CONSTRUCTION EDUCATION OVERVIEW
Evan Duff President North Carolina Wesleyan College
lion’s share of either institution’s revenue, other revenue streams — athletics, dining halls, dorms, student clubs, media rights, donor contributions, ticket sales — are also heavily dependent on in-person interactions and massive gatherings, both of which were hampered by the pandemic. In one example, the UNC System Board of Governors returned more than $188.9 million to students across the state in on-campus room and board payments once it went full remote, and that is only half of the 2020 semester. Commonly referred to as auxiliary enterprises, these alternate revenue streams could represent a $340 million hit across the Triangle should they reflect a 50% reduction for the three landmark institutions, according to an American City Business Journals analysis cited in the Triangle Business Journal. Despite the dire revenue news, schools went ahead with expansions even amid the COVID-19 crisis. Private Triangle independent school Thales Academy has school openings slated for Cary and Pittsboro for the 2021-22 academic year, as well as a Clayton campus slated for 2023. In parallel, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School is looking beyond the Raleigh-Durham region and setting up shop in Charlotte to offer its MBA program. At full capacity, the Charlotte location will extend over 3,000 square feet of office and classroom space.
In what ways is the school assisting transfer students? Since 2011, we’ve had a big focus on ensuring that students who have previous college coursework from up to five different schools can have a seamless way to transfer their credits. There is no time limit on college credits so if a student took a course 20 years ago, that still counts, and we include that in their graduation plan. We also recognize transfer courses that some other institutions may not. We used to only accept 60 hours of transfer from a community college but we now allow them to transfer an additional 15 hours of general education credit for a total of 75 hours of transfer credit. Through research and best practices, the only way to meet state and federal attainment goals for undergraduates is to simplify the process and recognize all academic accomplishments. We consider military and law enforcement training and other viable learning experiences on a case-by-case basis. What changes are you expecting in the new landscape and what is your near-term outlook? With the new presidential administration, I anticipate a greater amount of funding for colleges in general but more so for minority serving colleges. There may be some changes in the community college system – perhaps not free tuition but perhaps some programs that leverage costs. It’s too early to anticipate any regulation that would hinder what we do, and I don’t think that always comes from a federal level. There is a lot of information out there about what colleges should be focusing on, from AI to better modes of delivery of education. I do think colleges will need to be more creative and part of this will be through the creation of partnerships. We have a partnership with a major firm known as the ActOne Group, which is a recruiting firm that will be on our campus working in partnership with our career services offices. www.capitalanalyticsassociates.com
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