100 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(09/25/06 4:00am)
Three student fee increases received the OK Friday from the student fee advisory subcommittee.
The recommended increases - which amount to $8 - bring this year's total potential increases to about $50, with a few dollars more or less depending on graduation.
All of Friday's recommendations apply only to graduate students.
The committee also opposed a fourth increase and tabled a fifth.
The fifth increase, the Carolina Union fee, met lengthy deliberation at the student fee audit committee meeting Thursday night and was opposed by a vote of three to one.
The fee increase request, which would cover the cost associated with a settlement over renovations to the Student Union, will be heard by the committee this Friday.
Roger Patterson, associate vice chancellor for finance and co-chairman of the committee, said he wants to discuss the issue further before it goes to the full committee.
At the meeting, a $1 increase to the Language Proficiency Exam fee was withdrawn after discussion.
Stephanie Schmitt, assistant dean for academic initiatives in the Graduate School, made the proposal mostly to cover inflation costs.
Schmitt said the money goes mostly to fund teaching assistants who administer the exam. "This is not a revenue-generating fee," she said. "In fact, it's in the hole."
The increase - scheduled for the 2008-09 year - would cover extra costs, but the committee noted that the program is already on track to come out of debt soon.
"According to the numbers before us, this debt is scheduled to be paid off this year," said Student Body President James Allred, co-chairman of the committee.
The student fee audit committee also rejected the proposal, and the subcommittee decided to hear the request next year.
The committee did recommend $3 increases in application fees for the School of Medicine and the Graduate School and a $2 increase for the School of Dentistry's application fee.
The increases - which will cover personnel and inflation costs - were approved with little deliberation.
At the next meeting, the committee will hear proposals regarding the Kenan-Flagler Business School, child care, the tabled Carolina Union fee and a report about the athletic fee.
Members also might discuss combining the Campus Recreation fee with the Rams Head Recreation Center fee, which Student Body Treasurer Anisa Mohanty said she hopes will not confuse students.
"So long as it doesn't become fuzzy - that's our only concern."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/18/06 4:00am)
Students are coming closer to seeing almost $50 worth of student fee increases in next year's bill.
The student fee advisory subcommittee, headed by Student Body President James Allred and Roger Patterson, associate vice chancellor for finance, recommended five increases Friday.
The recommended fee increases amount to $22 for current students and $25 for incoming first-year students. Earlier this month the committee recommended $21.50 for two fees.
The committee's most recent approval, which saw little dispute, was the second step in the fee increase process. Groups first plead their cases in front of the student fee audit committee, headed by Student Body Treasurer Anisa Mohanty.
The next step for requests is the tuition and fee advisory task force.
Many of Friday's requests are a result of the required increase in minimum wage.
The largest request came from Mary Covington, assistant vice chancellor for Campus Health Services, who asked for $17 more in the Campus Health fee.
"We're asking for a very modest increase this year," she said.
She said Campus Health Services has seen increased expenses in the pharmacy and with personnel.
Lauren Mangili, associate director of campus recreation, made a similar - but less expensive - pitch.
She requested a $1 increase for the Student Recreation Center fee to cover the cost of increasing student salaries and facility maintenance.
Students account for about 60 percent of employees, and the SRC replaces about 10 percent of its cardiovascular equipment every year, Mangili said.
Other recreation services also requested increases.
Marty Pomerantz, director of UNC campus recreation, asked the committee to approve a $2 increase in the Campus Recreation fee and a $2 increase in the Rams Head Recreation Center fee.
He said the fee will increase salaries for minimum wage student employees and pay facility bills so that the funds budget can be saved for expansion plans.
"Thirty-five to 40 percent (of the fee) goes right back into students' pockets," Pomerantz said.
Melissa Exum, dean of students, presented the final request. She asked for a $3 increase in the orientation fee to fund Week of Welcome events.
Only first-year students pay the Orientation fee, and Exum said she has not requested an increase in three years.
Next on the agenda for the student fee audit committee is the child care services fee, scheduled for Sept. 28.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/15/06 4:00am)
The Faculty Council will meet today for the first time under new leadership.
Joe Templeton, newly minted chairman of the faculty, said faculty introductions will be the most important part of the meeting.
"I view it as a welcome meeting," he said.
The council - an elected group of more than 70 faculty members who meet monthly - discusses faculty, student and curriculum issues.
Members will meet at 3 p.m. in the Sonja Haynes Stone Center multipurpose room. They will discuss enrollment growth and student retention rates and also to be introduced to each other.
Templeton, who took over the position July 1 after law professor Judith Wegner stepped down, said he will use the time to listen to faculty concerns and proposals.
"What I would like to be able to do is understand what's important to faculty," he said. "And then I would like to be able to work with faculty to bring their ideas to fruition."
The council works to determine faculty hires, evaluate curriculum and analyze student admissions, said Anne Whisnant, director of research, communications and programs for the Office of Faculty Governance.
"The University has a very long and robust tradition . of having these kinds of decisions made by the faculty," she said. "That has carried over to the present."
Templeton said his experience as chairman of the chemistry department in the 1990s has helped him in his new role.
He said he looked to the energy and commitment of the faculty to help him reach the department's goals then and will do the same as the chairman of the faculty.
"The same thing has to be true for the larger University," he said.
Council members said they are looking forward to sharing their ideas with Templeton because he will take them into consideration when he sets his agenda.
"That's how he's going about developing his own vision and the priorities that he'll want to pursue," Whisnant said.
Although Templeton said he wants to continue many of the efforts that Wegner began during her time as chairwoman of the faculty - such as promoting faculty retention and graduate student visibility - he will have his own style.
"She's a fantastic role model," he said, noting Wegner's academic qualifications. "I don't have a J.D. . but I have been a faculty."
Wegner, who now serves on the faculty assembly delegation committee, said Templeton has what it takes to lead the council.
"I think you have to do your best to have an affirmative agenda on behalf of the faculty and not just wait for somebody else to tell you what's important," she said.
In addition to speaking with the faculty, Templeton invited Student Body President James Allred and Graduate and Professional Student Federation President Lauren Anderson to the meeting.
A schedule conflict might hinder Allred's attendance, but he said he looks forward to being a presence with the faculty.
"We intersect on so many issues, and we work together on so many issues."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/14/06 4:00am)
Getting sick at UNC-Chapel Hill next year might be less of a headache for students.
Student leaders are compiling data to identify a simpler system for the University to accept outside health insurance policies from students. They hope a new system will require less paperwork.
The research project, put together by members of student government, will include a list of the most popular outside student insurance policies.
Depending on the number of students covered by those policies, student leaders will recommend that UNC accept those top policies with less red tape.
The current system requires students with outside policies to obtain receipts and file claims themselves.
Student Body Treasurer Anisa Mohanty said this process requires too much paperwork, and Campus Health Services officials should consider widening their policies.
"It would probably be worth the cost to student health to do that," she said, noting that student feedback is crucial.
"Right now it's just figuring out what students . need."
Once they have more information Mohanty and senior Danny Willner, a member of student government, will present their findings to campus health.
She said she will begin the conversation today at a reception with Kathy Hotelling, director of Counseling and Wellness Services, and Mary Covington, assistant vice chancellor for Campus Health Services.
Changes aren't planned for this academic year but might come in time for next year, Mohanty said.
And before entering a serious discussion with health officials, student leaders will research other university services, though that initiative hasn't been taken yet.
"We haven't quite gotten to that step," Mohanty said.
UNC, Duke University and N.C. State University all work with the same agency - Hill, Chesson & Woody - to administer BlueCross BlueShield health care as their primary policies. While N.C. State's policy is similar to UNC's, Duke has a different system.
"Here students can have any insurance they want," said Jean Hanson, administrative director for Duke's Student Health Center, noting that certain visas disqualify some international students.
Hanson said Duke students have an easier time filing claims.
"We don't do any of it, and neither do they," she said.
Instead, insurance information is entered into a computer system, which displays the needed co-pay, and the claim automatically goes through the system.
Mohanty said she hopes to build an argument for a policy change with her research of student needs, student policies and other university practices.
"We want a solid proposal," she said. "We want to make it easier for students to deal with."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(09/11/06 4:00am)
Results from the first trial run of the online ticket system are in after Saturday's football game against Virginia Tech. There were a few kinks, but the overall process went smoothly.
Clint Gwaltney, the associate athletic director for ticket and Smith Center operations, said about 85 percent of the e-mailed tickets were used as of halftime.
About 4,750 confirmation e-mails were sent last week. And because about 1,200 were not confirmed, other students picked up the extra tickets Wednesday.
Students who were able to print their tickets from the e-mail confirmations they received had an easy time - they presented their tickets and One Cards and were granted entry.
Some students who received and confirmed their tickets met technical difficulties - they never were e-mailed an attachment with printable tickets. Others were sent a dead link and were unable to confirm their tickets.
While waiting in line to gain entry into the game Saturday, junior Michele Clark said she experienced the latter problem.
When she realized the link didn't work, she e-mailed the ticket office and received a new ticket.
Senior Tara Stifler said she tried to print a friend's tickets, but then realized the tickets were confirmed but never e-mailed.
Carolina Athletic Association President Rachel High said she anticipated a less-than-perfect debut, and she is encouraged that potential problems have been identified.
High said the technical issues were not common. "That wasn't as frequent as the people who didn't claim them," she said.
Gwaltney said while 1 or 2 percent of students who were e-mailed tickets experienced problems printing them, he didn't know of any who were turned away from the game.
Gwaltney said some changes should be made to the process, including sending e-mails to those who do not win tickets in the lottery so they know they won't get tickets.
Students also must remember that they have to confirm their tickets or will not receive them, he said.
High said many tickets went unclaimed because students didn't know they had to confirm them.
"They just didn't read the e-mail," she said. "They just waited for their tickets to come into their inbox."
High said the problems can be fixed in time for basketball distribution. The next test will come during the Nov. 18 football game against N.C. State.
High said she expects that game to run smoothly because Saturday's trial run uncovered many glitches.
"I think it gave us a pretty good idea of what we'll be dealing with and how things will run."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/25/06 4:00am)
The first report of Student Body President James Allred's administration is fresh from the printers.
On Thursday, student government's executive branch released its summer report, which cites the major platform planks that leaders accomplished during the three-month period.
The 26 pages were broken up by cabinet position - and some platform planks were addressed in more than one section because leaders collaborated.
"Everyone had a slightly different niche," Allred said.
Although most of his planks are not complete, Allred said many of them are ongoing projects.
Points noted in the summer report are:
n?The addition of five full-time academic advisers that student government lobbied for. Allred is continuing to work on a plan to increase funding.
n?The implementation of a swipe-to-print system in campus computer labs. Printers now require a One Card to be swiped before a document can be printed. To assess the University's printing habits, a tracking system will collect data on which departments print the most.
Brian Phelps, the student body vice president, said the information will be taken to the necessary academic departments to lobby for a decrease in assignments that require students to print documents.
n?A continued effort to work with local officials to ensure student safety.
Allred and Phelps met this summer with the Chapel Hill Police Department to discuss adding more emergency lights and call boxes off campus.
Phelps said the idea of a student-run safety patrol came from this plank. The project would call for students with police radios to monitor the streets during busy nights.
"This is in the very infant stages," Phelps said. "We have no idea how large this would be or if we'll even do it."
n?A redesign of the University's registration system. The report states that any changes will be announced in early September.
"Registration will be a major project," Allred said.
n?The evaluation of the Student Code to determine what changes should be made.
Allred, Phelps and Anisa Mohanty, the student body treasurer, reviewed the code individually, then discussed their revisions.
They will submit for Student Congress approval about six changes per meeting.
n?The implementation of an electronic treasurer's test for student groups.
"It's a little bit frustrating when you don't know if you've passed or not," Mohanty said of the old system.
Now results are displayed immediately upon completion.
n?Locating and securing field space in nearby off-campus areas was added to the student wish list. The list is of the top 10 ideas for spending funds.
The fall semester lineup includes continuing many of the summer projects, Allred said.
Cabinet members will have a retreat Sunday to discuss their plans for their individual projects.
Allred said he expects his cabinet to be successful in accomplishing the rest of his platform.
"I have great confidence in our cabinet," he said. "They're even ahead of where they need to be."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/24/06 4:00am)
Students printing their syllabi at campus computer labs ran into few problems Wednesday - the first day a new tracking system began.
The only technological hitch involved some printer jams.
Charlie Green, assistant vice chancellor for teaching and learning, said some of the 24 new printers jammed.
He also said the problem is not related to the new system - which tracks the number of pages each individual student prints from the Information Technology Services labs.
"It has to do with the manufacturing problems," he said, noting that ITS officials worked Wednesday to correct the problem.
A new One Card account that students must use when printing also has caused confusion.
"Do you have to pay everywhere on campus now?" asked senior Allare Gaskin, who used the Student Union printing lab Wednesday.
The Laser Printing Plan account holds $25 - money that is part of the Education and Technology fee that students already pay.
The fund covers the cost of printing 500 pages per semester. Students can check their balance at the UNC One Card Web site, but the money cannot be used for anything else.
After students print 500 pages they will be charged an additional 5 cents per page.
The changes were sparked by a study showing that 35 million pages were printed during the last academic year. Student fees only paid for 30 million pages.
New steps to the printing system are unfamiliar to all students.
After users select an item or document to be printed from their computer stations and enter a name for the job, they must swipe their One Cards at the printing station. and confirm that their documents should be send to the printer.
Senior Ruchi Jain, who printed from the Student Union ITS lab Wednesday, said she was impressed with the system. "I think it'll really help with the waste that was there last year."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
If you've ever shown up late to a class because you were wandering around campus searching for the right building, you'll appreciate the University's next campus addition.
Officials have been working on way-finding maps and building identification signs to be installed by University Day on Oct. 12, said Nancy Davis, associate vice chancellor for University relations.
The signs will be black with white lettering and will feature the University's graphic logo - the Bell Tower.
"We don't have any maps on this campus other than those construction signs," Chancellor James Moeser said in an interview last week. He was the mastermind behind increasing maps on campus.
Moeser also said the project will benefit anyone unfamiliar with UNC grounds.
"I said, 'Let's put some attractive maps at key entry points on the campus so that visitors and newcomers will be better oriented,'" Moeser said.
The way-finding maps will be about 4 feet by 4 feet and will show the entire campus with an index of all of the buildings and facilities. They also will have a locator dot.
Jill Coleman, landscape architect, said the Facilities Services Sign Shop is designing two prototypes that will be tested before the others are made.
She said that although the testing sites have not been decided, some of the possibilities are near the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center and the Pit.
The signs came out of a task force plan that began in 2002.
In addition to the way-finding signs, University officials will be placing residence hall signs and academic building signs in a similar fashion.
Some buildings - such as Campus Health Services - already have signs in place, and many other buildings will follow suit, said Christopher Payne, associate vice chancellor for student affairs.
The signs are funded by their respective departments, and Payne said the cost will be two-fold.
"There's cost associated not only with making the sign but also how it'll be installed," he said.
Coleman said the residence hall signs will have the name of the residence community and also list the names of all its halls.
The idea behind those signs is to show that the buildings are a community.
"It's so that people . will understand that that's a community," Coleman said. "It's not only trying to just give clear, better signage . but it's also trying to establish an identity for those areas."
Although the maps mainly are intended for visitors to find their way around campus, they also will make finding classes easier for first-year students.
Katie Hosking, a junior transfer-student who was searching for her classes Sunday, said she would have preferred stationary maps to the portable one she carried.
"A lot of times you don't want to walk around with a giant map," she said.
Students also said they thought the maps would help them to navigate around construction projects when pathways are closed unexpectedly.
Dani Volker, a senior and a tour guide for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, said the new signs would help students considering applying to UNC when they visit the campus.
"It would be very helpful because we're such a huge campus," she said. "People are always asking me, 'Where are we now?'"
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
Campus roadways were jammed all weekend, cars crowded lawns and elevators were packed - all telltale signs of move-in weekend.
And now that parents have departed, students have time to look around their concrete walls and down their fluorescent-lit halls to assess their new homes.
Of the 3,239 freshmen living on campus, about 60 percent are housed in South Campus residence halls - the same percentage as last year.
Freshmen said they thought living on South Campus helps create camaraderie among the new students.
Alina Keegan, a freshman from New York, said she selected Hinton James Residence Hall because she heard from other UNC students that it provided the best freshman experience.
"I kind of wanted that sense of community," she said.
Other first-year students said they don't even mind the long walk to the heart of campus.
"I like South Campus because I'm by Rams Head (Center), and I like to walk," said Jared Polivka, a freshman also living in Hinton James.
Last semester many students raised their voices to oppose a proposed change to the recontracting process. The change would have allowed underclassmen to make on-campus housing selections first.
Although the proposal was not adopted, housing officials did commit to increasing the number of freshmen on North Campus by 5 percent.
The goal came in response to a study that found the hall-style residence halls more conducive to making social contacts.
Sophomore Eman Baraso, who is living in Hinton James for the second year, said the suite-style setup in South Campus halls enabled her to make close bonds.
"A suite is like a family," she said of the eight- or four-person suites. "You can't really leave your door open when you live on a hall."
Rick Bradley, assistant director for the Department of Housing and Residential Education, said the number of freshmen living on North Campus rose by 54 students from 1,235 to 1,289 - an increase of just more than 4 percent.
The addition of Ram Village apartments, which are geared to attract upperclassmen, increased the number of available beds by nearly 920.
Though the total number of students living on campus rose by more than 500, Bradley said the housing department expects a few hundred vacancies. Before students began moving in, there were 33 definite vacancies.
"More of the vacancies are on South Campus," he said. "The buildings are larger there."
As in years past, many sophomores remained on South Campus for their second year.
The older residence halls on South Campus - Hinton James, Ehringhaus Residence Hall and Craig Residence Hall - have more rooms without air-conditioning than with.
Though the prices vary depending on whether or not the rooms have air-conditioning, Baraso said she wanted the extra amenity.
"There's a lot of people paying a lot of money to live here," she said.Some sophomores said they are unhappy with their South Campus dorms because the area is more ideal for a first-year experience.
"It's a freshman community," said sophomore Amy Ballard, who is living in Hinton James again this year.
"We feel out of place here."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
Greek rush season soon will kick into high gear, but some fraternities will be without a roof over their heads.
Two of the Interfraternity Council's 22 member organizations will attempt to attract new members this fall without what some fraternity members said is the most essential recruitment tool - a house.
"A lot of people look for a house when they look for a fraternity," said Jonathan Mills, president of Sigma Nu.
Why a house?
A house provides a meeting place for all members, a home for some and a landmark for everyone.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
A campus religious group will welcome a new leader this fall.
Josh Blumenthal is the new executive director of N.C. Hillel - a student organization for members of the Jewish faith on campus and across North Carolina.
"He was recommended to us by one of the Hillel directors in Arizona," said Sue Klapper, chairwoman of Hillel's executive committee. "It just seemed like a good fit."
Blumenthal was the associate director for campus advancement at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman International Center in New York. He will take over Sept. 5.
Senior Alyssa Kaye, president of Hillel, said Blumenthal's experience with the international organization will be beneficial to his work at UNC.
"He understands the field," she said. "He has a lot of connections."
Blumenthal said he is excited to immerse himself in UNC's culture.
"Carolina is a community of leaders so religious services, for example, are led by students - and that's a great thing," he said.
Kaye, who sat in on the candidate interviews, said the selection committee reviewed candidates from all backgrounds - from those who are Hillel directors elsewhere to those who are just interested in the college community.
The executive director is responsible for an array of tasks - including administrative endeavors such as hiring new staff, fundraising and promoting a student connection to the faith.
"I want to create an environment where anybody can explore anything having to do with Jews and Judaism and their own personal identity," he said.
The position opened when Or Mars and Rabbi Sharon Mars - the executive director and campus rabbi, respectively - both left to take jobs in Ohio earlier this month.
Though Hillel has a permanent executive director now, Klapper said the Board of Directors will take its time to fill the campus rabbi position.
"We're not going to rush into it," she said. "Josh has enough Jewish training and education that we feel comfortable not hiring a rabbi right away."
Klapper said Hillel students and the board will form a committee to evaluate what criteria the new rabbi should have before they decide how to move forward.
Blumenthal said he wants to maintain Hillel's welcoming environment.
"That's definitely something that I can carry on," he said.
Staff writer Amanda Younger contributed to this article.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/23/06 4:00am)
With many of UNC's top seats just filled, officials might be ready to put their feet up after all the searching - but four high-level administrative positions still remain vacant.
The positions - dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, vice chancellor for finance and administration, vice provost for enrollment policy and management, and an assistant dean of student affairs, who oversees Greek life - opened as leaders left this summer for different roles at UNC or other institutions.
While the posts are in limbo, interim leaders and search committee chairmen are loading their plates with more responsibilities to keep operations running efficiently.
The spot in the College of Arts and Sciences opened when Bernadette Gray-Little gave up the position to become the provost July 1.
Madeline Levine, a professor in the department of Slavic languages and literatures, is serving as interim dean. She will not teach this year so she can focus on leading the college during the yearlong transition.
"I don't intend to make any radical changes," said Levine, who is not seeking the permanent post. "But I also have no intention of just letting things go."
Linda Dykstra, dean of the Graduate School and chairwoman of the search committee, said the committee will look through applications this fall and invite three to six candidates for on-campus interviews by January.
While students in the college won't have a permanent leader, neither will the fraternities or sororities.
A search committee to find a assistant dean of students to oversee Greek affairs is still in the works. Jay Anhorn left the position this summer to take a job at Elon University.
"We're still sort of putting together the advertisement and deciding what from the old (job description) needs to be changed," said Winston Crisp, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, who will make the hire.
The committee will look nationally for a replacement to take the post by early- or mid-spring semester.
Crisp said he will be the interim, and Jenny Levering, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life, will handle the daily responsibilities.
They also are hiring two assistants to keep affairs running smoothly.
South Building also will see another new face. The position of vice chancellor for finance and administration, which manages the University budget, has been vacant since Nancy Suttenfield left Aug. 1 to take the same position at Wake Forest University.
Chancellor James Moeser assembled a search committee to find Suttenfield's replacement three months before she left.
"The chancellor has made clear his desire to do this expeditiously," said Bill Roper, dean of the School of Medicine and chairman of the search committee. "It's an important position for the University."
Roper said the committee has not invited anyone to visit the campus and has not yet set a deadline for finding the replacement.
David Perry, executive associate dean for administration for the School of Medicine, is the interim leader.
Although Jerry Lucido vacated the vice provost for enrollment policy and management position around the time Suttenfield left hers, University officials have not appointed an interim or started a search.
Lucido handled the enrollment project, a plan for the University's future growth.
Gray-Little said University officials are determining whether they will change the job description.
"We're looking at aspects of that position to decide if the combination of those duties is correct."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/22/06 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Printing a single page from any of the computer labs on campus will require a One Card and, in some cases, a nickel beginning the first day of classes.
During the fall semester on-campus printing labs will be part of a continued study to evaluate the University's printing habits.
The system will track individual students and faculty by requiring users to swipe their One Cards at all Information Technology Services printing labs.
After students reach 500 pages printed during the semester, they will be charged 5 cents per additional page.
The new system has raised concerns among some students, while others are praising the changes for their environmental impact.
Junior Tim Lendino said he thinks the semester limit is too low.
"Five hundred pages - that is not enough," he said. "I see potential problems."
He said he is concerned that the One Card swiping system will create more chaos at the printers. Problems also could arise because many professors require documents printed from the Internet for class, he said.
Other students said printing out online documents given by professors isn't essential.
"There's not necessarily a need to have those in class in hard copy," said Alison Kitto, a senior and co-chairwoman of Carolina Environmental Student Alliance.
This summer members of student government, ITS and the UNC One Card Office finalized the tracking system, which will determine which academic departments require the most printing and will evaluate professors' practices.
Student Body President James Allred said he does not want the study to justify different page limits for different departments because that would put the cost per student out of balance.
"If everyone's paying the same student fees, then everyone should have equal access," he said.
The printing labs are funded by the Education and Technology student fee, which pays for about 30 million pages to be printed per year.
Last year ITS printers shelled out five million pages more than the budgeted amount. As a result, money that could have been spent on new equipment covered the cost of additional paper.
"The student fees will allow a certain level of printing," said Charlie Green, assistant vice chancellor for teaching and learning. "After that it's got to be paid for from somewhere. The question is: Where does it come from?"
Faculty members will be charged 5 cents for each page they print.
Another change set for the semester is printing from a laptop to any ITS printing lab on campus. That additional update is scheduled to be in place by Sept. 18.
Allred said the date is set weeks after the One Card tracking system is implemented to ensure that glitches are addressed first.
Though the tracking system is not permanent yet, the One Card swiping system will remain after the semester ends.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
Printing changes
(08/22/06 4:00am)
Sitting in a circle Monday afternoon about 20 first-year students were given their first introduction to University academics.
The students met Chancellor James Moeser and Student Body President James Allred in Saunders Hall to discuss this year's summer reading selection.
Moeser began the afternoon's session by calling roll and then asked students to share their personal connections to the novel, "The Namesake," by Jhumpa Lahiri.
The book, which delves into issues of immigration, identity and culture, is a story about an Indian family adapting to life in America.
Students in Moeser's discussion group said they felt connections to the book on many levels. Some said they related to Gogol Ganguli, the main character, when he advanced from high school to college.
"A lot of college is finding out who we are," said freshman Abby Farson, from Davidson.
"The discussion went really well, and the book touched me very deeply," said freshman Akshay Ahuja, who is from India. "It was really the best choice for me."
The novel sparked debate about cultural awareness in the country. "Tolerance isn't what we need - what we need is acceptance," said Durham freshman Madeline Struttmann.
Jocelyn Glazier, a professor at the UNC School of Education, said she read the book before she decided to lead a discussion.
She said the summer reading program gave new students an opportunity to meet each other on a more intimate level. Other Week of Welcome events geared toward freshmen were less personal.
"I think it's a really good way to introduce students to Carolina," she said.
"The Namesake" will be adapted into a movie, directed by Mira Nair and starring Kal Penn as Gogol. The movie is scheduled to be released March 9.
This is the program's eighth year and is the first time a work of fiction has been chosen. Selections in the past have been controversial.
In 2002, five people, including three UNC students, filed a lawsuit in response to the selection of "Approaching the Qur'
(08/22/06 4:00am)
EFLAND - Both Freshman Camp and Pre-Orientation introduce students to UNC, and both provide a place for freshmen to make friends.
Junior Matt Hendren wanted to know why white students attend one and black students the other.
To examine this question, he created a retreat program to teach UNC students active in the campus community about diversity issues.
Hendren and Stephen Lassiter, former Campus Y co-president, met with administrators and faculty to organize a five-day camp called Carolina United.
The camp ran from Aug. 13 to Aug. 17 at the Chestnut Ridge Camp and Retreat Center in Efland.
Sara Aghajanian, a junior and one of about 50 student attendees selected from 120 applicants, said she is concerned about the world's and the University's tolerance of other cultures.
"You can't live together and work together without understanding each other," said Aghajanian, whose family is from Iran.
Because almost all of the students who attended the camp have organized events, they participated in a leadership-building workshop to plan a mock end-of-year celebration.
Mayme Webb-Bledsoe, community coordinator at Duke University, led the session and described a program she called action-planning, which focuses on defining a mission and forming an outline to accomplish it.
Anthony Miller, a junior who attended an ethnically diverse high school, said he already knew a lot about diversity but appreciated the discussions with students from different backgrounds.
"It's probably really, really good for so many other people," he said. "This is my passion: diversity issues."
Other participants included leaders of various student groups such as the Greek community, student government and multicultural groups.
Duke University and N.C. Central University sent speakers to the camp, and students discussed the racial and class-related issues behind the highly publicized rape case involving Duke lacrosse players and an exotic dancer from NCCU.
Counselor Jeff Nguyen, who facilitated the small-group discussions, said talking about the possibility that similar events could occur on UNC's campus develops a more intuitive student body.
"A lot of students aren't exposed to those discussions," he said.
NCCU Chancellor James Ammons spoke about the importance of diversity tolerance in an educational environment, and many students asked how they could initiate change.
Ammons advised them that listening and talking to peers with different backgrounds is the first step.
"The reality of the situation is that we must all . create an environment to change the system," he said.
Lassiter modeled the program after Anytown, U.S.A., a national camp that also focuses on multicultural diversity and leadership.
Carolina United, which cost about $15,000, was funded by the Carolina Parents Council, Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Division of Student Affairs.
Hendren said the diversity in the attendees created an ideal environment for open communication.
"We're not trying to get you to give up your beliefs," he said. "We just want you to understand others as well."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 22 - Peter Wallsten just wanted to ask a question.
Instead, the media have been questioning the Chapel Hill native and Los Angeles Times reporter for days.
During a June 14 news conference in the Rose Garden, President Bush teased Wallsten, a UNC alumnus and former Daily Tar Heel editor, for wearing sunglasses while asking a question.
What Bush didn't know is that Wallsten has Stargardt's disease, a disorder that makes even relatively small levels of sunlight dangerous to his eyes.
Bush called Wallsten on his cell phone later that day to apologize.
"I didn't think an apology was necessary," Wallsten said in a June 19 interview. "When it happened, I didn't think it was a very big deal."
Since last week, the exchange has been broadcast on major television shows and Web sites, and discussion of the episode on the Internet has exploded.
"It was becoming a big story," Wallsten said, noting that as a reporter, being in the news rather than observing it is distressing.
"I don't want to be an issue. I don't want to be the controversy," he said.
But as a former editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel, Wallsten is no stranger to controversy.
He said his experiences at the newspaper in the early 1990s - he was editor from April 1992 to May 1993, overseeing coverage of a presidential election and a national title in men's basketball - affected his the path his career took.
"I tend to write a lot about race and politics," he said. "I think a lot of my interest in that was shaped at the DTH."
Wallsten covered high-school sports for Chapel Hill newspapers during high school and served as editor-in-chief of the Chapel Hill High School Proconian.
In college, he was at the helm of the DTH for some historic events. Wallsten, who served his junior year, was the final DTH editor to be elected in a campuswide vote; he also guided the paper's stories on Bill Clinton's election to the presidency and on the 1992-93 national championship that came after Michigan's Chris Webber called his infamous timeout.
After his stint at the DTH, Wallsten covered Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for the St. Petersburg Times.
He later moved to the Charlotte Observer's Washington bureau and then began covering the White House for the L.A. Times.
Of his many memories at Carolina - hanging out at Pepper's Pizza, eating at the Mediterranean Deli and talking politics in the Pit - Wallsten said the DTH is the most prominent.
"I still think being the DTH editor was the greatest job I'll ever have," he said.
Wallsten also said his experience on a shady day in the Rose Garden has a silver lining.
Stargardt's disease has been widely talked about, receiving a high number of hits on Google search engine when the story of the cell phone exchange broke. Wallsten said many parents of children who suffer from the disease have contacted him to express thanks for raising the public's awareness of the disease - and their childrens' confidence.
"That was one of the satisfying things to come out of this," he said.
Instead of letting his disease handicap him, Wallsten said, he thinks of it as another career challenge.
"Being a great reporter involves using your brain more than anything else," he said. "And this disease doesn't affect my brain."
The episode with Bush has also jump-started sales of Wallsten's new book, "One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century," which he co-authored with Tom Hamburger.
The book will be released in July - and Wallsten said his book tour might include a stop at UNC.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(08/19/06 4:00am)
June 29 - UNC has said goodbye to dozens of leaders in the past few years. This summer, Provost Robert Shelton also bid his adieu.
Shelton was selected in January to be University of Arizona's next president.
He has a five-year career at UNC, beginning in early 2001 - typical for the provost position.
At the start of his appointment, Shelton was one of three new hires - Chancellor James Moeser and Nancy Suttenfield, vice chancellor for finance and administration, came to UNC within six months of Shelton's arrival. Moeser hired Suttenfield and Shelton himself.
While Shelton did his research on the state before he arrived from the University of California's Davis campus he said he learned much more about UNC during his five years as provost.
He will be remembered for overseeing an almost complete overhaul of academic leadership, his work with slim finances during an era of budget cuts and his concern for students as Moeser's right-hand man.
Shelton found replacements for three vice chancellors and all but one dean -Linda Cronenwett, dean of the School of Nursing - during his five years.
"It was very time-consuming," Shelton said of the numerous searches used to evaluate candidates.
Shelton just finished filling the vacancies - law professor Jack Boger will take the last one as dean of the School of Law the day Shelton takes office in Arizona.
Shelton said that he gained experience with each search process.
"In each search, I look back and can find things I would like to have done differently," he said. "Hopefully with each search I learned a little bit and did the next one a little better."
A major part of the dean selection process includes offering the desired candidate a package of resources.
During Shelton's tenure, UNC has seen repeated budget cuts, which Shelton said affected the packages he could use in bargaining.
"I was trying to put packages together that were attractive and convince them that they could make a real difference," he said.
As a result, the time periods for a few of the searches were extended - such as the law school deanship, which Duke Univserity professor Erwin Chemerinsky declined, specifically citing a lack of resources available at the law school.
Boger's deal to take the spot included a $2 million University contribution to the law school.
Shelton also faced the task of keeping tuition low while maintaining compensation for University employees when funding for salaries and stipends was cut.
"He was a really big advocate for the faculty and of the faculty," said Executive Associate Provost Steve Allred.
Shelton worked with then-Student Body President Jen Daum to create the tuition task force, which aims to keep tuition low and its calculation transparent. The task force is co-chaired by the provost and the student body president each year.
"I thought, 'Well, people are not going to be happy about tuition increases,' but I think the problem was we weren't involving people in the process, and I think we ended up doing that," Shelton said.
Thanks to those efforts, undergraduate and graduate students now have a voice on tuition through the student body president.
"He definitely took an approach of us being equals," said Seth Dearmin, last year's student body president.
Shelton also created the 5-year Academic Plan in 2003, which analyzed UNC's budget priorities.
"People are less unhappy if they know what's going on," he said.
Shelton said he plans to use skills learned at UNC, in addition to his familiarity with Tuscon as an Arizona native, in his new job.
"There are a number of lessons that translate," he said. "There are some challenges that remain the same: trying to find resources."
As UA president, Shelton will have more of a progressive role in securing resources. But he said he wants to do more than just find money - he wants to be fully engrossed in financial processes.
"In the end, the budget demonstrates where your priorities are," he said.
Shelton also said he plans to be a familiar face on campus by getting to know students.
"With the provost, it was really just his door was always open," Daum said.
Shelton, who is an expert in condensed matter physics, began a 14-year stint at UC-Davis as a professor and became vice chancellor for research before coming to UNC.
Despite all of his academic leadership experience, Shelton has never taken a class on higher education administration.
A position as provost or president, he explained, comes with pure, simple experience.
"Mainly, I think you learn by doing. You learn by working with a lot of really talented people."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu
(07/20/06 4:00am)
You take the classes, you learn the jargon, you get the degree and you're good to go.
That's how entering the real world after college graduation used to be.
But now, more and more students use their time in college to gain real-world work experience in their fields through internships. They say those jobs provide a way to learn career skills and a way to enter into life after college.
And at UNC, the positions are increasingly becoming part of the average undergraduate's experience.
(06/29/06 4:00am)
UNC has said goodbye to dozens of leaders in the past few years.
On Saturday, Tar Heels will wave final adieu to the top University academic official, Provost Robert Shelton.
Shelton was selected in January by the University of Arizona to become the Tuscon-based university's next president.
He has a five-year career at UNC, beginning in early 2001 - typical for the provost position.
At the start of his appointment, Shelton was one of three new hires - Chancellor James Moeser and Nancy Suttenfield, vice chancellor for finance and administration, came to UNC within six months of Shelton's arrival. Moeser hired Suttenfield and Shelton himself.
While Shelton did his research on the University and state before he arrived from the University of California's Davis campus - he read about 20 books on the subjects - he said he learned much more about UNC during his five years as provost.
He will be remembered for his oversight of an almost complete overhaul of academic leadership, his work with slim finances during an era of budget cuts and his concern for students as Moeser's right-hand man.
Bringing in the team
Shelton's arrival was the beginning of a chain reaction that led to a series of new faces among high-level UNC administrators.
He found replacements for three vice chancellors and all but one dean - Linda Cronenwett, dean of the School of Nursing - during his five years.
"It was very time-consuming," Shelton said of the numerous searches used to evaluate candidates.
Shelton just finished filling the vacancies - law professor Jack Boger will take the last one as dean of the School of Law the day Shelton takes office in Arizona.
Shelton said that he gained experience by orchestrating the near-total overhaul of UNC's academic brass.
"In each search, I look back and can find things I would like to have done differently," he said. "Hopefully with each search I learned a little bit and did the next one a little better."
A major part of the dean selection process includes offering the desired candidate a package of resources.
During Shelton's tenure, UNC has seen repeated budget cuts, which Shelton said affected the potential packages he could use in bargaining.
"I was trying to put packages together that were attractive and convince them that they could make a real difference," he said.
As a result, the time periods for a few of the searches were extended - such as the law school deanship, which Duke Univserity professor Erwin Chemerinsky declined, specifically citing a lack of resources available at the law school.
Boger's deal to take the spot included a $2 million University contribution to the law school.
Watching the budget
Frequent budget cuts during Shelton's reign didn't just affect incoming officials - no matter what the job, money is a big part of any University personnel decision.
Shelton faced the task of keeping tuition low while maintaining compensation for University employees when funding for salaries and stipends was cut.
"He was a really big advocate for the faculty and of the faculty," said Executive Associate Provost Steve Allred, who served directly under Shelton.
Shelton worked with then-Student Body President Jen Daum to create the tuition task force, which aims to keep tuition low and its calculation transparent.
The task force is co-chaired by the provost and the student body president each year.
"I thought, 'Well, people are not going to be happy about tuition increases,' but I think the problem was we weren't involving people in the process, and I think we ended up doing that," Shelton said.
Thanks to those efforts, undergraduate and graduate students now have a voice on tuition through the student body president.
"He definitely took an approach of us being equals," said Seth Dearmin, last year's student body president, of Shelton's work with him on the task force.
Though tuition has risen during the past five years - last year's increases will cost resident undergraduates $250, graduate students $500 and out-of-state undergraduates $1,100 - Shelton's aim for tuition has always been to provide the reasoning behind it.
Shelton also created the 5-year Academic Plan in 2003, which analyzed UNC's budget priorities.
"People are less unhappy if they know what's going on," he said.
The final move
Shelton said he plans to use skills learned at UNC, in addition to his familiarity with Tuscon as an Arizona native, in his new job.
"There are a number of lessons that translate," he said. "There are some challenges that remain the same: trying to find resources."
As UA president, Shelton will have more of a progressive role in finding and securing resources; as UNC provost, he focused more on distributing funds.
But he said he wants to do more than just find money - he wants to be fully engrossed in financial processes, which he feels are key to the operation of a university.
"I still intend to be very involved in the budget," Shelton said. "In the end, the budget demonstrates where your priorities are."
Shelton also said he plans to be a familiar face on campus by getting to know students - and giving them a chance to get to know him.
Daum said Shelton was always ready to listen to students and genuinely considered their ideas.
"With the provost, it was really just his door was always open," she said.
Shelton's new door in Arizona will open onto the largest of three major Arizona universities - UA has 35,000 students, which is 8,000 more than UNC.
His academic experience on the West Coast likely will give him a leg up in an area far from Tar Heel sports and sweet tea.
Shelton, who is an expert in condensed matter physics, began a 14-year stint at UC-Davis as a professor and climbed the ranks to become vice chancellor for research before coming to UNC.
Despite all of his academic leadership experience, Shelton has never taken a class on higher education administration.
A position as provost or president, he explained, comes with pure, simple experience.
"Mainly, I think you learn by doing. You learn by working with a lot of really talented people."
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.
(06/22/06 4:00am)
Peter Wallsten just wanted to ask a question.
Instead, the media have been questioning the Chapel Hill native and Los Angeles Times reporter for days.
During a June 14 news conference in the Rose Garden, President Bush teased Wallsten, a UNC alumnus and former Daily Tar Heel editor, for wearing sunglasses while asking a question.
What Bush didn't know is that Wallsten has Stargardt's disease, a disorder that makes even relatively small levels of sunlight dangerous to his eyes.
Bush called Wallsten on his cell phone later that day to apologize.
"I didn't think an apology was necessary," Wallsten said in an interview Monday. "When it happened, I didn't think it was a very big deal."
Since last week, the exchange has been broadcast on major television shows and Web sites, and discussion of the episode on the Internet has exploded.
"It was becoming a big story," Wallsten said, noting that as a reporter, being in the news rather than observing it is distressing.
"I don't want to be an issue. I don't want to be the controversy," he said.
But as a former editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel, Wallsten is no stranger to controversy.
He said his experiences at the newspaper in the early 1990s - he was editor from April 1992 to May 1993, overseeing coverage of a presidential election and a national title in men's basketball - affected his the path his career took.
"I tend to write a lot about race and politics," he said. "I think a lot of my interest in that was shaped at the DTH."
Wallsten covered high-school sports for Chapel Hill newspapers during high school and served as editor-in-chief of the Chapel Hill High School Proconian.
In college, he was at the helm of the DTH for some historic events. Wallsten, who served his junior year, was the final DTH editor to be elected in a campuswide vote; he also guided the paper's stories on Bill Clinton's election to the presidency and on the 1992-93 national championship that came after Michigan's Chris Webber called his infamous timeout.
After his stint at the DTH, Wallsten covered Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for the St. Petersburg Times.
He later moved to the Charlotte Observer's Washington bureau and then began covering the White House for the L.A. Times.
Of his many memories at Carolina - hanging out at Pepper's Pizza, eating at the Mediterranean Deli and talking politics in the Pit - Wallsten said the DTH is the most prominent.
"I still think being the DTH editor was the greatest job I'll ever have," he said.
Wallsten also said his experience on a shady day in the Rose Garden has a silver lining.
Stargardt's disease has been widely talked about, receiving a high number of hits on Google search engine when the story of the cell phone exchange broke. Wallsten said many parents of children who suffer from the disease have contacted him to express thanks for raising the public's awareness of the disease - and their childrens' confidence.
"That was one of the satisfying things to come out of this," he said.
Instead of letting his disease handicap him, Wallsten said, he thinks of it as another career challenge.
"Being a great reporter involves using your brain more than anything else," he said. "And this disease doesn't affect my brain."
The episode with Bush has also jump-started sales of Wallsten's new book, "One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century," which he co-authored with Tom Hamburger.
The book will be released in July - and Wallsten said his book tour might include a stop at UNC.
Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.