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UNC-system happenings for Sept. 24, 2015

ECSU gets Aerospace Academy

An aerospace academy is on its way to Elizabeth City State University under NASA’s Minority Research and Education Project.

According to a press release, ECSU is one of nine universities selected and will receive a nearly $350,000 grant over three years.

“ECSU’s MUREP Aerospace Academy project will promote STEM literacy, prepare and encourage students, especially underserved and underrepresented populations from northeastern North Carolina, to pursue college degrees,” said ECSU Chancellor Stacey Franklin Jones.

The program will include NASA Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Aerospace Academy curriculum as well as 3-D printing technology.

ECSU will work with Warren County High School, which operates its own SEMAA site, to reach between 625 and 1,000 students per year.

“This community focused project provides an additional avenue and further strengthens our commitment to serve the region,” said Franklin Jones.


Ross honored for compassion

UNC-system President Tom Ross was honored last week with the Echo Foundation’s Award Against Indifference.

The Charlotte-based Echo Foundation recognized Ross’s commitment to justice, equality and open-access to education with the award, according to a press release from the UNC system.

John Fennebresque, chairman of the UNC-system Board of Governors, announced Ross’s award at the Board meeting Sept. 18, which was followed by a standing ovation.

“I’m proud to report that our President Ross is the 2015 recipient of (the Echo Fondation’s) award and was honored at a dinner in Charlotte last night,” Fennebresque said. “So I’m going to stand up and clap.”

The Board forced Ross to resign from his position as UNC-system president in January.

He will remain in office until at least Jan. 3, 2016, or until a new president is named. Some expect his successor to be named at the October board meeting.


UNC-W helps military students

UNC-Wilmington opened a campus Military Resource Lounge in August as a designated space for military-affiliated students.

The lounge, which was originally a faculty lounge, includes study space, cable TV and a gender-neutral handicap accessible restroom. A Veterans Affairs’ work-study student is also at hand to help with VA education benefits.

The UNC-system’s five year plan for 2013-18 includes a special committee on Military Affairs, which aims to increase military-affiliated student enrollment by at least 1,065 by 2018.

The committee is encouraging all UNC-system schools to have military support centers like UNC-W’s.

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Pat Leonard, UNC-W’s vice chancellor for student affairs, presented to the Military Affairs committee during their Sept. 18 meeting about the lounge’s opening and its progress.

UNC-Greensboro and N.C. A&T University established similar veterans centers in 2014.


Wagons come to WCU Hospital

A Western Carolina University assistant professor in the School of Nursing brought wagons with IV poles to transport children around the hospital.

Susan Hester oversees the WHEE wagon program at WCU — which she brought from a pediatric hospital in Atlanta — to allow the children an opportunity for fun and distraction from any pain.

“We know through studies that nonpharmacological distraction is one of the most effective techniques for pain control in alleviating anxiety in children,” Hester said in a WCU press release. “We also know from studies that it is vastly underutilized. This is a program to basically facilitate that in the pediatric community.”

Mission Children’s Hospital in Asheville donated the first wagon at the end of the spring semester. Hester and her students are now fundraising to give more away. The wagons cost between $200 to $250.

All of the wagons are distributed free of charge, and Hester aims to give four to six out yearly.