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NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA 27707 Information |
I Volume 37 — Number 1 September, 1978 fe
BEAUTY AND TALENT — These three Eagle Band members
take time out to render a smile.
NCCU Faces Enrollment
Crisis In Future Years
Before ’ students arrived,
North Carolina Central Univer
sity faculty and staff members
had already been through their
own orientation, in the form of
the annual Faculty Institute.
At the first session of the
institute, attended by all uni
versity employees. Chancellor
Albert N. Whiting told the
staff and faculty that NCCU
faces an enrollment crisis in
coming years which would come
from several causes: the recent
agreement between the Univer
sity of North Carolina system
and the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare will mean
the predominantly white univer
sities will be competing even
more for black students.
“East Carolina University has
already achieved a huge increase
in black enrollment, and from
what I’ve been told, many of
the new black students there
come from Durham. A few years
ago those students would not
have thought about going any
where other than NCCU,’’ com
mented the Chancellor.
Whiting also said that another
source of difficulty for NCCU,
and for all universities, is a drop
in the number of college age
students.
The state’s new high school
competency tests may also cut
the number of students who can
be recruited by colleges. Stu
dents who do not pass the test
(after four tries) will not get
high school diplomas and can
not be accepted by colleges.
“Each of you will have to
become a public relations agent
for the university,” the Chan
cellor told the university em
ployees. He urged faculty and
staff members to become in
volved in recruitment of
students, black and white, and
to make sure that all students
feel welcome on campus.
Registration Process
Revised For Fall Semester
New students at North
Carolina Central University
received a warning when they
picked up their programs for
orientation week and pre
registration.
“Disregard the advice of
continuing students; new
procedures are being intro
duced this year,” said Dr.
James F. Blue, Vice-Chancellor
for student affairs.
The new procedures
involved are in the pre-regis
tration program. NCCU has
(after many years of planning)
computerized its registration
-rograms. A major change was
ttie order in which students
went through registration.
Last year students couldn’t
register, select courses and ask
for their class schedule until
they had paid their fees. This
year students couldn’t pay
their fees until they had se
lected their courses in pre
registration.
Registration began earlier
this year. In past years, the
first days on campus were
devoted to orientation matters-
how to register, rules and regu
lations and testing. This year
students arrived on Sunday
the 27 and by 2 p.m. Sunday
afternoon, some had selected
their courses and requested
assignment to class sections.
Much of the planning and
work was done by thirty
faculty members, who belong
to the Faculty Advising Ser
vice. Under the leadership of
Dr. Arthrell Saunders, the FAS
which represents all depart
ments with undergraduate prd-
grams-explained academic
programs to the students,
advised them on ^'courses
needed and filled our trial
schedules for pre-registration.
Re-Accreditation Can Affect
Future of NCCU Graduates
A self-study for reaccredita
tion by the Southern Associa
tion of Colleges and Schools
has resulted in a new planning
and budgeting system for
North Carolina Central Univer
sity.
The new system starts with
the overall goals of the Univer
sity, which will be reviewed
each year. Each department or
unit then identifies its activities
which will support the goals.
Budgeting of existing and
new activities will eventually
be based on the priority the
unversity gives to its goals.
Although the structure of the
new planning system is in
existence, complete implemen
tation was not possible for the
1978-79 budget year.
The new system resulted
from the university’s need to
develop a self-study for the
year accreditation review by
tiie Southern Association of
CoUfiges and Schools. The re
gional association is the key
accrediting agency for NCCU.
Regional accreditation affects
acceptance of degrees by
employers, graduate and pro
fessional schools, and other
agencies, as-.,well as private and
Federal fundihg.
Because NCCU has over
many years met the basic
criteria of the Southern
Association, the university was
given permission to conduct
a “non-traditional” self-study.
(A traditional self-study would
have involved a review of the
basic criteria by each depart
ment, school and program,
each explaining how it met
those criteria^
The non-traditional self-
study proposed was the deve
lopment of an improved plan
ning and budgeting process. Dr.
Norman Uhl, associate vice
chancellor for academic affairs,
and Mrs. Edwina Williams,
assistant professor of
chaired a steering committee
which developed the plan.
‘ Representatives ot tbe
NCCU administration, faculty,
staff, and student body served
on the steering committee,
which will have the responsi
bility this year of explaining
the plan to a visitation
c ommittee of the Southern
Association of Colleges and
Schools.
The visitation committee,
whose members will be admi
nistrators and faculty members
of other universities and
colleges, will also meet with
other NCCU personnel as the
study the plan. The Board
of Trustees of NCCU had
„ special workshop in Septem
ber to study the plan so
trustees could discuss it with
. SACS representatives.
While the accrediting agency
is studying the plan, the newly-
created Planning and Budgeting
Council (which includes the
Vice-Chancellors of the univer
sity, faculty representatives,
and student representatives)
will be implementing the
planning process.
The Council will ask the
departments and schools to
review the assumptions made
about the future, the goals.
Then each department and
support service area such as
the admissions’ and Registrar’s
Offices will be asked to
describe activities which will
help to meet those goals,
and to specify the funding
it win need to conduct those
activities.
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