The summer months have been filled with travel for those connected to the advance planning efforts for the new campus of the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics (NCSSM). Members of the Western Campus Core Planning Team have traveled alongside Chancellor Todd Roberts and each of the institution’s vice chancellors to collectively deliver a series of listening tour events from the mountains to the coast. The audience at each site has been comprised of a diverse cross-section of community officials, industry partners, NCSSM affiliates, and leaders from UNC system institutions.

Each stop on the Summer Listening Tour features an update from Kevin Baxter, Director of Western Campus Planning at NCSSM, members of the Core Planning Team, and representatives of NCSSM’s leadership team. The presentations conclude with an opportunity for dialogue that is facilitated by consultants from the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. The feedback collected at each event is captured by Friday Institute staff and shared with the Core Planning Team for their review prior to achieving final consensus with their recommendations.

“As planning for a western campus has allowed NCSSM to reimagine the makeup of a 21st century STEM school, the summer listening tour has provided a welcome opportunity to reintroduce NCSSM to our partner institutions in the UNC system,” said Tom Clayton, recently retired director of academic programs at NCSSM and member of the Western Campus Core Planning Team. “We have gained valuable input and insight on the educational program planned for Morganton from academic leaders and interested community members across the system.”

The tour kicked off on the campus of UNC Asheville in mid-July and has since visited Western Piedmont Community College (Morganton), East Carolina University (Greenville), Appalachian State University (Boone), UNC Charlotte (Charlotte), UNC Wilmington (Wilmington), and Western Carolina University (Cullowhee). Additional stops are planned on the campus of NCSSM (Durham) on August 16 and at the Friday Institute’s facility on NC State University’s Centennial Campus (Raleigh) on August 18.  Each event is open to the public and interested participants are asked to RSVP using the links above.

The advance planning process will culminate in a presentation of the final educational program vision to the NCSSM Board of Trustees during their meeting in Morganton on September 29, 2017. Updates on the process will continue to be shared on the NCSSM-Morganton online dashboard and  website.