Weakened by years without raises for instructors, North Carolina’s public universities are losing the war for faculty talent. In the past two years, 3 out of 4 faculty members who received outside offers decided to leave our state’s public universities. In all, 320 of the University system’s best instructors were lured away. And they took… READ MORE
WCU: The Shining Light in the West
The story of Western Carolina University – the story of an affordable, welcoming university in the mountains that prepares its students to succeed and to serve – is one that has been told through the lives of tens of thousands in the university’s 125-year history. Cullowhee Academy, WCU’s precursor, was founded in 1889 to improve… READ MORE
Obama opens the Debate on Access to Higher Ed
Let’s have the debate. President Obama’s proposal to offer free community college to students with at least a 2.5 grade-point average has its skeptics – congressional leaders seem quite cool to the president’s proposal to raise taxes to pay for the $60 billion program over 10 years.[1] It’s also not clear where legislators in North… READ MORE
Campus Brain Drain [INFOGRAPHIC]
Tom Ross a Steady Hand During Era of Tremendous Change
Tom Ross will step down as President of the University of North Carolina system at the end of 2015, but his reserved judicial temperament has been a stabilizing force for the University system at a time of tremendous change. Over the past four years, Ross has managed the University system through significant transitions and very difficult times…. READ MORE
North Carolina Shifts the State’s Burden to Students
North Carolina’s public universities have always struck a careful balance between state support and student tuition, making sure that students and their families can afford a high-quality college education. But since 2007, that balance has slipped. Public universities have been hit with more than $500 million in state reductions. As the state invests less, students… READ MORE
Spring Course Offerings Make a Difference in the Real World
As students across North Carolina return from winter break, those heading back to the state’s public universities have an interesting semester ahead. This spring, classes across the UNC system will challenge students to: Fly to the edge of space An engineering team of UNC Charlotte seniors will literally reach the stratosphere in Earth Science 2030: Near-Space… READ MORE
AT RISK: NC budget shortfall threatens support for students
The economy is steadily improving, but North Carolina’s public universities could still face lean times when the legislature convenes in January. The Office of the State Controller estimates that state revenue for the first five months of the fiscal year is down $410 million from the same period last year — a drop of 5%. Almost half-way… READ MORE
RTP CEO: “It will never be finished.”
In the second installment of our interview with Research Triangle Park President and CEO Bob Geolas, Geolas shares some eye-opening statistics about the park: 7,000 acres, 190 companies, and 60% of employers in the Park have 20 or fewer employees. Geolas also outlines some of the challenges the Park is confronting in its plans for… READ MORE
RTP CEO: “We’ve built a strong value proposition around talent.”
In the 1950s, officials told the mothers of North Carolina that if they didn’t support the nascent Research Triangle Park, their sons would move up north and marry Yankees and they’d never see their grandchildren. “It’s very different today,” Bob Geolas, the president and CEO of the Park, says in the accompanying interview. “Our universities… READ MORE