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(04/27/10 3:51am)
Arizona is facing widespread criticism for adopting the harshest immigration law in the country, but it’s not the only state cracking down on undocumented immigrants. The expansion of two immigration enforcement programs that target undocumented criminals in North Carolina also faces contention across the board.The programs — 287(g) and Secure Communities — give local law enforcement officers access to search federal databases to check a criminal’s immigration status. Before these programs, access was limited to the federal government. But the implementation of these programs in many counties in the state has failed to accomplish its goal of targeting the dangerous criminals, according to a study by UNC professor Mai Thi Nguyen and graduate research associate Hannah Gill.Instead it has led to racial profiling, which is a growing problem as the Hispanic population is estimated to have increased significantly in the past few years. Those immigrants are now also losing trust in local law enforcement, causing them to report fewer crimes and possibly leaving criminals on the street. 287(g) faces criticismThe 287(g) program is the more controversial of the two because it allows local law enforcement officers to start the deportation process after an arrested individual is found to be undocumented based on his or her fingerprints. Cost, human rights violations and inefficiency are just a few of the complaints launched against the 287(g) program.The study by Nguyen and Gill found that the program cost $5.5 million the first year it was used in Mecklenburg County and $4.8 million in Alamance County. Nguyen said immigrant communities become distrustful of local law enforcement officials who have the ability to deport them, making them hesitant to contact the police when they are the victims of crimes.“They are not sure that local law enforcement is there to protect everyone,” she said. The report also determined that the program does not chiefly target violent crime as it is intended to. According to the report, 86.7 percent of those booked in studied counties had committed misdemeanors while 13.3 percent had committed felonies. “It is unclear whether this is making the communities safer,” Nguyen said. Katy Parker, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said that instances of racial profiling related to the 287(g) program are becoming prevalent. The ACLU has heard many complaints of officers setting up license checkpoints near places where Hispanic communities congregate, such as churches and construction work sites. Barbara Gonzalez, southern regional communication director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the program is needed to help ICE recognize criminals who may lie or use an alias. Officers have to complete a four- week training program before they can participate in the program and actively detain and deport illegal immigrants, Gonzalez said. “Local police hardly have enough training or expertise to enforce very complex immigration law,” said Dani Martinez-Moore, a coordinator for the N.C. Justice Center.Henderson, Wake, Gaston, Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Guilford and Alamance counties and Durham all have the program. The Orange County Board of Commissioners rejected the 287(g) program following the arrest of Carrboro resident Sima Fallahi. Fallahi was arrested by police after her name showed up during a routine background check. “I don’t think that local government should be charged with enforcing federal policy,” said Barry Jacobs, a member of the board. Henderson County Sheriff Rick Davis said 287(g) is necessary to eliminate criminal elements from society.Davis said that the federal government reimburses his office for illegal immigrants that they detain and provides him with extra officers to help with its implementation.Secure Communities growsSecure Communities, which gives local law enforcement access to federal databases but does not allow local officers to initiate deportation, has been applauded as a step that makes the state safer.But like the 287(g) program it has also been criticized for alienating immigrant communities and leading to racial profiling. Secure Communities was launched by the Department of Homeland Security in 2008. Orange County implemented the program in 2009 after Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass told the County’s Board of Commissioners that all N.C. counties were going to be required to have it by January 2010. But the Department of Homeland Security could not provide the resources to grow the initiative that quickly, said Keenon James, director of special projects for the N.C. Sheriffs Department. Now the department is aiming to have the program in place nationwide by 2013. “We’re approaching it with common sense,” Pendergrass said, adding that Orange County sheriff’s deputies don’t take part in racial profiling.“We go about our daily business — we don’t go out to construction sites to find Hispanics,” Pendergrass said. Right now, Secure Communities is used in 118 jurisdictions in 16 states. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/27/10 3:47am)
Students nationwide are preparing for their summer internships, and so is the U.S. Department of Labor.
A surge in unpaid internships as a result of financially-stretched companies offering more uncompensated positions has prompted the department to clarify requirements.
It wants to make sure unpaid interns are not unfairly overworked.
According to the revised requirements, internships with for-profit companies should resemble educational training and must benefit the student without displacing paid workers or providing immediate advantages to the employer.
Also, both student and employer have to agree that the student won’t be paid and the student won’t be guaranteed a job after the internship.
“It’s the first time that they are using the word ‘intern’,” said Gary Miller, assistant director of business-related internships at University Career Services.
Miller said the revisions only clarify guidelines and will not affect students who have acquired internships through University Career Services because those companies already follow the revised stipulations.
Although there has been an increase in unpaid internships, the N.C. Department of Labor has not received many complaints from students regarding unfair work practices during internships, said Dolores Queensberry, director of communications for the department, in an e-mail.
She also said that she does not expect to receive complaints from companies as a result of the revised guidelines.
But Miller said the guidelines could cause some employers to not offer unpaid internships because they are unsure if their programs meet requirements.
“They may think, ‘I’m unsure of what I’m doing, so I’ll just stop’,” Miller said.
More companies might be looking for unpaid interns, but the continuing recession is causing an increase in demand for paid internships among students.
This could mean that the revised requirements would have little impact on students’ internship choices.
Kelly Kessler, a sophomore political science major, said she might intern without compensation with Project Vote Smart this summer to gain more work experience.
But she said the lack of money is causing her to rethink her options and that the revised stipulations will not sway her decision either way.
“The economy is the reason I’m not sure that I’m going to take it,” Kessler said.
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/21/10 4:23am)
Teach for America’s high success rate in the classroom is prompting UNC-system administrators to take a closer look at how TFA prepares its teachers.According to a study recently released by the UNC system, TFA teachers outperform other inexperienced teachers from all other sources, including UNC-system schools of education.The difference is that TFA teachers come from an elite applicant pool and go through a more intensive training program, UNC-system administrators said.Equally important is the continued guidance that TFA teachers receive from the organization.TFA provides 0.3 percent of the state’s new teachers, while teachers who received their undergraduate degrees from UNC-system schools of education account for 32 percent.Before their two years leading a classroom, TFA teachers start with five weeks of intensive training while teaching summer school.They work closely with the organization for those two years — a TFA staff member meets frequently with teachers to mentor and evaluate them.“They literally hold your hand the entire time,” said Amy Lowman, a UNC graduate and TFA teacher who is in her second year teaching first grade in Atlanta.This ongoing support is a major reason that TFA teachers experience such success in the classroom, said Nick Cabot, a clinical assistant professor in UNC’s School of Education.“I think the traditional model could benefit from the continued monitoring,” Cabot said.UNC offers three routes for teacher training: a bachelor’s degree in education, a master’s degree in teaching, and a lateral entry teaching program that more closely resembles Teach for America.UNC-system lateral entry teachers come from fields other than education and complete a four-week, part-time preparation program and one year of review in the classroom, Cabot said.Kaitlin Gastrock, TFA’s regional communications director, said that the program is more successful than traditional models because it uses a goal-centered teaching approach and chooses people who are likely to be effective teachers.“We look for people with traits that we find to be predictors of success in the classroom,” Gastrock said.But the TFA model is too intense to be sustained long term, Cabot said.“They would burn out if they continued to perform at that level,” he said.The program’s teachers bring energy to the classroom but typically move on to different careers — and replacing a teacher can cost as much as $18,000, he said.But while TFA teachers lack training in specific subject matters, they benefit North Carolina by filling some open teaching spots in the state.“They definitely fill a niche,” Cabot said. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/15/10 3:54am)
Today is tax day — traditionally a stressful time for legislators and citizens.But this year’s state revenue shortfall, predicted to be around $790 million, gives N.C. legislators less to worry about than last year, when the deficit was $4.7 billion, said N.C. Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson. Barry Boardman, chief economist for N.C. Fiscal Research Division, said last year’s forecasted shortfall was $3.2 billion. This means that the actual shortfall could be much higher than the $790 million that is currently being predicted.
(04/09/10 4:13am)
Correction (April 12 12:30 a.m.): Due to a reporting error, this story incorrectly stated that sophomore Dakota Williams was a junior. The story has been changed to reflect the correction. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
(04/05/10 3:21am)
A push-up contest, a “Google moment” and town rallies are just a few of the off-beat projects that N.C. towns have made in an attempt to be chosen for Google’s new high-speed internet — Google Fiber.Google will select several cities to test the new Internet, which downloads 1 gigabit per second, based on applications turned in by local governments and private citizens on behalf of their communities.Asheville ranked seventh and Greensboro ranked ninth among the top 10 communities most interested in the new Internet in a national study completed by Steketee Greiner Co.The organization used Internet activity — such as how often people blogged or tagged about the contest in relation to a city — to gauge contestants’ interest, company founding partner David Greiner said.More than 600 groups applied to try the Internet at a competitive price by the March 26 deadline, including Chapel Hill. Public interest will be a major factor in selecting communities for the trial.Residents in Chapel Hill, Greensboro and Asheville all created Facebook groups to support their towns’ push for the new Internet.In Asheville, town members participated in a “Google moment,” where they simultaneously submitted individual nominations for the new Internet.Asheville also saw several rallies in support of the campaign.“It has made a big stir,” said Esther Manheimer, a member of the Asheville City Council.In Greensboro, City Council member Robbie Perkins completed 50 push-ups to support the new Internet.Perkins said that Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines challenged Greensboro’s Mayor Bill Knight and High Point Mayor Becky Smothers to a push-up contest to show their interest in Google Fiber, and he exercised on the Knight’s behalf.“The Internet could draw businesses to Greensboro,” Perkins said.He also said that Greensboro’s many colleges and universities could help to attract Google’s attention.Manheimer said that she thought that Asheville has a good bid at the service because of its art scene, diversity and many businesses.But Asheville City Council member Cecil Bothwell said he thought Asheville does not stand a great chance at being chosen, despite the findings of the national study.“I think that it would be much too expensive,” Bothwell said, citing the hilly terrain and lack of established infrastructure as preventative to the new system.But Greiner said that no one knows for sure how Google will select the trial communities.“I think that online participation is a very strong indication of how excited a community is,” Greiner said.He said that his company is not affiliated with Google and he is not sure that Google will take his study into account, but he wouldn’t be surprised if they considered Internet activity.“It’s the space that Google plays in,” Greiner said.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/26/10 4:29am)
Outgoing UNC-system President Erskine Bowles manages 16 more schools than UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp — and only makes about $60,000 more a year.But members of one of the committees helping to find Bowles’ replacement said the next system president needs to make substantially more than any of the system chancellors.At a meeting Thursday, the committee discussed factors it will consider when setting the compensation and benefits package for the next system president, — particularly how it compares to the packages for presidents at peer institutions.Before the search for candidates can really begin, the search committees must decide what they plan to pay the UNC system’s future leader. In 2008-09, Bowles made $494,023 and Thorp made $433,882 in total compensation, which includes benefits. Both were also provided with homes.According to data the committee discussed, many public universities and university systems pay their presidents substantially more than the UNC system pays Bowles.Despite the compensation discrepancies with other states, committee members were more focused on how the president’s salary compared to the salaries of system chancellors. “I can’t conceive us considering compensation that would be less than a chancellor makes,” said Board of Governors member Frank Daniels, Jr.Hannah Gage, board chairwoman and a member of the search committee, said university presidents typically make 18 percent to 20 percent more than the chancellors of individual universities.The committee will not set compensation and benefits for the next UNC-system president until after they have selected a search consultant, which they hope to do by late April.Candidate pool is still wide openGage also reminded the search committee that there is not yet a preliminary set of candidates.That won’t happen until the consultant firm is hired.Gage urged search members to keep an open mind about who could be a potential candidate.There is already widespread speculation about who might take Bowles’ place.“There is not a presumed candidate,” Gage said. “We are casting a wide, wide net, and it is my hope that we will have a vibrant pool.”Can costs be kept down?Gage said she hopes to keep the cost of the search at or less than $100,000, much of which will go toward hiring a consulting firm.But the high prices of recent searches at UNC-CH make her think it might be more costly, she said. The search that netted Thorp cost $213,581.If the search costs more, the board will have to find the money because the search is a top priority, she said.Emphasizing transparencyAlthough candidates will be kept secret, keeping the search process within N.C. open meetings laws is a major priority, board members said Thursday.They hope to make the search process as inclusive as possible, said Laura Luger, general counsel for the UNC system.Most meetings will be open to the public. Committees must announce their meetings 48 hours in advance. Still, nearly all substantial discussion will be held behind closed doors.If committee members discuss search matters with a majority of members outside an official meeting, their conversations are still legally public record, she said.“If a majority of the committee is on the 12th hole and talks business … that’s out of order,” Luger said.Members are also not permitted to discuss closed meeting business with anyone outside the session, including members on the other two committees that are involved in the search process.Every member must sign a confidentiality agreement with repercussions for members who disclose confidential information.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/25/10 4:13am)
N.C. State University is giving fraternities and sororities a chance to build and own houses in an on-campus, all-Greek community. Construction is under way for N.C. State’s Greek Village, where fraternity and sorority members can live in houses on lots leased from the university.John Mountz, director of Greek life at N.C. State, said the village will replace outdated housing while allowing groups to own houses on campus.A new community is needed because many Greek organizations now lease on-campus houses that were built in the 1960s, Mountz said.“They weren’t really configured with what our students need today,” he said. “We weren’t going to solve the problems through renovations.” The Village, which will be located between N.C. State’s original campus and its Centennial Campus, includes a Greek community center. It is expected to cost the university about $110 million. The Greek community is expected to contribute up to $80 million, Mountz said.For fraternities and sororities with fewer than 25 members, N.C. State is building townhouses and an apartment complex close to the houses.The Village has been in the works since 2001 and is expected to be completed by 2020. The university has nearly completed lot construction for the first of five phases of building.In the next eight to 10 months, N.C. State’s chapter of Sigma Nu will start building the first house in the Village.Members of Sigma Nu are currently housed in several off-campus houses, but the move will allow members to live in the same building, said Michael Kennedy, Sigma Nu treasurer.“It will definitely make the sense of brotherhood stronger,” he said.He said fraternity alumni are providing a large portion of the funding for their new house.While individual groups are covering their own construction costs, N.C. State is paying for utilities and the community’s infrastructure.Mountz said this investment will benefit the school in the long run by creating new housing and attracting prospective students.Jeff Horan, Sigma Phi Epsilon president, said the new construction should help attract members to the Greek system, which he said has seen more groups but fewer members recently.Winston Crisp, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs at UNC, said a similar plan would be impractical at UNC because the current off-campus Greek housing system works well. There is also a lack of land on campus to build such a community.“I think campuses do things in ways that makes sense for their own situations,” Crisp said.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/25/10 4:12am)
N.C. State University is giving fraternities and sororities a chance to build and own houses in an on-campus, all-Greek community. Construction is under way for N.C. State’s Greek Village, where fraternity and sorority members can live in houses on lots leased from the university.John Mountz, director of Greek life at N.C. State, said the village will replace outdated housing while allowing groups to own houses on campus.A new community is needed because many Greek organizations now lease on-campus houses that were built in the 1960s, Mountz said.“They weren’t really configured with what our students need today,” he said. “We weren’t going to solve the problems through renovations.” The Village, which will be located between N.C. State’s original campus and its Centennial Campus, includes a Greek community center. It is expected to cost the university about $110 million. The Greek community is expected to contribute up to $80 million, Mountz said.For fraternities and sororities with fewer than 25 members, N.C. State is building townhouses and an apartment complex close to the houses.The Village has been in the works since 2001 and is expected to be completed by 2020. The university has nearly completed lot construction for the first of five phases of building.In the next eight to 10 months, N.C. State’s chapter of Sigma Nu will start building the first house in the Village.Members of Sigma Nu are currently housed in several off-campus houses, but the move will allow members to live in the same building, said Michael Kennedy, Sigma Nu treasurer.“It will definitely make the sense of brotherhood stronger,” he said.He said fraternity alumni are providing a large portion of the funding for their new house.While individual groups are covering their own construction costs, N.C. State is paying for utilities and the community’s infrastructure.Mountz said this investment will benefit the school in the long run by creating new housing and attracting prospective students.Jeff Horan, Sigma Phi Epsilon president, said the new construction should help attract members to the Greek system, which he said has seen more groups but fewer members recently.Winston Crisp, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs at UNC, said a similar plan would be impractical at UNC because the current off-campus Greek housing system works well. There is also a lack of land on campus to build such a community.“I think campuses do things in ways that makes sense for their own situations,” Crisp said.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/23/10 2:40am)
The U.S. Senate’s debate of the budget reconciliation package, which includes an overhaul of the student financial aid system, could begin this afternoon.The reconciliation bill is best known for the health insurance overhaul it includes. The student financial aid changes included in the bill are credited with helping the health insurance changes pass, because the financial aid changes had much more congressional support.The legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Sunday night will increase Pell Grants while mandating that federal loans be borrowed directly from the federal government, rather than private companies.
(03/19/10 4:16am)
If Democrats succeed in passing student-aid reform in the next two weeks, UNC students could receive larger Pell Grants to fund their education.The student-aid bill would eliminate private lenders’ role in distributing federally backed student loans. Students with federal loans would borrow directly through the U.S. Department of Education. Private lenders could still offer non-government loans.The legislation is expected to save the government $67 billion in 10 years, said U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., in a conference call earlier this week.This figure is less than the $87 billion originally projected.Democrats are packaging together the health care and federal financial aid system reforms in Congress in order to bolster both bills’ chances of passage through a process called reconciliation.After the reconciliation process, the bills can pass with a simple majority vote in the Senate.The bills packaged together will be revenue-neutral, which means that they would not increase the federal deficit.The remaining money is expected to bolster Pell Grants, which provide need-based aid to low-income students, and other initiatives.The House passed a version of the student loan bill earlier this year, but it will have to consider a new version in light of the new estimates and the reconciliation process.“This measure is about directing precious resources directly to students and families,” said U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Conn., during a conference call.Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of Scholarships and Student Aid at UNC, said 14.5 percent of UNC undergraduates hold Pell Grants and stand to benefit from this change.Student aid groups said they expect that the extent of Pell Grant increases and the expansion of other initiatives will be lower in the revised bill than in the earlier version.Haley Chitty, director of communications for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, said the previous bill would have increased Pell Grant amounts by inflation plus one percent annually.He said he expects that the new bill will increase the grants only by inflation each year.Chitty said that other initiatives in the original bill could be dropped.“Until we actually see the legislation, it is all speculation,” Chitty said. Steve Brooks, executive director of the N.C. State Education Assistance Authority, said the new bill could have negative implications for students.The assistance authority that Brooks directs partners with College Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., which provides UNC students’ loans.Brooks said the bill could lead to unemployment and could force students who already have private loans to use multiple lenders, among other drawbacks.“In the long run, prices will be higher, and services will be lower,” Brooks said. “There won’t be any competition.”But Chitty said he believes the bill will help many students, especially through its increases to Pell Grants.“Given the budget restrictions that Congress is facing, we’re still pleased that they’re giving student aid a top priority,” Chitty said.“The Pell program is hugely underfunded. Unless this bill passes, it seems unlikely that lawmakers will find funds to pay for the shortfall.”Ort said that if the system is changed, it could cause extra work for financial aid administrators at UNC, but the school will work to ensure that it does not negatively impact students.“We will have to prepare for either,” she said. Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/04/10 5:42am)
Student groups nationwide say that they have had to bear the brunt of the increasing costs of public education, even though they didn’t create the recession that caused them.They will demonstrate today to protest increasing education costs and to call for change from state governments and school administrators.Almost 90 campus and community groups across the country plan to gather today for the National Day of Action to Defend Education, which was created in December when two California groups called for a state and national protest against budget cuts that hurt public education systems.Individual organizations on campuses and in communities nationwide — including at UNC — have responded by planning various events for the Day of Action, ranging from student strikes to teach-ins and campus meetings. “We think education is a right that all people should have access to,” said UNC student Ben Carroll, a member of Raleigh FIST, a community group that is supporting various events for the day.Raleigh FIST, which stands for Fight Imperialism – Stand Together, has been involved in planning a march at UNC and a petitioning event at N.C. State University, just a few of the many events that will occur today.“It is going to involve everything from kindergarten to Ph.D.,” said Richard Walker, spokesman for SAVE Berkeley, a faculty organization at Berkeley University.Walker said that Berkeley staff and students will hold a strike today, and he expects as many as one half to two-thirds of classes to be canceled.He also said that 750 students and faculty members will travel to the state capital, Sacramento, to rally for the cause alongside other groups.“Students didn’t create the recession that led to these cuts. They shouldn’t have to pay the price for them,” said Ian Morgan, an organizer with the Student/Worker Coalition at the University of Washington.The coalition will hold a student strike today, which will involve students, community members and workers at the University.Morgan said that the University of Washington undergraduates experienced a 14 percent tuition increase this year. One of the group’s demands is a freeze in tuition hikes.Bob Hayes, an organizer for Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Maryland, said that as many as 250 Maryland students will hold a rally and teach-in to protest decreased funding for public education.“We’re left with fewer opportunities that cost more,” Hayes said. “The value of a degree is decreasing, but the costs are increasing.”George Mason University in Virginia will hold a discussion forum today to organize students for beginning conversations with the University about budget cuts that have led to larger class sizes and fewer teachers.“One of the first things on the chopping block is education,” said Gavin Mueller, an organizer at George Mason.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/04/10 5:10am)
UNC-system President Erskine Bowles has had numerous North Carolinians try to tell him how to do his job since he took office in 2006.
(02/23/10 4:47am)
An important source of student aid money could run out in as little as three years if legislators can’t find a way to halt its rapid depletion.Escheat money, which is handed over to the state government when private property goes unclaimed, has been spent faster than it has been replaced in recent years.In fiscal year 2008-09, $127 million of need-based grants awarded to 55,287 UNC system students were paid for by escheat funds, said Richard Bostic, principal fiscal analyst in the Fiscal Research Division of the N.C. General Assembly.All schools in the UNC system participate in the escheat grant program, and UNC-system students receive grants ranging from $200 to $3,700, he said. An N.C. General Assembly committee on state-funded student financial aid will start discussing how to stop overusing escheat funds in March.It is expected to come up with a recommendation on how to stall spending by the time the legislature convenes in May.N.C. Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake, chairman of the committee, said if the committee fails to come up with a recommendation, students could suffer.“If we are unable to make up the difference, it would theoretically reduce the amount of student aid available,” Stevens said.Shirley Ort, associate provost and director of scholarships and student aid at UNC-Chapel Hill, said that escheat depletion would leave state funded grant programs without enough money.“If they don’t continue or find an alternative source, it would mean less money for students,” Ort said.It’s difficult to tell how much that could impact UNC financial aid because there is no indication yet of what the legislature will do, Ort said.Trouble began in fiscal year 2004 when the state began dipping into the actual escheat fund to supplement general fund dollars toward student aid. Traditionally, only the interest accumulated on escheat funds was used to provide student aid, Stevens said. The fund’s diminishing balance has become a major problem since then.The state treasurer wants to retain at least $200 million of escheat funds to repay individuals who try to claim their money, Bostic said.The funds are projected to fall to $200 million by the end of the 2010 fiscal year. Bostic said that most of escheat money goes to the UNC system, though some other programs also receive money from that source.N.C. Rep. Ray Rapp, D- Madison, who leads the committee with Stevens, said that legislators’ ultimate goal is to streamline the student aid system and find other sources of funding to slow escheat spending without reducing student aid. Rapp said that some scholarships and grants are currently underused, and money could be pulled from those programs and dedicated to those that need it most. It could still be a couple months before concrete recommendations are made, but legislators have indicated that the issue of the dwindling escheat fund is a top priority.“There is an 800 pound gorilla in the room,” Rapp said. “That’s the escheat fund.” Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/18/10 3:53am)
UNC-system administrators are trying to decide whether to keep funding a program that helps students who just missed acceptance standards to earn admission.The program, offered at three schools under the umbrella of the system’s Summer Bridge Program, aims to improve student performance in certain areas so that students qualify for admission by the end of the summer.It is intended for students who applied to participating schools but had SAT scores or a high school GPA that were too low for the student to be accepted.The program started at Fayetteville State University in 2002 and began receiving money from the UNC system two summers ago. It expanded to Elizabeth City State University and N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University last year. Participating students take classes, participate in related activities and live on campus for five or six weeks, all expenses paid. Those who receive a C average or higher in the program’s core math and English courses are eligible for fall admission to that school.Dr. Karrie Dixon, assistant vice president for academic and student affairs at UNC-system General Administration, said the program specifically targets first-generation college students and those who need more academic preparation.“The overall program concept is bridging these students into their freshman year,” Dixon said.She said that while many schools have Summer Bridge programs, including UNC-Chapel Hill, the programs at FSU, ECSU, and N.C. A&T are unique because they prepare students who aren’t accepted to college. Other Summer Bridge programs work with students who have been accepted to the school.The program doesn’t have a set number of students per campus each year; 60 to 100 students at each school are funded by the General Administration, she said.Administrators are now collecting data to evaluate the program’s impact on retention rates and student academic performance. An external team will review the data and draft a report by the end of March, Dixon said.Jon Young, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at FSU, said even though students who participate have lower high school GPAs and SAT scores than their peers, they perform on par after completing the program.“Their hours earned and retention rates are as good as other students, if not better,” Young said.Young said that 205 students participated in the program at Fayetteville State in 2008. In 2009, 157 participated.The UNC system paid for 100 of the participants in 2008 and 135 in 2009, he said. The rest were paid for with grants and other sources.Monette Williams, program coordinator for the MODEL Scholars Summer Bridge program at ECSU said it is unlikely that the program could continue without funding from the UNC system.Young said that while the FSU program would continue without UNC-system funding, it would be scaled back.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/05/10 6:15am)
Paying for college could be easier for low-income students under the presidential budget proposal, but middle-class students might find it harder to take out loans.
(02/04/10 5:43am)
Some state legislators say progress on fixing the state’s probation system has been too slow and that true reforms could be several years off.Flaws in the system came to light after the killing of former UNC Student Body President Eve Carson and Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato in spring 2008.Both suspects charged with killing Carson were on probation. The incidents revealed a system that was overtaxed and lacked adequate supervision for offenders and their case workers.Intense reviews of the system were launched soon after. The state legislature allotted about $1.4 million in the 2009-11 budget to rework its operations.Probation officials say that the system has come a long way, but legislators say they would still like to see more probation officers in the field.N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, co-chairwoman of the committee for appropriations on justice and public safety, said legislators want to consolidate the system and make sure there are enough probation officers to handle the cases.But many positions are still vacant and caseworkers remain overloaded, Kinnaird said.“It is very disappointing to me that they haven’t filled the positions,” Kinnaird said. “But if we have not provided adequate funding, then we as the legislature have failed on our end.”Keith Acree, public affairs director for the N.C. Department of Correction, said the probation system has made a number of improvements in the last year, but that the Department of Corrections did not have sufficient funds to add 117 officers to the field, as the legislature requested.Approximately 2,000 officers handle 120,000 cases in the state, Acree said.“There has not been a lot of additional money. It has been very tight for every state agency this year,” Acree said.The department has made major improvements, especially in technology and communication, despite the lack of money, Acree said.The reforms are targeted at making the system more efficient and reducing the burden on individual probation officers. The upgrades include a new computer “dashboard” technology that allows probation officers to deal with their entire caseload electronically. Officers also receive daily updates from the court system, so they don’t need to do manual record checks on offenders. They can now search offenders’ homes without a warrant.Through another reform, judges reviewing probation cases can have limited access to offender’s juvenile records, Acree said.N.C. Rep. Ron Sutton, D-Robeson, vice chairman of the house subcommittee for appropriations on justice and public safety, said it could take up to 3 years to fully reform the system.If the state could pay probation officers more, turnover would be lower, which could lead to more experienced officers, Sutton said.And had the killings happened outside the Triangle, the problem might not have been addressed as quickly, he said.“It all boils down to money. We didn’t have all of the money we needed to implement all of the good ideas.”Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/03/10 5:39am)
While budget woes have been constant at UNC in the last year, the economic troubles of higher education could have been much worse.The federal stimulus prevented the state legislature from needing to make even more drastic cuts to its appropriations for higher education.The UNC system is receiving $137.8 million from the stimulus money for the 2010 fiscal year, said Rob Nelson, UNC-system vice president for finance.But University officials said that if stimulus funding expires before the economy recovers, UNC-Chapel Hill and the rest of the UNC system could suffer more drastically.Higher education received much more funding in state appropriations with the stimulus money than it would have without it, according to a recent study conducted by the Center for the Study of Education Policy at Illinois State University and State Higher Education Executive Officers.Higher education appropriations across the country declined only 1.1 percent from the 2009 fiscal year to the 2010 fiscal year. Without stimulus funds, the study predicted that number as closer to 3.5 percent.The federal stimulus money allowed the state to make fewer funding cuts, Nelson said.Total state appropriations toward higher education, which include the stimulus funds, decreased from $2.89 billion in 2009 to $2.71 billion for the 2010 fiscal year, he said.The study shows that N.C. high schools, community colleges and public universities received about $3.8 billion from the state for the 2009 fiscal year. It would have received only $3.66 billion otherwise.Almost $4 billion is allotted for the 2010 fiscal year. Although the state would have liked to match that amount even without stimulus funds, it would have struggled to provide more than the $3.85 billion than it ultimately provided.The stimulus funding prevented the state legislature from having to make larger cuts in education and other areas to keep the budget balanced, said N.C. Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, vice chairman of the appropriations on education and higher education committee.Stimulus funds were essential in keeping appropriations relatively stable. According to unofficial economic indicators, the state education system was $5 billion short of its needed funds prior to the stimulus package, Queen said.“We just didn’t have the revenue in North Carolina without substantial federal stimulus,” he said.He said that the state could have had to take measures as drastic as closing institutions, particularly public schools, if legislators could not find another way to balance the budget.On top of the stimulus money coming to the UNC system through the state appropriations, a significant amount came in to fund specific research projects.Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at UNC, said UNC expects to receive about $130 million total in stimulus grants and has received $89.7 million since last year.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/29/10 5:47am)
If one group of North Carolina students has its way, undocumented immigrant status won’t prevent students from continuing their education in the U.S.The N.C. Coalition for College Access will hold its third annual state-wide summit Saturday at Queens University of Charlotte. The organization, started by UNC-Chapel Hill students in 2007, aims to make college legally and financially accessible to undocumented students.
(01/29/10 4:33am)
If one group of North Carolina students has its way, undocumented immigrant status won’t prevent students from continuing their education in the U.S.The N.C. Coalition for College Access will hold its third annual state-wide summit Saturday at Queens University of Charlotte. The organization, started by UNC-Chapel Hill students in 2007, aims to make college legally and financially accessible to undocumented students. It has expanded to 14 public universities and several private colleges across the state.About 60 participants are pre-registered for the summit and another 40 may attend this year — the largest turnout yet. “The overall goal of the summit is to build an even bigger movement of students,” said UNC senior Ron Bilbao, chairman of the state board of the N.C. Coalition for College Access.Bilbao said the summit will focus on training the organization’s members to inform high schools and their undocumented students about their college options.“The focus is basically on reaching out to the undocumented community and making them aware of the opportunities they have for college,” said summit organizer Teresa Gil, a sophomore at Queens University.The summit will also train members to lobby legislators, organize campus grassroots movements and engage the community in aiding undocumented students, Gil said.Currently, undocumented students in North Carolina are allowed to attend public institutes of higher education regardless of their citizenship status, but they are not eligible for in-state tuition, Bilbao said.Not receiving in-state tuition can make higher education too expensive for many people.Bilbao said lobbying is essential to keeping higher education available to undocumented students because it is a constant struggle to keep intact the policy granting them admission.“Every single year there is a bill in the legislature that would close the door,” Bilbao said. Earlier this year, the organization was involved in efforts to remove a ban on the enrollment of undocumented students in the N.C. Community College System. The ban, which went into effect in May 2008, was lifted in September 2009.The organization may travel to Washington, D.C., later this year to lobby in favor of the federal legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would ensure public schools remain open to undocumented immigrant students and that they become eligible for some forms of public tuition assistance.“A main goal of the coalition is to get the DREAM Act passed,” said Wooten Gough, a member of the organization’s UNC-CH chapter.The act would classify undocumented students as temporary U.S. residents. It would not guarantee them in-state tuition, but it would enable them to apply for student aid and federal work study. Several speakers from immigrant advocacy organizations will appear at the summit, including guests from the United We DREAM Coalition, Reform Immigration for America, and The Tomorrow Fund, which is based in the Triangle.Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.