Dear Friend of ECU:
The Purple Alert team makes a difference, not only during the legislative session, but throughout the year. Thanks for all that you do.
Your help with educating members of the General Assembly has resulted in critical funding for key initiatives at ECU. Last year, we were successful in obtaining funds for a school of dentistry at ECU as part of the joint “Plan for Dentistry” to address oral health issues of the state. We were proud to break ground on the historic site in March 2008.
ECU makes a difference for North Carolina in significant needs areas such as teacher preparation and the development of health care professionals. In the 2008 session, the University of North Carolina’s budget request includes capital funds to complete construction of a dental school at ECU and 8-10 service learning sites in underserved areas throughout the state. The UNC budget request also seeks additional funding for a new Family Medicine Center on our Health Sciences Campus. The department of Family Medicine currently has no permanent home. A facility approximately three times the size of the current one is required to meet existing and future needs of this critical program. Finally, it is vital that we secure funds to reimburse the Brody School of Medicine for direct costs incurred for providing medical care to indigent patients in eastern North Carolina.
We will need your help in building support for each of these items.
Elsewhere on the Purple Alert website are talking points about these key priorities, as well as broader initiatives of the UNC system. Please refer to these talking points at that time in the session when we call on you to make contact with members of the General Assembly. Our goal is to speak with “one voice” and we hope that the talking points will serve as the basis for your communication!
I urge you to ask your ECU friends and colleagues to join the Purple Alert team. They may do so by signing up online at www.ecu.edu/purplealert or by calling 252.328.9300.
Thank you for all that you do for East Carolina. You truly make a difference.
Sincerely,
Steve Ballard
Chancellor
