CHAPEL HILL – Though normally quite reserved, Bill Roper gets personal as he discusses his and the UNC System’s approach to reopening this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 17 institutions are preparing for multiple scenarios they could confront when students return, the system’s Interim President says in the accompanying video from a Zoom interview…. READ MORE
Roper: ‘Preparing for whatever scenario comes’
CHAPEL HILL – It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control as president of your university during a global pandemic. In a series of Zoom interview segments from his home, Interim UNC System President William Roper discusses his optimism about students returning to campus in the fall,… READ MORE
UNC System freezes tuition for 2020-21
CHAPEL HILL (May 20, 2020) – The UNC System’s governing board voted Wednesday to freeze tuition and fees at North Carolina’s 16 public universities for 2020-21. Because state law locks tuition for each class of entering freshmen, the action effectively sets tuition levels for four years for students who will enter in Fall 2020. Twelve… READ MORE
Susan Cates: COVID-19 crisis offers an education opportunity
By Susan Cates When thoughtfully planned, technology-enhanced learning can improve the educational experience for students and faculty and lower total costs across the system. Although this spring’s emergency response left no room for the luxury of thoughtful planning, COVID-19 may provide an opportunity for North Carolina to consider transformation of its higher education system to… READ MORE
No interruption: 700 laptops for FSU freshmen
FAYETTEVILLE – A thoughtful donor made a timely gift last week to Fayetteville State University’s Class of 2024: Laptop computers for all incoming freshmen next fall. It will mark the first time an entire class at the Historically Black University will be equipped with laptops, the university announced. “I am absolutely thrilled about this generous… READ MORE
Colleges to help communities ‘grow their own’ teachers
RALEIGH – It had nothing to do with the coronavirus, but the State Board of Community Colleges took an important step last week to expand North Carolina’s pipeline of future teachers. The board approved two new teacher-preparation transfer degrees – an associate in arts in teacher preparation and associate in science in teacher preparation –… READ MORE
Pandemic Pedagogy!
GREENSBORO – When it became clear in early March that the UNC System and colleges across the country would shift classes online in response to the coronavirus, Roy Schwartzman knew his fellow professors might need help. So Schwartzman – a professor of Communication Studies at UNC Greensboro and veteran online instructor – created a Facebook… READ MORE
Tech firm booms amid pandemic thanks to NC higher ed
RALEIGH – At the very time thousands of businesses have ordered layoffs in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the leaders of Bandwidth Inc. on NC State University’s Centennial Campus did the opposite. Bandwidth, which makes software for voice conferencing by Zoom, Google and other customers, announced last week that it will spend $30 million for… READ MORE
Community colleges live up to their name
Thousands upon thousands of gloves, masks and face shields from nursing, respiratory therapy and even cosmetology programs. Disaster loan applications. WiFi hot spots in parking lots. Tablets and laptops for students who must suddenly take class online. Four ventilators given – not loaned – by rural Stanly Community College. And the Craft Beverage Institute at… READ MORE
WiFi: Part of our name is ‘Community’
SHELBY – The shift to online classes has revealed anew North Carolina’s digital divide.1 So, because North Carolina community colleges also tend to have plenty of parking lots that can accommodate social distancing, several colleges set out to help bridge that divide for their students and their communities. “We know that rural broadband access in… READ MORE