Facts About Carolina
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Through its teaching, research and engagement, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill serves as an educational and economic beacon for the people of North Carolina and beyond.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the nation’s first state university to open its doors and the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century. Authorized by the N.C. Constitution in 1776, the University was chartered by the N.C. General Assembly Dec. 11, 1789, the same year George Washington first was inaugurated as president. The cornerstone was laid for Old East, the nation’s first state university building, Oct. 12, 1793. Hinton James, the first student, arrived from Wilmington, N.C., Feb. 12, 1795. Today, the campus benefits from an unprecedented physical transformation made possible in part by North Carolinians’ overwhelming approval of the $3.1 billion bond referendum for higher education. The referendum, approved in November 2000, was the nation’s largest higher education bond package. Through 49 projects, the bonds have provided more than $515 million for renovations and new buildings so Carolina students can learn in a 21st century environment. Also guided by a visionary campus master plan for growth, the University has invested funds from non-state sources, including private gifts raised during the Carolina First Campaign, state appropriations and overhead receipts from faculty research grants, for other buildings essential to excellence. The resulting capital construction program exceeds $2.1 billion and is among the largest at any major American university. Recently completed projects include:
Genetic Medicine Building, a 300,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art research facility completed in 2008. The building resulted from a collaboration between the schools of pharmacy and medicine to offer unique opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Among these are projects to develop novel approaches to deliver gene therapy. The building contains five laboratory floors and houses researchers from pharmacy – from the Institute of Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, the Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery and the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery – and three medical school departments: pharmacology, genetics, and biochemistry and biophysics.
Kenan Music Building, which opened in late 2008, provides much-needed additional space and proper acoustics that has been lacking in Hill Hall, the music department’s home since 1930. The 100,000 square-foot building features a large instrumental rehearsal hall, faculty studios for applied teaching, classrooms, a digital theory laboratory, a recording studio and a percussion suite. The rehearsal hall accommodates the Marching Tar Heels and other large ensembles. The new structure is named in honor of Thomas S. Kenan III, who graduated from Carolina in 1959. The $31.4 million building was made possible by the Higher Education Bond Referendum approved in 2000, University sources and a $4 million gift from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust. W. Lowry and Susan S. Caudill Laboratories and Max C. Chapman Jr. Hall — the first phase of the Carolina Physical Science Complex. The $205 million complex is the largest construction project in the University’s history. It is replacing outdated, deteriorating buildings with state-of-the-art facilities. The goal is to provide an innovative learning atmosphere for students and open the door for integrated collaboration among Carolina’s world-renowned scientists.
Several national publications regularly publish rankings that listed Carolina prominently in categories ranging from academic quality to affordability to diversity to engagement to international presence. Recent highlights include: 5th best public university in U.S. News & World Report’s 2010 “Best Colleges” guidebook for the 9th consecutive year. 1st among public campuses for the 5th consecutive year; 14th overall in “Great Schools, Great Prices,” based on academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid. Tied for 6th among publics and tied for 11th overall for “a strong commitment to teaching” based on peer assessments of which campuses have faculty with an unusual commitment to undergraduate teaching. Kenan-Flagler Business School’s undergraduate business degree program tied for 6th. One of 7 public universities ranking in the top 25 for all nine measures used in the 2008 edition of “The Top American Research Universities,” produced by The Center for Measuring University Performance at Arizona State University. Evaluates top research universities with at least $20 million in annual federal research funding using quantitative measures such as endowment assets, private giving, faculty awards, doctorates granted, postdoctoral appointees and SAT/ACT range. Since these studies began in 2000, Carolina is one of only 4 publics (along with Berkeley, UCLA and Michigan) with all 9 measures in the top 25 each year. Other top publics listed in 2008 were the universities of Florida, Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Wisconsin at Madison.
Among the schools featured in “The Best 371 Colleges,” 2010 edition, published by Random House/The Princeton Review, representing the nation’s best institutions for undergraduate education – about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year-colleges. Criteria included institutional data, feedback from students and visits by publication staff members to schools over several years, along with input from a National College Counselor Advisory Board. The 2010 edition also ranked Carolina highly in its second “Green Rating,” based on a score of 96 out of a possible 99 points. This rating measured environmentally friendly factors such as the campus quality of life that is healthy and sustainable, how well the school prepares students for employment and citizenship in a world defined by environmental challenges and the school’s overall commitment to environmental issues. The institutional survey for the rating included 10 questions on everything from energy use, recycling, food, buildings, and transportation to academic offerings (availability of environmental studies degrees and courses) and action plans and goals concerning greenhouse gas emission reductions. Among 44 campuses featured as “Best Buy Schools” in the 2010 edition of the “Fiske Guide to Colleges.” Based on quality of academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance. Fiske researchers combined cost data with academic and other lifestyle information about each campus to determine which schools offer remarkable educational opportunities at a modest cost. Among 25 "New Ivy" campuses in the 2007 Kaplan/Newsweek “How to Get into College Guide.” Includes schools with first-rate academic programs fueling their rise in national stature. Based on admissions statistics and interviews with administrators, students, faculty and alumni. Reported Newsweek: "If a moviemaker needs an idyllic setting for a film about college life, Chapel Hill might just take the prize." 7th among U.S. public universities listed as the top schools to attend in the nation by Forbes magazine in a new ranking, “America’s Best Colleges,” 2008. Based on an evaluation by the Center for College Affordability and productivity and an Ohio University economist, forbes.com ranked 569 undergraduate institutions on the quality of the education they provide and how much their students achieve. 35th among the 100 top colleges and universities awarding the most doctorate degrees to Hispanics in 2008 as compiled by Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine. Based on data derived from the U.S. Department of Education’s Integrated postsecondary Education Data System program. Figures cover the 2007-08 academic year.
23rd among the top doctorate institutions recording the highest participation (nearly 39 percent) by undergraduates studying abroad in 2006-2007, according to a 2008 report published by the Institute of International Education. The report showed 1,467 UNC undergraduates studying abroad. Among the top 25 environmentally responsible schools, according to the Kaplan College Guide 2009. Based on campus projects and initiatives, courses offered, organizations and student groups on campus, efforts highlighted on the University’s Web site, and achievements highlighted in the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s Sustainability Report Card 2008. 1st among urban and regional planning, philosophy, and Slavic languages/literatures, 2nd for toxicology and natural resources/conservation; and 3rd for materials sciences and engineering, linguistics and sociology, according to a 2007 report covered in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Based on a Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index developed by Academic Analytics, a company owned in part by the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Programs graded based on factors such as faculty publications and citations, awards, honors and research grants awarded. 17 other Carolina Ph.D. programs ranked in the top 10. 3rd best department of city and regional planning in the United States and Canada and 1st in the South, according to Planetizen’s 2007 Guide to Graduate Urban Planning Programs. Based on data submitted by schools and a mail survey of planning educators and professionals. Published in a resource guide for prospective students that lists 94 programs and ranks the top schools and field specialties. More than 20 degree programs or specialty areas from several schools and the College of Arts and Sciences appeared prominently in the 2010 U.S. News & World Report's “ America's Best Graduate Schools” issue. Highlights included: School of Library and Information Science, tied for 1st; School of Medicine, tied for 2nd overall for primary care, tied for 20th for research; School of Public Health, tied for 9th in environmental/environmental health; Kenan-Flagler Business School's master of business administration degree program, tied for 20th; College of Arts and Sciences, doctoral programs in the social sciences and humanities, sociology (tied for 5th overall), English (16th overall), history (tied for 12th overall), political science (tied for 13th overall), and psychology (tied for 13th); School of Education, 23rd overall; and School of Law, tied for 30th. 6th largest contributor of graduating seniors to Teach for America among the top 20 large-sized colleges and universities in 2009. In fall 2009, 55 Carolina graduates matriculate into Teach for America, the national corps of outstanding recent college graduates and professionals of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity. 7th among large U.S. colleges and universities for the number of alumni volunteering for the Peace Corps in 2008. Seventy-seven UNC undergraduate alumni and six graduate alumni are representing the United States abroad. Since the Peace Corps’ inception, 1,054 Carolina alumni have served as volunteers. Kenan-Flagler Business School ranked 13th in BusinessWeek magazine’s list of the best undergraduate business programs. It also was ranked 2nd on return on investment for public universities and 6th in rigor based on how many hours students report they spend on class work each week. It received grades of A for teaching quality and A+ for facilities and services, as well as job placement, based on students’ responses. Kenan-Flagler appeared in several recent best M.B.A. program lists: The Wall Street Journal, 6th based on a survey of corporate recruiters; BusinessWeek (17th); BusinessWeek, executive MBA program (global), 5th, The Wall Street Journal; 10th, BusinessWeek; and 27th, The Financial Times (OneMBA). For executive education custom programs, The Financial Times ranks Kenan-Flagler 17th globally and 7th in the United States, while BusinessWeek’s rankings are 20th globally and 13th in the United States. Modern Physician magazine also ranks the M.B.A. program 1st for enrollment of physician-executives. Fortune Small Business magazine ranked Carolina as one of America’s best colleges for entrepreneurs for MBA, undergraduate and double major programs. 10th for graduate programs; 19th for college programs. 5th among the top U.S. universities for research in nano- and microtechnology, according to Small Times magazine. Based on an annual survey that identifies which universities are the “best of the best” in these fields. Questionnaire aimed to gauge universities’ capabilities and strengths in research and commercialization, as well as their standing among others in a peer review category. Ranking criteria included funding, facilities, staff students, degrees conferred and research papers presented. Forbes magazine concluded in 2009 that the men’s Tar Heel basketball team was the most valuable in the country – generating $26 million, just ahead of the University of Louisville. Based on revenue, value that basketball programs contribute to their universities’ academic programs and athletic programs, their conferences and their local communities. STACK magazine ranked Tar Heel athletics 3rd based on academics, athletic opportunity and overall performance. Ranks the nation’s premier academic and NCAA football, basketball and other Division I sports programs. Combining the best in athletics with the best in academia, the magazine’s “Elite 50” list was announced in 2007 (when Carolina was No. 1) and updated in 2008. Stanford and Texas top the current list. Key Statistics
Carolina’s academic community benefits from a library with 6.5 million volumes and 61,000 serial titles that perennially ranks among the best research libraries in North America as judged by the Association of Research Libraries. The most recent association listings place Carolina 18th among 113 research libraries in North America. UNC's Southern Historical Collection, with more than 23 million unique items, is the largest collection anywhere of materials that document the region. Carolina's 269,748 alumni live in all 50 states and 153 countries. More than 145,300 of those alumni live in all 100 North Carolina counties. Notable alumni include writers Thomas Wolfe, Shelby Foote, Russell Banks and Jill McCorkle; athletes Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Mia Hamm and Davis Love III; Tar Heel Head Basketball Coach Roy Williams; journalists Charles Kuralt, Alan Murray, Stuart Scott and Tom Wicker and numerous North Carolina governors and elected officials. Others include UNC President Erskine Bowles, former White House Chief of Staff; Sen. Paul Wellstone; Bill Harrison, former chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Ann Martinelli Livermore, executive vice president, technology solutions group, Hewlett Packard Co.; and UNC President Emeritus C.D. Spangler. More include Peter Grauer, chief executive officer and chairman of Bloomberg, L.P.; Amy Woods Brinkley, global risk executive for Bank of America Corp.; Mary Sue Coleman, a biochemist and former Carolina vice chancellor and now the University of Michigan president; Elson Floyd, former UNC executive vice chancellor, now president of Washington State University; Bernadette Gray-Little, chancellor of the University of Kansas; U.S. President James Polk; geneticist Francis Collins, who has been nominated by President Obama to direct the National Institutes of Health; Jonathan Reckford, chief executive officer, Habitat for Humanity International; actors Billy Crudup, Jack Palance, George Grizzard and Andy Griffith, as well as actresses Louise Fletcher and Sharon Lawrence; editorial cartoonist Jeff MacNelly; Hugh McColl, retired chairman and chief executive officer of Bank of America Corp.; and fashion designer Alexander Julian.
The Carolina Covenant
The Carolina Covenant provides a debt-free education for qualified low-income students from North Carolina and beyond. Eligible Covenant students agree to work on campus 10 to 12 hours weekly in a federal work-study job, and UNC meets their remaining needs through federal, state, university and other privately funded grants and scholarships. Beginning in fall 2005, students and their families had to be at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level to be eligible for the program. That currently covers a family of four with an annual income of about $42,400. Carolina was the first major public U.S. university to announce plans for such a program in 2003. Since then, more than 90 similar programs have been established at public and private U.S. colleges and universities. Many of these programs, like Carolina’s, respond to rapidly changing demographics and social needs, such as rising high school dropout and poverty rates. The first full class of Carolina Covenant Scholars graduated in May 2008. In spring 2009, the University enrolled nearly 1,500 Covenant Scholars. A 2009 study of the first class of Carolina Covenant Scholars shows the program helps students succeed in the classroom. The study asked if the Covenant helps close the gap for earning degrees between low-income and other students. The University compared the first 2004 Covenant class with a group of 2003 students who would have qualified. Covenant students performed slightly better in graduation rates (62 percent in eight semesters vs. 57 percent, and 73 percent in nine semesters vs. 70 percent). Graduation rates for all students ranged between 74 percent and 75 percent. The retention rate for 2004 Covenant Scholars in their fourth year was considerably higher. Seventeen percent fewer Covenant students became academically ineligible. Another encouraging sign: Covenant Scholars’ average grade-point average at graduation is within 2/10ths of a point of the average for all students. The Carolina Covenant also has been a springboard for two innovative programs funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to help low-income students in community college and high school settings. North Carolinians are directly benefiting from both efforts. Reaching that goal was critical for the university to compete nationally for top faculty and students, invest in departments and programs and build and renovate facilities to educate 21st century students. The $2.38 billion raised included $419.7 million for faculty, including 208 new endowed professorships; $345.3 million for students, including 577 new scholarships and 196 new fellowships; $579.4 million for research; $664.8 million for strategic initiatives; and $185 million for facilities. Carolina’s fundraising efforts brought in $271.25 million in gifts in fiscal 2009, the second highest total in school history. Such support accounts for money that is immediately available to the University. In commitments for fiscal 2009, which ended June 30, Carolina received $290.4 million. Commitments include pledges as well as gifts. Only fiscal 2008’s gift total of $301 million tops the 2009 mark, and UNC was in the final months of the Carolina First Campaign that year. In fall 2008, Carolina enrolled 3,864 students for the Class of 2012 drawn from a record 21,507 applications. That was the third straight record for applications and a five-year increase of 20 percent. Eighty-two percent of the incoming class members were North Carolinians. More than 79 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school class; nearly 43 percent were among the top 10 students in their graduating class. The average SAT score was 1301.
In May 2009, Carolina's graduating Class of 2009 included 171 Public Services Scholars. The program provides a way for students to learn new skills, strengthen their commitment to service and link their academics to making a difference. This program, run by the Carolina Center for Public Service, is for students who log at least 300 hours of public service and complete training and courses with a public service component. The students are serving communities across North Carolina, the nation and the world working in nursing homes, hospitals, public schools and a wide range of non-profits.
Carolina's 2008-2009 winners, both Morehead-Cain Scholars, were Elisabeth “Lisette” Yorke of Hillside Boularderie, Nova Scotia, and Aisha Saad of Cary, N.C. Both also were named to USA Today's 2009 All-USA College Academic First Team – two of 20 undergraduates chosen by judges from among hundreds of juniors and seniors across the country. The newspaper called the winners “the nation's most gifted college students.”
Matthew Garza, a junior economics major and Morehead-Cain Scholar, was one of 60 students chosen for 2009 Truman Scholarships. Of 31 Truman Scholars from UNC since the program began in 1977, 18 have been Morehead-Cain Scholars. The Truman Foundation, created by Congress, awards the scholarships of up to $30,000 for graduate studies toward public service-related degrees.
Oliver Smithies, Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, received the 2007 Nobel Prize for work that has fundamentally changed the science of genetic medicine and potentially will help millions of people live healthier lives. He was one of three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Smithies was chosen for his role in introducing gene modifications in mice using embryonic stem cells. More than two decades ago, Smithies co-discovered a technique to introduce DNA material in cells, mirroring a natural process. This gene targeting led to Smithies’ lab producing the first animal model of cystic fibrosis. Today, scientists around the world use these techniques to produce mice that model heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cancer.
Etta Pisano, vice dean for academic affairs in the School of Medicine, and Barbara Rimer, dean of the UNC Gillings School of Public Health, were recently among 65 new members elected to the Institute of Medicine. The institute, part of the National Academy of Sciences, has about 1,700 members, who serve on committees that carry out a broad range of studies on health policy issues. Pisano is also Kenan Professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering, director of the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center and a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research focuses on improving breast imaging and its role in cancer diagnosis. Rimer, a behavioral scientist, is the Alumni Distinguished Professor in the department of health behavior and health education. Rimer served in several academic and government positions before coming to the school, including at the Lineberger Center, Duke University School of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute.
Carl Ernst, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest honorary societies. Ernst, director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations in the College of Arts and Sciences, also received a Guggenheim Fellowship to support his research. The Carolina faculty are distinguished by their academic accomplishments. According to the latest available data, UNC-Chapel Hill ranks 16th among public research universities for the number of members in the national academies, including the National Academy of Sciences (10, including one retired faculty member), the National Academy of Engineering (5, including one retired faculty member) and the Institute of Medicine (18, including two retired faculty members). That is in addition to the 32 faculty members, including two retirees, in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Joseph DeSimone, Chancellor's Eminent Professor of Chemistry, was awarded the 2008 Lemelson-MIT Prize for his work in green chemistry and for bringing that work from the lab into industry. The $500,000 prize is awarded to “individuals who turn their ideas into inventions and innovations that change the world we live in and improve life for all of us.” DeSimone, also William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University, accepted the award and presented and his accomplishments to the public at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the second annual EurekaFest, a multi-day celebration of the inventive spirit, in June 2008. Garegin Papoian and Muhammad Yousaf, assistant professors of chemistry, have received 2009 Faculty Early Career Development Awards from the National Science Foundation. These awards support the research of promising young faculty in the early stages of their careers in the chemical and life sciences. Papoian will use the award to develop detailed computational models of the way cells of higher organisms move around and sense their environment. Yousaf will use the award to develop new surface chemistries to study how cells polarize and migrate. Arjun Deb, assistant professor at the School of Medicine, has received the Ellison Medical Foundation's 2008 New Scholar Award in Aging for his work in cardiac stem cell research. The New Scholar awards provide support for promising young investigators as they establish their own labs and organize new research programs. Miriam Braunstein, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, has been named a 2008 Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease. She will receive $500,000 to support her research in understanding the protein export systems and exported proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (the bacterium which causes tuberculosis) and the roles they play in pathogenesis. Garegin Papoian, assistant professor of chemistry, has been named a 2008 Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar for his work studying biophysical processes using advanced computational methods. This award recognizes outstanding young faculty members in the chemical sciences.
In 2007, the North Carolina General Assembly created the University Cancer Research Fund to support basic research in medicine, pharmacy and public health, as well as basic science departments of the College of Arts and Sciences through the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center and the School of Medicine. Supporting laboratory, clinical, and outreach efforts across North Carolina, the fund directed $25 million to Carolina in 2007-08, $40 million in 2008-09 and $50 million in 2009-2010. Ongoing research initiatives include efforts to tackle challenges such as genome sciences, which is unraveling the mysteries of DNA and the human genome. Carolina has committed at least $245 million over a decade to be at the forefront of the genomics revolution. Led by renowned genetics scientist Terry Magnuson, the initiative represents a public-private investment that includes a $25 million anonymous gift creating the Michael Hooker Center for Proteomics to study a specialized area of genetics. Studies using mouse models and advanced computational and analytical techniques are revealing basic knowledge that will have direct relevance to how scientists understand human biology and disease. Launched in 2007, the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases aims to extend and enhance ongoing research efforts to improve the lives of people around the world. The institute, based in the School of Medicine, builds on Carolina’s current global health presence in about 50 countries. Eight full-time UNC researchers and more than 300 local employees are fighting malaria and HIV/AIDS transmission in Malawi. Carolina faculty are targeting the resurgence of syphilis in China and Madagascar and leading an international consortium developing a new oral drug to treat African sleeping sickness, which threatens the lives of millions. Other UNC investigators are active in India, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, the Dominican Republic, South America and the Caribbean. Dr. Myron S. Cohen, associate vice chancellor for global health in the medical school, serves as institute director and is a leading expert on the spread and prevention of AIDS.
The Institute for Pharmacogenomics and Individualized Therapy, based in the School of Pharmacy, brings together researchers and clinicians across campus to create therapies and treatments for patients suffering from a wide variety of conditions. The institute aims to make drugs safer and more effective and speed laboratory discoveries by translating genetic discoveries into new ways of diagnosing and treating diseases. Howard McCleod, center director, helped identify genetic variants that predispose patients to risk of severe side effects or inadequate benefit from drugs for diseases including colorectal cancer and childhood leukemia. His research also has helped shape Food and Drug Administration guidelines for warfarin, a blood thinner prescribed to more than 2 million people in the United States.
Chemistry Professor Tom Meyer led a coalition of scientists joined by the promise of solar fuels to secure a grant worth $17.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Nationwide, 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers aim to accelerate breakthroughs in energy technology development. The University’s proposal was the only one funded in North Carolina and among 16 designed to create jobs. Carolina’s center will study low-cost and efficient solar fuels production by artificial photosynthesis. Solar fuels could use the sun’s energy to make fuels from water and carbon dioxide for heating, transportation and energy storage. The technology being studies at Carolina could also make electricity using inexpensive “solar shingles” on the roofs of buildings. Since 2000, the University has maintained a strategy of targeted investment in "big idea" research themes, knitting together existing strengths in various areas to create broad, interdisciplinary new thrusts. Recent examples of new interdisciplinary initiatives include:
Spin-off companies resulting from UNC discoveries include Liquidia Technologies, a 2004 start-up to commercialize inventions from the laboratories of Joe DeSimone, William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Carolina and N.C. State. Liquidia has used a silicon wafer to create molds for making nanoparticles for drug delivery. Possibilities include developing custom nanoparticles for targeted delivery of anticancer drugs. Liquidia’s technology also helped the University land one of eight NIH "nanocancer" grants. Since the 1940s, scientists at UNC's Institute of Marine Sciences in Morehead City have served North Carolina by addressing important questions related to the nature, use, development, protection and enhancement of coastal marine resources. Its work includes the Neuse River Monitoring and Modeling Project on the Neuse River, which has been designated as one of the nation's 20 most pollution-endangered rivers. Since the 1960s, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute research and outreach has shaped how the nation cares for and educates young children. Researchers focus on parent and family support; early care and education; child health and development; early identification and intervention; equity, access and inclusion; and early childhood policy. FPG is one of the oldest multidisciplinary centers devoted to the study of children and families. Most of the institute’s work addresses young children from newborns through age 8. Examples of projects directly affecting the children of North Carolina include USTARS~PLUS, which helps teachers recognize children from economically or otherwise disadvantaged families who may be gifted, and FirstSchool, in which a team works within the educational system to develop an integrated approach for children ages 3 to 8. Education and Cultural Resources From the Ackland Art Museum and the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center to the North Carolina Botanical Garden and Carolina Performing Arts, Carolina offers a vast array of educational and cultural opportunities. Through teaching, research and public service, Carolina connects with the people of North Carolina every day in ways that improve lives and build futures. The University is committed to addressing the issues that North Carolinians are most concerned about – education, health care and economic development. The School of Government helps improve the lives of North Carolinians through engaged scholarship – the application of university expertise to address community needs – that helps public officials understand and improve state and local government. In 2009, the school launched two new programs. The Community-Campus Partnership will focus faculty, student and staff resources and expertise on needs and priorities identified by its partners in economically distressed communities. The Local Government Service Corps, a partnership with Appalachian State University, will assist a dozen of the state’s most economically distressed communities by sending master’s of public administration graduates to lead economic development and capacity-building initiatives. The Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC), based at the School of Medicine, works with nine regional centers to bring health sciences faculty and students to North Carolina communities to provide care, share knowledge, reduce disparities among the underserved and help produce the next generation of North Carolina’s doctors, nurses and health professionals. The Carolina Center for Public Service engages and supports faculty, students and staff in meeting the needs of North Carolina by promoting scholarship and service that addresses concerns of the state and contributes to the common good. The center’s Faculty Engaged Scholars program helps faculty connect their academic work with the needs of a community and apply their skills to make a difference. Following are brief examples representing dozens of programs and initiatives that show the breadth and depth of the commitment that UNC students, faculty and staff have to advance the state’s interests.
Carolina has secured a $1.25 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand a new fast-track teacher program to include mathematics and geological sciences as part of an effort to address North Carolina’s acute teacher shortage. In May 2009, Carolina’s newest graduates included the first eight students to complete the UNC-BEST – Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching – program, which allows students to earn North Carolina teaching licenses while majoring in science or math. Previously, students had to continue in college to earn teaching licenses after receiving their degrees. The program is one way Carolina is helping address the state's shortage of science and math teachers. It’s part of an innovative collaboration between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education.
Pharen Bowman, who graduated as a Carolina Covenant Scholar from the University, is one of 19 advisers in 38 North Carolina high schools as part of the Carolina Advising Corps. Pharen brings the message to students at two Charlotte high schools that going to college, including at UNC, is a realistic goal. She helps seniors navigate the complex college admissions process. DESTINY (Delivering Edge-Cutting Science Technology and Internet Across North Carolina for Years to Come), Carolina's traveling science laboratory, takes the latest technology and teaching tools to North Carolina schools. This Morehead Planetarium and Science Center program develops and delivers a standards-based, hands-on curriculum and teacher professional development with a team of educators and a fleet of vehicles that travel throughout the state. The two custom-built, 40-foot buses bring the latest science and technology equipment to students who otherwise would not see a high-tech laboratory or what a career in science can offer. Since the program’s inception, more than 250,000 students have been served. North Carolina's teachers benefit from the Learners' and Educators' Assistance and Resource Network of North Carolina (LEARN NC), a collaborative statewide network of teachers and partners devoted to improving student performance and enhancing teacher proficiencies via the Internet. LEARN NC, offered free through the School of Education, provides lesson plans, professional development and innovative Web resources to support teachers, build community and improve K-12 education in North Carolina. All 115 of North Carolina’s public school systems are working with LEARN NC, along with independent schools, Catholic schools and charter schools. Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Children with Handicaps (TEACCH), headquartered in the School of Medicine’s department of psychiatry, serves individuals of all ages with autism and their families through nine regional outpatient clinics across the state. Offerings include clinical services – most of which are free to North Carolinians – such as diagnostic evaluations, parent training and parent support groups, social play and recreation groups, individual counseling for higher-functioning clients, and supported employment. TEACCH conducts training nationally and internationally and provides consultation for teachers, residential care providers and other professionals from a variety of disciplines. Research activities include psychological, educational and biomedical studies.
When Carolina researchers realized that cancer and death rates are disproportionately higher among black women, they wondered how to get the word out about prevention. Instead of waiting for these women to come to the doctor’s office, Dr. Laura Linnan, associate professor in the School of Public Health, went where they were already comfortable talking about their health and asking for advice — the beauty salon. Linnan’s BEAUTY (Bringing Education And Understanding To You) Project worked with hairstylists to share information with customers in eight N.C. counties about how to prevent colorectal cancer. Messages from the stylists were simple: Eat three to five servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Engage in physical activity for at least 30 minutes most days. Talk with your doctor about personal risks for cancer and screening tests. Call a national hotline. Preliminary results from the study showed a modest increase in the number of health conversations customers had with their stylists and in self-reported physical activity and screening tests. Nearly all owners said that salons should offer programs such as BEAUTY. The North Carolina Breast Screening Program, based at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, is dedicated to reducing late-stage diagnosis of breast and cervical cancer in older black women living in eastern North Carolina. The program’s efforts to increase mammography and Pap testing rates aim to improve quality and length of life for rural African-American women and, ultimately, contribute to greater equality in health between black and white women. Through the Ethnicity, Culture and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, researchers are building on the knowledge that ethnicity, socioeconomic, gender, environmental and educational factors all play a part in health disparities. ECHO aims to eliminate health status and health outcomes disparities through research, multidisciplinary training and education, and culturally sensitive service to North Carolina communities. One of the few programs of its kind in the nation, ECHO works to connect the various institutes and research agendas across the state concerned about health disparities, especially through partnerships with the state’s historically black colleges and universities. Carolina partners with Elizabeth City State University to respond to the critical shortage of pharmacists in North Carolina. Launched in fall 2005, the UNC/ECSU Doctor of Pharmacy Partnership Program enrolls 10 to 15 students per year at Elizabeth City. The goal is to increase the number of pharmacists and pharmacy faculty practicing in North Carolina with a focus on reaching underserved populations, especially those in the northeastern part of the state. Admission and curriculum requirements are the same for students on both campuses. Pioneering students in the ECSU-based program enroll in the doctor of pharmacy program at Carolina and remain in Elizabeth City for the first three years of instruction in the Pharm.D. program. Students are taught through live video-teleconferencing and recorded video, through Web-based instruction and by ECSU-based faculty. Students complete the practice experience component of the program through the Area Health Education Centers network, as do students based from the Chapel Hill campus. Students have a variety of opportunities to work with faculty and advisers on both campuses. Through the Kenan-Flagler Business School’s master of business administration degree program, Student Teams Achieving Results (STAR) teams consult with and assist North Carolina businesses free of charge in return for the opportunity to learn from experienced business leaders about real-world business challenges. Companies served cannot afford the services of professional strategists and the experience reinforces students’ commitment to public service. The goal is to help struggling North Carolina companies identify the path to sustainability and growth, keeping and growing jobs for North Carolinians. In its 2005 pilot phase, the STAR Program assisted one company, E.N. Beard Hardwood Lumber Inc. of Greensboro. The student team worked successfully with company president John Beard to identify export opportunities in Mexico. The results were impressive – an increase from $0 to $250,000 in export sales in the first year and an estimated $500,000 increase in the second year. Since 2004-2005, MBA student teams have served more than 20 North Carolina companies and non-profits (a hardwoods producer, textile manufacturer, flower distributor, housing authority and a mattress manufacturer). Updated July 2009 |
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FedEx Global Education Building, which brings several key international activities under one roof and advances a major academic priority. Funded by a generous gift from the FedEx Corp, the center is the primary means for engaging the Carolina community in international issues. The building is creating a vibrant hub of international studies, academic services, research, public service and cultural exchange. Along with five classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium and numerous conference rooms, the 80,000 square-foot building houses centers, institutes, offices and other resources devoted to international topics.
