Chancellor Kyle R. Carter S University Address

Chancellor Kyle R. Carter’s University Address The University of North Carolina at Pembroke Givens Performing Arts Center August 14, 2012

Introduction Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the fall 2012 school year.

Before I begin today’s address I ask that all of us remember long-time faculty colleague, Norman Layne of the Sociology and Criminology Department who passed away on June 27. We haven’t had a chance to recognize him as a community until now. Please share with me a moment of silence. Thank you.

One hundred and twenty five years ago, in the autumn of 1887, the Croatan Normal School opened with 15 students, one teacher, and one purpose: to provide education to the local Indian community, blazing for them a pathway to success. In its earliest days, UNC Pembroke—even before it was called UNC Pembroke—carried out that original mission by training teachers exclusively.

Today, we continue to train teachers from throughout the region, the entire state, and beyond, but over the last 125 years we’ve expanded the scope of academic offerings and have become the most diverse regional university in the Southeast. Yet, we have remained true to our original purpose: to provide this region with the means to a superior education.

Fall is a special time on any college campus. Hope, enthusiasm, and energy are everywhere.

 It is a time when we welcome newcomers to our midst. On Monday, 1,027 freshmen entered our campus by walking north across the water feature bridge to convocation.  It is a time when we celebrate new beginnings, like the opening of the Health Sciences Building.

As we celebrate our 125th anniversary this entire academic year, let’s not forget our roots, our purpose for being, and how far we’ve come.

Let’s resolve to make this semester one of the best in UNC Pembroke’s 125-year history. Regardless of your job—grounds crew, technician, faculty member, or administrator—I urge you to rededicate yourself to the personal touch culture that undergirds our institution’s success.

1 The purpose of today’s address is to update you on the state of the university and to share plans for the coming year. But before I do so, I want to recognize some special people in the audience. I am going to ask them to stand in groups and remain standing until all are recognized. Please hold your applause until all are standing.

Special Recognitions

First, members of our Board of Trustees attending today:  Ms. Caroline S. Williamson from Lumberton,  Dr. Dwight Pearson from Garner,  Ms. Lorna Ricotta from Fayetteville,  Student Representative, Mr. Robert Nunnery, from Fayetteville, and,  Our newest board member, Dr. Wiley Barrett, from Southern Pines.

Please show your appreciation to these individuals, who give so selflessly of their time, talents, and resources for the benefit of our university.

We also have officials from local and state government attending. Would you please rise? Thank you for supporting the university.

Next, I would like to recognize four university groups. Please withhold your applause until all are standing.

 Faculty Senate Chair Dr. Susan Cannata and faculty senators,  Staff Council Chair Mr. Wes Frazier and council members,  Chancellor’s Cabinet members, and  Deans of the university.

Thank you all for the leadership you provide.

New Employees. Would all new faculty members who joined us since last fall please stand? Would all new staff members please stand? Their names were shown during the slide show presentation as you entered GPAC this morning. Welcome to the UNCP family.

First Lady. Last, but certainly not least, I want to recognize Sarah, my wife. As I think you have come to learn, she is an active member of campus life who makes a positive difference in the campus and external community. Thank you, Sarah, for all that you do.

Speech Introduction 2 You all know that the last four years have been very difficult for higher education, nationally, and in North Carolina. The last two years, in particular, have been very challenging because of budget decreases, reductions in force, and salary freezes. As I go through this report, I want you to consider where we have been, where we are today, and where we will find ourselves in the future.

In my view, we begin fall 2012 in a far more hopeful position than last year. Consider……..

 Last year, North Carolina’s state appropriation for higher education was reduced by more than $414 million. This year, in contrast, the UNC system lost $1.6 million— nominal cut.  Closer to home, last year UNCP’s appropriation was cut $9.1 million and we lost $2.3 million in tuition revenue. This year our total reduction to our appropriation and enrollment loss will be $1.3 million—by comparison very small and manageable.  And for the first time in four years, you will receive a pay raise. It may be small, but it signifies an important shift in state priorities.

We have other bright notes this fall. For example . . .  SACS has removed its sanction for a 2009 reporting infraction,  enrollment appears to be stabilizing, and  our students are performing at the highest levels in our history.

So, we have reason to be cautiously optimistic. Although we continue to be a campus in transition and face challenges, we are making progress. As Will Rogers advised, we will not dwell on the past, but look forward.

Organization of Speech

My report today is organized around the four themes that have guided my administration.

 The New Normal: Efficiency and Effectiveness  Student Success  An Institution of Choice  Regional Engagement

3 Staying committed to these themes is important because real progress in higher education is incremental. As you will soon learn, we are making significant progress on each theme.

In the past, I have mentioned specific accomplishments of faculty, students, and staff. I would like to do so again here, but I don’t have the time. To compensate, we showed a slide presentation of last year’s highlights as you were entering into GPAC. It was filled with examples of student successes and the accomplishments of an institution of choice. It is posted on the chancellor’s website along with an annual report to show everyone what you achieved last year.

The New Normal: Efficiency and Effectiveness

This section of my address will be the longest because of the number of operational issues we experienced over last year.

So, let’s get started.

We are all pleased that the state lifted its salary freeze and allocated funds for salary increases. However, this welcome news brings a few challenges. Some employees have had their salaries frozen for four years. Some newer employees were hired in at market rates that exceeded the salaries of those with greater experience. Issues of compaction and salary equity exist throughout our SPA, faculty, and EPA-non faculty compensation structure. As we address issues of one group of employees, it will affect the salary pools of others.

Going forward, we must have a plan to address compensation fairness and equity. To this end, I have asked the University Budget Advisory Committee to advise me on how to proceed. Debbie Burgess, director of Human Resources, will join the group to provide guidance about state rules and regulations. The provost, who co-chairs the committee, will assure sufficient representation by each employee group.

These compensation issues have accumulated over multiple years, so they will not be resolved quickly. We need additional resources and a multi-year plan. My cabinet will be responsible for finding the additional funds, and the Budget Advisory Committee will submit recommendations to the cabinet by November 1. The cabinet will reassess institutional priorities, and wherever possible, shift funds to a salary pool. If we are able to identify any additional salary dollars this year, we will make as many adjustments as possible according to our plan after January 1. Please don’t set your expectations too high 4 for this year. Salary inequity is a big problem, and we have limited funds for addressing it. However, my cabinet and I are committed to a multi-year approach to address salary.

Last year, we followed some very sage advice and began a strategic planning process to chart a long-term course for the university.

I am pleased to announce that the Strategic Planning and Resource Council has developed a draft plan and will present it to the campus this fall. The plan is a blueprint for institutional priorities and budgeting. It is organized around the four themes that I am reporting on today. Once comments from our campus community have been incorporated into the plan, co- chairs Dr. Kenneth Kitts and Dr. Mario Paparozzi will route it through the governance structure. In November, I intend to take the plan to the Board of Trustees for their action.

I want to thank members of the Strategic Planning and Resource Council for their work over last year.

In particular, I want to recognize the co-chairs and Assistant Vice Chancellor Beverly King for their leadership throughout the process.

Last year, we faced two major challenges: a drastic reduction to our budget and an enrollment shortfall. These two factors accounted for a net loss of more than $9 million to 5 the university—approximately 11.5% of our total state operating budget. This was our fourth year of budget reductions, so the challenge to balance the budget was enormous. I knew that we could reduce our budgets and survive, but I feared these reductions, on the heels of three previous years of cuts and salary freezes, would devastate campus morale and negatively affect classroom instruction and student services. To your credit, you didn’t allow that to happen. You showed great determination to do your job well.

In fact, I’m not sure the students were really aware of the challenges you faced, the stress you experienced, and the sacrifices you made. Thank you for your dedication over the past year. Your actions made a real difference.

Last fall was the first time in a decade that our enrollment declined.

When you are growing at a 3 to 4% clip, you begin to believe the trend will go on forever. You don’t worry too much about monitoring enrollment because growth is an expectation, a constant. Frankly, we were surprised by last fall’s enrollment decline, in part, because the 6 institution had never developed sophisticated systems to monitor enrollment. Why should we? Remember, growth has been a constant here.

After last year’s enrollment drop, we resolved never to be surprised again. Consequently, we have devoted considerable time and energy to understand the causes of the decline and to develop metrics to monitor all aspects of enrollment more effectively.

We now have a much better read on our current enrollment and understand the causes for the sudden drop last year. Although enrollment won’t be finalized until August 24, we will likely see another decline this year because the problem is with continuing students. Many don’t pay their bills—some as a result of tough economic times, but the vast majority lose their financial aid because they fail to make satisfactory academic progress. When students can’t pay their accounts, we are required to drop them. Last fall that number was over 500. And many students facing similar academic problems, recruited years ago, are still in the pipeline. We must continue to work with these students and help them succeed, and at the same time replace them with better prepared students who want to achieve. We will rebuild our enrollment to previous levels but it will take several years to overcome the “pipeline effect.”

I’d like to take a few moments to explain how we have reached this point and what actions we are taking and will take to turn things around.

From the late 1990s until 2006, the UNC System emphasized access and growth, funding campuses according to the number of students who attended. UNCP developed a model to promote growth—because more students meant more funding. Essentially, we operated as an open admissions institution. Students were admissible as long as they had a 2.0 high school grade point average. We defined academic good standing incrementally: gradually increasing the requirements from the freshman to senior year.

7 These policies resulted in enrollment growth, but contributed to some of the lowest retention and graduation rates in the system—becoming a very big issue when Erskine Bowles became president of the UNC System. The rules changed. Listening to concerns from state legislatures across the country about the excessive cost of higher education— especially increased loan indebtedness—President Bowles changed the educational paradigm in North Carolina. The focus was no longer growth and access, but quality and affordability.

Now, governments—both state and federal—equate cost with time spent in school. So, they are modifying aid programs to encourage students to complete their degrees more quickly. In 2011, the federal government reduced the number of semesters a student may receive a Pell grant from 18 to 12. [Fifty-four percent of UNC Pembroke undergraduates are Pell- eligible.] North Carolina followed suit and limited need-based aid to eight semesters from a previous nine. (Almost 80% of our students depend on some form of need-based aid.)

Following this trend, the Board of Governors directed campuses to pay more attention to student performance measures, especially those related to time in school. In fact, Governors are in the final stages of approving a new performance-funding model that weighs heavily on student success. Once implemented, a portion of our funding will be tied to our students’ ability to stay enrolled and graduate in a reasonable time.

8 The draft set of performance measures for UNCP are shown in the next slide.

Five of the metrics, highlighted in red, are areas of student success where our performance hasn’t measured up. Unless we improve, we will not receive additional funds and face financial penalties like we have in the recent past.

Later this fall the Board of Governors (BOG) is scheduled to approve the President’s Academic First Initiative, which among other things will establish minimum system standards for admission and good standing. For admissions, students would be required to have an SAT of 800 and a high school GPA of 2.5; for academic good standing all students will be required to maintain a 2.0 GPA.

We began incrementally increasing our minimum admission standards in 2009 to improve retention and graduation rates; we now require a GPA of 2.5 and an SAT of 840. Last year, we began phasing in our new academic good standing policy requirement that meets General Administration’s proposed minimum. So, we are ahead of the game.

I know some have questioned why we have increased our standards and changed academic policies. Some would like for us to maintain the open access approach of the past. Personally, I believe raising academic standards and expectations is a good choice. These changes will make us a stronger and more stable institution. But the other answer is more pragmatic: The rules have changed. The business model of the past doesn’t work for us

9 today. We have no choice but to adapt. Today, our approach must be and is focused on students who can be successful here.

The members of the Cabinet and their divisions have begun to incorporate the new business model and expectations. All the while, we are trying to strike a balance between our historic mission of access and the push for higher student performance.

I am pleased to report that we are making progress as reflected in the next section of my report: Student Success.

Student Success Last year, we changed several operations and policies to promote student success:

 To meet the challenge of access while raising admissions standards, we have doubled the size of our College Opportunity Program (COP). This program allows us to admit students slightly below our minimums with the contingency that they participate in an intensive intervention and advising program. COP has been a part of UNCP for decades and has proven highly successful as measured by retention and graduation rates.  Provost Kitts consolidated academic support services, previously spread across campus, into the D.F. Lowry Building. We believe we can provide better academic student support when these services are under one roof and more easily accessed. The moves are complete, and the offices are fully functional.  This summer we reorganized the division of Enrollment Management into two functional units: one focused on enrollment planning and recruitment and the other on student retention and academic support. This change allows each unit to focus on one primary function.

Ms. Lela Clark now heads the enrollment planning and recruitment unit and is responsible for developing the institution’s enrollment plan, monitoring enrollment processes, and assuring that undergraduate admissions standards maximize the likelihood of student success.

Associate Professor Melissa Schaub— well known for her high expectations, advisement skills, and student focus—has agreed to lead the retention and student academic support unit. She will develop the new advisement center that was funded by a portion of this year’s tuition increase. In addition, Dr. Schaub will implement a consistent and comprehensive advisement program across the university. As a faculty member, Dr. Schaub brings a perspective that the provost and I believe will greatly benefit our students and faculty.

10  Over the past three years, we have incrementally increased the minimum high school grade point average required for freshman admission. Further, the university transitioned to a new academic standing policy last academic year. These two changes had a significant impact on our students’ performance last year. 

This slide shows the fall semester grade point average by class and the admissions requirement for the freshmen of that year. As you can see, freshman GPA remained relatively unchanged until 2011. When the admissions requirement was raised to 2.5, freshman GPAs made a dramatic jump.

But this trend didn’t apply just to freshmen. All classes showed improvement over the previous year, and our overall student GPA was the highest in our history.

Here is more good news. At the end of spring semester 2012, the number of students who failed to show satisfactory academic progress declined 13% over the previous spring. A reduction of this magnitude has not happened in the past decade. More typically, we’ve

11 seen an increase. Of even greater significance, the improvement occurred under our new academic good standing policy that sets the bar higher.

These data and faculty anecdotal reports suggest our students are becoming more serious about their academics. I believe our policy changes have influenced the improvements, but I am even more convinced that the greatest factor for student success continues to be our faculty. When faculty practice the personal touch culture, expect students to do well, hold them accountable, and provide academic support, student success will be the outcome.

Institution of Choice

To be an institution of choice we must differentiate this university from the competition by offering excellent academic programs, exciting co-curricular activities, unique attributes, and outstanding student services. We must make the public aware of our distinctiveness through robust communications and marketing. Under the direction of our new Executive Director of Communications and Marketing, Ms. Sandy Briscar, our communications and marketing programs are evolving and making significant progress:  We now have a campus-wide integrated marketing committee to coordinate marketing efforts and ensure consistent external messages.  We have begun a marketing and licensing program to protect our brand marks and to distribute university merchandise more broadly. Earlier this summer, I went into a shop in Southern Pines and found merchandise for Appalachian, NC State, East Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Duke—not UNC Pembroke. This licensing program will correct this situation.  We are modifying our external communications to enhance the image of UNC Pembroke. UNCP Today is a good example.

12 The latest issue was dedicated to the 125th celebration and is a composite of important stories about our history and the achievements of students, faculty, staff, and alumni. If you haven’t reviewed it yet, you should. You’ll be proud of what you see.

As a part of our kick-off week for the 125th anniversary last March, Provost Kitts and I announced the creation of the program for Southeast American Indian Studies. Dr. Kitts reports that  the implementation team has submitted a draft set of recommendations,  he has secured space in Old Main where the program will be located, and  the search for the director will begin late this fall.

The Southeast American Indian Studies program has the potential to elevate the regional and national visibility of the university through its curriculum, research, and outreach. The program—eventually to become a school— although focused on Southeast American Indians, is intended to serve and engage all faculty and students.

Ultimately, students will choose UNC Pembroke over our competitors for our academic quality, extraordinary programs, and unique attributes. Therefore, it is important for us to continue to develop programs that serve this region and attract serious students who want to achieve. As we pursue this strategy…  We must find ways to emphasize our diversity and incorporate that diversity into our academic programs.

13  We must seek accreditations important to institutional priorities to demonstrate program quality to the general public. Accreditation by organizations such as the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business [AACSB], therefore, is vital to the success of not only the Business School, but also the university as a whole.  We must ensure that our academic programs are of the highest quality and that they serve current and future needs. To this end, I have asked Provost Kitts and the Deans to review our academic offerings and ensure we have the right program mix going forward. I urge the Provost and Deans to pay particular attention to graduate education—an area that we have not emphasized but that has great potential. As I learned on my listening tour two years ago, people want and need professional graduate education. We need to expand some of our existing programs and develop new ones to serve regional needs. As a case in point, I heard at every stop the need for a Master of Nursing degree. Our nursing faculty heard the call and submitted a proposal (including specialties in education, rural case management, and clinical nurse leader) to General Administration last spring. We anticipate approval this fall with a start date of fall 2013.

Regional Engagement

Many of our faculty members have incorporated engagement activities into their educational philosophy and instructional models. Service learning, civic engagement, undergraduate research, and internships have become common requirements of our students.

Here is a snapshot of last year’s activity:

 Our service learning program had more than 600 students participate in community projects that profited many community agencies.  The Pembroke Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium was the largest, best attended ever, showcasing 98 presentations from 107 student authors and 48 faculty representing 18 departments.

14  The Thomas Family Center, using UNCP faculty and student expertise, provided business consultation to more than 50 clients; the Center also offered several entrepreneurial summits to more than 600 attendees.

 The MPA program has worked on multiple fronts to increase its outreach in the region and provide applied experiences for its students. Faculty and students are working with Ft. Bragg and municipal governments to provide training, consulting, and specialized curricular programs.

The provost and I launched a grant program in 2011 to encourage more faculty to adopt engaged learning as an educational strategy and develop programs that capitalize on our locational advantage. I am pleased to announce that we will continue that program this year.

Further, Dr. Kitts and I would like to encourage you to take your expertise to our region and address issues relevant to our community. Therefore, we are beginning a new grant program for individual faculty—grants of up to $2,000 each to support applied research and other forms of inquiry on topics relevant to our region. Our region provides many contexts for you and your students to engage in scholarship: literacy, the environment, soil and water quality, sustainability, health, poverty, literacy, social and economic issues, Lumbee history and culture; solar energy, and agriculture, are just a few of the possibilities. Making the community, near and far, UNCP’s laboratory should be a part of our vision— because it is highly consistent with our mission as a regional comprehensive institution.

Last spring, you learned of our intent to convert buildings downtown into a business incubator that would also house two supporting units: The Thomas Family Center for Entrepreneurship and the Small Business Technology Center.

15 This is an ambitious project because all funds must be raised externally through private donations and grants. If successful, the project will provide our students and faculty real- world opportunities to engage in community, economic, and business development. Further, the presence of UNC Pembroke in the downtown area will bring the town and university closer together—an outcome that can only benefit both.

Here is where we stand today:  We secured an option on the buildings and raised all of the cash required to purchase the property.  The Golden Leaf Foundation awarded the UNCP Foundation $200,000 to help with the renovation.  Our initial application to the Economic Development Administration last spring was unsuccessful, in part, because EDA ran out of funding. The EDA invited us to resubmit the proposal this September when it is fully funded again. So, we are hopeful about our chances and continue to work to make the downtown project a reality.

Fort Bragg and the military, in general, are of strategic interest to UNC Pembroke. As BRAC continues its expansion into Fort Bragg, we must capitalize on opportunities as they are presented.

Active duty personnel, their dependents, and veterans transitioning to civilian status are turning more and more to UNC Pembroke for career advancement. In addition to offering undergraduate degrees, we have a real opportunity to expand our graduate offerings in areas such as business, public administration, education, community mental health counseling, and nursing, to name a few. To make the most of these opportunities, we are

16 creating an office exclusively for members of the military to assist them with all their educational needs.

Conclusion The past four years of budget challenges have taught us a very valuable lesson. All of our ambitions, regardless of what they are, depend upon one very pragmatic principle: We must be financially sound to offer quality programs, to attract and retain quality employees, to provide fair compensation, and expand our reach and service to the region. Without proper resources, we cannot be what we aspire to be.

So, as I conclude today’s address, I want to remind you that each of us plays a role in our institution’s well-being. Since enrollment is now the institution’s financial driver, we must consider how our actions impact the recruitment and retention of students:

 If you work in facilities: well-maintained buildings and grounds establish the atmosphere for student satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Our facilities people do a great job, and they deserve our gratitude. We must maintain this high standard and strive to reach even higher.  If you work with or interact with our students in any capacity, remember: The way you handle their requests affects how they feel about this university. And how they feel about this university affects whether or not they will stay. Take a personal interest in every student’s request and try your hardest to resolve the issue. If you must refer the problem to someone else, do so personally. Simply giving the student a name to contact often leads to campus bounce, where requests bounce from one office to the next without resolution. Don’t bounce them. Help them. Take personal responsibility for them.

Be like Chris Scott, one of our employees in facilities. Last Saturday during student orientation, Sarah and I were walking the campus and met up with Chris who had a student in his gator. Chris had stopped to talk to the student on the north side of campus and learned that he needed to be on the south side. So, Chris, ever smiling, took personal responsibility and transported the student where he needed to be.

Treating a student or his or her family with respect and care keeps our students feeling cared for. That approach is wise in terms of retention; more importantly, it reflects a personal touch—one of our core values.

 Faculty members have the most complex role of all. o We count on you to be the academic innovators who continually refresh academic programs and introduce new methodologies. You are the ones who inspire and motivate our students through your actions.

17 o We count on you to provide challenging and stimulating instruction, but also offer academic support when needed. Providing support doesn’t mean lowering the bar; it means giving a little of your time and using the resources that are available to you and your students: the Early Alert system, the Center for Academic Excellence, Disability Support Services, and the Writing Center. o We count on you to identify and refer students who need more than routine academic or emotional support. Reach out to struggling students and get them to the right resource. The Counseling and Testing Center, Student Health Services, and the Care Team are ready to help.

I have quoted John Donne in a previous speech: “No man is an island unto himself.” I use the quotation again today to suggest that a strong community is a foundation for a successful organization. So today, I ask you to rededicate yourself to being a part of the UNCP family. Make a personal investment in your institution. Be involved in the business of the institution, whatever your job title is. But don’t stop there. Join the life of the university. Attend and experience university events. Cheer on one of your students at a sporting event; attend his or her performance in a play, a recital, or a show. Catch a lecture or performance by one of our faculty or a visiting scholar or lecturer. Attend university receptions, dinners, and award ceremonies. Get to know your colleagues and your students. And remember, even if you aren’t an instructor, they are still your students. They are our students.

Resolve to be more involved this year as we celebrate 125 years as an institution. Being part of something greater than yourself is meaningful and rewarding—and a lot of fun! Start today. Join us at the Health Sciences Building ribbon-cutting ceremony this afternoon at 3 p.m. And at the end of the day, Sarah and I look forward to seeing you at the Welcome Back reception at the Chancellor’s Residence.

It’s an exciting time in the life of the university. Let’s make it a great year. Thank you for all you do!