Taking measure of East Carolina as new year begins
The beginning of the fall semester is an exciting, energizing time. The arrival of the students on campus puts a smile on our face and a spring in our step. For those of us who have the privilege of working in higher education, it is like rolling New Year’s Eve, your birthday and the Fourth of July into one.
This new academic year is a special time to be at East Carolina University, and I want to share with you some of the reasons why.
We are the fastest-growing university in North Carolina. New students are flocking to Greenville because of the value that we add to their education, and we are expecting a total enrollment of about 23,500 when classes begin Wednesday. The new freshmen are bringing better grades and higher test scores than ever. We will hire more than 100 new faculty members this year and more than 400 in a three-year period.
We have the largest distance education program in North Carolina—by far. Of all students enrolled exclusively in distance education within the UNC system last fall, more than a quarter were taught by ECU.
We serve the state of North Carolina in many ways, none more important than addressing the critical shortage of teachers and nurses in our state. ECU is the leading producer of new teachers and new nurses in North Carolina, and we are especially proud that 65 percent of our distance education growth last year was in these two areas.
The Brody School of Medicine, while pursuing its legislative mandate to improve the health of residents of eastern North Carolina and to increase the number of underrepresented individuals who are trained as physicians, has become highly ranked in rural medicine and family medicine.
Medical school faculty members have gained international acclaim in areas such as robotic surgery and bariatric surgery. Our physicians are making progress in the effort to identify the molecular trigger for diabetes so that terrible disease can be fully controlled.
With a robust and growing student body and more than 4,600 employees, East Carolina is a powerful economic engine for this entire region. In recent years, campus construction has fueled economic growth even more.
Last year, the university spent more than $57 million dollars on all its active construction projects. That’s an all-time record. Over five years, the total construction spending will amount to close to $300 million. During the new academic year, we will complete the new home for the Schools of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences, a new residence hall for 500 students, and an addition to the Fletcher music building. We will also break ground for the new cardiovascular institute and plan for a new Family Medicine Center.
Two other items are noteworthy as we begin the new semester, and both deal with the future.
First, ECU intends to be the leadership university for North Carolina. This means that all our students, by the time they graduate, will have the opportunity and expectation to develop their leadership skills. This preparation will come from the classrooms, from practical experience gained in the community and throughout the region and through exciting new leadership programs offered in nearly all the schools and colleges across the campus.
Individuals are seldom born leaders. Rather, they are trained, nurtured and developed. We have a responsibility and an opportunity to do this very well, so that our students will be prepared not just to enter the job market, but to create jobs.
Second, we are building programs and opportunities to ensure that our graduates are equipped to succeed and lead in the technology- and knowledge-driven future. Understanding technology and innovation as well as, say, mathematics will be paramount in assuring that one’s skills and professional knowledge do not become commodities.
Our College of Technology and Computer Science has focused its programs and mission on the concepts and implications of the need for innovation. Innovation associated with creation of new economic enterprises and activities is an increasing concern and direction of our College of Business.
Tomorrow, indeed, does start here.
Steve Ballard is chancellor East Carolina University.
