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NCCU bus tour stops in Washington, Plymouth
Provost, faculty members head east to recruit students
By DAN PARSONS, Staff Writer
Representatives of North Carolina Central University are visiting areas in eastern North Carolina to educate prospective students on what the Durham school offers.
Their effort is part of their fourth-annual recruitment bus tour of the region.
“This is an up close and personal tour,” NCCU Provost Beverly Jones said Friday. “We want to talk personally with individuals about our programs. We want them to know that NCCU can take a diamond in the rough and mold and shape those students to excel in the career they are looking for.”
Friday morning, Jones and NCCU faculty members met with counselors and students at the Pines Country Club in Elizabeth City. From there, they traveled to Washington and Plymouth, then back to Elizabeth City. Today, the NCCU team is scheduled to meet with students and teachers in Raleigh before heading to Charlotte, the university’s largest source of students, Jones said.
NCCU’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute & Technology Enterprise Center for Excellence, or BRITE, is something in which Jones takes special pride. The first class of students was admitted to the center this year, she said.
“With BRITE, we are addressing economic development through the biotechnology industry in the burgeoning cities and counties of North Carolina,” Jones said. “We want to ready our work force for that industry in North Carolina. It is eliciting a lot of interest because it shows students that there are markets and career paths that they may never have thought of.”
As a response to 9/11, the university has offered a course of study in homeland security since 2001. The program emphasizes forensic science and bioterrorism on the post-9/11 world stage, Jones said.
One of the school’s main emphases is to bring students into its teacher-education and nursing programs, according to Jones.
“There is a need for teachers and for nurses in North Carolina,” Jones said. “That shortage is being felt throughout the country. We emphasize science in math in teacher education because there is a shortage there also. We feel it is our duty as an institution to try to fill that void.”
About 95 percent of the 8,600 students enrolled at NCCU this year are North Carolina natives, Jones said.
“We are an institution founded for the purpose of providing an education to the citizens of North Carolina,” she said. “We feel it is a responsibility we have to the people of this state.”
As a historically black college, the educational opportunities offered at NCCU reflect the history and culture of black Americans, Jones said. Its arts department offers courses in music styles ranging from jazz to hip hop.
“When you talk about jazz, you have to talk about NCCU,” Jones said. “We are also looking at hip hop and working on a way to make it scholarly ... to make sure it provides a message of personal success, education and respect.”
Excellence not only in academics and the arts, but in athletics, student engagement and international involvement are all “trademarks” that make the university competitive in marketing its students, Jones said.
“We recruit the best and the brightest, and we’re coming up number one in many cases,” Jones said. “Our challenge and our concern is to make sure we continue to offer the best to our students.”
By DAN PARSONS, Staff Writer
Representatives of North Carolina Central University are visiting areas in eastern North Carolina to educate prospective students on what the Durham school offers.
Their effort is part of their fourth-annual recruitment bus tour of the region.
“This is an up close and personal tour,” NCCU Provost Beverly Jones said Friday. “We want to talk personally with individuals about our programs. We want them to know that NCCU can take a diamond in the rough and mold and shape those students to excel in the career they are looking for.”
Friday morning, Jones and NCCU faculty members met with counselors and students at the Pines Country Club in Elizabeth City. From there, they traveled to Washington and Plymouth, then back to Elizabeth City. Today, the NCCU team is scheduled to meet with students and teachers in Raleigh before heading to Charlotte, the university’s largest source of students, Jones said.
NCCU’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute & Technology Enterprise Center for Excellence, or BRITE, is something in which Jones takes special pride. The first class of students was admitted to the center this year, she said.
“With BRITE, we are addressing economic development through the biotechnology industry in the burgeoning cities and counties of North Carolina,” Jones said. “We want to ready our work force for that industry in North Carolina. It is eliciting a lot of interest because it shows students that there are markets and career paths that they may never have thought of.”
As a response to 9/11, the university has offered a course of study in homeland security since 2001. The program emphasizes forensic science and bioterrorism on the post-9/11 world stage, Jones said.
One of the school’s main emphases is to bring students into its teacher-education and nursing programs, according to Jones.
“There is a need for teachers and for nurses in North Carolina,” Jones said. “That shortage is being felt throughout the country. We emphasize science in math in teacher education because there is a shortage there also. We feel it is our duty as an institution to try to fill that void.”
About 95 percent of the 8,600 students enrolled at NCCU this year are North Carolina natives, Jones said.
“We are an institution founded for the purpose of providing an education to the citizens of North Carolina,” she said. “We feel it is a responsibility we have to the people of this state.”
As a historically black college, the educational opportunities offered at NCCU reflect the history and culture of black Americans, Jones said. Its arts department offers courses in music styles ranging from jazz to hip hop.
“When you talk about jazz, you have to talk about NCCU,” Jones said. “We are also looking at hip hop and working on a way to make it scholarly ... to make sure it provides a message of personal success, education and respect.”
Excellence not only in academics and the arts, but in athletics, student engagement and international involvement are all “trademarks” that make the university competitive in marketing its students, Jones said.
“We recruit the best and the brightest, and we’re coming up number one in many cases,” Jones said. “Our challenge and our concern is to make sure we continue to offer the best to our students.”
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