The NC State Advancement and External Affairs Committee convened Thursday to discuss NC State’s positioning as a land-grant university, alongside ongoing challenges with salary caps and budget delays impacting key projects and partnerships.
Committee members reflected on a “busy fall semester,” recapping Chancellor Kevin Howell’s campus-wide listening tour and a season of record fundraising. Red and White Week engaged over 5,300 students across nine major events, raising more than $1 million for participating campus organizations and drawing thousands of alumni back to campus.
The meeting’s primary focus, however, addressed Howell’s ambition to make NC State the nation’s top land grant university, as he frequently states in public appearances. The Committee is currently in the planning phase of this goal, planning to enter the “nucleus” phase by July 1, 2026. Although there is no formal ranking of land grant universities, NC State competes among the likes of Texas A&M University, Ohio State University, the University of Florida and more.
“You heard Chancellor Howell talk about his vision of becoming the number one land-grant university in the U.S., and while that’s an ambitious agenda, we can fuel that vision through the benefit of the comprehensive campaign and focus on fundraising initiatives that it would take to achieve that,” Brian Sischo, vice chancellor of University Advancement, said.
The campaign, expected to follow several years of planning, relies on “organizational readiness,” close alignment of the chancellor’s vision with funding priorities and robust tracking and goal-setting structures.
Committee members voiced concerns about “headcount caps” and salary ceilings for university staff and faculty introduced by the UNC System, which affect the university’s ability to incentivize and retain employees in a tight labor market.
“What that means is it will really limit our ability to recognize, even in the scenario where there were additional raises provided by the system to be able to elevate folks beyond the top of their range,” Sischo said.
Sischo said it may be necessary to look for other sources of investment to fund raises.
“Not only are we in a challenging environment from a retention point, but in order to aspire to the level of campaigning that we would aspire to, we’re also going to need to seek investment, really outline where those needs are greatest,” Sischo said.
On the legislative front, Vice Chancellor Julie Smith provided an update, noting little movement on the state budget and continued concern about funding for enrollment growth and critical projects.
“While I’m happy to say that the federal government shutdown ended last night after 43 days, I wish I had better news to report on the state side,” Smith said.
North Carolina has been lacking an approved budget since July 1. Without a budget, Smith said critical priorities like enrollment growth, the expansion of the College of Engineering and projects like Poe Hall and the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Large Animal Hospital are stalled.
Although state lawmakers are to reconvene next week and in December, Smith said these will be “skeletal” or procedural sessions, with no votes expected and little chance of progress on the stalled budget.
Mark Schmidt, associate vice chancellor, outlined a series of record-setting achievements for the university’s industry partnerships, highlighting collaborations with companies such as Hitachi Energy, Fujifilm Biotechnologies, Under Armour and the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
“Partnerships are really core to NC State,” Schmidt said. “It aligns well to most all things we do.”
Schmidt pointed to a 25% increase in sponsored research funding to $35 million and a 22% year-over-year growth in industry research funding, bringing NC State’s total to $65 million.
Schmidt said the current landscape in higher education is witnessing more opportunities in partnerships.
International engagement was also in the spotlight, with Schmidt highlighting a growing relationship with Denmark, particularly through the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the signing of a new memorandum of understanding on sustainable food systems.
The committee discussed new opportunities in advanced manufacturing, biomanufacturing and environmental biosolutions, with Denmark identified as a “lead partner.”
Outside the Hood Boardroom, two students stood with pamphlets in hand, focusing on the issues of graduate student stipends, fees and university investment transparency.
Although representing two separate organizations, they were both under the divestment coalition — an alliance of multiple student justice groups on campus, including Students for Decarbonization, the Young Democratic Socialists of America, UE 150 Graduate Workers Union, Campus Community Alliance for Environmental Justice, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Dissenters.
The Coalition demonstrated during last fall’s Board of Trustees meeting, standing behind former Chancellor Randy Woodson with picket signs. A representative from the Coalition announced their intent to present at this year’s meeting in an email sent to Technician, prompted by “the board’s failure to address any of these demands” brought up last year.
Lucy Roussa, a Ph. D. student studying marine science and a member of the Graduate Student Association’s Legislative Affairs and Student Advocacy Committee, said NC State is lacking in comparison to peer institutions when it comes to student stipends, stipend minimums, student fees and out-of-pocket costs that disproportionately affect graduate students.
On top of these concerns, Roussa said the minimum annual stipend for some graduate students is $20,000 and the cost of living in Raleigh is $38,000, according to a report authored by Roussa’s committee.
“Under the GSSP, which is the graduate student support plan, they forebode having a second income or an income outside of the university,” Roussa said. “So it’s really hard for graduate students to get their financial needs met.
John Hanlon, a third-year studying computer science and a member of Students for Decarbonization, focused his advocacy on university investments, particularly in fossil fuels.
“These investments are simply a bad financial investment for the university in that the fossil fuel industry routinely underperforms the market and as well as a bad reputational investment,” Hanlon said.
