“(Surviving on Mars) will be a challenge, I’m sure, but I know that we can do it,” he said. “I think that we now have the technology to demonstrate its feasibility.”
UNC-A chancellor to retire
UNC-Asheville Chancellor Anne Ponder announced her retirement Tuesday after nine years of service to the university.
She is the second-longest serving chancellor of UNC-A, after the university’s first chancellor. Ponder is the sixth chancellor.
She will retire at the end of July. The reasons of her retirement were not announced.
UNC-system President Tom Ross and UNC-A Board of Trustees Chairman King Prather will begin the process to select UNC-A’s next chancellor, according to a UNC-A press release.
Under Ponder’s leadership, UNC-A’s diversity increased to the highest recorded levels.
During her tenure as chancellor, Ponder was recognized for her efforts to increase university outreach to businesses and communities in western North Carolina, and her collaboration with other UNC-system schools.
Ponder expanded the university both physically and academically, overseeing the largest building program in UNC-A history and adding several new majors, including anthropology or religious studies.
UNC-P to help business startups
UNC-Pembroke unveiled plans for a business incubator, designed to give fledgling businesses a head start in the Pembroke community.
The program will be launched in 2015.
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The incubator is predicated to create 115 jobs and generate $1.15 million in three years, said Assistant Vice Chancellor for Engaged Outreach Cammie Hunt.
In six years, the incubator will generate 230 jobs and $2.3 million, she said.
Hunt will serve as one of the administrators for the incubator.
Firms will be evaluated three years into their stint in the program to see if they are ready to leave, and more firms will cycle in, she said.
Hunt said the goal is to help firms develop a strong foundation at a cheaper cost than if they established a business in the traditional setting. UNC-P students will be able to intern at firms, particularly entrepreneurship majors.
The university received a $932,000 grant from the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration, and $200,000 from the state’s Golden LEAF Foundation. The remaining funding comes from private sources.
NCCU establishes food pantry
North Carolina Central University has announced plans to open a food pantry for students in February.
Deborah Bailey, director of the Academic Community Service Learning Program, is a member of the campuswide NCCU Food Pantry Committee, a group of students, faculty, staff and alumnae that suggested the creation of the food pantry.
Bailey said a majority of the students at NCCU are financial aid-dependent, and that many work full time in addition to attending classes.
The pantry will start small, but Bailey said she hopes to expand operations so students can go every day.
The food pantry has received support from NCCU’s School of Behavioral Sciences, and has begun to coordinate its effort with other non-profits in the community immediately around the campus.
“The food pantry is no longer that place on the edge of town that only families living in classic poverty go to,” Bailey said. “The food pantry is now a destination for many people, working people.”
