North Carolina Newspapers

Homecoming: ' ECSU grooves ipith "Smooth Operator" Page 11 INSIDE Coronation: Dreams are made of this...page 10 Assessment Tests: A Special Report Page 5 March on Washington- page 8 Crimes of the Heart A Review—^page 6 \/o/ 6/ / THE COMPASS Vol. 59r^'*er5 Circulation 2000 ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY Elizabeth City, N.C Thursday, October 19,1989 I New UNC admission policies to reduce black enrollment Mr. & Ms. Lab. School, Keith Wilson, Jr. and Shaquitta M. Brown, register expressions of excitement and anxiety during the coronation ofMissESCU Gail T. Hall. For more Coronation pageantry , turn to page 10. Caldwell appointed new vice chancellor By Kimberley Robinson In a time of increased competition among colleges and universities for the best students, ECSU faces an even tougher challenge to recruit new stu dents, due to General Administration’s new minimum admission require ments. Beginning in 1990, General Ad ministration is requiring all students who attend schools in the UNC sys tem to have completed core courses required in college-bound academic programs. The required courses in cluding four units of English, algebra one and two and geometry, three units of science, a laboratory course, and two courses in social studies. Although there are certain excep tions to these requirements, as a gen eral rule, students who do not meet these requirements will not be admit ted to ECSU. “The new UNC policies will have a dramatic impact on the fail 1990 recruitmentefforts," saidECSU Chan cellor Dr. Jimmy Jenkins. “The poli cies will especially affect black stu dents. “This will mean fewer black stu dents going to college and fewer ones coming here, because the top colleges will be getting the better students, often only because of their location. “The new UNC policies will have a dramatic impact on the fall 1990 recruitment ejforts. The policies will especially affect black students ” Dr. Jimmy R. Jenkins Many of these schools are in the metropolitan areas and can offer bet ter and higher-paying jobs. “The main problem ECSU will face in recruiting new students is com petition,” Jenkins said, adding that the new policy would also mean a higher percentage of white students attend ing the school. “White students tend to be on track in high school,” Jenkins said, “and black students tend not to be. The ninth grade black student sitting in class now will be at a disadvantage, as a result of these new policies. “Because 47% of black students in Eastern N.C. are not on track, that means the overall pool will be smaller, especially for black students.” This freshmen class at ECSU had 26.6% white students, Jenkins said. To respond to the challenge, the University will become “more cre ative,” the Chancellor said. “We will be going into the com munities, into churches and into the malls to recruit students. Both faculty and staff will be doing this. And we will have to recruit out of state and in our local areas.” Jenkins said the University was allotted 17% out of state students, but currently has 12% out-of-state stu dents. “So we can increase the out-of- state group.” University faculty and staff will also be conducting workshops with high school guidance counsellors, Jenkins said, and school officials will expand recruitment efforts through alumni. He said the University will also be working to improve area stu dent’s test-taking skills. “Last year we had a thousand par ticipants in the SAT workshops,” Jenkins said. “We’ll increase that this year.” The SAT workshops, offered at ECSU for high school students who want to improve their scores, arc guaranteed to result in a 50 point in crease, Jenkins said. General Administration currently requires a minimum score of 600 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test This minimum score, in effect this year, has also adversely affected recruitment efforts, according to Jenkins. “More than 30% of our applicants last year had SAT scores below 600.” The new policies “are something we have to live by,” the Chancellor said. “They’reprojected all across the state.” Despite the looming problems with recruitment, Jenkins said the Univer sity has the highest full-time equiva lent enrollment in the history of the school. Full-time equivalent (Fi b) is enrollment expressed in the total number of hours taken. This year’s FTE is 1641 students, Jenkins said. Although the University’s fresh men enrollment has declined due to the tough new admission policies, overall enrollment at ECSU is up because of a higher retention rate, (73%). “We retained enough students to make up the difference,” Jenkins said. By Trina Coleman Chancellor Jimmy Jenkins has ointed Dr. Helen Caldwell as Vice .ancellor for Academic Affairs at Elizabeth City State University. Caldwell had been acting Vice Chancellor, replacing Dr. Johnny Houston who resigned in August, 1988. Caldwell, whose appoinunent as Vice Chancellor, caps a 35-year career at ECSU, is the first woman to hold the position at ECSU, and the third woman in the UNC system to serve as vice-chancellor for academic affairs. ECSU’s new academic adminis trator summed up her philosophy of life with, “If you wish to be successful small things must be done well in order to succeed.” Slie plans “to promote a dynamic academic climate at ECSU where faculty and students are the fulcrum of a scholarly community, and the most exciting activities on campus occur in the classes and in the library.” Caldwell said the new acadcmic climate will allow “everything else to fall into place, because academic in tegrity will be the measuring rod by which all activities are designed and executed.” Her three top priorities for aca demics at ECSU are curriculum growth, expansion of majors, and providing more scholarships for tal ented students, Caldwell said. She also wants to help students sharpen thier abilities in critical thinking. Prior to her appointment, Caldwell was Director of General College and a professor in the Department of Lan guage, Literature and Communica tion. Caldwell described her “greatest challenge” in her new position as being able to have a positive effect on the rapid growth taking place at ECSU. “The University is growing in so many ways. It’s a well- kept secret that we have done a tremendous job academically. The students, faculty, curriculum, and acadcmic affairs are the direct centcr, so to be able to impact that at this stage of ECSU’s history is a challenge and an absolute reward.” dtaHMMj Compass wins first in national contest Dr. Helen Caldwell, ECSU’s new Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Caldwell said she sees more chal lenges facing the University than problems. "We have the means to meet the problems. We just have the challenge to use, promote and develop the po tential of the University. "I know you've heard the Chancel lor say. We are the rising star in the northeast. Well, we have the chal lenge of seeing that we move with that, and move with it well. Caldwell has a B.A. in English Hew science complex ready to open for spring semester t • ,.1 —rxty r\ T/a Teaching from Virginia State Uni versity, an M.A. in speech pathology from New York University, and a Doctorate in speech pathology from George Washington University. Her hobbies are reading, traveling and gardening. Caldwell described her greatest achievement as “rearing a successful child, being a successful wife, having a good marriage, and being able to maintain a professional and private life.” State-of-the-Art By Craig Avondo For the second year in a row. The Compass, ECSU’s student newspa per, has won a first place award in the Columbia Scholastic Press Associa tion’s semi-annual contest. “The award is a pleasant pay back for all the hours of hard work,” said former Compass Editor Robin Saw yer. “Winning a national honor like that reflects well on the staff, the Department of Language, Liter-ature and Communication, and the entire University.” The award, for issues from the 1988-89 schoolyear, included a spe cial newspaper critique analyzing the paper’s strengths and areas that need improvement. Judges praised the student news paper for containing, “tightly written leads, great attribution and well-exe- cuted ideas in an attractive package.” The Compass also re-ceived high scores on its objectivity in reporting, use of research to pro-vide depth to the topic, liveliness of writing style, and use of action photography and graphic art. Judges gave the newspaper high or perfect scores in several categories of hard news coverage, including back ground research, multiple sources, careful organiza-tion and accuracy. To improve the publication judges recommended more in depth report ing, more film and record reviews, greater use of opinion polls, more frequent issues and more advertising. Newspapers participating in the national contest are classified ac-cord- ing to frequency of publication, en rollment size of the college or univer sity, and whether the news-paper is from a two-year or four-year institu tion. Newspapers are evaluated on content, presentation and general operations. The Compass is published by the Department of Language, Literature and Communication, Dr. Anne Hen derson Chairperson. Stephen March served as faculty advisor during the period covered by the award. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association, a department of Col umbia University in New York, was established in 1924 to help improve student publications. By Tammy Taylor Elizabeth City State University’s new $5.7 million science building is scheduled to be completed in Novem- and open for classes in the spring, according to Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Jsnkins. “The new facility will be a show- Place that will greatly enhance the campus,” Jenkins said. “The new facility will also serve to recruit young ^ds from all around the Northeastern North Carolina and Tidewater area, to to theUniversity and gain knowl- It is state of the art.” lenkins said the new science com- Plex “will help the University do a ^tter job of educating, recruiting and graduating scientists. The building will create a new image that will be synonymous with the University.” The new science complex, fronting on Hoffler Street, will house a planetar- aquarium, greenhouse and labo ratories. “In addition to helping students learn about marine life, the aquarium will also give students an opportunity to gain hands on experience equal to any other science facility in the na tion,” Jenkins said. “The aquarium will allow students from other schools to take field trips here, with our stu dents serving as guides to explain what they see when they tour the building.” The planetarium will allow stu dents to understand astronomy and thegalaxy, said Jenkins, and the green house will allow the university “to maintain all kinds of plant life and other projects involving flowers for various occasions.” Jenkins said the new science com plex will enable the University to at tract more people in the science area, and “will have a positive impact on where students want to attend col lege.” The new building will also help reverse the decline in minorities choos ing the sciences as a career, Jenkins said. “Many students are scared when considering the idea of going into the sciences. “The new science complex is not just designed for the present,” the Chancellor continued, “but the future as well,” adding that it has a reinforced area to accommodate special equip ment, such as electron microscopes. Roger McLean, Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance, said the new science complex “is the best you can get in science facilities. Having a facility of this nature will bring about a better teaching and learning atmos phere.” Jenkins said the state funded $5 million for the building, and the fed eral government provided S7(X),0(X). Next on the schedule is a new fine arts and communications building, the Chancellor said. “In a couple of years, this new fme arts building will probably be the most expensive building on campus. ECSU's new “state-of-the-art” Science Complex on Hoffler Street wHI be open this spring. Administrators say the complex will attract nwre science students to the University.