North Carolina Archives — Page 29 of 36 — The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal

In North Carolina, university-backed political advocacy may be on the way out

Feb 23, 2015 · Jesse Saffron

Last week, a working group from the UNC system’s Board of Governors drew national attention and student and faculty protest after it announced plans to discontinue three of the system’s 237 centers and increase oversight of thirteen others. The centers slated for closure are East Carolina University’s Center for Biodiversity, NC Central’s Institute for Civic Engagement and Social Change, and UNC-Chapel Hill’s Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, which was founded in 2005 by then-U.S. Senator John Edwards.

Let’s bring Western Governors University to North Carolina

Feb 20, 2015 · Jenna A. Robinson

For North Carolina, Western Governors University would be a welcome alternative to traditional credit-hour programs, particularly for adult learners who want job training and a degreeâ€”not a four-year “experience.”

Steven Salaita tells UNC-Chapel Hill audience that “civility” is a racist term

Feb 9, 2015 · Jesse Saffron

On February 5, more than 100 students, faculty, administrators, and political activists packed a lecture hall at UNC-Chapel Hill to hear controversial indigenous studies professor Steven Salaita speak about academic freedom and censorship.

“Rubber stamping” is the norm at the State Board of Community Colleges

Feb 2, 2015 · Harry Painter

Attend a North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges meeting and you are likely to fall asleep as board members and community college system office staffers take turns dispassionately checking off the monthâ€™s agenda items to unanimous approval.

State officials seek to reform UNC’s teacher preparation programs

Jan 30, 2015 · Jesse Saffron

Teacher quality was the central theme of an education summit held by the UNC system’s Board of Governors at the SAS Campus in Cary, North Carolina, on January 27.

Saving academia from itself

Jan 28, 2015 · Jay Schalin

Today’s new independent academic centers were conceived to solve a real and difficult modern problem—how to counter academia’s gradual purging of a vast array of ideas and knowledge that are still very much alive and central to the nation’s intellectual and political dialogues.

A bold experiment is being watched by North Carolina’s private colleges

Jan 26, 2015 · Jesse Saffron

The Benedictine monks who founded Belmont Abbey College 138 years ago are better known for peacefulness than for trend-setting. But the Gaston County campus is the scene of a bold experiment watched by other private liberal-arts colleges in North Carolina.

What progressives need to know

Jan 21, 2015 · Jane S. Shaw

George Ehrhardt, one of the few avowed conservative political scientists at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, has published an article that attempts to explain to the political left what the political right’s views are on higher education.

President Ross, it’s not too late for a legacy

Jan 19, 2015 · Jesse Saffron and Jane S. Shaw

Looking back at Ross’s first four years at the helm, we see leadership marked by tentativeness and preservation of the status quo. But as Ross begins his fifth and final year as president, there are opportunities for him to champion meaningful changes and to leave a positive legacy.

How the president’s "free community college" proposal will affect one state

Jan 16, 2015 · Harry Painter

The new federal proposal that the president is calling "America’s College Promise" is short on details but has inspired much commentary.

We’ll hear more on Tuesday in the State of the Union address and in President Obama’s next budget proposal, but he gave us enough information about the idea in a speech for us to estimate the potential program’s cost to North Carolina taxpayers.