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 is undergoing 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. The bonds have provided more than $515 million for renovations and new buildings so 21st century students at Carolina can learn in a 21st century environment. Also guided by a visionary campus master plan for growth that continues coming to life, the University is investing funds from non-state sources, including private gifts raised during the Carolina First Campaign and overhead receipts from faculty research grants, for other buildings essential to excellence. The resulting capital construction program exceeding $2.1 billion is among the largest at any major American university. By the end of 2007, the University had completed 76 projects, or 37 percent of the total capital program, since 2000. Another 35 projects were under construction and 54 other projects were in design. The Higher Education Bond Referendum portion of the building program includes 49 projects. Forty have been completed, eight are under construction and one is in design. This program is scheduled to be completed in January 2009 – within two months of the original schedule. Recently completed projects include: 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 It is replacing outdated, deteriorating buildings with state-of-the-art facilities.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.
Projects under construction include: North Carolina Cancer Hospital, which will become a world-class hospital for cancer patients and their families from North Carolina and beyond. The new hospital, part of the UNC Health Care System, will bring complete cancer care for patients and research facilities into one building and serve as the new clinical home for the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of only 38 such National Cancer Institute-designated centers in the United States. The North Carolina General Assembly approved $180 million in funding for the new hospital to replace a facility originally built in the 1950s as a tuberculosis sanatorium. Tentatively scheduled to open in late 2009, the hospital will provide North Carolinians with complete clinical cancer care and research facilities in one building. Genetic Medicine Building, which will become one of the largest facilities on campus. The building represents a cooperative effort 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 seven-story structure will contain five laboratory floors and will house researchers from pharmacy and three medical school departments: pharmacology, genetics, and biochemistry and biophysics. Using sustainable practices is a key component of the capital program. For example, the School of Nursing achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2007. The school’s Carrington Hall addition was the first project in the UNC system to register for LEED certification. Features include a “green” roof surrounding a small patio while plantings there capture 70 percent of the stormwater. Carolina was recognized in 2005 with an award for excellence in the planning and architecture of the campus master plan. The Society for College and University Planning and the American Institute of Architects’ Committee on Architecture for Education awarded UNC the 2005 Excellence in Planning and Architecture Merit Award in Planning for an Established Campus. The competition recognizes collaborative state-of-the-art planning and emphasizes excellence in higher education environments and settings. 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: 1st among the 100 best U.S. public colleges and universities that offer the best combination of top-flight academics and affordable costs as ranked by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. 1st for seven consecutive times since Kiplinger’s began these periodic surveys in 1998. Kiplinger’s analysis stressed academic quality, as well as cost and financial aid offerings, and cited the success of the Carolina Covenant program, which provides a debt-free education to qualified low-income students and is a national model. Carolina’s policies protect affordability and offer an outstanding education. 5th best public university in U.S. News & World Report’s 2008 “Best Colleges” guidebook for the seventh consecutive year. 1st among public campuses for the third consecutive year. 9th 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. Kenan-Flagler Business School’s undergraduate business degree program 5th. One of 6 public universities ranking in the top 25 for all nine measures used in “The Top American Research Universities,” produced in 2007 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 and SAT/ACT range. In the seven years of these studies, UNC is one of four universities (with Berkeley, UCLA and Michigan) in the top 25 on all nine measures. 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.” A "best value" among 81 schools chosen for “America’s Best Value Colleges, 2006 Edition” by The Princeton Review/Random House for outstanding academics, relatively low costs and generous financial aid packages. 2nd appearance in a row for UNC. 3rd among major U.S. universities in the percentage of African-American students in the 2007 first-year class, according to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Carolina had held the No. 1 spot for six of the previous eight years. Black students made up 11.1 percent of the entering class in 2007. 4th among top public research universities recording the highest rate of undergraduates studying abroad in 2005-2006, according to a report published by the Institute of International Education. 4th among large U.S. colleges and universities for the number of alumni volunteering for the Peace Corps in 2007 – up four slots from the previous year. Eighty-one undergraduate and four graduate UNC alumni are representing the United States abroad. Since the inception of the Peace Corps, 1,012 Carolina alumni have joined its ranks, making UNC the 25th largest producer of volunteers all time. 6th largest contributor of graduating seniors to Teach for America in 2007. Thirty-seven Carolina seniors matriculated 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. 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. Seventeen 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 Degree programs or specialty areas from several schools and the College of Arts and Sciences appeared prominently in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report's “America's Best Graduate Schools” issue. Highlights included: School of Pharmacy, 2nd for Pharm.D. program; School of Medicine, tied for 2nd overall for primary care, 19th for research; School of Public Health, tied for 10th in environmental/environmental health; School of Social Work, tied for 8th for master’s degree program; School of Government, master’s of public administration program, tied for 14th; Kenan-Flagler Business School's master of business administration degree program, 19th, and College of Arts and Sciences, computer science doctoral program tied for 20th overall. Kenan-Flagler Business School ranked 12th in BusinessWeek magazine’s list of the best undergraduate business programs. It also was ranked 2nd on return on investment for public universities and 9th in rigor based on how many hours students report they spend on class work each week. It received grades of A for teaching quality, A+ for facilities and services, and A for job placement, based on students’ responses Kenan-Flagler appeared in several other best MBA program lists: The Wall Street Journal, 6th based on a survey of corporate recruiters and tied for 7th among “most improved schools;” BusinessWeek (17th); The Princeton Review and Forbes.com, 1st for fostering entrepreneurship campuswide; BusinessWeek, executive MBA program, 10th; Financial Times, customized executive education programs 12th in the world. Fortune Small Business magazine ranked Carolina as one of America’s best colleges for entrepreneurs for MBA, undergraduate and double major programs. The School of Law ranked 23rd in a survey of U.S. law schools by Vault Inc., a career information company, about which law schools best prepare their graduates to be successful in a firm environment. Based on surveys of nearly 400 hiring partners, hiring committee members, associate interviewers and recruiting professionals across the country. STACK magazine ranked Tar Heel athletics No. 1 based on academics, athletic opportunity and overall performance. Carolina topped the magazine’s first-ever list of 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. Forbes magazine concluded in 2008 that the men’s Tar Heel basketball team was the most valuable in the country. The magazine put the value of the Tar Heels at $26 million, just ahead of the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville. The valuation was based on the amount of money that basketball programs contribute to their universities’ academic programs and athletic programs, their conferences and their local communities. Carolina offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degrees in academic areas critical to North Carolina's future: business, dentistry, education, law, medicine, nursing, public health and social work, among others. Offerings include 76 bachelor’s, 108 master’s, 74 doctorate and four professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences. The health sciences are well integrated with the liberal arts, basic sciences and high-tech programs. Patient outreach programs affiliated with Carolina and the UNC Health Care System serve citizens in all 100 North Carolina counties. In 2006-07, Carolina awarded 6,862 degrees – 3,856 bachelor’s, 1,892 master’s, 513 doctoral and 601 professional. Carolina belongs to the select group of 62 leading American and Canadian campuses forming the Association of American Universities. In fall 2007, Carolina enrolled more than 28,100 students from all 100 North Carolina counties, the other 49 states and 117 countries. Eighty-two percent of Carolina's undergraduates come from North Carolina. These students learn from a 3,200-member faculty. Many of those faculty members hold or have held major posts in virtually every national scholarly or professional organization and have earned election to the most prestigious academic academies and organizations. Carolina’s academic community benefits from a library with more than 6 million volumes and more than 103,000 serial subscriptions 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 17th 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 more than 252,000 alumni live in all 50 states and 144 countries. More than 135,000 of those alumni live in all 100 North Carolina counties. Notable alumni include writers Thomas Wolfe, Shelby Foote, Kaye Gibbons, Russell Banks and Jill McCorkle; athletes Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Dre Bly, Mia Hamm and Davis Love III; Tar Heel Head Basketball Coach Roy Williams; journalists Charles Kuralt, Alan Murray, Roger Mudd, 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; former Sen. John Edwards (former director of UNC’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity); Sen. Paul Wellstone; Bill Harrison, former chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Sallie L. Krawcheck, chairman and chief executive officer of the global wealth management division, Citigroup Inc.; 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.; Ken Thompson, chairman and chief executive officer of Wachovia 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; U.S. President James Polk; geneticist Francis Collins; 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. Carolina offers talented students the opportunity to learn in a high-quality academic environment. Through the Carolina Covenant and an excellent overall financial aid program, the University is making college possible for qualified students regardless of their financial means. The University’s policies and practices protect affordability, a core value at Carolina that has long benefited North Carolina and its citizens.
Through fall 2007, UNC had awarded about 1,200 scholarships for a debt-free education through the Carolina Covenant. In addition, the University has launched a mentoring component of the program. This effort matches students with volunteer faculty to support them in their daily lives and help them further engage with the Carolina community. Goals include supporting student success and successful graduation. The mentoring component also has been expanded to include peers offering support to the incoming Covenant Scholars. 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 $40,000. Carolina was the first major public U.S. university to announce plans for such a program in 2003. Since then, more than 80 financial aid initiatives for low- to moderate-income students have been launched and were modeled after the Carolina Covenant. They include Brown, Harvard, MIT and Stanford, as well as Michigan and Virginia. Many of these programs, like Carolina’s, respond to rapidly changing demographics and social needs, such as rising high school dropout and poverty rates. In fall 2007, Carolina enrolled the most academically prepared first-year class in University history, with 3,895 students drawn from a record 20,000 applications. This year’s applications surpassed that, hitting the 21,487 mark – a 7 percent increase. Total student enrollment in fall 2007 exceeded 28,000 for the first time.
Eighty-two graduating high school seniors from the United States, Canada and Great Britain have been selected as Morehead-Cain Scholars for fall 2008. Among the largest and most competitive scholarship programs in the United States, the Morehead-Cain – formerly the Morehead Scholarship – pays all expenses for four years of undergraduate study, including four summer enrichment experiences. The Morehead Scholarship and Morehead Foundation were renamed in 2007 after the foundation received a $100 million gift from the Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation. Fifty-three exemplary high school seniors have also been chosen for the Robertson Scholars Class of 2012. This innovative merit scholarship program brings together two of the nation's finest universities, fostering enhanced collaboration between both campuses. All students take courses at both schools and spend a semester in residence at the other campus. Robertson Scholars attending Duke receive full tuition, while UNC scholars receive full tuition, living expenses and a stipend. The program was created by a $24 million gift from Julian and Josie Robertson. In May 2008, Carolina graduates its fourth class of Public Service Scholars. 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. More than 1,000 students have logged more than 198,000 hours of service in communities across North Carolina, the nation and the world working in nursing homes, hospitals, public schools and a wide range of non-profits. Carolina students made another noteworthy run during 2007-08 in the competition to earn distinguished scholarships in the United States and abroad. A senior won the prestigious Luce Scholarship, while four undergraduates were selected for Truman, Churchill and Udall scholarships. All are studying in the College of Arts and Sciences. Michael Tarrant was awarded a Luce Scholarship to live and learn in Asia – one of 18 scholarships awarded nationwide. A double major in political science and communication studies, Tarrant is student body vice president. UNC ranks second only to Harvard in producing Luce Scholars. Including Tarrant, 27 UNC students and alumni have won the Luce since the program began in 1974. Harvard has had 28 Luce Scholars. The Henry Luce Foundation Henry Luce Foundation provides the scholarships for a year’s internship in Asia, with the goal of acquainting future American leaders with Asian colleagues in their fields. Candidates must have no prior experience with Asia. Danielle Maria Allen, a junior, has been awarded the Truman Scholarship. The double major in public policy and economics plans to use the award to attend law school and become an attorney for an organization that works to address inequalities in public education. Allen was one of 65 recipients of the Truman nationwide this year. She came to Carolina in 2005 on a Morehead Scholarship (renamed the Morehead-Cain in 2007). Of 30 Truman Scholars from UNC since the program began in 1977, 17 have been Morehead Scholars. Lisa Bond and Stephanie Jones, both seniors majoring in the physical sciences, won Churchill Scholarships for graduate work at Cambridge University in England. Bond, a biology major with a chemistry minor, will use the scholarship to earn a master’s degree in biochemistry at Cambridge. Jones, a chemistry major with a minor in entrepreneurship, will seek a master’s degree in chemistry in England. Both aim to become university research professors. Bond and Jones were among 13 Churchill Scholars chosen nationwide by the Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States. UNC and Princeton are tied at eight for the most Churchill Scholars from any campus from 1997 through this year. Elinor Benami, a sophomore, received a Morris K. Udall Undergraduate Scholarship for her junior year. Benami, who is double-majoring in international studies and economics, plans a career in environmental consulting. The Morris K. Udall Scholarship and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Foundation chose 80 scholars this year based on their commitment to careers in the environment or, for American Indian and Alaskan native applicants, commitment to careers in health care or tribal public policy. Benami’s award brings the number of Udall Scholarships awarded to Carolina students to 12 since the awards began in 1996. 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. Carolinas has one new member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. In April 2008, the academy announced the election of historian Louis Pérez Jr., the J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. His current research explores the sources of Cuban nationality and identity. He is the author of “To Die in Cuba: Suicide and Society” (2005, UNC Press), a social and cultural history of suicide in Cuba. His research interests center on the 19th- and 20th-century Caribbean, with emphasis on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. He also directs the Institute for the Study of the Americas. UNC now has a total of 36 faculty members in the academy. In April 2008, the Carolina faculty ranked 14th among public research universities for the number of members in the national academies, including the National Academy of Sciences (10), the National Academy of Engineering (5) and the Institute of Medicine (21). That is in addition to the 36 faculty members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dmytro “Dima” Arinkin, assistant mathematics professor, and Zefang Wang, assistant professor of molecular biology, were named 2008 Sloan Research Fellows by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Arinkin has been teaching at Carolina since 2007. Arinkin’s research focuses on the Langlands Program, a mathematical program that has been pivotal to the development of many fields, such as number theory, representation theory and algebraic geometry. Wang came to UNC in 2003 as a postdoctoral fellow. Steve Rogers, assistant professor in biology, and Zefeng Wang, assistant professor in pharmacology, were both winners of the 2008 Beckman Young Investigators Award. The national award, given to 16 recipients by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation of Irvine, Calif., supports the research of promising young faculty members in the early stages of their careers in the chemical and life sciences. Martin Doyle, associate professor in the geography department in the College of Arts and Sciences and the UNC Institute for the Environment, was selected as a 2008 Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow. The fellowship, based at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, is a competitive fellowship for mid-career academic environmental scientists. It recognizes rising stars working on environmental science issues who are taking on leadership positions in their fields and within their universities. Gary Pielak, professor of chemistry, became the University’s first scientist to receive the prestigious Director's Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health. The five-year, $2.5 million grant funds his research on the role of proteins in disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The Pioneer awards support “exceptionally creative scientists who take highly innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical research.”
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. The fund directed $25 million to Carolina in 2007-08 and the total will increase to $50 million per year beginning in 2009. 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. 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 key new interdisciplinary initiatives include:
Data that reflect the current economic impact of technological developments resulting from faculty research include the number of patents, spin-off companies, jobs and licensed technology. In 2006, UNC was awarded 21 patents; started five new companies, bringing the total to 36; licensed 43 inventions; and received about $2.2 million in revenue generated by licensed technology. 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. Carolina fared well in a comprehensive 2006 survey of university biotechnology transfer and commercialization conducted by the Milken Institute, a publicly-supported economic think tank in Santa Monica, Calif. The survey ranked educational institutions worldwide on their biotechnology publications and patents, as well as their technology transfer. Carolina ranked 28th, 41st, and 25th, respectively, and was among the top four institutions in the South in all categories. Additionally, the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area was ranked 20th by the Institute among biotechnology clusters. 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 the Nuestros Niños Early Language and Literacy Project, which develops and tests an intervention designed to improve the quality of teaching practices related to literacy and language learning among Latino children enrolled in North Carolina’s More at Four Pre-Kindergarten program for at-risk children. 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 concerned about – such as education, health care and economic development. The University’s focus on excellence is to help North Carolina be the best that it can be. 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. 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. Carolina has identified three pivotal areas — education, health and economic development — as the focus of the University’s current efforts to enhance the quality and depth of engagement with North Carolina. These are the issues that North Carolinians have told the University matter the most. 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. 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, 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 curriculum and instructional tools aligned with the state's Standard Course of Study and a virtual classroom of online courses for K-12 students and teachers. About 20,000 students and teachers visit the LEARN NC website each day. Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Children with Handicaps (TEACCH), headquartered in the School of Medicine’s department of psychiatry, serves 6,000 individuals with autism and their families through nine regional outpatient clinics across the state. Goals include helping individuals function independently and finding jobs for about 1,000 adults. In 2006, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation selected Carolina to partner in a $27 million program to help more deserving community college students from families with low to moderate income levels earn bachelor’s degrees. Carolina is receiving nearly $900,000, and participation benefits students from Alamance Community College, Durham Technical Community College and Wake Technical Community College. The program includes the Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program, which aims to encourage community college students of great talent and potential. In 2007, the Cooke Foundation selected Carolina as the national headquarters for a new effort to increase college enrollment and graduation among low-income high school and community college students. In partnership with the National College Access Network, Carolina will become the home of the National College Advising Corps Coordinating Office, which will help other universities involved in the initiative. Through a related $1 million grant from the Cooke Foundation, the University has placed college advisers in 18 low-income high schools across North Carolina. Carolina is recruiting and training graduating seniors to work full time as corps advisers for one to two years with 11th- and 12th-graders, as well as younger students. These efforts draw from a successful Virginia model funded by the Cooke Foundation. In all, the foundation awarded $10 million in grants to Carolina and nine other campuses, including Brown, Tufts, UC-Berkeley and Penn State. Carolina partners with Elizabeth City State University to respond to the critical shortage of pharmacists in North Carolina. Students in northeastern North Carolina can earn a bachelor of science in pharmaceutical sciences from Elizabeth City State and a doctor of pharmacy from the UNC School of Pharmacy while remaining in Elizabeth City. Students are co-enrolled in an undergraduate pharmaceutical sciences program at Elizabeth City and the doctor of pharmacy program at UNC. They remain on the Elizabeth City campus for the first three years of instruction through video-teleconferencing, Web-based teaching and classes taught by Elizabeth City faculty. Goals of the partnership include increasing the numbers of pharmacists working in underserved populations, especially in northeastern North Carolina. 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. The BEAUTY (Bringing Education and Understanding to You) Program is a four-year study to assess the effectiveness of using beauty salons in central North Carolina to share information about preventing cancer. The project stresses the importance of physical activity, increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, reducing calories from fat, maintaining or achieving a healthy weight and obtaining recommended cancer screenings. The BEAUTY team has enrolled 62 salons within 75 miles of Chapel Hill in the program. Salon owners are recruiting at least 55 customers to participate in the program, so that nearly 3,000 black women are enrolled in the study. Studies have shown that African-American women are at a higher risk for cancer mortality than other groups. The program relies on cosmetologists to promote a variety of health issues after receiving training and the facts about cancer prevention. 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. 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). The Community and Economic Development Program in the School of Government provides public officials with training, research and assistance that support local efforts to create jobs and wealth, expand the tax base and maintain vibrant communities. It currently has a partnership with the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center to help small rural communities create and execute strategies for community and economic development. Faculty and staff are training civic leaders and conducting applied research using case studies that show how small communities have been successful in development activities. Kenan Institute Charlotte is a joint venture of the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Belk School of Business at UNC-Charlotte. Established in 1997, the institute develops models for creating jobs and alleviating poverty in the inner city, using Charlotte as its laboratory. The institute provides training and technical assistance to minority small business owners and entrepreneurs preparing to launch ventures to help them grow, create jobs and pump more money into the inner city economy. Promising businesses can receive technical assistance and capital from the Urban Venture Fund, which targets businesses that are between three and five years old with at least $1 million in assets. The institute trains non-profit leaders to help them build successful organizations that can sustain themselves financially. Updated May 2008 |
