Diversity

I can imagine an ideal university, a place where students, employees and scholars come together from different continents and states, different religions and political viewpoints, different races and classes. In this place, these differences are the source of curiosity and robust, respectful debate, not of division and alienation. The people of this place seek out and intellectually engage those who are different to help see their own thoughts more clearly.

North Carolina State University is committed to becoming such a place, one where diversity is not measured in numbers only but in the inclusive, welcoming, and stimulating climate we all experience as members of this community. NC State has made a pledge to make a difference. In this pledge, we have outlined our goals to aggressively recruit and retain a diverse complement of faculty and students and to promote engagement and understanding across all human boundaries.

Why does diversity matter to you as a prospective student?

The purpose of a university is to expose its students to the wide range of human experience to train their minds in creativity and flexibility. It is to ask challenging questions about the pressing needs of our time, and then seek answers through research and discussion. Neither of these things can happen in a world where people think the same way and reinforce each other’s preset opinions. Breakthrough moments of learning tend to come through the play of difference, when the clash of ideas produces new insight. Further, in our increasingly interconnected world, we as students
must be able to understand and collaborate across the many dimensions of difference – of race and ethnicity, income, religious affiliation, national culture, and many more – to succeed. Diversity makes our world a far more interesting place, and that’s a good enough reason for us here at
NC State to build this university as a place where difference isn’t just tolerated, but actively embraced.

NC State has made great progress in the past few years. In undergraduate admissions, we are drawing an increasing number of applications from under-represented U.S. groups and from overseas. We have increased the number of faculty of color in all fields, and of women in the fields where they have been underrepresented. However, we can do even better in creating an environment where all people listen and learn from each other and feel their voices are heard. I am positive that we can do more to help students engage with people who look or act or believe differently than they do, in daily experiences inside and outside the classroom. We can do more to invite people from all backgrounds and places around the globe into the Wolfpack community, and to retain their talent once it’s here--and we would like to start with you! Will you choose to join this
diversity initiative that is making an impact that can be heard around the world?

This is a hallmark of this institution. This is a commitment we have made as members of the Wolfpack family.
Posted by: John Campbell

Campus Food

There are several options for food on campus including the Atrium Food Court, Talley Student Center, Dining Halls, and Coffee Shops and Cafe's. All locations accept campus meal plans, board bucks (debit type system linked to your student ID card), credit/debit, or cash.

There are 3 dining halls on campus, mainly used by students living on campus: Fountain (west campus), Case (central campus), Clark (east campus). You may be surprised that the food in the dining hall is actually pretty good. I am not promising that you will like everything there, but there are tons of options from the salad bar, hot bar, food ordered from the grill, vegetarian/vegan options, to specialty bars like the fajita bar, pasta bar. The dining halls are open for breakfast, lunch, dinner throughout the week (7am-8:30pm), with "brunch" and dinner offered on the weekend (10:30am-8:00pm).

Atrium Food Court is located adjacent to the Brickyard and houses a Lil' Dino's Sub shop, Chik-fil-A, Toppers (salads/wraps/burgers/etc), Paisano's Pizzeria, and Freshen's Smoothie Company.

Talley Student Center houses Taco Bell, Lil' Dino's subs, and the Wolves Den (a sporty grill offering quick food in a relaxed environment).

Hill of Bean's Coffee Shop is in DH Hill Library, offering coffee/lattes/baked goods. Other cafe's and coffee shops are located across Centennial Campus and the Vet School campus.

More information available at http://www.ncsudining.com

Posted By: Justin Jornigan

Greek Life

On NC State's campus you will find different types of Greek Life. The most common is the social sororities and fraternities. There are four different councils with a social sorority or fraternity for every individual. Each council has their own type of rush to gain new members. To find out more information about the different councils and rush please check out the Greek Life webpage: www.ncsu.edu/greek_life

Right now our Greek Court is undergoing construction to make a new Greek Village. This new village will be similar in design to USC Columbia's Greek houses. The houses in the Greek Village are considered on campus housing and have access to the Wolfline, NC State's bus.

I have enjoyed my years in Alpha Delta Pi sorority because I have been able to participate in philanthropy events and gain leadership experience. My sisters have become my second family and I hope to continue with my sorority's opportunities after graduation!
Posted by: Beth Migliaccio

I became a member of Greek Life my first semester at NC State when I went through Formal Recruitment and joined Delta Zeta sorority. Greek Life is a wonderful way for students to get involved early on campus! There are four councils which are all a part of Greek Life; the Panhellenic Association, the Interfraternity Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Association, and the Collaborative Greek Council. For information on each council, visit the Greek Life website: http://www.ncsu.edu/greeklife/index.html. The four main pillars of Greek Life are brotherhood & sisterhood, service, leadership, and scholarship. Each organization truly encompasses each of these. By joining Greek life, you are given the chance to establish lasting friendships, as well as enhance your personal development through various outlets. Each individual organization has its own unique social events, rituals, traditions, and service and leadership opportunities. However, together Greek Life is just a group of students who all share common goals and interests.

My four years as a sister in Delta Zeta have definitely been amazing! Service events I have been a part of include, but are not limited to: Relay For Life, Service Raleigh, Service NC State, the Soup Kitchen, the NC Food Bank, volunteering at schools, Hoops for Hope, etc. Also, Delta Zeta, as well as all other organizations, has a national philanthropy in which we raise money for year round. Delta Zeta raises money for the hearing and speech impaired by hosting an annual male pageant called “Big Man On Campus”. Contestants wear an outfit that describes their personality, are interviewed on stage, and have to perform some sort of talent. The talents range from singing, doing an interpretive dance, or even trying to break the world record of chicken nugget eating! Because all organizations have service events like this throughout the year, it is easy to stay involved with each other’s philanthropic events. For leadership in my sorority I have held five chairman positions, including Alumnae Relations and Judicial Board President. Sisterhood is one of my favorite aspects of being in a sorority. I have met the most amazing women by being a part of Delta Zeta and have established the best friendships. Without being a member of Delta Zeta, and meeting the women I have, I would not be the person I am today. My sisters have always been there for me, and helped with my own personal growth and development. Finally, academics definitely remains an integral part of being in a Greek organization. Because all the organizations range in size, more than likely you will find people that are Greek in your classes, perhaps even friends from the same organization. For me, this was always helpful because you can automatically form those bonds and establish study groups. Since we are all students first, it’s easy to see that being successful in our classes is really important to ourselves as individuals and to Greek Life as a whole.
Posted by: Catherine Casey

Examples of Campus Clubs

As a freshman, I wanted to get more involved around campus, but wasn't really sure how to begin. Then, during my first week of school, I saw flyers and chalking all over campus advertising various club meetings, so I thought I would give a couple of them a try. I ended up joining the Pre-vet Club, the Zoology Club, and the Companion Animal Club, which were all very applicable to my pre-veterinary interests. By joining these clubs, I met students with the same interests; I met other students from my classes, and they became great people to study with, while the upperclassmen in the clubs had great advice for my next four years at State. The clubs also coordinated a lot of fun activities that allowed me to get more involved around campus, as well as the community, all of which really helped me find my niche at NC State!

CALS Clubs & Organizations
Student Organization Resource Center

Posted by: Tria Metzler

Pre-Health Interests

Many students in CALS choose to be in the life-sciences portion of the college and out of this group, a large number of them want to go on to a professional career in some type of health field. If you fit this mold then you may be interested in finding out more about pre-health opportunities at NC Sate

CALS offers the Health Professionals Advising Center also known asHealth PAC on campus. This is an advising center with professionals who are dedication to helping you go on to whichever health career you may choose. They will help you build your resume, get involved with shadowing and volunteer experiences that relate directly to the career that you plan on pursuing, developing your application, writing a personal statement, and passing any tests that are associated with that
career (ex. the MCAT for med students). This advising center also has a website that you can visit to get started with all of this material at cals.ncsu.edu/health_pac.

Aside from that you can also get involved with the pre-health club which is a student led organization filled with all pre-professionals. They meet twice a month and assist each other with becomingprofessionals. They are divided into interest groups that represent each specialty in the health field: pre-nursing, pre-medical, pre-dental, pre-optometry, pre-pharmacy, etc.

Becoming a health professional is a tough and stressful job, but with the right help you can do it quite easily
Posted by: Ashley Porter

I have pre-health interests and have taken advantage of Health-PAC, an office and organization aimed at helping students apply to health professional school as well as enhance their applications. Once you sign-up to be on the listerv, they will e-mail you several times a week about local opportunities to work or volunteer within the realm of health and medicine. It is a great resource, and they include two wonderful advisors who can help you get started with your health profession pursuit.
Posted by: Natalie Umesi

Campus Resources

NC State has many things to offer students and resources for them to use. As a student I really like the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences having a separate Career Services Center unique to us. It is great to have a way to post your resume online and have it active for internship and job opportunities. They also are there to help with career decisions and practice interviewing for jobs, internships, or professional and graduate schools.

The Student Health Center is also a great thing to have in case you get sick while you live in the dorm. It is only a few steps away and it provides great care for students. I have been sick a few times and was not able to go home to my doctor. The student health center gave me a great option to go in and see a doctor. You can also stop by and get supplies from the pharmacy. It also has a counseling center so if you have a problem or need to talk to someone, they are there to help.

I also really like the campus safety here. I feel like they are really there to help and aid students at night through their blue light system and safety escorts.

The library is also a great place to go for research. I have spent time in the book stacks doing research, writing papers and studying. It has a coffee shop for those late nights and many different areas to study in. There are quiet spots, hang out spots, video games, comfortable chairs and a modern look. Being able to rent a laptop or iPod is great when I have a few hours to stop in the library to study and I forgot my iPod or don’t want to carry my computer. Searching the catalog and databases online are also a great opportunity with the NCSU library; you can search journals in the quiet of your room or apartment.
Posted by: Holly Ramey

NC State has a tremendous amount of technology support.  When I moved in as a freshman, trained staff helped me connect my computer to NC State's high speed network and set up my software.  Throughout the semester these technology assistants are stationed in our campus computer labs.  They are available to answer any questions and keep the lab running smoothly. State also runs a technology support center out of the West Dunn Building.  I recently discovered the center when I detected a virus on my computer. Within 24 hours of dropping my computer off, it was returned as good as new.  This avoided the hassle of sending my computer back to the manufacturer and waiting weeks for it to be repaired.  I have found State's technology support to be friendly and effective.  They definitely save time, money, and my sanity.  :)

For more information about computer resources on campus for incoming students, please visit http://www.ncsu.edu/it/essentials/
Posted by: Erin Whitley

On Campus Jobs

I am currently a senior and have had an on campus job as a lab assistant for the past three years. I decided not to have a job freshman year because transitioning to college life is so important and I wanted to have time to meet new people and become involved on campus. Having an on campus job has been great for me because they understand that I am a student first and that my job comes second. I work flexible hours and my supervisor allows me to miss work if I have a big class project or a meeting to attend. It's also very convenient and I can work between class breaks or right after class and I don't have to worry about driving to an off campus location. My advice is to take the first year off and become involved and if you want experience or need a job for financial reasons later then try to find an on campus job before looking elsewhere.
Posted by: Julie Stainback

Undergraduate Research

One of the benefits of attending a Research I institution is all of the opportunities for students to participate in undergraduate research. Most professors on campus are also involved in research, so it’s not difficult to find a faculty member doing research in your area of interest, and most are happy to talk to you about getting involved in their work. I encourage you to talk to your advisor and past professors if you are interested in their subject matter. Also, don’t forget about the NC State undergraduate research website: http://www.ncsu.edu/undergrad-research/. The people in the undergraduate research office are really helpful. They can talk to you about getting grants to fund your research, information about research symposiums, and how to get started with your research.
Posted by: Lauren Hysong

When applying to NC State, I never realized how many opportunities are available for students to be involved in undergraduate research. I began working in an on-campus poultry genomics lab my freshman year, and while the lab experience was definitely invaluable, what I truly benefited from was the networking I developed. I continued working in the lab every semester, as well as full time through the summer after my freshman year, and the experience led to two awesome, animal-related summer internships, a trip to Brisbane, Australia to present my research at a conference, and numerous undergraduate research awards and class credit. The great part is that most professors at NC State have one (or multiple) on-going research projects, and can always use undergraduates to help them. So often times, finding a lab to work in can be as simple as approaching your professor! We also have an Office of Undergraduate Research, where the staff can help you with everything from finding summer internship to applying for research scholarships, or even graduate school.
Posted by: Tria Metzler

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant

Coming to NC State, I never realized how important Teaching Assistants were to your class experience. In CALS, you will take a lot of labs, most of which are taught by graduate Teaching Assistants or undergraduate students who have taken and done well in that class before. TAs are great resources, many are more than willing to help you if you are having trouble with class material.
Posted by: Lauren Hysong

Students can become undergraduate teaching assistants by talking with the professor after completing the course. I am now a TA for an introductory biochemistry class and am also completing my honors project through my teaching experience. As a TA, I am required to teach a problem session and grade quizzes and exams. It is a great opportunity for me to work closely with a faculty member and stay on top of the material.
Posted by: Beth Migliaccio

Getting Involved

Getting involved on NC State campus is one of the easiest things you will ever do during your college career. The opportunities are EVERYWHERE!! The easiest way to get involved is to talk to your advisor about opportunities on campus that relate to your interest. If you are interested in animals ask your advisors what kind of clubs, research opportunities, jobs etc.. may be available on campus. Chances are they will tell you to look at NC State's job listings online for job opportunities which can be found at:
http://www7.acs.ncsu.edu/student_jobs/selectjobs.html
or to look at the fliers posted all around campus that are constantly offering new job listings. They also may tell you to check the Technician (the NC State Student Newspaper) which always posts a help wanted section with current jobs.

There are more than 40 different clubs and organizations in CALS which are related to different specific interests. A list of these along with more information about each one can be found
at:
http://harvest.cals.ncsu.edu/academic/index.cfm?pageID=596

For research opportunities it is always a good idea to talk to the professors that you have in the classes that you may be interested in doing research for. If you haven't taken a class or are not going to take a class on the area of interest that you plan on doing research for then look up the professor involved with that research on NCSU's website and contact them about getting involved with research in that field. Aside from these three options there are a wide variety of other opportunities to get involved on the NCSU campus. You can be a Teaching Assistant for a class, you can work for the tutorial center, you can get involved with a sports team, you can be a member of student government or you can be a CALS Ambassador!! Whatever you may choose, do choose to get involved. You will never regret that decision and it will make your experience here at NC State more rewarding and fulfilling.
Posted by: Ashley Porter

Coming to a big school and not knowing very many people in my department was scary. The best thing I did was to "Get Involved." First, I started attending departmental club meetings. This was great because not only did I meet other students my age, but I also met upperclassmen and professors. Later, I became an officer which allowed me to work closer with officers from other departments' clubs and their professors. Now I have friends that are older and have already taken the classes that I am in now and can help when I have questions. I believe that getting involved on campus is
very beneficial!
Posted by: Natalie Gurkin

Living and Learning Communities

I lived in the University Honors Program Village my freshman year. It allowed me to have mentors and roommates in my program living right beside me. This helped me transition to life on a large campus and understand the Honors Program. By living in the village, I was able to receive perks such as attending guest lectures and special programs. However, it is not a requirement to live in the village to be apart of the program.
Posted by: Beth Migliaccio

Campus Safety

Although NC State is a safe campus for students, it is a public campus. If you don't have a car or don't want to drive to a destination within campus (because of the limited parking), it is a good idea to use Campus Escort services at night. You simply call Campus Police at 515-3000, and request a ride. The Campus Escort will pick you up at your current location and will deliver you to your destination (sometimes they will walk with you, other times they will have a golf cart to take you, and even sometimes they will pick you up in a comfortable SUV). It is always a good idea to take safety precautions, even if it is only a ten-minute walk. This service is available at all times of the day and night, and is a great resource for you and your friends when traveling within the campus at night.
Posted by: Natalie Umesi

NC State works very hard at keeping the university and its campus safe at all times. Police officers are always on duty and may be reached for:
Non-Emergency: 919.515.3000
Emergency: 911
Blue Emergency Lights:
NC State is equipped with blue emergency lights all throughout campus. You are able to see a blue light from every blue light that you are standing at. There is a button in which you push that will immediately dial campus police. This can be used to call a safety escort and of course for any emergency that might occur.
Safety Escorts:
In conjunction with University Housing, Campus Police provide a campus safety escorts which are used to protect faculty and students in the dark hours of night. This allows for a safe and reliable way to come back from an area on campus and be delivered to your residence hall or car. Campus Escorts can be requested by using the Blue Emergency Lights phone or by calling 919. 515. 3000.
Safety Escorts are a great way to travel back from Greek Court, Varsity Parking Lot, or academic buildings after you leave a late night class
Wolf Alert:
As a response to the Virginia Tech incident, NC State has installed a Wolf Alert system. If a large scale emergency is occurring on campus, an audible alert system is issued. This system is loud enough to be heard while you are on campus. It will provide information about what is occurring and what you need to do to be safe. In addition, students are highly suggested to sign up for the text message system. Wolf alert will also send information via text message to alert you where to go. Students can sign up for text message Wolf Alert in the My Pack Portal, your online access system.
Posted by: Ginger Edwardsen

Living on Campus

Living on campus is not a requirement at NC State however, I would HIGHLY suggest it. When you live on campus, you have connections to resources and events that you might miss if you were living on campus. It provides you with opportunities to get involved on campus as well as interact and meet new people that may potentially become you lifelong friends. Living on campus also teaches you to live and learn with someone else. This is a huge adjustment since most people do not share their room with anyone at home. It teaches you to be respectful of others property and the value of compromise and adjustment. Events happen on campus everyday of the week throughout the entire academic year. Living on campus, you have easy access to these activities and you are more informed about the information and resources that are available to you. Most freshmen do live on campus and have a wonderful experience of becoming adapted and feeling like they are a part of the university. Many sophomores also decide to return to live on campus do to their experiences that living on NC State’s campus has given them. My years of living on campus have been very rewarding and each year I have found something new and wonderful with being so connected to the university life.
Posted by: Ginger Edwardsen

The Role of a Resident Advisors (RA)

When I first decided to live on campus and stay in a residence hall, I kept hearing this term “Resident Advisor” or “RA.” My mind automatically concluded that this was some older student that was there to enforce rules and walked around writing people up. But, goodness, I was way off!
I’m currently employed by NC State as a RA and RAs are much more then policy enforcers and in reality, this is the smallest portion of the job. As an RA, we attend extensive training in the summer and winter breaks to ensure we have the lasted and most up to date information pertaining to policies and resources at NC State. Our goals are to help each student successfully transition to living on-campus and succeeding in college. RAs accomplish this goal through a variety of methods. One of these is putting on hall programs. Programs are events geared specifically towards residents and can include things like discovering campus resources, challenging and growing personally and professionally, expanding viewpoints and educations, or simply getting together and having social outings.
RAs are also full of valuable information that they love to give out! We are constantly receiving posters to hang up and e-mails full of opportunities to share with the members of our building. Connecting with you RA is a wonderful way to find out how to get involved and keep up to date with campus activities. In accordance with this, as an RA, it’s really important to get to know each resident and create a community among the hall and students. We want everyone to have a positive experience and create lasting friendships and memories!
One of the more serious aspects of the RA job pertains to emergency situations and procedures. When crisis occurs, RAs are the first ones to respond in the halls and can give instructions on the proper procedures to follow. They are also there when small personal crisis happens, such a roommate conflicts. And unfortunately, RAs do have to fit the mold and be sure that the University Housing policies are being followed and respected. The policies ensure that everyone is having a safe environment and we want to ensure that happens.
As you begin transitioning to college life, take the time to meet your RA and find out how they can personally help you! We really are a great resource and would love to be of assistance in any way!
Posted by: Stephanie Connor