By Staff
Provost, faculty members head east to recruit students
By DAN PARSONS, Staff Writer
Representatives of North Carolina Central University are visiting areas in eastern North Carolina to educate prospective students on what the Durham school offers.
Their effort is part of their fourth-annual recruitment bus tour of the region.
Friday morning, Jones and NCCU faculty members met with counselors and students at the Pines Country Club in Elizabeth City. From there, they traveled to Washington and Plymouth, then back to Elizabeth City. Today, the NCCU team is scheduled to meet with students and teachers in Raleigh before heading to Charlotte, the university’s largest source of students, Jones said.
NCCU’s Biomanufacturing Research Institute &Technology Enterprise Center for Excellence, or BRITE, is something in which Jones takes special pride. The first class of students was admitted to the center this year, she said.
As a response to 9/11, the university has offered a course of study in homeland security since 2001. The program emphasizes forensic science and bioterrorism on the post-9/11 world stage, Jones said.
One of the school’s main emphases is to bring students into its teacher-education and nursing programs, according to Jones.
About 95 percent of the 8,600 students enrolled at NCCU this year are North Carolina natives, Jones said.
As a historically black college, the educational opportunities offered at NCCU reflect the history and culture of black Americans, Jones said. Its arts department offers courses in music styles ranging from jazz to hip hop.
Excellence not only in academics and the arts, but in athletics, student engagement and international involvement are all “trademarks” that make the university competitive in marketing its students, Jones said.