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By Jess Kusak
Navigating the collegiate world can be an adventure ride full of ups and downs for new college students. The Centralized Advising Academic Center (CAAC) at Nevada State College is striving to ease the twists and turns of academia and help make the road a little less bumpy for students.
Providing consistent and effective advising is the cornerstone of the Centralized Academic Advising Center, a newly established full-service advising program at NSC. This new delivery model of advising is now headed into its second semester of operation.
As NSC grows as an institution, this centralized advising system will allow for better tracking of a student’s progress through their majors, said Lee Young, NSC Associate Vice Provost of Enrollment Management.
The CAAC staff, currently comprised of academic advisors and support staff from Student Experience, mainly serves declared, undeclared, or pre-major students who have earned between 0-59 credit hours. The CAAC staff guides students entering their NSC core curriculum requirements, selecting introductory and/or elective courses as students progress toward the upper-division courses within their respective majors.
The impetus for focusing on the early stages of a student’s coursework is rooted in establishing a solid foundation for students. If we can make certain that the student’s initial foundation is solid for those first years in their core requirements, as they move on to the more demanding upper-division course work, they will be as prepared to tackle them effectively and make successful progress toward their degree, said Young. The CAAC staff additionally advise students of the various academic policies and standards to remain in good academic standing at the college.
The CAAC is currently located in the Liberal Arts and Sciences Building. As Young explains, since the college has three locations, locating the center in the LAS building was the most effective way to reach their target audience students with 0-60 credit hours, as the bulk of the classes will take place there.
Every students needs are different. Many work full-time and have commitments outside of school that must be maintained, said Young. To answer the wide-ranging needs of the NSC student body, the CAAC also has representatives from the Registrar and Financial Aid offices on site regularly, so the full spectrum of a student’s needs can be addressed in one place. Additionally, the hours of the advisors are staggered, so students who can only come to campus during the early morning or in the evening can still receive the same one-on-one time with an advisor.
Young is quick to point out the assistance students receive from their advisors is not simply limited to selecting classes and a major. On the contrary, Young says the advisors are there to encourage and assist students in making responsible and reasonable academic choices as they progress toward graduation. What one student can do with ease, another student may not be able to whether it be scheduling time to see an advisor or maintaining a certain amount of classes. The advisors at the CAAC can address these issues in a systematic way, he continued.
As the NSC campus community grows, the landscape of advising grows as well. Young notes, we want to use the CAAC as a way to make certain the initial foundation the student has at NSC is very strong, successful, meets their needs and guides them in the right direction.

NSC’s School of Education has received approval to begin a chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education. The official notification letter stated that Nevada State College is a good fit for a Kappa Delta Pi chapter and the Executive Council believes that your institution will uphold the ideals of our honor society.
We are excited to have this opportunity and be able to build our School of Education community of professionals, Roxanne Stansbury, Assistant Dean of Education, commented. This will create a great network for our students, faculty and alumni.
Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education founded in 1911 at the University of Illinois, was established to foster excellence in education and promote fellowship among those dedicated to teaching.
If you are interested in joining Kappa Delta Pi, please contact Anne Browne, SOE Project Coordinator, at 992-2528.

By Jess Kusak
Students entering the Liberal Arts and Sciences Building this past semester were greeted by not only NSC faculty and staff, but also by a distinguished and inspirational sculpture in the building’s main entrance way. Prominently positioned for all to see, the bronze cast sculpture appropriately named Choices embodies the crossroads of the collegiate years and beyond.
When the Liberal Arts and Sciences Building was being built, Associate Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dr. Andy Kuniyuki had high hopes that artwork would one day be featured throughout the building. But since budget cuts were starting to take effect in the state, there was unfortunately not enough funds to furnish the new building with artwork as Kuniyuki had hoped.
I wanted to physically represent the fusion of arts and sciences that this building was going to have and allow for students to see that college was more than just coming to class, shared Dr. Kuniyuki.
As a devoted fan of the artwork of local artist Bill Wilfong, Kuniyuki displayed pictures of the artist’s work throughout his office. The pictures were often the subjects of conversation to those visiting his office, which would reignite the thought of bringing artwork to the campus building. Such a conversation took place with Diane Hale. Ms. Hale was a supporter of bringing a Wilfong sculpture to the LAS building, and decided to donate the piece to the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The LAS faculty and staff selected Choices, as they felt it represented a melding of the arts and sciences, like the school itself. The meaning behind the sculpture holds that during life everyone has many choices to make, which will take him or her through various journeys. In the end, however, one’s choices are inextricably connected with each other.
Choices is cast in bronze, a medium Wilfong often uses, because of its malleability. Wilfong has produced a total of 25 original Choices sculptures; Nevada State College’s is No. 12. Wilfong’s work has been featured in 48 states and six countries the world over. One of the most fascinating features of the sculpture is that it changes in appearance depending on the time of day and season. Because the sculpture is located in the LAS Building’s entranceway, the sunlight strikes the bronze at various angles, creating different shades and depth of tones throughout the day.
The mission behind Wilfong’s artwork is to give people a greater understanding and appreciation for who they are as individuals. Kuniyuki hopes NSC students will have such an experience when encountering Choices. Even if you choose to go in one direction that does not mean that you have to stay on that path for the rest of your life. You always have choices to make, Kuniyuki noted.
As a source of inspiration for students venturing on a myriad of opportunities in life, Choices serves to resonate with NSC’s student body, and bring beauty to all who encounter it.