Plotting the Course

The updated UNC System dashboards tell the tale of how the University is faring in its pursuit of the strategic plan goals.

Mending Holes

The UNC System’s Strategic Plan prioritizes expanding the number of students it serves, with particular emphasis on helping more first-generation, low-income, and rural students attain some level of higher education.

Dr. Andrew Kelly

A Conversation With the UNC System’s Senior Vice President for Strategy and Policy What work does the Strategy and Policy division tackle at the UNC System Office? The simple answer to that question is that we are responsible for all things Strategic Plan related. When I started in 2016, the first order of business was …

Wellbeing Today, Prosperity Tomorrow

On February 6, 2019, more than 200 faculty, staff, and students—representing all 17 UNC System institutions—gathered to share innovative behavioral health strategies that are creating countless student success stories.

Pitching New Ideas

Conference Highlights How Student Success is a Team Effort Last year, East Carolina University invited Isaiah Ybarra to throw out the first pitch for the Pirates’ “Salute to Service” baseball series. After having served ten years as a fixed wing crew chief in the United States Marines, Ybarra had returned home to major in history …

Closing the Gap

“The Student Success Conference features presentations on course design, advising, new technologies, and different ways to intervene from a financial perspective … all of the things that can help our students stay on track toward graduation,” said UNC System Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly van Noort.

Dr. Kimberly van Noort

A Conversation with the UNC System’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs How does the academic affairs work at the System Office differ from what happens on the curriculum committees and at academic affairs offices at the 17 constituent institutions? We operate from a much bigger, System-wide picture. Take curricular change, for example. Our role …

The Graveyard, the Trolley Ride and the Teacher Who Ties It All Together

Meet Candy Beal, and discover how unorthodox field trips are making her students better future teachers. Candy Beal has been an educator for 51 years, 23 of those in the NC State College of Education. Her focus is teacher education for those who want to teach middle grades language arts and social studies. As part …

Growing Talent at Home

Signature NC Promise Programs Revitalize Local Economies Aron Bechiom has seen the world, but nothing excites him more than gazing down at his home town, Elizabeth City. In the Navy, Bechiom logged plenty of adventurous hours overseas. Now, after returning home and nearing completion of his bachelor’s degree in aviation science at Elizabeth City State …

UNC System Interim President Bill Roper Names Eight-Member Transition Team

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 18, 2019 UNC System Interim President Bill Roper Names Eight-Member Transition Team CHAPEL HILL, NC – University of North Carolina System Interim President Bill Roper has engaged eight individuals with a wide range of expertise to serve as members of his transition team. The UNC System office is in the process …

William L. Roper

A Conversation with the UNC System’s Interim President What excites you most as you think about transitioning from overseeing the state’s healthcare system to overseeing its university system? My wife and I have lived in North Carolina for 22 years, and one of the things I learned early is what an amazing state this is …

Action Taken During January 15th UNC Board of Governors Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 15, 2019 Action Taken During Today’s UNC Board of Governors Meeting CHAPEL HILL, NC – Today the UNC Board of Governors voted to accept UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Carol Folt’s resignation effective January 31, 2019. The Board authorized UNC System Interim President Roper to appoint an interim chancellor at such time as he …

UNC Board of Governors Chair Harry Smith Issues Statement Regarding Board Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 14, 2018   UNC Board of Governors Chair Harry Smith Issues Statement Regarding Board Meeting CHAPEL HILL, NC – University of North Carolina Board of Governors chair Harry Smith issued this statement following today’s Board meeting: “Today, the UNC Board of Governors met in closed session to deliberate issues related to …

UNC System selects 2019 Academic Affairs Faculty Fellows

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2018 CHAPEL HILL – The University of North Carolina System has announced three 2019 Faculty Fellows, who will spend one year researching academic affairs. The fellows are Ellen Holmes Pearson, UNC Asheville; Benjamin Powell, Appalachian State University; and Katherine R. Saul, NC State University. Now in its fourth year, the …

Learning at Every Level

Community Engagement Plans Improve Student Success Peta-Gaye Brooks came to North Carolina Central University with a hunch that she might like to teach math: she knew that she wanted to make a difference, but her plans weren’t yet concrete. For some students, a lack of clear direction in a college career may lead to disruptive …

Degrees of Health

One-stop Clinic at NCCU Takes Holistic Approach to Wellness North Carolina Central University’s College of Behavioral and Social Sciences has embarked on a creative collaboration to make it easier for members of the university community and their neighbors to live all-around healthier lives. The one-stop Behavioral Health & Wellness Clinic on the second floor of …

Art Works: UNC System Creativity Strengthens Communities

In Winston-Salem, the R.J. Reynolds stacks that once billowed grand plumes now stand smokeless. The company’s Bailey Power Plant, which had fueled manufacturing processes and filled the massive chimneys with particulate, became obsolete when the tobacco industry dwindled. In 1997, the facility was shuttered. But Camel City isn’t a ghost town by any stretch of …

Dr. Karrie G. Dixon Named Chancellor of Elizabeth City State University

High Resolution Photo Download FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 14, 2018 CHAPEL HILL – The Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina System today announces that Dr. Karrie Gibson Dixon has been selected as chancellor of Elizabeth City State University. The decision was made following a vote held by the Board during its regular …

Partnering with the Communities Around Us

UNC System Institutions Deliver Ambitious Engagement Plans No neighborhood offers a clearer picture of North Carolina’s prosperity than Eastover, Charlotte. The sidewalks are painstakingly lined with crepe myrtles and willow oaks. Each street offers an assortment of massive Tudor houses, Greek revivals, and French provincials. It takes a lot of wealth to maintain these homes, …

Pursuing Excellence in All 100 Counties

NC Teaching Fellows Program Accepting Applications Ally Gagnon is a first-year student at North Carolina State University with a penchant for the sciences … all of them. With her talents and a particular interest in biology, she could easily settle into a plumb career in pharmaceuticals somewhere in the Research Triangle Park. Instead, her professional …

Power in Numbers

UNC System Participates in Nationwide Student Success Initiative The UNC System has announced that it is participating in a massive new national effort to increase college access, close achievement gaps, and award hundreds of thousands more degrees by 2025.  The “Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success” initiative represents the largest ever collaborative effort to improve …

Uniform Credit Adds Up to Success

UNC System Standardizes AP Credit Policy In July 2018, the Board of Governors passed a new System-wide Advanced Placement (AP) credit policy. This new policy, a shared top priority of both President Spellings and the Board’s Committee on Strategic Initiatives, will make a score of “three” or higher the standard for credit across the 16 universities …

UNC System, NC Community College System Receive Grant to Support Adult Students

CHAPEL HILL, NC – The University of North Carolina System and NC Community College System have been awarded a $552,000 grant from Lumina Foundation to support adults who want to earn college degrees, certificates, and other quality credentials. North Carolina is one of six states chosen for the second cohort of Lumina’s Adult Promise effort, a …