stentorian
voi. XXXV, issue 4
north Carolina school of science and mathematics
May 2016
stentoriani 23@gmail.com
Hudson to retire after 27 years supporting
NCCSM students, Hackney to fill post
By Amruth Sriperumbudur For about three decades
Staff Writer
The always-smiling woman
that brought you the class
chants “2-0-1-6, at Science
and Math you’ll get your
kicks!” and “2-0-1-7, S&M’s
a bit of heaven!” is retiring
from her position as Dean
of Counseling Services after
27 years of supporting and
helping unicorns achieve their
dreams.
Gail Faulkner Hudson
began her career in education
in Durham Public Schools as
an English teacher, and then as
a counselor. She is the proud
parent of an NCSSM alumna,
and joined the school’s staff in
1989 as Dean of Counseling.
Ever since then, she has been
dedicated to the school and
its, students, helping lead
the counseling department
in taking care of NCSSM’s
hundreds of students.
When she leaves her Royall
Center office in June fbr the
last time, Hudson plans to
take life easy by spending
long, “uninterrupted” periods
of time relaxing at Kure
Beach, reading books on her
back porch beside a cooling
fan, and playing with her
grandchildren. The ever caring
Hudson also plans to spend a
chunk of time volunteering
with a few nonprofits.
Since 1989, about 10 years
before current students were
even bom, Hudson has been
a strong supporter of students.
she has aided Unicorns in
choosing the perfect college,
mentored them in the art of
time management, counseled
stressed Unicorns through
anxieties and crises, helped
them navigate through
various conflicts, and hugged
them when all they needed
was someone to be there.
Stress at NCSSM has
skyrocketed in the past few
years. When a majority of
students have “cliniced-out”
of class at least once because of
the pressure and stress placed
upon them, there is definitely
a problem. The pressure to get
into a good college, maintain
good relationships, get good
grades, have fun, have enough
extracurriculars, and much
more drives students to give'
up their mental and physical
health to work towards
perfection.
“Our kids are striving to be
perfect when really all they
heed to be is them serves,*"
says Hudson. She and her
team of caring counselors
have worked tirelessly to
make sure that students know
exactly that.
Hudson would like to
stay and continue helping
Unicorns; however, a health
crisis three years ago made
her realize it was time to
retire. Facing a risky 10-hour
surgery after being diagnosed
with a brain tumor, Hudson
was lying on a stretcher
at UNC hospital. As the
'X V^"
Gail Hudson will retire this summer after nearly three decades of helping students.
anesthesiologist entered the
surgery room and looked at her
patient, she was surprised to see
her counselor from 20 years ago
who had hcfped her i cacti itte ~
position she held currently.
However, the anesthesiolo
gist was not the only NCSSM
alumna to support Hudson, the
audiologist checking the tumor
and its effects on Hudson’s
hearing was also an alumna,
and so was the pediatric anes
thesiologist that visited Hudson
after seeing her name on the sur
gery schedule. After realizing
that the students that matured
on NCSSM’s campus under her
guidance are now taking care of
the world themselves, Hudson
realized that it was time for her
to retire.
The newly opened position
of Dean will be filled by I.ori
rraCMiey,—wtro—tins—hccrr n
counselor at NCSSM since
2005. Hackney has been
working with the Strategic
Planning Committee and is
excited to have the opportunity
to lead the school in some new
and promising directions.
Hackney’s more than 20
years of experience working
with children and adolescents,
combined with her “natural
ability to make you feel like you
are the most important person in
the world when you are talking
to her” will make her the perfect
fit as dean, says Terry Lynch,
Vice Chancellor for Student
Life.
“NCSSM has a strong
with a talented team of
individuals who work
hard to promote positive
outcomes for students and
the NCSSM community each
day,” Hackney says. “My
hope is to maintain current
structures that support
students, faculty, and staff,
while also working with the
counseling team, student life
staff, and the greater NCSSM
community to strengthen
current .practices, policies
and processes.”
Organization to offer Common App
By Avra Janz
Staff Writer
Developed in 1975 and
supported by over 600 colleges,
the Common Application has
long dominated the college
application process. As of this
April, however, it may have
met its match.
The Coalition for Access,
Affordability and Success,
a non-profit organization
developed by 90 public and
private universities to “improve
the college application process
for all students,” according
to its website, released an
alternative college application
to students in April; the full
version of the application will
be available in July.
Featuring college planning
tools and a space for seeking
advice from teachers and
counselors, the Coalition
platform aims to make higher
education more accessible
to first-generation and low-
income students, though all
students are able to use the
application.
Starting in the ninth
grade, students can input
essays, artwork and videos
into the Coalition’s digital
locker; students can later opt
to send files from their locker
to colleges and to share files
with teachers or mentors for
review.
The application also
features a required essay
and fields for listing
extracurricular activities
and interests, but unlike the
Common App, the Coalition
application allows students
to list eight activities, not 10,
and it requires that applicants
list the number of students
with whom they share each
of their leadership positions.
The Coalition was formed
not only to make the college
application process more
accessible, but to “make
applications more reflective
and in tune with how
students organize and express
themselves,” according to
Laura Pappano of the New York
Times.
A number of admissions
deans have criticized
the Common App for its
impersonality, noting that the
format of the application can
make it difficult to differentiate
between candidates; by allowing
students to submit a number of
media supplements alongside
their essays and test scores, the
Coalition application humanizes
the admissions process.
The Coalition’s member
schools, which include every
Ivy League school and a
number of leading public
universities (including the
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill), pledge to
support a “college exploration
and application process that
encourages reflection and self-
discovery,” according to the
Coalition website, and to meet
the “full, demonstrated financial
need of every domestic student
they admit.”
But the Coalition application
has its critics. Counselors worry
that its 2016 release will put
additional pressure on students
already grappling with a new
SAT. And, to some, it seems
counterintuitive that a platform
targeted primarily at low-income
students relies so heavily on
Internet access.
Though the Coalition
application aims to make
financial aid more accessible,
it does not waive school
application fees (except for
students awarded fee waivers),
and though it allows students
to view the names of the 90
colleges to which they can
apply through the platform, it
does not offer a comprehensive
college exploration or search
tool (informational resources
are provided in reference to only
some universities).
After registering for a
Coalition account myself, I was
disappointed to find that the
application platform featured
typographical errors, broken
links and malfunctioning
fields - though students are
only allowed to list eight
extracurricular activities on
the application, for example,
the platform allowed me to
add over 15. Additionally,
a number of its tools were
not yet available for use,
defeating the organization’s
early engagement efforts for
the class of 2017.
The goal of the Coalition
for Access, Affordability and
Success - to make higher
education more accessible
- is a noble one, and a
growing body of research
has documented the need for
a more supportive college
application process.
But the current iteration
of the Coalition application
could benefit from revision,
and though the Coalition’s
website notes that
“competition is a positive
force for change,” it may take
years before the Coalition
application is able to truly
rival the Common App.