Board of Trustees recognizes Pirate accomplishments | News Services

At its final meeting in 2024, the East Carolina University Board of Trustees presented the Board of Governors Award of Excellence to alumni Bob Greshin, Bill Cain, and Francis Cain. The board also approved conferring degrees to 1,931 graduates at ECU’s fall commencement ceremony on Dec. 13.

The Board of Governors Award of Excellence recognizes individuals who have provided exceptional leadership to the University.

Mr. Greshin served on the ECU Board of Governors from 2003 to 2011, serving as chairman for the last two years. From 2000 to 2010, he served as president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. In that role, he strengthened the company’s ability to provide insurance to approximately 4 million people across North Carolina.

“Bob’s healthcare expertise makes him an expert in his field, but his passion for serving underserved populations helps ECU and ECU Health take on difficult and complex challenges. It’s helped us get through it,” said board president Jason Poole. He added that Greshin’s leadership was critical in the work of integrating the clinical practices of the health system and the Brody School of Medicine to create ECU Health. Greshin currently serves as chair of the ECU Health Board.

Bill Cain, who passed away in 2022, served as director of athletics from 1975 to 1980, as well as athletics operations manager, football coach, tennis coach and golf coach. He was instrumental in organizing the Century Club, which later became the ECU Educational Foundation, also known as the Pirate Club. He became an academic in 1980 and served as professor and assistant dean in the College of Health and Human Performance before ending his 50-year career at ECU in 2018.

Francis Kane earned a Bachelor of Music degree with an emphasis in piano and organ performance. She serves as pianist and organist at St. James United Methodist Church and supports ECU students who are choral scholars at St. James University. She is a regular attendee and supporter of the S. Rudolph Alexander Performing Arts Center and ECU Opera Theater. In 2013, she received the ECU School of Music Outstanding Alumni Award.

“Bill and Frances Cain have lived ECU’s mission of service and have exemplified the motto of ‘service’ to both this institution and this community,” Poole said.

Mr. Grethin and Mr. Caines join Bill Clark and Dr. Jim Westmoreland, who were honored as the first recipients in 2023.

thursday morning, Gambling Research and Policy Initiative (GRPI) We held an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony. The ceremony was attended by Dr. Michelle Malkin, Director of GRPI, as well as Amanda Winters, Director of Gambling Problems, and Dr. Heidi Bonner, Chief of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. GRPI is located in the Brewster Building.

Late Thursday, the board attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Medical Education Center building. The 195,000 square foot facility is scheduled to open in 2027. Presented by ECU Chancellor Philip Rogers, School of Medicine Dean and ECU Health CEO Dr. Michael Waldrum, UNC System Chancellor Peter Hans, and fourth-year medical student Chantelle McClagan. Remarks during the ceremony.

In his remarks during the full board meeting, Rogers recognized ECU Police Department Master Police Officer Franny Tarkington, who was named UNC System Law Enforcement Officer of the Year in October.

In addition to APLU’s award, ECU also received the 2024 C. Peter McGrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award, as announced at last week’s Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) annual meeting. Winner of Innovation and Economic Prosperity Talent Award.

“Recognitions like this strengthen ECU’s position as a national model for community engagement and workforce development,” Rogers said. “These impacts don’t happen by one person or one office. They happen because of the culture of engagement and innovation we have built at ECU. This is an institution-wide effort. We have multidisciplinary teams across ECU that are working together to do this work and create the conditions for transformation.”

Mr. Rogers also highlighted that the Miller School of Entrepreneurship is ranked 30th in the Top 50 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs by Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine. He also cited the accuracy of election polling conducted by the Survey Research Center for the presidential election results in North Carolina and Georgia, as well as the North Carolina gubernatorial race.

ECU women’s soccer head coach Gary Higgins and student-athletes Maeve English and Abby Sowa attended the meeting where the team was awarded 2024 American Athletic Conference honors. Tournament winner And for the first time in history NCAA tournament.

ECU Master Police Officer Franny Turkington (right) stands alongside ECU Police Chief Jason Sugg after being honored at the board meeting. (Photo provided by Rhett Butler)

Student Government Association President Anderson Ward informed the board that SGA is working toward creating a student health day. Mr Ward thanked Parking Services Supervisor Ben Omya for his assistance with the implementation. fine bait The initiative allows students, faculty, and staff to donate canned food and personal hygiene items to help pay for parking for two weeks in November. Items will be donated to williams ross purple pantry.

After the meeting adjourned, Ward and the trustees dedicated the Boneyard Bell, located near the ECU letters outside the student center on the main campus. The Boneyard Bell is part of a new tradition in which students ring the bell for the first time when they enroll at ECU and ring it again after graduation. John Gill, assistant director of facilities services, first alerted Ward to the bell’s existence.

“In early August, I received an email from John informing me that there was a bell in his office related to SGA,” Ward explained. “He sent me some images, including the bell, the plaque commissioned by the 2011-2012 SGA administration, the original concrete foundation, and some background information. I didn’t know what I could do to take advantage of it, but I knew there was an opportunity to create something special.”

Ward and SGA worked with Student Center Director Dr. Dean Smith and his staff to find a suitable location. A concrete slab was donated and Facilities Services built the brick foundation.

As part of the consent agenda, the board will:

• Approved the naming of the James Chesnutt and Suzanne Chesnutt gates at Johnson Stadium.
• Approved housing lease to Coastal Research Institute.
• Repairs to the Eakin Student Rec Center roof, relocation of the Joyner Library Starbucks, parking lot paving and safety improvements, restroom renovations in Brewster Building A, and steam and condensate piping from Fletcher Hall to Jones Hall. Your pre-planning request has been approved.
• Approved the request to demolish Scales Field House. Its offices will be relocated to the district sports medicine building.

Other business:

Directors from two committees, Strategy and Innovation and University Affairs, met jointly on Thursday to hear presentations on student retention, retention and graduation rates at ECU. Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and IPAR officials led presentations on the UNC System’s performance metrics and how they relate to student success and financial health.

This is the first in a three-part series designed to help trustees better understand enrollment trends and ECU’s enrollment management strategy. These factors include the arrival of an enrollment cliff, increased competition, changing student demographics, and evolving workforce needs. Additional sessions are planned for February and April.

Christopher Diba, vice president for advancement, announced the launch of the university’s Presidential Scholars Initiative during a presentation to the Athletics and Advancement Committee. He said the scholarship fundraising will further the university’s efforts to recruit and retain “talented, bright students who want to become Pirates.”

The Budget, Finance and Infrastructure Committee approved proposed increases in tuition and mandatory fees, along with increased parking fines and other changes to parking fees. With full Board approval, increases in tuition, mandatory fees, and housing for dental students will be forwarded to the UNC Board of Governors for approval.

From left: Board President Jason Poole, SGA President Anderson Ward, Student Center Director Dr. Dean Smith, President Philip Rogers, Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Brandon Frye, and Assistant Director of Facilities Services John. -Gil is standing around the newly consecrated laboratory. Boneyard Bell. (Photo by Steven Mantilla)

Tuition for resident and nonresident graduate students will increase by 5%, $238 and $895, respectively. In that case, tuition would be $4,987 for residents and $18,793 for non-residents. The last time tuition fees for graduate students increased was in 2017.

Dental school tuition will increase by 6.7% ($2,360) to $37,507.

Tuition increases affect all students. The total fee increase is $77 for each academic year, or an increase of 2.65%.

The Strategy and Innovation Committee heard about changes to indicators in the Carnegie Classification of Higher Education Institutions. This classification classifies U.S. universities based on research activity, organizational characteristics, and mission. The committee memo says this is an important metric that can impact a university’s strategic decisions, reputation, fundraising and ability to achieve its goals.

Carnegie Executive Director Mushtaq Gunja told the committee that the analysis points used in the classification have remained unchanged for 50 years, but are being updated for the new classification, scheduled for formal release in spring 2025. he said.

“We are moving to a better, clearer set of metrics,” he said.

He said the changes would provide a more comprehensive view of universities, including ECU.

The Audit, Enterprise Risk Management and Ethics Committee learned about student-athlete transfer status and football recruiting schedules from Alex Keddie, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, during an update.

The University Affairs Committee discussed changes to faculty tenure performance evaluations and credit academic program evaluations.

The next ECU Board of Governors meeting is scheduled for February 6th and 7th in the Student Center on the main campus.

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