Raleigh, NC — The 2015 Emerging Issues Forum is highlighting ways to build North Carolina’s innovation economy, including a strong focus on the state’s public colleges and universities. On Monday, UNC Wilmington researcher Jennifer McCall took the stage to talk about SeaTox Research Inc, a spinoff company that uses university-sponsored technology to quickly test the… READ MORE
University Spinoffs Turn Research Into Revenue
North Carolina public universities brought in nearly $1.3 billion in outside research funding last year, and state policymakers want to see more of that research turned into job-creating companies.[1] “We’ve got the University network, and we’ve got the talent,” Governor Pat McCory said last month. “We’ve got to convert more of our research dollars into… READ MORE
Fitness program helps people with MS, WSSU students
WINSTON-SALEM – A young man’s vision and collaboration with the Department of Physical Therapy at Winston-Salem State University and the Gateway YWCA have come together to form MSfit, a free fitness and wellness program offered to people with multiple sclerosis. MSfit is the brainchild of WSSU alumnus and former employee Brian Murrill, whose mother Patsy… READ MORE
UNC board on teacher supply: “We have a crisis”
CARY – Leaders of the state’s public universities, community colleges and public schools gathered here Jan. 27 to confront a sharp decline in the supply of teachers in North Carolina. “I’m not going to make this easy. We have a crisis in North Carolina,” declared John Fennebresque, the chairman of the University of North Carolina… READ MORE
Years Without Raises Lead to Campus Brain Drain
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