Five years ago, on June 26, 2017, I had the honor of being appointed as the 12th chancellor of North Carolina Central University (NCCU) by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. I took the leadership helm at a time when NCCU was in a period of high growth and innovation and primed for transformational change.
Together with senior leadership, we identified and strategically mapped out six key priorities of focus that would take NCCU forward as a top-ranked regional institution and challenge us in the coming years. The Eagle Promise launched and showcased just how well we produce scholars who graduate in four years, become socially and globally engaged, gain experience in leadership skills and emerge as graduates who are job-ready or equally well qualified to proceed to graduate or professional school. The University of North Carolina’s Strategic Plan, Strategic Directions, was created to track all 17 constituent institutions’ metrics in nine key areas that include completion and graduation rates, degree efficiency and sponsored research dollars. In 2019, NCCU introduced our five-year strategic plan, “Charting a New Landscape for Student-Centered Success.”
Since leading this stellar academic enterprise, we have accumulated a number of accolades. Enrollment is healthy and growing. We created two new colleges as an outgrowth of an academic realignment. The university continues to climb in national rankings. Our research enterprise is thriving. We are logging record-setting private donations and
philanthropic gifts. NCCU has won Mid-Eastern Athletics Conference (MEAC) championships. Durham and the Research Triangle are booming and attracting multinational technology companies.
With so much great progress underway, the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, but did not derail us in boldly moving ahead.
With a swift shift in instructional modality and our students, faculty and staff quickly transitioning to online and hybrid learning, living and working, we proved that preparation truly does lead to a positive outcome. Visionary forethought ensured that our ability to teach and deliver high quality instruction online would only strengthen the standard of excellence we established in distance education. And while we are still optimistically and cautiously working in our ‘new normal’ environment, NCCU remains steadfast in focusing on our No. 1 priority—student success.
The report enclosed provides a detailed overview of NCCU’s successes under my leadership—from new, signature facilities, such as our five capital projects, to partnerships with Fortune 500 corporations and North Carolina Community Colleges. NCCU is soaring, and we have even higher heights to reach.
In Truth and Service, Johnson O. Akinleye, Ph.D Johnson O. Akinleye, Ph.D.
Student success lies at the core of North Carolina Central University. It guides the university’s work and directs efforts to enhance or create new opportunities for students to gain a competitive edge. As the marketplace changes and students seeking degrees desire the conveniences of a flexible educational environment, NCCU is a trendsetter in developing initiatives that meet the diverse needs of the 21st century student. Whether it is training faculty in the newest pedagogy, elevating the university’s new brand presence or increasing resources to offer admission and funding to academically exceptional students, NCCU has delivered solutions to increase student success. At the foundation is accreditation, as NCCU’s 10-year accreditation was reaffirmed in December 2019 by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) with no recommendations or follow ups--a testament to NCCU’s solid academic standing.
Improve NCCU’s brand reputation to embrace student success and offer multiple access points for students entering higher education
NCCU Online, a platform featuring all the university’s fully-online program offerings, launched in July 2017. The university strategically extended the benefit of an NCCU education to students who require the flexibility of online learning. The platform has grown to include 12 bachelor’s and 13 master’s degree programs, as well as seven certificate programs. With the growing number of national distance learners, NCCU provides high quality education in much-indemand career fields, including a Bachelor of Science in Environmental and Geographic Sciences, Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Master of Science in Higher Education Administration. Currently, two hybrid programs are featured in partnership with Wake Technical Community College and Vance-Granville Community College.
Established in 2015, NCCU’s Office of e-Learning provides ongoing professional development and training to ensure faculty are properly trained to develop and deliver effective online courses. The office’s centralized services and personnel train and support faculty teaching online in the development, delivery and assessment of online courses utilizing the Quality Matters rubric, ultimately increasing the number of online degree programs offered at NCCU. More than 497 courses are available online, including general education curriculum pathways that support undergraduate degree programs offered at NCCU. The office works in close partnership with NCCU’s Office of Faculty Professional Development.
Percentage of Students Exclusively Enrolled in Online Courses Fall 2021 6,551 Students/ 51% Increase
Total # of Students Exclusively Enrolled in Online Courses-Fall 2017 to Fall 2021
80%
Percentage of Faculty Trained in Research-based Best Practices for Online & Digital Learning
288
Trainings and Designations from the Office of e-Learning 2021-2022
NCCU welcomed 18 scholars from among 200 candidates who were nominated to apply for the inaugural Cheatham-White Merit Scholars Program in fall 2018. This full-ride scholarship initiative was created by the N.C. General Assembly in 2017 for incoming freshmen at NCCU and N.C. A&T State University, the state’s two largest historically black universities. The awards cover tuition, room and board, student fees, books, a laptop computer, supplies and personal expenses, including four summer experiences that could include international studies. The cash value of each scholarship is estimated at $75,000, and NCCU matches the state funding for each scholarship dollar for dollar.
Total Number of Cheatham-White Scholars As of May 2022
Joshua lan Parrish Graduated in 2020; Currently a Juris Doctor Candidate at Wake Forest University School of Law
The dual-degree program in physics and engineering, created in partnership between North Carolina Central and North Carolina State (NC State) universities, has produced its first graduate.
Pryor Gibson IV of Raleigh, N.C., received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from NC State on May 5, 2022. And in Commencement exercises the next day at NCCU, he was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics.
In the dual-degree format, students spend three academic years at NCCU to complete the requirements for a major in physics, then transfer to NC State for two academic years studying one of four engineering programs, including electrical and mechanical.
Gibson completed the program in just four years, because he arrived at NCCU with more than a year’s worth of college credits, earned at Wake Early College of Health and Sciences. But not far behind him are 16 other students enrolled in the 3 Plus 2 Dual Degree Program as of spring 2022, including five who have already moved on to NC State for the engineering phase.
THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTIONCentral’s my home. People wanted me to succeed so much. It’s family – they want you to be the best person you can be, and they are willing to help you get there.”PRYOR GIBSON IV Chancellor Akinleye and Dr. Warwick Arden, provost and executive vice chancellor at NC State.
Pryor Gibson IV celebrates graduation day at NCCU with classmates and faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Physics.
Gibson’s excellent academic record at Wake Early College meant he had many options for higher education. He chose NCCU. “Being a person and not a number at a small-to-medium sized school was very important to me,” he said. “NCCU was willing to invest in me – they actually wanted me to succeed – and I think that has paid back in massive amounts in my personal development.”
NCCU’s investment included a CheathamWhite Merit Scholarship. For Gibson, this also included a research internship at Georgia Institute of Technology in the summer of 2019.
At NCCU, Gibson said, “I found a group or community that accepted me for who I was and wanted me to grow as a student, as a person and as a researcher.”
Like all students in the program who transfer to NC State, Gibson received financial aid through NCCU’s DREAM STEM program, supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, according to Tanina Bradley, Ph.D., a professor in the NCCU Mathematics and Physics Department who serves as the adviser to the 3 Plus 2 Program.
The program has now been expanded to include a mathematics curriculum, Bradley said. Starting in fall 2022, students will be able to enroll as either math or physics majors. And at NC State, the options have already widened to include civil, environmental and computer engineering.
The 3 Plus 2 Program been expanded to include a mathematics curriculum. Starting in fall 2022, students will be able to enroll as either math or physics majors. And at NC State, the options have already widened to include civil, environmental and computer engineering.
That turned out to be an important foundation for him when he transferred in 2020 to the NC State campus that was in full COVID-19 lockdown. “When I first came over, it was difficult to adjust,” he said. “I had the confidence to reach out to people and work together. I think NCCU gave me the ability to say, ‘Hey, I’m willing to reach out, to network, and do what I need to get done.’”
Gibson, meanwhile, is moving ahead full steam, having already taken some graduate courses at NC State. He expects to receive a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering in one year. After that, he plans to enter a Ph.D. program in physics at Georgia Tech. And he gives credit to NCCU for putting him on this successful track.
“Central’s my home,” he said. “People wanted me to succeed so much. It’s family – they want you to be the best person you can be, and they are willing to help you get there.”
NCCU’s reaccreditations include the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN) (2018), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SASCCOC) (2019), Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) (2019), American Bar Association (ABA) (2020), Council on Social Work Education (2021), American Chemical Society (2021), Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) (2022), Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (2022) and Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) (in progress). New accreditations include the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) (2021), Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs and Administration (2021) and National Association of Schools of Music (2022).
A software checklist designed to ensure students have completed and provided NCCU with information critical to their success prior to registration for orientation was formally launched in 2021. The program is a collaboration between the Division of Student Affairs, the Division of Academic Affairs and Information Technology Services.
A new university website, NCCU.edu, launched in 2019, for which NCCU was the winner of the HBCUGrow Lead 2020 Platinum Award. The highly interactive online platform was designed to incorporate multimedia and showcase NCCU’s brand distinctiveness and academic and athletic accomplishments. Currently, an external marketing agency is working to amplify brand awareness, shape brand perception, and boost campus engagement for NCCU through three marketing campaigns.
NCCU athletics continued to be a prominent force in the Mid-Eastern Athletics Conference (MEAC). Student-scholars’ stellar academic profile assists in earning NCCU a strong Academic Progression Rate, or APR, a requirement of the NCAA. The men’s basketball program secured three, consecutive MEAC Tournament wins and other programs have posted monumental seasons. Adding to the portfolio was a women’s golf program that began in fall 2021.
NCCU’s Jazz Studies Program participated in the inaugural Jack Rudin Jazz Competition at Lincoln Center in New York City in 2020. The university was invited back in 2022, where the Jazz Ensemble placed third overall among the nation’s top 10 most well-regarded university jazz programs and received two group and two individual awards.
Expand NCCU’s portfolio of academic offerings and research initiatives and provide new opportunities for global immersion.
Innovation has driven NCCU since its founding in 1910 and remains the basis for establishing new academic and research initiatives that increase the intellectual climate of the university. NCCU is committed to extending opportunities to undergraduate and graduate scholars for engagement in robust teaching, research and learning exchanges inside and outside the classroom, as well as in NCCU’s state-of-the-art laboratories and research institutes. A steady increase in research and sponsored grant funding and the expansion of partnerships with companies and organizations in the Research Triangle Park and beyond have effectively positioned and primed NCCU’s research enterprise for continued growth. The university continues to be a leader in the study of health disparities that impact communities of color.
In 2019, NCCU introduced a five-year strategic plan titled, “Charting a New Landscape for Student Centered Success.” This innovative and transformational plan includes four central goals and corresponding objectives that successfully strengthen the university and define how students are prepared for the global marketplace. Several objectives and deliverables have already been completed for each goal.
Number of New Academic Degree Programs
Fall 2017-Spring 2022
Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences
Bachelor of Science in Clinical Research
Bachelor of Science in Sports Medicine
Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics
Bachelor of Science in Information Technology
Master of Science in Higher Education Administration
Master of Education in Assistive Technology in Visual Impairment
Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences
New Degree Programs Presented to UNC System Summer 2022
Doctorate of Psychology
Bachelor of Fashion and Apparel Design
Ed.D. in Counseling, Counselor Education and Supervision*
Ed.D. in Educational Leadership*
* In Planning
NCCU’s rapid growth facilitated the need for the university to increase its investments in vital infrastructure including contemporary living and learning facilities, an enriched academic experience and high-touch learning environments.
Implementation of an academic affairs realignment began on July 1, 2020, transforming the university’s largest colleges into two new colleges: the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CASH) and the College of Health and Sciences (CHAS). Two new academic degree departments—the Department of Communication Disorders and the Department of Nutrition Science—were created and one department was renamed to be the Department of Art and Design. The realignment results support the university’s strategic plan.
Additionally, NCCU began offering eight new degree programs between fall 2018 and spring 2022; four additional programs will be presented to the UNC System in summer 2022. Each program fills a critical, emerging or future workforce need, especially in areas such as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)—all with a goal of preparing a diverse group of talent with the potential to lead organizations and companies in Durham, the Research Triangle, throughout North Carolina, around the nation and worldwide.
NCCU and Duke University established a formal partnership, valued at $1.9 million, in late 2017 to advance translational science and improve health outcomes in underrepresented communities. This was the same year that began the third renewal of Duke Clinical Translational Sciences Institute’s (CTSI) award from the National Institutes of Health. The infrastructure and experienced staff and scientists supported by the Duke grant served as the foundation for the partnership, with teams from both universities developing plans for three core areas: workforce development, pilot projects and community engagement.
In 2019, collaborative efforts between the two institutions increased significantly and expanded to multiple programs and departments, leading to the establishment of the Duke-NCCU Bridge Office in 2021. The office has
supported the development and funding of a Duke-NCCU partnership grant funded by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to address Stress First Aid for faculty and students in demanding professions. A joint multi-disciplinary summer internship program supports workforce development for clinical and translational sciences, with NCCU students training at Duke with CTSI faculty and staff. Notably, multiple faculty from NCCU’s two research institutes—BBRI and the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Technology Enterprise, or BRITE—along with departments including social work, nursing, public health education, mass communications and psychology are actively engaged in interdisciplinary research and student training programs.
The workforce development team launched a certificate
program in clinical sciences research and clinical trials management.
Six pilot research studies have been funded, each coled by an NCCU and Duke investigator. The community engagement team has produced and presented four ethnodramas to encourage awareness and screening for diseases and viruses, such as COVID-19 and cervical cancer. NCCU partnered with faithbased and African-American community organizations to collect information regarding the use of mindbody-spirit/soul practices for the purpose of relieving and managing stress and maintaining overall health and well-being. Data collected will be used to develop multiple interventions for the effective management of stress.
Members of the NCCU and Duke CTSI teams following “Write Now We Will Heal,” an ethnodrama on cervical cancer produced by social scientists at both institutions.
Clinical research, a branch of health science that studies the safety and effectiveness of medicines, medical devices and medical treatments, is massive in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina, where more than 120 companies and nonprofit organizations employ tens of thousands of people.
The industry is constantly hungry for employees and for human subjects to take part in the many phases of testing, but there is widespread recognition of a need for greater diversity. Participation by people of color, especially African-Americans, is low.
NCCU’s new Clinical Research Sciences program is uniquely positioned to address both the region’s need for clinical research workers and the industry’s need to diversify – and to provide students with a clear path to a career in a growing, high-paying field.
“The job market is really hot,” says Ping-An (Andy) Li, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences at NCCU’s BRITE. He notes that one of the largest clinical research organizations in the world, a company called IQVIA, is based in Durham. It employs more than 80,000 people around the globe. Syneos Health, headquartered in Morrisville, has more than 25,000 workers. Extensive clinical research is also conducted at Duke, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the region’s numerous pharmaceutical companies.
The job market is such that employers are hiring students untrained in Clinical Research – mostly biology and chemistry majors – so those with actual CR training have a big edge.”
PING-AN (ANDY) LI, M.D., PH.D.Dr. Andy Li, chair of NCCU’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, prepares students for careers in clinical research. THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTION
Recognizing the opportunity for NCCU, Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye called in 2017 for the establishment of a clinical research program.
Li was assigned to develop the curriculum, which was approved by the University of North Carolina System in 2019.
The curriculum is a fouryear course of study leading to a Bachelor of Science degree in Clinical Research.
A second track consists of 12 credit hours of study leading to a graduate certificate in Clinical Research. It is open to students who already hold a B.S. in a STEM discipline, such as biology or chemistry, and to upperlevel undergraduates who are working toward such degrees.
The first students in the fouryear program are still a year or more away from receiving degrees, but the certificate program has already produced 20 graduates, including nine who received their certificate in spring of 2022.
Job training in how to conduct and manage clinical trials of new drugs is the focus. “The curriculum was designed based on the industry’s input,” Li says. “The job market is such
that employers are hiring students untrained in Clinical Research – mostly biology and chemistry majors – so those with actual CR training have a big edge.”
The program is led by Tracie Locklear, Ph.D., research assistant professor at BRITE. In addition to rigorous instruction in clinical trial management and practices, Locklear says, students are continually reminded of the underlying purpose of the NCCU program. The clinical research industry, she says, needs more diversity not just in its workforce, but also among participants in the testing process.
certificate in spring 2022. A Raleigh resident, Rutherford has been working as a nursing assistant at WakeMed Hospital, and says her certificate will provide “a way to utilize my clinical and education experience.” Her next step is a paid internship at Duke CTSI.
TRACIE LOCKLEAR, PH.D.Feedback from students is very positive. “It’s an awesome program,” says Paris Rutherford, who graduated in 2020 with a degree in Public Health Education and returned to NCCU to earn her CR
Likewise headed for a Duke internship is Kshitij Kumar, who received his CR certificate in spring 2022 after previously earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in environmental science at NCCU. A Durham resident, Kumar particularly praises Locklear as a “great professor” and says he expects the Duke experience will provide “a foot in the door” toward a clinical research career in private industry or at a university.
Dr. Tracie Locklear, director of NCCU’s Clinical Research Program, (left) with recent certificate earner Paris Rutherford
We talk about health disparities, we talk about health equity. And I heavily plug their roles and responsibilities as far as increasing diversity in the workforce.
partnership between North Carolina Central University and RTI International marked a milestone in May 2022 with the formal opening of the NCCU-RTI Center for Applied Research in Environmental Sciences (CARES) and an accompanying shared laboratory on RTI’s campus in Research Triangle Park.
Together, researchers from both institutions will study environmental health disparities — the role the environment plays in the disproportionate adverse health impacts on underserved populations.
CARES will draw on NCCU’s strengths as a regional leader in health equity research, and on RTI’s outstanding scientists and state-ofthe industry laboratories. The partnership began in 2019 with an agreement between the university and RTI that set forth a mission to engage in health disparities research in ways that would inform and shape public policy.
Beyond the scientific importance of the research, the partnership has symbolic significance, because RTI occupies a prominent place in the history of the region. It has grown into a renowned global nonprofit research
THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTION
Dr. Keith Levine, senior director of analytical sciences at RTI, Ms. Tamara Terry, research survey scientist and RTI-NCCU relationship manager in the University Collaborations Office at RTI, join Dr. Deepak Kumar, director of BBRI, in the new CARES lab.
Dr. Suresh Niture, research scientist at NCCU’s BBRI, and Dr. Wanda Bodnar, research scientist in the Discovery Sciences Division at RTI, collaborate in the CARES lab.
organization with 6,000 employees and offices on four continents.
Keith Levine, Ph.D., senior director of analytical sciences at RTI, said NCCU and RTI jointly have invested several hundred thousand dollars for this initial phase of the CARES laboratory. The lab occupies about 1,700 square feet and contains “advanced instrumentation, including multiple mass spectrometers and instruments to visualize live cells, to improve our understanding of the presence of chemicals in the environment and the impact that these chemicals have on biological systems,” Levine said.
In the CARES lab, RTI scientists and staff will work with NCCU students and faculty to study aspects of environmental exposure, toxicology and epidemiology.
De’ Jana Parker, a fourth-year Ph.D. student at NCCU, described one project already well underway. “There are air quality sensors all around Durham measuring the amount of particulate matter,” she said. “We know that health disparities result from air quality differences in different locations. We want to isolate the particulate matter that we collect and determine how it affects our laboratory
mice. Poor air quality has been clearly linked to pulmonary diseases, and this will help us understand how and why.”
What’s really cool at RTI, is that they have staff available to train the students. Any piece of equipment that’s there, if you don’t know how to use it, you can receive training. That’s really helpful for the Ph.D. students.
DE’ JANA PARKERThe benefits of the partnership flow in both directions. Levine said the CARES facility enhances RTI’s laboratory capabilities, particularly with “additional cellular and animal models.” And the collaboration with NCCU faculty and students, he said, provides “an expanded and diversified STEM talent pool.”
Parker agrees. “I think the RTI team enjoys mentoring the next generation of scientists. They can help train and encourage the students at NCCU – people who are interested in working in the industry. It’s a good recruiting tool.”
Leaders from NCCU, RTI International, the University of North Carolina System, Environmental Protection Agency and community partners celebrate the opening of the new CARES lab.
Founded in 2017 by Chancellor Akinleye, the Eagle Academic Affairs Innovation Initiative was a university-wide funding program founded to spark innovations in academic programs, foster growth in enrollment, enhance the distinction of NCCU and improve student development.
The grants, totaling more than $280,000 in Year 1 alone, supported projects that addressed challenges in the communities that NCCU serves through initiatives that foster innovation to solve key problems and best advance new directions to enhance the university’s distinction in research, teaching and engagement.
+ “Enhancement of Comprehension of Informed Consent, Employing an Audio Enhanced Approach,” by Barry Shuster, J.D., MBA, MS, Bioethics, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Business Law and Ethics, (NCCU) and Brenda Jamerson, Pharm. D., Adjunct Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral and Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine; and
+ “Diversity in Cybersecurity: Increasing Career Opportunities for Underrepresented Minority Groups,” by Erastus Karanja, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Computer Information Systems.
NCCU was awarded a five-year, $16.3 million grant by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in late 2017. It is the largest annual grant amount received for a nonTitle III grant by NCCU and the largest funding for a single principal investigator on the campus, Deepak Kumar, Ph.D., director of BBRI. The grant established a Research Center in Minority Institutions Center (RCMI) Center for Health Disparities Research (RCHDR) that conducted three innovative basic biomedical and behavioral research projects, along with health disparities research pilot projects involving robust mentoring, development of core facilities and leveraging of resources and partnerships with community-based organizations and neighboring institutions in the Research Triangle area.
DOLLARS GENERATED & AWARDS RECEIVED YEAR TO DATE.
$25,713,618 and 73 Awards
as of June 17, 2022
As Compared to $24,877,039 and 80 Awards
as of June 17, 2021
A $1.4 million, five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education will help first-generation low-income, rural and underrepresented students access higher education.
NCCU and Cape Fear Community College launch new Dual Admissions Partnership.
Pictured: Mr. Jim Morton, President of Cape Fear Community College and NCCU Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye
Expand partnerships with higher education institutions, community colleges, K-12, private industry and nonprofits to recruit, support and employ students.
Every student’s journey to obtaining their degree takes a different path. It could be the traditional route from secondary education, a non-traditional track that includes time spent at another fouryear institution or the completion of an associate’s degree at a community college. Graduate students, too, have distinctive stories and often start their degree programs with varying levels of experience and at different points during their lives. No matter the student and their unique story, NCCU seeks to educate, advise, matriculate and graduate academically astute global leaders who are empowered to be change agents in their communities and chosen industry.
Made possible by the generous gifts contributed by corporations and foundations, alumni, friends of NCCU and faculty and staff, the university provides financial support to deserving students. These gifts also invest in campus operations, athletics programming, as well as the university’s aspirations and most significant needs. A culture of philanthropy has contributed to significant increases in donations from all constituency groups, most especially corporate partners.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. awarded NCCU $1.5 million in early 2022 to name the 200-person auditorium in the School of Business’ new facility and also name a new academic program. The award will provide curriculum development, faculty recruitment and student scholarships.
A $1.8 million grant from North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation created the “North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Program in Biotech: Lean into STEM and the Future” in late 2021.
The award is in partnership with NCCU’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and BRITE. The goal is to expand educational opportunities and provide science and research exposure to more underrepresented minorities by creating a new pipeline of students obtaining degrees in pharmaceutical sciences, clinical research and other science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, degrees.
TikTok Inc. made a $1 million gift to NCCU in 2020 focused on public health and professions in the medical and healthcare fields. The award provides scholarships for NCCU students from underrepresented groups studying medicine, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) planning to enter careers in medicine, science, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
PNC Foundation awarded $719,000 to NCCU in 2022 as part of the PNC North Carolina HBCU Initiative, an effort that aims to enrich the future of entrepreneurship and create workforce opportunities in the state. The threeyear grant will establish the North Carolina Central University Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED), a university-based program that will provide CEED Student Fellows with entrepreneurial and community economic development education and comprehensive small business finance training, with the encouragement to become community development investors.
A $1.53 million grant from the Institute of Education Sciences is supporting the Research Institute for Scholars of Equity, or RISE Program, in the School of Education, which supports African American and Latinx students who are underrepresented among candidates seeking doctoral degrees in the United States. This five-year grant follows an award from 2016 and continues an interdisciplinary training program for RISE 2.0. The initiative supports 11 fellows who will participate in an eight-week boot camp designed to provide them with experience conducting mixed-methods education research, year-round mentorship and support preparing for doctoral study.
NCCU’s School of Education is a training ground for leading educators who serve in classrooms and lead school districts throughout North Carolina and the nation. In addition to providing instructional and administrative preparation for careers in the education profession, the School of Education partners with school districts across North Carolina to train educators actively working in the profession. The School of Education established a unique licensure pathway in Person and Duplin counties to
increase the number of qualified and diverse rural teachers. The first Person County Teacher Assistant to Teaching Professional (TA2TP) cohort graduated in May 2022. A variety of professional development opportunities have been provided to Warren County Schools and its teachers. These opportunities include Praxis II support and in-service training on classroom management and social-emotional learning.
Additionally, a unique program that launched in late 2021 is already bearing fruit in closing the gap in training future minority teachers. With only 2% of classroom teachers being men of color or African American males, the School of Education established the Marathon Teaching Institute. The program provides its members with first hire opportunities, school district partnerships, mentorship with educators across the nation and NCCU Alumni Educator Network to increase the pool of more diverse teachers, counselors, principals, superintendents and doctoral recipients in education. The first cohort included four students— three elementary education majors and one English major—and a second cohort of five male students was inducted in April 2022.
An intentional focus on building additional partnerships with the North Carolina Community College System has proved successful in further broadening the university’s outreach in recruiting students from across the state.
Memorandums of Understanding were signed with the following campuses since 2017:
2017 Eagle Access with Alamance Community College
2020 Eagle Voyage with Vance-Granville Community College Expansion
2021 Cape Fear Community College
2022 Fayetteville Technical Community College
Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye and Vance-Granville Community College President Rachel Desmarais sign the Eagle Voyage agreement at the BRITE laboratory/classroom building.Intel Corporation awarded NCCU $5 million in 2021 for the School of Law to produce technology-conscious lawyers who will use technology in alignment with the school’s mission of facilitating the efficient, effective, and ethical practice of law and increasing the access of legal information and services to underserved communities. NCCU is the only HBCU and only law school in the country with a Tech Law Center that focuses on technology disparities and social justice. The center aims to produce diverse technology law experts to serve the changing needs of those seeking legal advice and representation and facilitate the engagement in meaningful technology-related policy discussions to ensure that technology law, regulations, and implementation are used to create a more just society that does not marginalize African American communities.
One year into the partnership, three students served as NCCU-Intel Summer Associates during summer 2021. Ten minority Legal Eagles were selected as NCCU-Intel Social Justice and Racial Equity Scholarship awardees; each received $10,000 to help fund their studies.
+ A Law & Technology Certificate Program was established;
+ Formal mentorship programs were launched;
+ A virtual Legal Design Derby was co-hosted in partnership with Duke’s Center on Law & Technology; and
+ Students attended law, tech related conferences.
Rising third-year law student and 2021 NCCU Intel Summer Associate Moses Washington described his experience as “a great opportunity that allowed me to rotate between several departments within the company.”
“By spending time in areas including labor, employment, intellectual property, corporate, privacy and security, I had a good overview of in-house legal at Intel.”
Washington noted that he learned to work and manage projects independently, take initiative and understand the power of networking. “I went in with an open mind and was open to seeing the opportunities that existed in technology and law,” he said.
Following an introduction made by Intel’s team, Washington secured an internship for summer 2022 in the Dallas, Texas, office of Perkins Coie LLP, an international law firm.
After completing law school, he plans to work at a law firm with aspirations to work up to the partner track and eventually be head associate with in-house counsel at a major technology company.
Mr. Moses Washington was one of three inaugural NCCU-Intel Summer Associates to receive a scholarship as part of the Intel Corporation $5 million gift awarded to the School of Law.
Ms. Keana Williams is the transfer academic adviser and Eagle Voyage academic and career coach at Vance-Granville Community College.
With increased numbers of adult learners—approximately one million in North Carolina—having some college credits, NCCU has implemented new initiatives to help achieve this population’s dreams of earning their degree.
Keana Williams specializes in opening doors to students who might not otherwise know of the opportunities offered by North Carolina Central University.
From an office at Vance-Granville Community College, 35 miles from the NCCU campus, she recruits and advises transfer students in a program called Eagle Voyage. A partnership between NCCU and the community college, it provides a smooth pathway for students to move from an associate’s degree to a bachelor’s degree.
Accessibility and convenience are the key because most of the students are working adults. “They already have jobs,” Williams says. “For many, it’s a challenge juggling life and school.”
Eagle Voyage, which is part of NCCU’s Division of Extended Studies, offers degree programs in Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education and Child Development and Family Relations. In spring of 2022, 29 students were enrolled, the majority in the Criminal Justice curriculum.
When the program began in 2018, instruction was offered in a mixture of formats. For some courses, members of the NCCU faculty would travel to Vance-Granville once a week for faceto-face instruction, but the COVID-19 pandemic shifted all courses to be entirely online.
THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTION
Non-traditional, adult leaders who are transfer students tend to approach their NCCU courses with a sense of purpose. “I was focused on getting my degree and graduating,” said Ebony Cotton, 28, who earned a B.S. in Criminal Justice in December 2021.
A resident of Franklinton, N.C., Cotton now works as a detention officer at the Franklin County jail in Louisburg.
“This was not my first go-round,” said Cotton, who first tried college in her late teens. “I didn’t want to experience campus life again. I wanted to get the degree.”
Cotton first learned about Eagle Voyage as she walked to class at Vance-Granville. “I saw a poster about the criminal justice program. It said I could get a degree close to home, without having to travel back and forth to Durham. And I’ve always known NCCU was a good university.”
As she gains real-world experience as a corrections officer, Cotton says she plans a career in case management within the corrections system.
“I want to help those who are nearing release,” she says, “and help them post-release. I want to help them find
jobs and other opportunities, so they won’t return to prison.”
Yahaira Kelly Allen’s experience has been similar. Allen, 26, earned an associate’s degree in paralegal technology at Vance-Granville, where the paralegal program connected her to Eagle Voyage. She received her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice in spring 2022.
“The online classes were what made it work for me,” she said. “I needed to work full-time – it was non-negotiable.”
Both Cotton and Allen give credit to Williams, who monitors the progress of everyone in the program, helps them navigate what it takes to ensure they’re registered for the right classes. Williams proudly notes that as a group, the Eagle Voyage Criminal Justice majors boast a GPA of 3.5.
“Ms. Williams has been amazing,” said Allen. “Thanks to her the whole process has gone smoothly.”
“She was the best academic adviser,” said Cotton. “She kept me on the right track.”
The first real estate course at NCCU was taught in Spring 2021, and now NCCU School of Business Master of Business Administration (MBA) students can add real estate as a formal concentration during their time at the university.
NCCU was the first HBCU to introduce a real estate specialization into its MBA program in the Fall of 2021. A who’s who of corporate real estate heavyweights, including JLL and McDonald’s, contributed nearly $2 million to the NCCU School of Business to support the cultivation of the next generation of industry professionals. The funds supported a robust, industry-validated
curriculum constructed by a team of scholars including Emil Malizia, research professor emeritus with the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Ibrahim Salama, chair of the Department of Decision Sciences at NCCU. In addition, the financial support furthers efforts by the School of Business to build a pipeline of diverse talent in the real estate industry through scholarships, fellowships and assistantships expected to attract students from all over the country. In just its first year, enrollment in the concentration is outstripping initial forecasts.
THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTIONSupported by a $300,000 grant from an anonymous donor and a $150,000 award from Cisco, the NCCU School of Business opened a Cybersecurity Lab on October 20, 2020. In direct response to the global need for increased cyber protection, particularly during a time when more and more interaction and transactions are happening digitally, this program has been developed to grant students hands-on preparation to combat these issues. One of the first of its kind within the UNC System, this lab complements a new program for students interested in pursuing a degree in Information Technology with a concentration in cybersecurity.
As strengthening the cybersecurity workforce becomes a greater priority, the nation is increasingly looking to universities to produce skilled and qualified cybersecurity professionals able to defend national networks and infrastructure. Business leaders acknowledge the need to protect networks, systems, devices and data from cybercriminals, cyberthreats and cyberattacks, on behalf of companies and society as a whole.
Facilitate the development of innovative strategies with Durham County, the City of Durham and the Research Triangle to create economic opportunity and revitalization in areas surrounding NCCU.
NCCU is an influential member of Durham and the Triangle region—and the university’s impact dates back nearly 112 years to its founding in the historic Hayti neighborhood near prosperous Black Wall Street. Today, with a growing community of nearly 8,082 students, 1,500 faculty and staff and 37,000 alumni, NCCU remains a trusted community partner. The university’s advocates—from the NCCU Board of Trustees to the Chancellor’s Board of Visitors, which was established in 2019, to the advisory boards for the colleges, schools and research institutes and alumni—include a healthy and influential cross-section of leaders and key stakeholders representing industries from business, education, and healthcare to city, county, state and federal government who are all equally invested in the success of NCCU.
Partnerships with Downtown Durham, Inc., the City of Durham and Discover Durham have helped develop marketing strategies to maximize NCCU’s Homecoming activities, which generate millions annually for the city and county, boosting economic activity for downtown businesses.
Additionally, NCCU’s core of “Truth and Service” is a hallmark of the institution and demonstrated in its community engagement and outreach activities. This service extends into careers for NCCU students. In 2022, NCCU joined the Volcker Alliance Next Generation Service Corps (NextGen Service), a groundbreaking initiative that draws diverse, talented young people into government careers. Through NextGen Service, Schools of Public Service across the country are introducing college students to public service values and building practical, collaborative leadership skills, regardless of their chosen major.
The value of North Carolina Central University can be measured well beyond the power of the education delivered to students. The institution’s far reaching economic impact influences those who are part of the campus community and others who are part of the region. The university conducted an impact study in 2018 and the results illustrate NCCU’s more than half a billion-dollar impact in the six county service area inclusive of Alamance, Durham, Granville, Guilford, Orange and Wake counties.
(As
2018)
of NCCU’s Social Benefits, including $1.7 billion in added income through students’ increased lifetime earnings and increased business output and $109.2 million in social savings related to health, crime, and income assistance in North Carolina
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted everday life at North Carolina Central University classes, labs, athletics, extracurricular activities and social events among them.
But not the tradition of ‘Truth and Service.’
NCCU’s community service program, begun in 1996 as the first of its kind in the UNC system and the first anywhere among HBCUs, hardly missed a beat.
“Our students continued to serve,” says Calleen Herbert, director of NCCU’s Community Engagement and Service. “The requirement of 15 hours of service per semester remained in place. Our students were finding ways to serve.”
That doesn’t mean it was easy. “Many of our community partners found it difficult to serve their clients,” Herbert says, “especially smaller organizations that provided direct service. Some of them shut down at the beginning of the pandemic. Plus, our students were initially sent home.”
But the students, and the service program itself, adapted. “Our efforts shifted toward food security,” Herbert says. Many students performed service in food distribution at food banks locally and nationally.
There were other direct needs. The American Red Cross, an NCCU partner for decades, had a shortfall in blood donations. “Our students stepped up to help fill that gap,”Herbert says.
For many students, fulfilling their service requirement means choosing one specific organization or activity. Others, however, seek out more variety. Take, for example, Jessie Malit.
Malit is a standout defensive lineman on the football team, and a standout volunteer in the service program. He has worked at the Food
Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. He has volunteered at shelters for women leaving domestic violence situations in Charlotte and in Concord, N.C., his hometown. He organized a voter registration drive for student athletes in advance of the 2020 election.
He collected and donated hundreds of books to his mother’s home village in Kenya (a campaign that was featured on ABC’s “Good Morning America” in August 2021). And he serves as a leader of a program in which members of the football team visit and read to students at three Durham elementary schools.
“The pandemic made it harder to do a lot of things,” Malit says, “because a lot of organizations didn’t want too many people coming in. And for me personally, it changed everything, because there was no football at all in 2020 and all classes were online or hybrid. It was hard to adjust to that schedule, and it was hard to get out and help in the community.”
Malit received his bachelor’s degree in political science in December 2021 and is now working on a master’s degree in Public Administration. He has one year of football eligibility remaining and expects to play this fall. His service has been recognized with an NCCU Service Impact Award, a national Doris Robinson Scholar Athlete Award and a Newman Civic Fellowship.
What aspect of community service has he found most fulfilling? “For me it was always going into the schools and interacting with the kids. I love working with them. Those kids are our next leaders, and if you play college football, they look up to you. So it’s a great opportunity to impress on them that it’s important to get a good education. It makes it possible for them to do anything they want.”
Reinforce and Invest in Improved Security Measures to Enhance Campus Safety and Well-being
The health, safety and well-being of NCCU students, faculty, staff and visitors are paramount to any university community, and are especially important at NCCU. The university invested in additional safety enhancements to further protect the campus community. These new measures help establish an increased level of comfort for students and employees, while providing critical training and creating an environment that proactively responds to potential crimes and threats.
(SafeStreets 2021)
NCCU was named the safest college campus in the state of North Carolina by YourLocalSecurity. com, a partner of ADT-authorized provider SafeStreets.
NCCU was noted as one of the safest college campuses in the nation by Alarms.org, the official website for the National Council for Home Safety and Security. Out of the 500 campuses on “The Safest Colleges in America” list, NCCU ranked in the top 60th percentile of campuses receiving this accolade.
NCCU’s Chief of Police and Public Safety Damon Williams has an underlying aim for his department. “The goal,” he says, “is to help students graduate.” And that goal governs the way the police department works to keep students safe and out of trouble. “We’re building relationships within the campus community – and empowering our community to be part of our safety initiative,” he says.
At full strength, the department employs 33 sworn officers, serving roughly 8,000 students and about 1,500 employees. “Thirty-three people can’t keep the campus safe on their own,” Williams says, “but if I build relationships and empower the nearly 10,000 people here to help in the mission, that’s how we keep it safe.”
The chief makes a point of having lunch with students three times a week, and other officers make similar outreach efforts. “We learn one another’s names,” he says, “and with that, the students will call us and report things before they happen. That means we can often preempt trouble or jump on things before they escalate.”
The university has invested more than $3.03 million in recent years to improve safety, much of it involving technology. An upgraded alert system now provides students with real-time information for any emergency – weather, crime, bomb threats – via email, texts and phone calls.
More than 1,690 cameras monitor activity, indoors and out. More than 82 blue-light emergency phones are scattered across the campus.
Alarms installed at residence halls have solved the chronic security problem of exterior doors being propped open. “We now get alarms on all propped residence doors,” Williams says.“Props have declined more than 90 percent.”
Manuhe Abebe, a rising junior elected president of the NCCU Student Government Association for 2022-23, believes the emphasis on relationships rather than enforcement is working.
“Students feel comfortable in going to any campus officer with concerns about potential trouble,” he says. “The officers make an effort to engage the students and will listen.”
“I don’t think it’s surveillance in a negative way,” Abebe says. “I think the top priority is to keep the students safe.”
If student misbehavior occurs, Williams and his officers look for solutions. “We have a judicial system here on campus,” he notes. “If you can defer a matter of student misconduct to that system and keep it out of the criminal justice system, that benefits everyone. It can keep the student on track for graduation.” But he quickly adds: “Not everything! If you do something major, you’re going downtown.”
The police department also works closely with the City of Durham Police Department and Durham County Sheriff’s Department. An agreement extends NCCU’s jurisdiction in an effort to assist with crime prevention in the perimeter surrounding the campus.
Improve and build new infrastructure to better ‘accommodate the NCCU community as it grows and thrives.
Beginning in 2018, NCCU set out to redefine the campus, create new facilities, expand the brand and truly take flight in providing a state-of-the-art campus experience. This included initiatives such as accessing and updating the campus technology infrastructure to establishing a sustainable and actionable plan for future campus growth. Approvals were obtained from the UNC System to designate NCCU as a Millennial Campus—thus establishing NCCU as the first HBCU in the system to do so independent of a joint campus partnership. A series of community conversations and town hall meetings were held, strategic planning development began and partners were sought and hired to imagine and execute the future of NCCU’s footprint. Today, the university is successfully primed for more robust development in the years to come.
The NCCU Student Center was completed in late 2021.
Photo by Jim Sink Photography
A building boom has taken off at North Carolina Central University since 2018. Three new residence facilities are open. The new NCCU Student Center houses services that were previously in the Alfonso Elder Student Union. And the School of Business building will be completed in 2023 at the corner of Alston Avenue and Lawson Street.
It has all happened in less than three years, thanks in large part to NCCU’s designation as a Millennial Campus by the UNC System. That designation gives universities regulatory latitude to finance projects and to collaborate with the private sector on a variety of ventures.
In NCCU’s case, it enabled the university to enter partnerships with private companies to build and operate the residences, and then collect the housing fees that would normally have gone to the university. And it meant NCCU would not be
required to receive an appropriation from the N.C. Legislature or secure approval to finance construction with a bond. The new facilities – George Street Residential Complex, Alston Avenue Apartments and Lawson Street Residential Complex, built at a combined cost of just under $100 million – contain 1,274 beds, all in suites or apartments that dramatically depart from the old residential facility configuration: one room, two beds, bathrooms down the hall. And combined with the new NCCU Student Center, they are transforming campus life.
“During my earlier years here, students simply went home on weekends –there just wasn’t as much to do,” says Derrick C. Stanfield, a May 2022 graduate who served as 2021-22 Student Government Association president.
THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTION The George Street Residential Complex was completed in late 2020.Stanfield lived in Alston Avenue Apartments during his junior and senior years.
“There are so many resources there – it’s not just a place for you to lay your head like a traditional dormitory or residential hall,” he says.
“It creates a living learning community. There are common spaces, computer labs, study spaces – all the resources you need to be successful as a student.”
And the NCCU Student Center is probably my favorite building on campus. It’s an open collaborative place to relax and socialize in various ways. It really promotes student engagement.
Akua Johnson Matherson, the university’s vice
chancellor for administration and finance, says these improvements were, in fact, part of a strategy to improve the quality of life on campus.
“In addition to your outstanding academic offerings, you’ve got to stay new and fresh to provide an environment that students want to come to,” Matherson says.
But there’s more to NCCU’s capital improvements push than the new buildings.
“There are repairs and renovations that the average person won’t really see – utility upgrades, steam upgrades, security upgrades,” Matherson says. “We are an older campus, so there are a
The Alston Avenue Apartments’ first residents moved in during the fall 2020 semester. Mr. Derrick C. Stanfield served as president of the Student Government Association for the 2021-2022 academic year.lot of things underground that, as we move ahead, if we don’t repair them, we’re going to have problems. We’re in a pattern of repair, renovation, and new buildings – and I think we will be in that space for the next five years.”
Matherson made a point of praising state legislators for committing “significant dollars” to NCCU and other UNC System schools for renovation and repairs.
Funding to build the NCCU Student Center came from fees from the students themselves; a $300 annual fee was approved by the student body in 2014.
For the new School of Business building, the financing has been more traditional, starting with $30 million from the Connect NC Bond, a $2 billion general obligation bond approved by state voters in 2016 to
finance capital improvements at UNC System schools, community colleges, state and other local and state entities. The Legislature appropriated $8.6 million more.
“We want to have the best, be the greatest and be an attractive campus for a diverse community,” Matherson says. “We will always retain our designation of a Historically Black College and University, but that also means we are growing to serve a more diverse, selective student population.”
The Lawson Street Residential Complex opened in early 2022.A $1.86 million state-of-the-art television studio opened in April 2019. Funded with Title III support, the high-tech, high-touch facility provides advanced training for students entering the mass communications industry.
A full-service Starbucks opened in 2020 in the James E. Shepard Library.
A 10-year campus Master Plan was approved by the NCCU Board of Trustees in November 2020. It includes new capital building projects; land and space use; space needs; transportation and accessibility; safety, utility and infrastructure needs; and campus landscaping concepts.
A 24/7 Collaborative Learning and Research Center is in development, with an approved design.
An unveiling for the renamed James E. Shepard Administration Building was held in April 2019, following a unanimous vote from the NCCU Board of Trustees.
When COVID-19 entered our society and caused a sudden change in life worldwide in March 2020, the university immediately responded through a coordinated, campuswide effort. The response was led by the COVID-19 Taskforce, with the Office of Environmental Health and Safety and Division of Student Affairs at the helm. Daily and weekly meetings were held to provide recommendations that followed the science and data of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in collaboration with the UNC System, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and Durham County Health Department.
NCCU developed comprehensive mitigation protocols that protected the health and safety of the campus community, including a rigorous testing and contact tracing program and a quarantine and isolation
program. Strict community standards led the university to posting positivity rates consistently well below county, state and nationwide averages. The NCCU COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic started in June of 2022 to serve students, faculty, staff and community members; it remains in operation.
Through the university’s Advanced Center for COVID-19 Related Disparities (ACCORD) program, under BBRI, additional community outreach was funded by more than $3.2 million. A new mobile health unit has also provided testing and vaccinations in four North Carolina counties.
Additionally, financial assistance was provided to students from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to eliminate outstanding debts. Support also included textbooks and e-book vouchers and 1,815 laptop bundles.
40,000 COVID-19
Conducted
From 2020 to May 2022
5,680 COVID-19 Vaccines
Administered
(Students, Faculty, Staff, Community) From 2020 to May 2022
Since 2020
