An engaging goal
UNC serves community well, but more can be done
By: Editorial Board
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Opinion
You've heard it before - during Board of Trustees tuition debates and in that long-running commercial narrated by Charles Kuralt - UNC is the University of the People.
But how well does UNC really live up to that designation?
UNC-system president Erskine Bowles' UNC Tomorrow aims to better the state in a variety of areas, and the current focus in the brainstorming process is on public outreach and engagement.
UNC must strike a balance between public service to the community and academic service to the students.
This is not, however, a zero-sum game. It is possible to increase service without detracting from academics.
The best way to achieve this balance is by incorporating public service with academics and by encouraging professors to make service part of their own academic and teaching efforts.
And no matter what the numbers show, there's always room to build on the University's service to the community.
From the masses
Students play an integral part in fulfilling UNC's role as the University of the People.
They tutor local kids at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School, volunteer with the Inter-Faith Council soup kitchen and build houses with Habitat for Humanity.
The numbers for student participation in public service are hard to quantify as there are an array of groups under many administrative umbrellas working locally, statewide and abroad.
According to the Cabinet report from this year's APPLES Service-Learning Program, more than 1,600 students participated in nine service-learning programs during the 2007-08 school year.
That's nearly 10 percent of UNC undergraduates.
Other organizations, such as The Campus Y and Public Service Scholars, which requires students to complete 300 hours of community service in order to graduate with that distinction, contribute to a culture of service on campus.
Top-down example
In order to truly serve the community, UNC must exercise top-down leadership by example. Professor-initiated and -led programs and centers for research allow UNC to give back to the state.
A perfect example is the Scholars' Latino Initiative, created by religious studies professor Peter Kaufman, which was designed to help high school students apply to college and find ways to pay for it.
Unfortunately Kaufman is leaving to take a job at the University of Richmond, in part because of the UNC system's policy against financial aid for illegal immigrants.
While this particular program was stymied, it's a prime example of the kind of professor-led service initiatives we would like to see more of at UNC.
We all know about the "publish or perish" mentality in higher education, but imagine the change in the community if the primary goal was to develop new and better ways to serve.
UNC also can fulfill this role through the creation of programs and centers for research aimed at the common good.
The possibly soon-to-come Center for Public Policy will unite professors and leaders from across the state to take on issues directly affecting the state of North Carolina.
This is the sort of system-wide program that could best handle the changes confronting the state as it works to address issues pertaining to health care, education and the economy.
More than money
These service initiatives, whether they be performed by students or faculty, don't just need money thrown at them.
The University should never try to fill its service role through mere dollars and cents. While money helps, the real commitment must come from human capital, and this can be done without hurting academics.
The time, energy and ideas the University can give to the community are far greater and more effectual than any amount of money school or system leaders could appropriate.
That's where we need to focus to enact real change.
But how well does UNC really live up to that designation?
UNC-system president Erskine Bowles' UNC Tomorrow aims to better the state in a variety of areas, and the current focus in the brainstorming process is on public outreach and engagement.
UNC must strike a balance between public service to the community and academic service to the students.
This is not, however, a zero-sum game. It is possible to increase service without detracting from academics.
The best way to achieve this balance is by incorporating public service with academics and by encouraging professors to make service part of their own academic and teaching efforts.
And no matter what the numbers show, there's always room to build on the University's service to the community.
From the masses
Students play an integral part in fulfilling UNC's role as the University of the People.
They tutor local kids at Frank Porter Graham Elementary School, volunteer with the Inter-Faith Council soup kitchen and build houses with Habitat for Humanity.
The numbers for student participation in public service are hard to quantify as there are an array of groups under many administrative umbrellas working locally, statewide and abroad.
According to the Cabinet report from this year's APPLES Service-Learning Program, more than 1,600 students participated in nine service-learning programs during the 2007-08 school year.
That's nearly 10 percent of UNC undergraduates.
Other organizations, such as The Campus Y and Public Service Scholars, which requires students to complete 300 hours of community service in order to graduate with that distinction, contribute to a culture of service on campus.
Top-down example
In order to truly serve the community, UNC must exercise top-down leadership by example. Professor-initiated and -led programs and centers for research allow UNC to give back to the state.
A perfect example is the Scholars' Latino Initiative, created by religious studies professor Peter Kaufman, which was designed to help high school students apply to college and find ways to pay for it.
Unfortunately Kaufman is leaving to take a job at the University of Richmond, in part because of the UNC system's policy against financial aid for illegal immigrants.
While this particular program was stymied, it's a prime example of the kind of professor-led service initiatives we would like to see more of at UNC.
We all know about the "publish or perish" mentality in higher education, but imagine the change in the community if the primary goal was to develop new and better ways to serve.
UNC also can fulfill this role through the creation of programs and centers for research aimed at the common good.
The possibly soon-to-come Center for Public Policy will unite professors and leaders from across the state to take on issues directly affecting the state of North Carolina.
This is the sort of system-wide program that could best handle the changes confronting the state as it works to address issues pertaining to health care, education and the economy.
More than money
These service initiatives, whether they be performed by students or faculty, don't just need money thrown at them.
The University should never try to fill its service role through mere dollars and cents. While money helps, the real commitment must come from human capital, and this can be done without hurting academics.
The time, energy and ideas the University can give to the community are far greater and more effectual than any amount of money school or system leaders could appropriate.
That's where we need to focus to enact real change.
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