September 21, 2021
To: UNCG Faculty
From: Provost Debbie Storrs
RE: Announcing Two Provost Faculty Fellows
I am delighted to announce two new provost faculty fellows are joining the UNCG academic leadership team. Professor Regina McCoy will serve as Provost Fellow for Student Success, and Professor Tracy Nichols will serve as Provost Fellow for Faculty Development. During this academic year and summer of 2022, the fellows will ensure UNCG makes progress on two important areas of priority:
- increasing student retention and student success, and
- supporting and advancing faculty development.
Our success in advancing these priorities will depend on everyone’s engagement in these two important areas of campus life. Each of us brings expertise and experience that can further our shared goals and enhance UNCG. I invite, encourage, and ask that each of us, along with our provost fellows, engage as fully as possible towards these efforts. Everyone’s voice, ideas, experience, and commitment matter. Individual and collective contributions will create a more inclusive, stronger culture at UNCG where our students and faculty can thrive.
Both fellows will devote 50 percent of their time as provost fellows while focusing the other 50 percent on their home department, research, and teaching.
Regina McCoy will work with Provost Storrs, academic deans, department heads, directors, and chairs, Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies Andrew Hamilton, faculty senate, and others to heighten and support faculty engagement in our student retention efforts.
Tracy Nichols will collaborate with Provost Storrs, Chancellor Fellow for Campus Climate Andrea Hunter, Senior Vice Provost Alan Boyette, academic deans, department chairs, heads, directors, faculty senate, and others to advance faculty development initiatives. This work will help lead efforts regarding faculty development including advancing the work that emerged from faculty senate on best practices to recognize equity, diversity, and inclusion in annual, promotion, and tenure processes; and how to equitably recognize the work and contributions of our professional faculty.
They both have extensive experience with advancing equity and inclusion. Their efforts in student retention and faculty development will be infused with a diversity and inclusion lens. I am looking forward to working with them over the next year.