uncnews.unc.edu

Here is a sampling of links and notes about Carolina people and programs cited recently in the media:

National Coverage

The Envelope, Please: Six Applicants for the Class of 2014 Tell Their Own Stories
New York Times (Blog)
Much of the anxiety of waiting by the mailbox to retrieve decision letters from the nation’s most selective colleges has — like so much of the admissions process — gone digital in recent years. Whether an envelope is considered fat or thin is more likely measured in bytes. And yet, the day that decisions are formally released by many of the most competitive institutions, whether by e-mail or United States mail, remains as it always has: April 1. (Some of the prospective students mention Carolina in their blog posts.)

The Impact of Growth in Learning Disabilities Diagnoses
Inside HigherEd
The growth of diagnoses of learning disabilities is raising issues about fairness and some discomfort among faculty members, but these questions get too little attention, according to a report issued Thursday by the John William Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. ... James Kessler, director of disability services at Chapel Hill, said that the report served a valuable purpose in bringing attention to these issues. But he said that, in addition to faculty members who worry about whether some students are taking advantage of a diagnosis, there are many professors who understand learning disabilities and see the enhanced services as helping students.

State and Local Coverage

Gifts allow UNC to hire 18 professors
News & Observer (Raleigh)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill said Thursday that it has received a $5 million gift from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust to support its junior faculty recruitment efforts – including those for the school’s business program. The school also said that the gift has spurred a $500,000 commitment from an anonymous donor for the same purpose
Related Links: http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2010/03/22/daily53.html
http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/6844166/article-Gift-to-help-UNC-recruit-faculty?
UNC Release: http://uncnews.unc.edu/content/view/3472/1/

West Franklin target set at 2014
News & Observer (Raleigh)
Developers remaking the University Square property at the entrance to UNC-Chapel Hill expect to submit their first application this fall and complete the project's first phase in 2014, they said Thursday. That phase would replace the shopping center that now is sandwiched between parking lots with new four- or five-story buildings next to the Franklin Street sidewalk. Retail would be on the ground floor and offices above.

UNC System Makes Major Health Care Changes
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Just days after the U.S. House approved sweeping health care reform, the UNC system is making some major changes of their own. With health care reform a hot topic, the UNC system is about to require most students to have their own coverage.

Monty Cook Returns to UNC
WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
UNC grad and Baltimore Sun editor Monty Cook will return to Chapel Hill to teach journalism at UNC. Cook will head up a new initiative in digital news and audience research, which are burgeoning fields as media and journalism adapt to the Internet and new technologies. The project is funded by a $3.5 million donation from the estate of UNC journalism alum Reese Felts.

Cutting college costs: If there's a will, there's a way (Guest Column)
The Herald-Sun (Durham)
... In 2006, for example, UNC-Chapel Hill redesigned its precalculus course to incorporate online resources and standardize the curriculum across sections, for a cost savings of 19 percent and some improvement in test scores.

Issues and Trends

Duke student housing in an Ivy League mold
News & Observer (Raleigh)
Duke University's next residence hall will begin a back-to-the-future attempt to transform the residential experience. ... "We're a residential university," said Steve Nowicki, Duke's dean of undergraduate education. "That is different from UNC or [N.C.] State, for example, and more common to private institutions. We've made the statement that what you learn in college is more than what you learn in the classroom."