UNIVERSITY NEWS
UNC again leads in student accessibility, ranks 5th among publics in U.S. News & World Report listFirst director of American Indian Center named
2007 North Carolina Women’s Health Report Card gives mixed results
Perry, Mason elected to lead UNC Board of Trustees
McCracken, veteran law enforcement officer, tapped for UNC public safety post
Robbins hired as assistant vice chancellor for public service and engagement
Yopp appointed summer school dean
40 new members named to UNC Board of Visitors
Minority, female high school students explore finance careers at youth institute
N.C. budget brings good news for UNC
UNC again leads in student accessibility, ranks 5th among publics in U.S. News & World Report list
Carolina leads the nation’s public universities in making higher education accessible for students, according to U.S. News and World Report magazine.UNC ranked first among public campuses for the third consecutive year in the magazine’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” list, based on academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student who receives the average level of need-based financial aid. Overall, UNC ranked ninth among public and private campuses on this list for the second year in a row.
This fall, UNC enrolls its fourth class of Carolina Covenant Scholars through the Carolina Covenant, which guarantees a debt-free education to qualified low-income students. Next spring, the first class of Covenant Scholars will graduate. The program has been the model for more than 40 similar initiatives across the country. Other publications, including Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, have ranked Carolina the best value in American public higher education in part because of the Carolina Covenant.
Overall among public universities, U.S. News ranked UNC fifth for the seventh consecutive year. The University of California at Berkeley was first, followed by the universities of Virginia (second) and California at Los Angeles and Michigan (tied for third). These five campuses long have topped the U.S. News list of publics.
Carolina tied for 28th among public and private campuses with Tufts University. Other leading publics ranked between 21st (Berkeley) and 25th (UCLA and Michigan). UNC also tied with Tufts at 27th last year along with the University of Southern California, which is ranked alone in that spot this year.
U.S. News also included Carolina in a category called “programs to look for,” highlighting outstanding academic programs that lead to student success.
For a fuller review of Carolina’s standings, go to:
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/aug07/usnews081707.html
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First director of American Indian Center named
Clara Sue Kidwell
Clara Sue Kidwell on July 1 became the director of the
American Indian Center at UNC. Kidwell, whose tribal
affiliations are Choctaw and Chippewa, came to Carolina
from her post as director of Native American Studies and a
professor of history at the University of Oklahoma in
Norman, Okla. She was the assistant director for cultural
resources at the National Museum of the American Indian,
Smithsonian Institution, for two years before joining the
faculty at the University of Oklahoma in 1995.
The American Indian Center at UNC, which will be housed in
Abernethy Hall, will be one of the only centers on the East
Coast to focus solely on American Indian issues and
research. As director, Kidwell will collaborate with
faculty, students and staff to initiate new programs,
continue outreach to American Indian communities and raise
funds for the center.
The objectives of the center, as outlined by the
Provost’s Committee on Native American Issues,
include:
- Establishing a leadership institute for North Carolina tribal leaders, in collaboration with the UNC School of Government.
- Helping faculty and student researchers partner with native communities.
- Including native perspectives and cultures in UNC research projects.
- Communicating regularly with American Indian tribal leaders and communities.
- Sponsoring and facilitating activities that give visibility to and provide learning opportunities regarding American Indian cultures, histories and perspectives.
- Promoting inclusion of native people and perspective in campus dialogues.
North Carolina is home to the largest American Indian population east of the Mississippi River. In 2005, the U.S. Census estimated the state’s total population at just under 8.7 million, with 1.3 percent, or approximately 113,100, listed as American Indians and Alaskan natives.
The UNC student body mirrors that percentage. In fall 2006, American Indian students numbered 219, nearly 1 percent of total enrollment. American Indian students and faculty at Carolina include members of the state’s eight tribes as well as tribes from across the United States and Canada.
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2007 North Carolina Women’s Health Report Card gives mixed results
The good news: more women in North Carolina are being screened for cancer and infectious diseases, fewer women are dying from heart disease and stroke and the number of women who smoke has dropped substantially.The bad news: barriers to health care are worsening for poor and minority women. About 16 percent of all N.C. women and more than 60 percent of Hispanic women lack health insurance. Close to half of black women are obese and among Hispanic women, high cholesterol has increased 117 percent.
These findings were part of the 2007 North Carolina Women’s Health Report Card. The bi-annual effort to evaluate women’s health in the state is put out in part by UNC’s Center for Women’s Health Research. North Carolina is the only state in the nation that regularly prepares such a comparative report on women’s health.
Overall, the report card shows that minority women are disproportionately affected by chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure. Deaths from diabetes and cervical cancer among black women are more than twice that of white women. Minority women are also at greater risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, have higher infant mortality rates and less prenatal care.
New to the report card this year are measures for dental health and mental health. Almost one-third of adult women reported no dental visits in the past year, a significant finding because gum disease is linked to cardiovascular disease and a higher incidence of preterm birth. Approximately one in five new mothers experience moderate to severe depression in the months following delivery. The 2007 report card also features a new section on women with disabilities and shows nearly one-third of all N.C. women are living with disability.
The report card is produced by UNC’s Center for Women’s Health Research in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, and sponsored by the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers and Talecris Biotherapeutics. Data was compiled from state health behavior surveys, statistics, disease reporting systems and U.S. Census Bureau reports.
The complete report card may be downloaded from the Center’s Web site at http://www.cwhr.unc.edu
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Perry, Mason elected to lead UNC Board of Trustees
Roger Perry, Karol Mason
Roger L. Perry Sr., of Chapel Hill, president of East West Partners, was in July elected chairman of the University’s Board of Trustees.
Trustees elected new officers to one-year terms on the 13-member board responsible for governing the University.
Karol V. Mason of Atlanta, partner at the law firm Alston and Bird LLP, was elected vice chair and Russell “Rusty” M. Carter of Wilmington, president of the Atlantic Corp. of Wilmington, was re-elected secretary.
Three new trustees appointed earlier this year by the
UNC Board of Governors also participated in their first
meetings this week. They are Dr. Phillip L. Clay of Boston
and chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; Alston Gardner of Atlanta and Chapel Hill and a
partner in Fulcrum Ventures, an Atlanta-based private
equity firm focused on information technology,
biotechnology and health-care services companies; and
Sallie Shuping Russell of Chapel Hill, managing director of
Quellos Private Capital Markets LLC.
Perry was also reappointed to a new four-year term as a
trustee by the Board of Governors last spring. He became a
trustee in 2003 and has chaired the Buildings and Grounds
Committee and served on the Compensation Committee.
“Serving as chair of the trustees is an honor and a
humbling responsibility,” Perry said. “Helping
the University maintain and enhance its contribution to the
health, economy and social well being of the people of
North Carolina is an obligation everyone at Carolina has.
Having the chance to be a part of that mission is a rare
opportunity for anyone who loves Carolina and the people of
the state of North Carolina as I do.”
For more biographical about Perry and the other trustees,
see:
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jul07/botofficers072607.html
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McCracken, veteran law enforcement officer, tapped for UNC public safety post
Lt. Col. Jeff McCracken on Aug. 1 became the University’s director of public safety and chief of police. He was promoted from deputy director of Carolina’s Department of Public Safety.McCracken, a law enforcement veteran with more than 15 years’ experience, took over the helm of a department with a $25 million budget and responsibility for law enforcement, security, traffic and parking, transit and transportation planning. The department includes 200 permanent and 100 temporary employees, including 25 sworn reserve police officers and 52 full-time sworn officers.
McCracken, who joined the University department in 1993 as an investigator, quickly rose through the ranks, becoming operations major in 1997 and deputy director in 1998. He has served as interim director of the department since March 2007. McCracken succeeds Derek Poarch, who was appointed bureau chief for the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission.
McCracken holds a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice from Appalachian State University and a master of public administration degree from N.C. State University.
He takes over a department that has received a regional Super Achiever Award for efforts to promote commuting by bus, carpool, vanpool and other alternatives to the one-car, one-person mode of transportation. The award was presented by the SmartCommute Challenge, a program of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Also, at the end of last year, public safety was reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. Previously accredited in 1995, 2000 and 2003, the department had to meet 446 law enforcement standards to earn the most recent recognition. The UNC department is one of the few accredited university public safety agencies in the country.
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Robbins hired as assistant vice chancellor for public service and engagement
Laila Robbins
Editor’s note: The following piece first
appeared in the July 18, 2007, issue of the University
Gazette, Carolina’s faculty/staff newspaper.
Telling the story of public outreach at Carolina will
become a little easier now that Laila V. Robbins is on
board as the new assistant vice chancellor for public
service and engagement. Robbins began work on June 27 and
Mike Smith couldn’t be happier.
“I see Laila’s role as being a full partner
with me in advancing public service and engagement at
Carolina,” said Smith, vice chancellor for public
service and engagement and dean of the School of
Government. “We will work together on our
campus’s involvement with UNC Tomorrow, in which
Laila will play an extensive role, and our response to the
Board of Governors.”
UNC Tomorrow is an initiative by the UNC system to
determine what the 16 campuses can do to best meet the
needs of the people of North Carolina in the next two
decades.
“Laila brings to the position a diverse background
and extensive experience in many areas, including working
with legislators on policy issues. She also understands
what our faculty members need and has great translational
skills in knowing what our constituents need,” Smith
said.
With more than 10 years’ experience in government
relations, communications, policy development and coalition
building, Robbins has worked extensively with issues in
higher education, ranging from state and federal regulatory
issues to information technology policy funding. She came
to Carolina from SAS Institute in Cary, where she developed
strategies and programs to increase the usage of SAS
analytical software in the academic community.
“I have a passion for making a difference,” Robbins said. “If I can help promote and facilitate the University’s work in this regard, I will feel extremely rewarded.”
For the previous six years, she served as a communications and policy consultant, working extensively with UNC General Administration to research and analyze issues such as the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act and information technology policy funding. She also has been assistant director for federal relations of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges and government
relations director for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
At Carolina, she will work with people across campus to help connect the knowledge and expertise of the University’s faculty and staff to the needs of the state — and beyond.
“It’s a multi-prong effort,” Robbins said. “I want to help increase the support and visibility for the University’s existing projects, to tell the stories of the many wonderful things that people here are doing for the state. At the same time, I will talk with people around the state and listen to their needs. My goal is to find ways to connect the two.”
In this capacity, she will be instrumental in helping Carolina respond to the charge of the UNC Tomorrow commission.
“I have a passion for making a difference,” Robbins said. “If I can help promote and facilitate the University’s work in this regard, I will feel extremely rewarded.”
Robbins has a bachelor of arts degree in history and a masters of arts in public administration degree, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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Yopp appointed summer school dean
Jan Yopp
Jan Johnson Yopp, senior associate dean and Walter
Spearman professor in the School of Journalism and Mass
Communication, has been appointed dean of the Summer School
beginning January 2008.
A faculty member in the journalism school since 1977, Yopp
teaches news writing and reporting and serves as faculty
adviser to the Carolina Association of Black Journalists.
She became the school’s associate dean in 1999 and
has served as senior associate dean since 2005.
Prior to joining the faculty, she was a reporter and
assistant city editor for The Raleigh Times. Yopp
also has worked as a media relations specialist for
Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem and public relations
director for a Durham advertising agency. She co-authored
the texts “Reaching Audiences: A Guide to Media
Writing,” published in a fourth edition in 2006, and
“Introduction to News Reporting: A Beginning
Journalist's Guide” in 2004.
The Summer School, established in 1877, offers classes in
some 45 departments or curricula in the College of Arts and
Sciences and the professional schools. Usually, around
8,500 students attend the first summer session and 5,500
attend the second session.
In addition, the three-week Maymester program, introduced
this year, provided an opportunity for students to engage
in concentrated study both on and off campus. Nearly 300
students enrolled in the pilot program, which offered 20
specially designed courses during the May 15-to-June 1
session.
In her position as dean, Yopp said that she hoped to find
other innovative ways to serve students’ academic
needs, much as the new Maymester program was created as
part of the University’s Quality Enhancement Plan.
Yopp will continue to serve as senior associate dean of the
School of Journalism and Mass Communication through the end
of this year.
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40 new members named to UNC Board of Visitors
Carolina’s Board of Trustees has elected 40 new members to the UNC Board of Visitors.The Board of Visitors is an active group of 160 volunteers who help the trustees and the chancellor in a range of activities designed to advance the University.
Members’ main focus is to serve as ambassadors, informing members of their communities about what’s going on at Carolina and, in turn, keeping the University administration informed about what they’re hearing about Carolina in their communities. Their efforts may include public relations, government relations and fund raising.
Ed Fritsch of Raleigh chairs the board; Jeffrey Allred of Atlanta is vice chair.
Each board member serves for four years. Each year, as members rotate off, the Board of Trustees elects new members. To see a list of this year’s new members, go to:
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/jun07/boardofvisitors062807.html
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Minority, female high school students explore finance careers at youth institute
Participants in the Financial Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute.
A new program designed to attract minority or female
high school students to business careers graduated its
first class June 22 at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.
The Financial Futures Foundation established an alliance
with Kenan-Flagler to offer the inaugural Financial
Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute June 11-22. The
program was designed to help minority and female students
learn about the career opportunities in business and, in
particular, in the financial services industry.
The Financial Futures program is sponsored by The Financial
Futures Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in
2007.
“We know that the financial services industry offers
wonderful career opportunities —and that there is a
shortage of women and minorities working in the field
today,” said Franklin E. McCain, Jr., executive
director of The Financial Futures Foundation. “Our
aim is to introduce the idea of working in business to
young people who might not have the advantages to know what
to study and how to follow such a career path.”
Twenty-five high school students from Cary, Chapel Hill,
Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro and Rocky Mount learned about
business from UNC Kenan-Flagler professors.
“We are honored to partner with the Financial Futures
Foundation to provide high school students with knowledge
about the exciting career opportunities in business,”
said Dean Steve Jones.
Parish Capital Advisors LLP of Chapel Hill was a
significant financial contributor to the Financial
Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler Youth Institute. Parish Capital
founders James Mason, Wendell McCain and Charles Merritt
all are Carolina graduates.
“We supported the Financial Futures/UNC Kenan-Flagler
Youth Institute because the goals of the program are near
and dear to our hearts,” said Merritt. “We
value greater diversity and better representation of women
and minorities in the financial services, and we hope that
others will see the value in this program as well. We have
all been helped along in our careers by many people in many
ways, and this is one way we can give back to young people
who might otherwise never be exposed to our
industry.”
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N.C. budget brings good news for UNC
Editor’s note: The following piece first appeared in the Aug. 15, 2007, issue of the University Gazette, Carolina’s faculty/staff newspaper.Chancellor James Moeser liked what he saw in President Erskine Bowles’ proposed budget for the UNC System early this spring. He liked even more the way state legislators responded to Bowles’ requests in the 2007-08 state budget they approved late last month, including significant pay increases for Carolina faculty and staff.
“Our legislators again have recognized the importance that Carolina and public higher education plays in the success of the state and the lives of our citizens,” Moeser said in an e-mail message to campus. “Their response to the needs articulated by President Erskine Bowles and the UNC Board of Governors has been stunning.”
SPA employees (those subject to the State Personnel Act) will receive a 4 percent salary increase and EPA, non-faculty employees (exempt from the State Personnel Act) will receive the equivalent of a 4 percent increase.
Faculty will receive the equivalent of a 4 percent boost, plus another 1 percent in incentive funding tied to Carolina’s strategic goal of competing with peer campuses.
“Our legislators again have recognized the importance that Carolina and public higher education plays in the success of the state and the lives of our citizens,” Moeser said in an e-mail message to campus. “Their response to the needs articulated by President Erskine Bowles and the UNC Board of Governors has been stunning.”
Moeser said one of the most significant components of the budget was the University Cancer Research Fund that will commit revenue from a tobacco tax and other revenues. The state will launch the fund this year with a $25 million appropriation, followed by $40 million next year and a recurring allocation of $50 million a year starting in 2009. (Click here to see related story.)
“Our legislators have sent a clear signal about the value they place on building even more momentum in Chapel Hill for strengthening the faculty’s capacity to conduct life-changing research and improve patient care,” Moeser said. “The research fund will further enhance the state’s wise investment in the North Carolina Cancer Hospital now under construction, the University, the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and UNC Health Care.”
The fund will enable and enhance interdisciplinary research in three major areas: a statewide cancer assessment and prevention program; groundbreaking basic and translational research; and multidisciplinary clinical care and research teams.
While public universities in many other states with fiscal difficulties did not fare as well during the budget-making process, Moeser said, the total size of Carolina’s state appropriations has grown steadily in recent years.
Overall salary increases for the new fiscal year, coupled with the raises from a year ago, add up to major progress with competitive salary levels for both faculty and staff, the chancellor said. SPA employees received a 5.5 percent raise in 2006, while the appropriated pool of funds for EPA faculty and staff totaled about 6 percent.
Additional money for faculty raises was also generated from private gifts and campus- and school-based tuition hikes as well as private gifts. In all, more than 3,100 faculty members received salary increases last year averaging about 7.1 percent.
“The improving salary picture is among the reasons that we are in a much stronger position today in keeping and attracting excellent faculty who are approached by other campuses,” Moeser said.
For 2007-08, the University will allocate approximately $5.5 million in revenue designated for faculty compensation from the campus-based tuition increases approved by University trustees and the Board of Governors earlier this year. Moeser said the University would also continue using funding made possible by private gifts to the Carolina First Campaign to benefit faculty. As in the past, deans and department chairs will take a merit- and market-based approach in awarding raises from this mixture of revenue sources.
The UNC system is expected to receive about $6 million for distinguished endowed professorships that are eligible for state funds matching those already committed by private donors. Moeser said Carolina will use its share of these funds to leverage the gifts made by alumni and friends supporting the Carolina First Campaign and a Spangler Foundation grant announced earlier this year by C.D. Spangler Jr., UNC system president emeritus. The grant will fully endow one distinguished professorship at every UNC system campus.
The budget also includes funding for need-based financial aid and resources to support enrollment growth as part of an allocation formula used across the UNC system to accommodate an influx of North Carolina high school graduates who are expected to seek a college education on UNC campuses.
In addition, the approved budget fully funds nearly $120 million for a 210,000 square-foot Genomic Sciences Building as well as $25 million to begin the first phase of the 216,000 square-foot Dental Sciences Building.
This first appropriation for construction of the School of Dentistry building will cover design, site preparation and utilities, as well as demolition of the dental research and related office buildings. Moeser said he remained hopeful that additional funding for the
$96 million building could be secured during the next legislative session.
The University will also receive $8 million in planning funds for the Biomedical Research Imaging Center. The center is envisioned as a central resource to serve researchers across the state to acquire, process, analyze, store and retrieve images.
Moeser said funding for the center is an affirmation of the excellent quality of the
faculty’s research in this multidisciplinary field critical to the efforts to fight cancer.
The budget also provides funding to hire new faculty as part of the nutrition research center at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.
“Ultimately, we hope the work conducted in Kannapolis will lead to research breakthroughs, economic development and new jobs for our state,” Moeser said.
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