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Faculty and Staff

Kim Grainger Named Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Excellence

Memorial Belltower

Kim Grainger, associate vice provost for academic personnel and policy in NC State’s Office for Faculty Excellence, has been named senior vice provost for Faculty Excellence, effective July 1. Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden made the announcement today. Grainger will assume the duties of current Senior Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs Katharine Stewart, who will be stepping down from her position to return to her full-time faculty role as a professor in the Department of Psychology.

Dr. Kim Grainger

As senior vice provost, Grainger will be the senior faculty affairs officer for the university, and will be responsible for faculty policies, recruitment, retention, evaluation, recognition and professional development at NC State. She will provide leadership, strategic direction and fiscal oversight for the Office for Faculty Excellence, which promotes faculty success in every career stage by offering professional and leadership development programming, supporting policies related to faculty employment, and facilitating faculty awards and recognition.

“We are all excited that Kim will continue her career at NC State,” said Arden. “Her dedication to shared governance and academic freedom, 20 years experience in academia and proven leadership at the university will make her an even more important asset to the Office for Faculty Excellence and as a champion for our faculty throughout their careers.”

Grainger has served as associate vice provost for academic personnel and policy in the Office for Faculty Excellence since fall 2021. In this role, she has provided consultation to departments and colleges on reappointment, promotion and tenure, post-tenure review, and professorships, as well as provided leadership for distinguished professorship/endowed professorships policy and process. She is the faculty affairs liaison to Institutional Strategy and Analysis, and the primary point of contact within the Provost’s Office for implementation of regulations on scholarly reassignment, instructor qualifications, phased retirement and supplemental pay. Grainger has been instrumental in assisting with NC State’s 2024 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges reaffirmation of accreditation process.

Previously, Grainger was the assistant vice president of academic administration at the New College of Florida. Prior to moving to Florida, she spent sixteen years at North Carolina Central University, where she advanced through the faculty ranks to become a professor of law. She taught multiple courses in the law curriculum and mentored students throughout her time at the School of Law, and also served as director of the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Law Institute and as associate dean of accreditation there. In addition, Grainger served as chair of the university’s Institutional Research Board and as chair of their faculty senate, and served the UNC System’s Faculty Assembly for four years, first as a delegate and then as secretary.

“It will be an honor to lead the Office for Faculty Excellence and to continue working with outstanding colleagues who care so much about supporting our faculty,” said Grainger. “As senior vice provost, I will be dedicated to the success of all faculty, regardless of discipline or tenure status.”

During her time at NC State, Grainger has served on the post-tenure review policy workgroup of the UNC System Office and is currently serving on a workgroup focused on updating the special faculty policy. She is currently helping to revise numerous policies required by the UNC System Office policy changes, and serves on the Institutional Review Board as well as the Global Employment Steering Committee.

She received a Bachelor of Science in molecular biology from Hampton University, a J.D. and a master’s of public health with a concentration in health policy and administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.