EXPANDING PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS

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 the 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.

Corporate/Foundation Partnership

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: Learn 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.

Pipelines for Future Scholars

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.

Chancellor Johnson O. Akinleye and Vance-Granville Community College President Rachel Desmarais sign the Eagle Voyage agreement at the BRITE laboratory/classroom building.

Opening New Doors of Opportunity

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.

Memorandum of Understandings 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

THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTION

NCCU-Intel Tech Law and Policy Center Cultivates PracticeReady, Socially- Conscious Attorneys

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.

OTHER KEY ACHIEVEMENTS INCLUDED:

+ A Law & Technology Certificate

Program was established; + Formal mentorship programs were launched;

Intel Corporation awarded NCCU $5 million 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.

+ A virtual Legal Design Derby was co-hosted in partnership with Duke’s

Center on Law & Technology; and + Students attended conferences 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.

THE EAGLE PROMISE IN ACTION

Eagle Voyage Students Soar Through Community College Partnership

Ms. Keana Williams is the transfer academic advisor 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.

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.”