UNC-Rocky Mount

[rooster8]

UNC-RM supporters are pushing ahead:

Nash supports Wesleyan conversion

Has ECU put out anything official on this proposal yet?

[rooster8]

UNC-Rocky Mount Pep Rally

Interesting to note that Roy Cooper and Norris Tolson both spoke in favor of the plan.

[DanRNC]

If this does happen the university system needs to be tiered ala the California system. Also why don't they just turn it into a community college? If the idea of a university is to generate jobs then open a school that trains workers.

[ChiefJoJo]

Apparently, this idea isn't going away.

Um, NC State is about 45 mins west and ECU is 30 min SE. Now here's a bill waiting in the wings for UNC-Rocky Mount. Just what we need, another mouth to feed and no more money with which to do it. Sounds like a finanical bailout for Wesleyan to me.

[DanRNC]

Brilliant. This is the typical NC race to the bottom. Instead of trying to build a top tier system like the University of California, UNC only wants to go the opposite direction of adopting under performing, under funded (see lousy alumni giving) schools that act as remedial training grounds for the graduates of our terrible high school system. The system really gained a lot from the last addition of UNC-Pembroke, formerly Pembroke State.

Why doesn't the UNC system attempt to recruit Wake Forest, Elon, or Davidson if they want to grow and improve? This is the eastern NC contingent grabbing for some more pork like their roads that go to nowhere, airports that don't get any planes, ports that aren't needed, museums of nothing, etc. etc. etc.

[rooster8]

While I think the need of UNC-RM is dubious at best, I disagree with your sentiment that spending any state money in the east is a waste. Some ideas such as the GTP are follies, but not everything is unneeded.

[willrusso]

I graduated from Wesleyan. I hate Rocky Mount LOL.

[NcSc74]

I graduated from Wesleyan. I hate Rocky Mount LOL.

[NcSc74]

Why doesn't the UNC system attempt to recruit Wake Forest, Elon, or Davidson if they want to grow and improve? This is the eastern NC contingent grabbing for some more pork like their roads that go to nowhere, airports that don't get any planes, ports that aren't needed, museums of nothing, etc. etc. etc.

Port that aren't needed. Have you kept up with current events. Ports on the west coast are crowded and are losing out to Mexico and Vancouver. Just about every major port on the east coast are expanding to cash in on the overflow of trade with China and the rising economies of the far east. If NC doesn't try to get in on this then it would be a monumental mistake. Just like the one to locate the original state port upriver in Wilimington when the natural deepwater of Southport was ignored. That is the reason why our port system hasn't caught fire like other states. The new port will correct this mistake. Although a few decades late but its better than sitting back and watching other ports grow and expand like we have for the last hundred years. I don't want to hear about the east this the east that. Whether people now it or not the agricultural commodoties it produces contribute to the overall economy of the state. Saying the east needs nothing is like saying the valley in CA has no merit. This argument is getting old and anyone who can't see the contributions of any other part of the state is just turning a blind eye and not facing the facts.

[DanRNC]

Once again there was no sustainability or feasibility reports done for this port. NC already maintains large ports on Wilmington and Morehead City which are far from overcrowded. SC is building another major port in addition to the one in Charleston. On top of it, these ports are environmental disasters. Many of the shellfish species in Beaufort have been wiped out by PCB/PAHs washed over from the port in Morehead City.

[charlotte_uncc]

I think there should be another university in the Charlotte area. Honestly with the number of public institutions in the Triangle and Triad, there should be another near Charlotte. Expensive, but I'd say worth it for educating the large population. Hell, I think each of the three should get another university for the LARGE number of students that we are projected to have in the state. One for the Triangle, Triad, and Metrolina.

[DanRNC]

We don't need another university but increased enrollment at community colleges. The graduation rate at a lot of the UNC schools is abysmal. Its not a matter of needing more schools to accomodate the growth but rather have better mechanisms for maximizing our higher education system and making it more efficient.

[NcSc74]

We don't need another university but increased enrollment at community colleges. The graduation rate at a lot of the UNC schools is abysmal. Its not a matter of needing more schools to accomodate the growth but rather have better mechanisms for maximizing our higher education system and making it more efficient.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

It looks like UNC-RM isn't happening.

http://news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...EC0101/70326016

A study commission has recommended that the UNC system avoid creating a new campus in Rocky Mount.

[davidals]

^

Which I think is a good idea for at least one reason - the proximity of RM to both the Triangle and Greenville.

BUT I wonder about Bowles' statement regarding the adequacy of education received by students in the RM area. It seems to me that we're going in circles here - if what Bowles says is true, how do we go about fixing this state of affairs if no major university will be located in the area? If there's some sort of deficiency int the intellectual capital of the RM area (which to me is what Bowles' quote suggests), wouldn't something that would generate teachers (among other things) help to set things right, in theory? Maybe I'm just taking it the wrong way...but it's a statement that cries out for some further clarification, and maybe some specifics as to how to go about correcting this state of affairs.

And while I don't think this specific addition to the UNC system was a great idea, but the system (as it is) could stand some beefing up, specifically in the E and W of NC.

[DanRNC]

Bowles makes a good point that remediation would have been a top priority which is not the responsibility of institutions of higher learning but rather high schools, community colleges and tech/vocational schools. This was an attempt to get business into RM.