UNC-system happenings for August 18

N.C. A&T explores STEM field

Middle school minority boys will work with local innovators at N.C. Agricultural & Technical State University to develop technology-related skills in the newly dubbed Minority Male Makers Program. According to its website, Verizon started the program with N.C. A&T because African-American men account for only 5 percent of college students and are more likely than any other ethnic group in the United States not to finish high school on time, to be unemployed or to be incarcerated.

The program lasts four weeks during the summer and will have check-in sessions and ongoing mentoring programs throughout the 2015-16 school year.

$1.58 million grant for FSU

Fayetteville State University’s Department of Special Programs secured a $1.68 million grant in August.

The U.S. Department of Education gave $270 million to 968 institutions of higher education to increase the number of low-income college students, first-generation students and those with disabilities who successfully complete postsecondary education.

“For over 20 years FSU’s Student Support Services has assisted in retaining and producing graduates and we are excited about continuing the work,” Andrea Neal, the director of special programs at FSU, told the Board of Governors.

UNC-P goes solar for cells

UNC-Pembroke took steps in environmental sustainability over the summer by adding a solar-powered smart table where students can charge their phones and two new electric car-charging stations.

The university’s Sustainability Office also plans to make the campus carbon neutral by 2050. A $1.3 million LED-light replacement plan is set to begin in the 2015-16 school year. UNC-P expects costs to be paid back in seven years. The project is part of a $26 million program across 14 state universities.

“The race is on to reduce our carbon footprint,” Jay Blauser, UNC-P’s sustainability director, said in a news release.

Transgender policy at ECU

Transgender students at East Carolina University will now have a more clearly defined place on club and intramural teams.

In July, ECU released a new policy on transgender student participation in club and intramural sports.

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As it stands, transgender individuals at ECU can now join club and intramural sports teams of the gender they identify with.

To discourage individuals who would try to claim to be transgender to fill a missing spot on a different team, a transgender student must participate as a single gender during a year.