomplish the same with
academic programs, faculty and staff
development and community outreach. I
enjoy having a solid vision and taking the
steps needed to see that vision to fruition.
Q. In what specific ways has your previ
ous position prepared you for your new one?
A. As VP of Adult Studies, I had the
opportunity to create great partnerships with
organizations and many community col
leges in the North Carolina system. Work
ing with presidents and vice presidents of
academic affairs at the community colleges
was rewarding, as we sought to enhance
the educational opportunities for students in
our state. The ability to communicate and
negotiate effectively has certainly prepared
me for the role of provost.
Q. Many provosts rise through the
ranks of faculty and then into administra
tive positions. Though you've taught at
the college level, most of your career
has been spent in administrative and
marketing-oriented positions. What gaps
in experience and training do you need to
fill? How will you do it?
A. While I didn’t experience the
traditional path to this position, I have
taught at the collegiate level (undergradu
ate, graduate and doctoral) for the last 12
years while holding administrative posi
tions. During this time, I've participated
in many faculty-related activities such as
publishing (peer-reviewed and non-peer
reviewed) and presenting at national and
regional conferences. I’ve also had the
pleasure of presenting at our regional
accreditor’s conference (Southern As
sociation of College & Schools) as
well as completing training on proper
accreditation procedures. I feel it would
be important to engage in professional
development opportunities regarding
traditional student retention, as I have the
least amount of experience in that area.
Q. Will you continue to direct the
ASPIRE program?
A. I’ll still oversee the Office of Adult
Studies from the perspective of making all
final operational decisions, directing mar
keting efforts, and continuing to establish
partnerships that benefit Wesleyan. The
college may change the responsibilities
of existing employees within the Office
of Adult Studies to take on more of a lead
ership role and manage the day-to-day
operations. But a new Vice President of
Adult Studies will not be hired.
Q. How do you spend a typical day?
A. This is always a hard item to
conceptualize because every day is dif
ferent, which is one of the aspects I love
about the position. Much time will go to
focusing on Title III initiatives (funded
by a federal grant), such as IT upgrades,
space improvements in the library,
supplemental instruction tutors, and a
summer bridge program, to name a few.
Other activities include complying with
SACS requirements, creating a vision for
the office, and working with Associate
Provost Molly Wyatt and others to
improve academic affairs.
Q. You report to the president and
serve as an advocate for faculty and
staff on the academic side. Describe the
challenges inherent in such a position.
A. I don’t see this as a challenge,
but more of an opportunity. We all have
our priorities and one of my main goals
is to help the faculty and the president
to understand each other's priorities. I
have a great working relationship with
the president, who has helped me to
accomplish many important academic-
affairs initiatives since last May. I look
forward to continuing to work with him.
the faculty, staff, administrators, students
and board of trustees to make Wesleyan
one of the best places to work and, from
the student perspective, learn.
Q. How do you see higher education
(in traditional-day programs) evolving
over the next 10 years? What are some of
the major changes on the horizon?
A. I’d recommend an interesting New
York Times.com article from June 22,2016.
It's titled "Educators Discuss the Future of
Higher Education” and available online.
As educators, we must acknowledge that
technology and online learning will be a part
of students’ fives long before they come to
college. Many freshmen come with online
learning experience and in some cases,
expect that as part of their educational
journey. We already have at least one faculty
member experimenting with "The Flipped
Classroom,” where students watch lectures
online, allowing them to have a more
directed and hands-on classroom experi
ence. The Times article references groups,
discussions and debate. Many such activities
already take place at Wesleyan, but could we
do it more effectively? Could we infuse tech
nology in some way to make learning more
effective? I feel our Teaching and Learning
Center and instructional technologist will
help us to evolve in a way that makes sense
for Wesleyan and the students we serve.
Q. What do you see as the most
significant challenges Wesleyan faces as
it grows its enrollment?
A. 1. Infrastructure (dorms, class-
rooms and labs, and offices, etc.) and 2.
Donor growth. Both are challenges for
small, private colleges that want to grow
enrollment. But Wesleyan has a 10-year
strategic plan that addresses both items,
as well as many others, to ensure we have
a road map to be successful.
Q. The college’s Chief Planning
Officer, Larry Kelley, provided the fol
lowing data on retention and graduation
rates (the most recent available):
2010 Cohort
4-year graduation rate: 11%
5-year graduation rate: 19%
6-year graduation rate: 21%
The first question is, What do you
think when you see numbers like that?
A. They're disappointing and not a
reflection of all of the improvements
happening at Wesleyan. What most don't
know, and what the numbers don't reflect,
are transfer graduates, which make up 14
percent of the traditional population and
90 percent of the adult-studies popula
tion. The federal government (we use its
formula to calculate the data), only looks
at first-time freshmen in each cohort.
Q: While many would agree that faculty,
staff and administrators can take steps to help
improve retention and ‘ 'progress toward gradu
ation,” what’s your reaction to the argument
that Wesleyan’s numbers are low because it
admits too many unprepared students?
A. The numbers reflect students admit
ted in 2010, which was before the current
administrators worked at Wesleyan (aside
from Athletic Director John Thompson).
The college has made great strides since
2011 and, in particular since 2014, to
recruit students who are prepared or well
prepared to be successful in college.
Wesleyan has implemented or improved
programing that promotes the educational
and social development of our students
to include college seminars, the COL 195
course for new students, a summer bridge
program and enhancements to Freshman
Advantage. We won's see the fruits of our
labors until 2020-2025.
Q. List your short-term and long-term goals.
A. In the short term, the college needs to
focus on SACS reaffirmation, which will oc
cur in 2019/2020. We need to begin the pro
cess now to review our policies, procedures,
finances and assessment to be successful with
this process. We're establishing the founda
tion now so that we can be prepared for the
review and site visit. The college will also be
working on securing approval of our Master
of Science in Criminal Justice and Master of
Business Administration programs, which
we’ll submit to SACS in September 2017
or April 2018. Faculty and staff welfare and
faculty growth are also very important and,
in the short term. I'll be addressing both areas
with human resources and the leadership
team. Long-term initiatives include improved
infrastructure so that the education we’re
providing can be the best it can be.
Q. What new programs would you like
the college to add, long term? How does
the college decide on new majors?
A. The college identifies what’s ap
propriate based on interest from prospective
students, what peer colleges are offering, the
needs of our community and organizations
in our community, and our ability to find
and hire full-time faculty in that discipline.
The following (in no particular order) are
programs that have been discussed in broad
terms from time to time: logistics, Christian
ministries, social work, forestry, healthcare
administration, Spanish, music production,
and hospitality management.
Q. Why do you think some faculty resist
teaching online while others prefer that approach?
A. Many factors play into this:
perspective, research, exposure, point of
view, etc. Many faculty have demon
strated that the learning outcomes with
on-line classes are similar to those found
in courses taught face-to-face. Other fac
ulty feel that there has not been enough
research to support long-term learning
for students who take online classes.
These debates take place at almost every
institution of higher education.
Q. Can Wesleyan retain its liberal arts
tradition while adding pre-professional
programs (e.g., marketing, health promo
tion, organizational administration,
masters in CJ, etc., etc.)? How do you
respond to traditionalist faculty who
express concerns that such programs
dilute the liberal arts emphasis?
A. All students are exposed to
our liberal arts tradition through our
general education courses. These courses
introduce students to the broad liberal
arts foundation that provides them with
the skills they need to be successful in
their major and in life. Such skills include
reading, writing, speaking, analytical
reasoning, and critical thinking. As we
continue to create programming like the
writing minor and the Spanish minor,
more students will receive the opportu
nity to further their liberal arts experience
by adding such minors to their major.
Q. You’re well known for your
responsiveness on email and your multi
tasking abilities in general.
Have you always been like this?
See PROVOST pg 2
Four Students Remembered
On One -Year Anniversary
By Sydney Jackson
Decree Staff Writer
Wesleyan staff and students gathered
March 21 to remember one of the sad
dest moments in the college’s 60-year
history, the death of four students in a
car accident one year ago.
A memorial service took place at the
Leon Russell Chapel
in remembrance of
“Wesleyan Angels”
Robyne St. Clair
Barnes, Quedeshia
“Donyell” Brown,
Kandis McBride-
Jones, and Donesha
“Dee” Scott. The four
friends, returning
from an off-campus
September 21, 2016
These trees were planted
in loving memory of our fallen
“Wesleyan Angels.”
Mafch -21, 2016
Roby fie St Claife Baffles Quedeshia "boh yell" bfbwh
Kindis MdBridc Jofics Donesha "Die" Scott
dinner, died as a result of a crash near the
front entrance of the college.
During the service the chapel was
full; there were even attendees who
stood outside. Many family members
traveled to campus to be in attendance.
President Dewey Clark opened the cer
emony, recalling the tragic night of March
21,2016 and the deep sadness that he
continues to feel. “I thought it went well,"
President Clark said after the ceremony. “It
was well attended, sweet, and special.”
Other speakers included Chaplain
Barry Drum and student Sarah Jeffers,
the four students’ resident advisor
in Edgecombe Hall. The college’s
gospel ensemble, Voices of Triumph,
performed, and one member, Toni Col
lins said she felt the entire ceremony
was beautiful. "It proved to me that
the tragedy affected many on campus,”
she said. “It showed a lot of love and
support for the families.”
Stephanie Garrett, a close friend
and roommate of McBride-Jones, was
moved by the memorial. "The gospel
choir was beautiful as always,” she said.
In reflecting on the accident,
Dean Edward Naylor said it reminds
The college has erected an arch, and planted four trees, near Edgecombe Hall to
memorialize four students who perished in a car crash last year. A. Stern photos
Mariano Silvestri, a freshman from
Argentina, has helped lead the
Bishops to a top-50 ranking. Turn to
page 3 for coverage of the golf team
and other spring sports. SI photo
members of the Weselyan community
about "the fragility of life. It can end at
any moment.”
Following the ceremony, attendees
moved to the college’s front entrance,
near the Gateway Technology Center,
where the accident occurred. There, at
8:26 p.m., the time of the accident, a
candlelit vigil was
held, led by SGA
President Emanuel
Williams.
Different students
spoke about the
memories they
shared with the four
students. Many cited
the increased unity
at the school since
the accident occurred. Campus Security
Director Wayne Sears noted that the
ceremony was attended by police and
other first responders present on the
night of the accident.
Sears said the ceremony lasted 10
minutes, but that students stayed to
speak with each of the families.
Responding to the deaths of the four
students, Weselyan has established
different ways to memorialize them.
According to President Clark, it has
created a scholarship in their honor.
It has installed four memorial bricks,
donated by an anonymous contribu
tor, in the sidewalk that leads to the
chapel. Near Edgecombe Hall it has
built a brick archway, named “Angel
Arch,” and planted four trees in the
vicinity, using funds given by another
anonymous donor.
Artist Steve Felton has painted
a picture of the “Angel Arch.”
Mini hand-painted canvases were
presented to each of the families at
the chapel ceremony. A large canvas
hangs in Dr. Clark's office, and
miniature copies have gone on sale at
the college bookstore.