HIGHER EDUCATION

1/12/2020 10:00pm

Universities are preparing for the future of dreamers amid DACA's potential rollback

By Sofia Lesnewski

Students who have benefitted from DACA are now facing uncertainty as a decision on the program's future rests in the hands of the Supreme Court. At the same time, colleges and universities across North Carolina are teetering the line between protecting students and complying with the law in a state that allows local law enforcement to collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and prohibits sanctuary cities. While several schools have declared themselves sanctuary campuses, others are relying on student activism. No matter what the method is, they say they're trying to help DACA recipients carry the weight.

6/29/2020 8:54pm

'Source of student advocacy': Student Body President Reeves Moseley looks to year ahead

By Sara Raja

Reeves Moseley didn’t expect to begin his term as student body president during a pandemic.  The rising senior took on his role in April with the goal to #BridgetheDivide between UNC and traditionally marginalized student groups. 

6/26/2020 1:03am

Undergraduate Senate urges BOT to involve UNC community in renaming process

By Chiara Evans

The Undergraduate Senate passed a concurrent resolution at its full meeting Wednesday night, calling on the Board of Trustees to take action in renaming buildings on campus following the decision to lift the 16-year freeze.  

6/25/2020 10:02pm

N.C. Senate appoints Art Pope, conservative political figure and businessman, to UNC BOG

By Maydha Devarajan and Suzannah Claire Perry

Art Pope — a well-known and formidable conservative figure within North Carolina politics — was appointed by the N.C. Senate Thursday evening to the UNC Board of Governors. 

6/23/2020 9:42pm

System may not refund housing if students are forced to move out, UNC-G contract says

By Kyle Ingram and Emma Geis

On Monday, UNC-Greensboro notified its students in an addendum to its housing contract that, based on UNC System policy guidance, on-campus students who may be forced to move out due to a COVID-19 outbreak in the fall could not receive refunds.  UNC-G later clarified that the policy did not mean no refunds would be responded under any circumstances — but a student-created petition asking the UNC System to ensure refunds in the event of early contract termination has already garnered over 7,000 signatures. 

6/19/2020 12:52pm

N.C. Community College System President Peter Hans to be next UNC System President

By Maydha Devarajan

Peter Hans was elected unanimously as the next UNC System president at an emergency Board of Governors meeting Friday. Hans is the ninth president of the N.C. Community College System and has previously served on three terms on the Board. The search for a permanent UNC System president began a year ago. 

6/11/2020 10:44pm

UNC System's historically minority-serving universities given $6 million for COVID-19 research

By Emma Geis

The UNC System's six historically minority-serving institutions are receiving $1 million each from the N.C. Policy Collaboratory to support COVID-19 related research and initiatives. The funding will support a variety of projects to address COVID-19 care and testing for vulnerable populations across the state.

6/9/2020 9:10pm

UNC professor leading project to develop high school science lessons on COVID-19

By Rachel Crumpler

UNC School of Education Professor Troy Sadler is leading a one-year research project in partnership with researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia to develop high school curricula about the coronavirus pandemic.  By integrating real world issues into the classroom, Sadler said students can see how the material they are learning can translate to bigger picture issues and inform important decisions in their lives.

5/28/2020 8:14pm

UNC faculty member selected for prestigious O. Max Gardner Award

By Chiara Evans

Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, chairperson of UNC Department of Psychiatry and director of the UNC Center for Women Mood Disorders, was named the 2020 recipient of the O. Max Gardner Award. The award recognizes a faculty member who, during the academic year, has made the greatest contribution to the welfare of the human race.

5/26/2020 10:22pm

'A rather unique year': UNC to add three new majors this fall

By Rachel Crumpler

The process for establishing a new major under the UNC System is extensive, but UNC will begin enrolling students in three this fall: medical anthropology, human and organizational leadership and development and a Bachelor of Science in economics. 

5/20/2020 5:10pm

BOG meeting: Controversial member resigns; members halt raises to tuition and fees

By Brian Keyes

The UNC Board of Governors meeting on Wednesday included a vote to halt raising tuition for next year, interim UNC System President Bill Roper stating he is optimistic that students will return to campuses in the fall and the resignation of member Tom Fetzer. 

5/19/2020 10:24pm

Board of Governors committee discusses COVID-19 aid funding for UNC System schools

By Isabella Sherk

The Board of Governors' Committee on Budget and Finance met Tuesday to discuss funding allocations of the 2020 COVID-19 Recovery Act and the UNC System Debt Capacity Study for the 2019 fiscal year. The N.C. General Assembly appropriated $44.4 million to the UNC System in April. 

5/4/2020 10:39pm

UNC System Presidential Search Committee reviews applications amid COVID-19 delays

By Kyle Ingram

The UNC System Presidential Search Committee met via conference call Monday to review applications for the position. The selection process for the next UNC System president has been delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the committee has no indication of when they will vote on a replacement. 

4/29/2020 8:46pm

UNC System interim president expects campuses to reopen in the fall

By Rachel Crumpler

UNC System President Bill Roper said in a Wednesday statement that he expects to reopen UNC System campuses to reopen in the fall, and UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said he's "optimistic" that the University will begin on-campus classes in mid-August. Here's what that reopening could look like.

3/31/2020 9:04pm

Thousands sign petition with demands regarding UNC System response to COVID-19

By Sasha Schroeder

The petition, drafted by Kylah Guion, a 20-year-old political science student at N.C. A&T State University, lists demands to the UNC System regarding the suspension of in-person instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The petition has garnered over 22,000 signatures.

3/30/2020 7:11pm

UNC System plans to refund students for unused housing and meal plans

By Maeve Sheehey

According to a press release from the UNC system — the statewide body that governs all 16 public universities in North Carolina — students will be refunded for unused housing and dining services due to COVID-19-related campus closures.

3/26/2020 1:06am

UNC's $2.5 million Confederate payout won't be fully repaid despite backdoor deal reversal

By Charlie McGee

The UNC System's now-infamous settlement with the North Carolina Division Sons of Confederate Veterans Inc. was struck down last month after a swarm of public scrutiny and legal challenges. The reversal by Orange County Superior Court Judge Allen Baddour returned possession of Silent Sam to the state's higher-education authority, but a $2.5 million trust of UNC's money that the System forfeited in that deal may not be coming back in full. More than $80,000 of those funds in total are set to pay the Confederate group's lawyer and the attorneys involved in operating the trust after its creation. However, a new legal challenge by UNC students and faculty seeks to change that.

3/22/2020 8:57pm

'A very unusual time': Board of Governors discussed system response to COVID-19

By Praveena Somasundaram

The Board of Governors met by conference call in a special session Friday to discuss the UNC System's response to COVID-19. 

2/21/2020 1:08pm

Silent Sam will not return to campus, UNC System leaders say

By Anna Pogarcic

UNC System Board of Governors Chairperson Randy Ramsey said Silent Sam will be secured away from UNC's campus at a meeting Friday. 

1/28/2020 3:28pm

UNC graduates who were active in Civil Rights Movement lend voices to Silent Sam case

By Allie Kelly

A group of alumni plans to submit an amicus brief to the Orange County court system by Wednesday. Some of those involved would like to see the money from the settlement returned to the University in full, and the monument destroyed as a public safety hazard.