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Education

Sen. Burgin, unchained

Burgin’s comments at Thursday’s confab also touched on potential legislative issues. For starters, he told participants to expect legislators to introduce a bill in the upcoming long session that addresses the use of cell phones by students in K-12 schools. He said he’s heard from principals who report that over...

By Ray Gronberg

January 3, 2025

“Propel NC” funding

The N.C. Community College System will enter 2025 with some unfinished legislative business, namely the approval of the so-called “Propel NC” rework of its funding model. Though supported by the House and departing Gov. Roy Cooper, the proposal stalled amid 2024’s House-Senate short session budget impasse. Eventually, legislators agreed on...

By Ray Gronberg

December 31, 2024

Community colleges will need more investment to compete says Cooper

North Carolina’s community colleges are going to need more money if they’re to keep up with the demands the state’s economy is putting on them, outgoing Gov. Roy Cooper says. “They already see how the new paying jobs that are coming in will require all kinds of training that they’re...

By Ray Gronberg

December 30, 2024

N.C. Community Colleges’ Finish Line Grants

Gov. Roy Cooper’s end-of-tenure victory lap around North Carolina brought him to Durham on Tuesday, where he touted a couple of initiatives he and his aides launched in hopes of boosting community-college completion rates. Cooper focused mostly on the N.C. Community Colleges’ Finish Line Grants, small allocations of up to...

By Welcome

December 18, 2024

Wanted: the meaning of “surrounding”

North Carolina’s Supreme Court handed down a decision in a charter-school case last week that could have implications for how the majority handles other land-use disputes. Ruling for a company called Schooldev East, the court’s 5-2 Republican majority found that officials in Wake Forest overstepped back in 2020 when it...

By Welcome

December 18, 2024

Cooper touts “Finish Line” grants for community college students

Gov. Roy Cooper’s end-of-tenure victory lap around North Carolina brought him to Durham on Tuesday, where he touted a couple of initiatives he and his aides launched in hopes of boosting community-college completion rates. Cooper focused mostly on the N.C. Community Colleges’ Finish Line Grants, small allocations of up to...

By Ray Gronberg

December 18, 2024

White threatened on Facebook

This month’s assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has executives and some politicians on edge, and we have an example of that out of Wilmington. There, former New Hanover County Commissioner and former state Sen. Woody White was the target of an online threat that said he should be “ended...

By Welcome

December 17, 2024

DOT-funded center at A&T takes flight

The N.C. Department of Transportation is funding the launch of a new center at N.C. A&T State University to work on what the agency is calling “innovative aviation technologies.” DOT is providing $2 million to seed the project, which also will involve NC State and Elizabeth City State University. Officials...

By Ray Gronberg

December 16, 2024

No title

Well, it’s certainly an interesting time to be a Carolina Tar Heel. About all anyone could talk about on Tuesday was whether NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick — the owner of eight Super Bowl rings — would agree to become UNC Chapel Hill’s next head football coach. My sources on...

By Ray Gronberg

December 12, 2024

HBCU admissions: a mixed picture

Continuing our look at the admissions practices of UNC System campuses, consider the HBCUs and UNC Pembroke. System data indicates that only Pembroke and N.C. Central have the same sort of defacto open admissions as historically white campuses like East Carolina and Appalachian State. Pembroke offers a seat to 92.2%...

By Ray Gronberg

December 5, 2024

Sasser to NCInnovation

Outgoing Rep. Wayne Sasser, R-Stanly, will be joining the board of NCInnovation via an appointments bill legislators passed just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Sasser will become one of the House’s four appointees to the board. The Albemarle pharmacist, 74, replaces Beth Friedrich, a former aide to outgoing Speaker Tim Moore...

By Ray Gronberg

December 4, 2024

Berger: Let UNC System handle admissions policy

Senate leader Phil Berger says he’d been “unaware” of the defacto open-admissions practices at East Carolina and several UNC System universities, but he’s not seeing a need for legislative intervention. “We’ve charged the Board of Governors and the individual campuses with certain responsibilities,” the Rockingham County Republican said on Monday. “I...

By Ray Gronberg

December 3, 2024

UNC System untroubled by high admission rates at ECU, other campuses

If you’re anticipating any criticism from the UNC System office of East Carolina University defacto open-admissions policy, well, you’re likely to be disappointed. The line there is that the Greenville school’s 89% acceptance rate (and by extension, similar percentages from such campuses as App State, UNC Greensboro and Western Carolina)...

By Ray Gronberg

December 2, 2024

N.C. A&T preps launch of AI degree

N.C. A&T State University is preparing to launch the UNC System’s first AI-specific bachelor’s degree program in the fall of 2025. The campus got system Board of Governors approval in November, and announced it just before the Thanksgiving holiday.  The new degree “will prepare students for immediate impact, especially in...

By Ray Gronberg

December 2, 2024

Mack Brown, unplugged

Mack Brown’s ouster as UNC Chapel Hill’s football coach is generating far more controversy than I thought would’ve been the case after his team gave up 70 points to visiting James Madison back in September. And it’s controversy of the sort that could once again test UNC System President Peter...

By Ray Gronberg

December 2, 2024

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