UNC-system happenings for Oct. 15, 2014

ECU hosts underwater expert

Jean-Michel Cousteau, a distinguished underwater explorer, called for action to protect endangered ocean resources at a recent lecture he gave at East Carolina University. 

Cousteau’s mission to preserve oceans and sea life was first inspired by his father, Jacques Cousteau.

The younger Cousteau said every person is connected to water and to oceans, so decisions made about how endangered ocean resources are managed have significant global impacts.

Chemicals in trash eventually make their way to water systems that flow into the oceans and impact marine life, he said.

“Marine debris is a global problem with a global solution,” he said.

UNCW gets $1 million grant

UNC-Wilmington received a $1 million grant from the U.S. State Department to partner with the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

It’s the biggest State Department grant a UNC-system school has received to date.

The grant will allow UNC-W to conduct faculty and student exchanges with the Islamic school and encourage research and teaching collaborations between the schools.

Tara Romanella, a UNC-W media relations specialist, said in an email that UNC-W’s commitment to the best practices in applied learning and its emphasis on American literature helped secure the grant.

She said all students will have the opportunity to get involved in the activities.

UNC-C helps settle coal ash

Faculty members at UNC-Charlotte will be directly involved in Duke Energy’s efforts to drain and close its coal ash impoundments nationwide. 

The faculty will join national experts on a board tasked with reviewing Duke’s implementation of the new state coal ash policy. 

John Daniels, the board’s chairman, said the board is funded by Duke.

“Each of the panelists have to sign a conflict of interest, and none of them can be funded by Duke personally,” Daniels said.

Daniels said part of his job as chair is to ensure that the panel covers the range of expertise required for this issue — including dam stability, environmental risk assessment and community engagement.

NC A&T is largest HBCU in US

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University has been named the nation’s largest historically black college, with an enrollment of more than 10,700 students. 

Akua Matherson, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at N.C. A&T, said in an email that the university has been improving its recruitment strategies for the past three years.

N.C. A&T also continues to increase the percentage of students who return each year in good academic standing, she said.

“We didn’t set out to become the nation’s largest HBCU in terms of enrollment,” Matherson said. “This verifies that our plan is working.”