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Love Notes
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From The Compass Staff
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February, 1987 - Vol./27, No. 3
Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, North Carolina
Circulation 1,500
New scholarship program offered
ECSU seeks top NC
high school students
High School students in
Northeastern North Carolina
may be given unique schol
arship opportunities at Eliza
beth City State University
this year. At a special meet
ing of the Board of Trustees,
EKJSU Chancellor Jimmy R.
Jenkins and UNC President
C.D. Spangler, Jr. announced
a set of major initiatives for
the University.
The new plan, developed
for ECSU by Chancellor Jen
kins and President Spangler,
is expected to attract highly
qualified students, to improve
academic programs, and to
promote a better working
relationship with area public
schools and community col
leges.
The centerpiece of the plan
is a scholarship program for
new students, both freshmen
and transfer students. “I
think it is an excellent oppor
tunity for ECSU to take ad
vantage of resources we have
not had in the past, to com
pete for those students we felt
could be and would be excel
lent students at ECSU,” Jen
kins said.
The program would provide
$3,000 per year, enough to
cover the $834 annual tuition
and fees and to help defray
costs of housing, food and
books.
“Elements of the plan are
unique in the University’s his
tory,” President Spangler
said. “I will be giving it a lot
of my attention, as well as my
colleagues in UNC General
Administration. We will be
working closely with Chan
cellor Jenkins to ensure that
the plan is carried out, with
whatever revisions seem sen
sible as we move along.”
Lloyd V. Hackley, UNC
Vice President for Student
Services and Special Pro
grams, explained that the
new procedures will help off
set a drain of the best black
students to the historically
white universities in the
state. That drain has been
significant since 1981 when
the University, under a fed
eral court order, took steps to
encourage integration
throughout the system.
To be eligible for the schol
arship program, freshmen
must be graduates of high
schools in one of the following
counties: Beaufort, Bertie,
Camden, Chowan, Martin,
Northampton, Pasquotank,
Perquimans, Tyrrell, Curri
tuck, Dare, Gates, Halifax,
Hyde and Washington. Stu
dents must rank in the top
half of their graduating class
and meet all ECSU admis
sions standards. In addition,
they must agree to carry at
least 15 semester hours per
semester, to give eight hours
to public service activities,
and to undergo standardized
assessments periodically to
assist in evaluating how well
they are being educated. To
remain eligible, scholarship
students would have to earn a
grade point average of 2.0 in
the freshman year; 2.5 in the
sophomore year; and 3.0
thereafter.
Those eligible for schol
arships as transfer students
must have completed one or
two years of study at one of
the following institutions in
Northeastern N.C.; the Col
lege of the Albermarle, Hal
ifax Community College,
Martin Community College,
and Roanoke-Chowan Techni
cal College. Transfer stu
dents must also meet require
ments regarding coursework
taken and grade point aver
ages prior to admittance.
Other eligibility require
ments are similar to those for
non-transfer scholarship stu
dents.
Other elements of the plan
announced include a review
and evaluation of all aca
demic programs at ECSU, a
separate evaluation of tea
cher preparation programs,
and a review of administra
tive and management sys
tems, with special emphasis
on student services (admis
sions, financial aid, and stu
dent counseling). A “war
ranty” system for teacher
trainees will be implemented
as a part of this new program.
The “warranty” system, the
first of its kind in the state,
will ensure that graduates of
the program learn essential
teaching skills. ECSU will be
required to provide remedial
instruction to working teach
ers if their knowledge in some
area is considered deficient.
The University of North
Carolina will ask the General
Assembly for funding for 150-
250 new scholarships per
year, so that the number on
scholarships could rise to a
level of 600 to 1,000 after four
years. Because many stu
dents eligible for the special
scholarship program will also
qualify for assistance under
existing federal and state pro
gram (and must agree to ap
ply for such aid), the additio
nal cost will be considerably
less that $3,000 per student.
In explaining why Eliza
beth City State University
was singled out for special as
sistance, President Spangler
said, “This is the only state-
supported four-year institu
tion of higher education in
Northeastern N.C., so it has a
vital mission in the academic
and economic life of that part
of the state. I think it is a good
place to experiment with
some fresh approaches.”
According to survey
Business careers popular with students
One freshman in four is
planning a career in business,
while interest has increased
toward teaching but de
creased toward computers,
according to a national sur
vey of college freshmen.
The 21st annual survey by
the University of California,
Los Angeles, and the Ameri
can Council on Education also
found more freshmen going
into debt and fewer getting
federal grants for college.
Seventeen percent of the
freshmen reported getting
Pell Grants, federal schol
arships based on need for low-
3nd middle-income students.
compared with almost 20 per
cent last year and 31.5 per
cent in 1980.
By contrast, more than a
quarter of the freshmen have
taken out Guaranteed Student
Loans, up from 23 percent
last year and about 21 percent
in 1980.
The Reagan administra
tion, in its new 1988 budget,
proposed cutting the $3.8 bil
lion Pell Grant program in
half over two years and
sharply reducing or eliminat
ing student loan subsidies.
A record 24.1 percent of stu
dent responding to the survey
said they were headed for ca
reers in business, up from
23.9 percent in 1985. In 1%8, at
the height of the countercul
ture and campus protests
against the Vietnam war,
fewer than 12 percent of
freshmen were grooming
themselves for corporate
America.
Alexander W. Astin, a
UCLA education professor
who directed the study, at
tributed the increase to im
proved starting salaries and a
strong iob market.
f
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mMM
King Honored
Martin Luther King’s birthday was celebrated
on the ECSU campus with a variety of events, in
cluding an assembly on January 19 in Williams
Hall (top two pictures). The bottom picture is of
the art exhibit titled “The Negro Experience in
America” presently on display in the Johnson Hall
Art Gallery.