Dean’s List: New trustees at UNC & NC State, plus other higher ed news across NC
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The boards of trustees at UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University are about to get bigger.
Because of a provision in state Senate Bill 512, which became law earlier this month despite Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto, the campus governing boards at UNC and NC State are growing from 13 members to 15. The universities will be the only two universities in the UNC System to have trustee boards with more than 13 members.
In the bill, which has been described by Republicans as a way to ensure “accountability” on appointed boards and by Democrats as a “power grab,” lawmakers gave themselves the power to appoint the additional two board members at UNC and NC State, along with several other board and court appointments across the state.
Trustee boards across the UNC System, particularly at UNC and the system-level Board of Governors, have been criticized in recent years for political and partisan influences. The legislature and the Board of Governors appoint all members of the campus-level trustee boards after lawmakers stripped the governor’s appointment power over those boards in 2016. The boards have also been criticized for their lack of diversity, both in terms of race and gender.
So, who are the UNC and NC State boards’ new members? Legislators made their picks last week in Senate Bill 761, selecting four new trustees total. They will serve four-year terms, lasting until 2027.
Welcome to Dean’s List, a weekly roundup of higher education news in the Triangle and across North Carolina from The News & Observer and myself, Korie Dean. We plan to publish this round-up in an email newsletter format soon, but we wanted to first give you a taste, on our website, of the insights on higher education trends and research you can expect each week.
This edition includes information about each of the four new trustees appointed to the UNC and NC State boards, a community college-university partnership and events at local universities in the Triangle.
Let’s jump in.
New Board of Trustee members at UNC, NC State
The new trustee members at NC State are:
Marie Arcuri, appointed by Senate leader Phil Berger. Arcuri, a car dealer at Flow Lexus of Winston-Salem, is a registered Republican and has donated to both Republican and Democratic election campaigns. She donated $1,000 to Berger last year. Arcuri will be one of two women on the NC State board.
James Holmes Jr., appointed by Speaker of the House Tim Moore. Holmes previously served on the UNC System Board of Governors from 2013 to March 2023, resigning from that board three months before the end of his term. Holmes is the founder and managing partner of Sentinel Risk Management, a risk management consulting firm with offices in Raleigh, Charlotte and Greensboro. Holmes is a registered Republican. Campaign finance records show he has donated thousands of dollars to Moore, Berger and other Republican candidates.
You can find the full list of NC State trustees at: leadership.ncsu.edu/board-of-trustees
The new trustees at UNC are:
Bradford Briner, appointed by Berger. Briner is co-chief investment officer of Willett Advisors, which manages former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropic assets. Briner previously worked for Morgan Creek Capital Management, a Chapel Hill-based wealth management company, and the UNC Management Company, which manages UNC’s endowment. Briner has served on the North Carolina Debt Affordability Advisory Committee, a position to which Berger also appointed him. Briner is a registered Republican.
Vimal Kolappa, appointed by Moore. Kolappa is the CEO of East Coast Hospitality, a hotel group with properties throughout North Carolina and Virginia. Kolappa is on the board for the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina and previously served on the Board of Trustees for the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. Kolappa is an unaffiliated voter.
You can find my previous round-up of the rest of the UNC trustees here.
And if you’re curious about the UNC System-wide Board of Governors, I wrote about the new members who were selected to join that board this summer here.
Wake Tech & Elizabeth City State partner on aviation
Elizabeth City State University and Wake Technical Community College signed an agreement Monday to give ECSU a presence at the Wake Tech East campus in Wendell as the schools work together on aviation and public safety instruction.
Through the partnership, the schools will develop programming related to operating and servicing unmanned aircraft systems and drone equipment and collaborate on other aviation and emergency management programs.
ECSU will have its name on a specialized lab for simulations and training at the Public Safety Simulation Complex at Wake Tech East, the reality-based scenario training facility set to open in the spring. ECSU will also share a new drone pavilion at the site.
ECSU offers the only four-year degree in unmanned aircraft systems in North Carolina. Wake Tech offers non-degree training to prepare students to become FAA certified drone pilots, as well as a UAS Drone Tech certificate in its geomatics/surveying degree program.
The schools also signed an agreement Monday to allow for seamless transfer from Wake Tech’s criminal justice technology associate degree program into ECSU’s online bachelor of science in criminal justice.
NC Central Art Museum to reopen
The art museum at NC Central University in Durham will reopen Friday, Nov. 3, following renovations.
As the museum reopens, it will showcase “Celebrating Ernie Barnes: A Homecoming,” an exhibit featuring the work of university alumnus and professional football player Ernie Barnes. Barnes attended NC Central, then North Carolina College, from 1956 to 1960 on an athletics scholarship and majored in art. His art has since become internationally acclaimed and displayed in major museums.
The exhibit will feature a carefully curated collection of Barnes’ works, including many that have never been showcased before, NC Central said in a news release. It will also feature personal memorabilia from Barnes’ career as a professional football player and as an artist.
“It’s only fitting that Ernie Barnes is the inaugural exhibition at the newly-renovated campus art gallery at his alma mater,” Luz Rodriguez, founder of the Ernie Barnes Legacy Project, said in the release. “The museum is adjacent to the Fine Arts Building where he spent an extraordinary amount of time while a student in his early 20s trying to become an artist.”
The museum is located at 580 East Lawson St. in Durham. Hours of operation are Sunday, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., and Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission to the museum is free.
Save the date: Moonlight in the Garden
Looking for weekend plans in November? The J.C. Raulston Arboretum at NC State University will host its annual Moonlight in the Garden fundraiser over two weekends:
Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 9–11
Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 16–18
The event preview night on Nov. 3 is sold out.
The event, which is a fundraiser and is the only chance to see the gardens at night, is designed to showcase the arboretum with artful lighting on crisp fall evenings in November. Attendees can stroll through the garden, enjoy live bands, roast marshmallows at fire pits, visit food trucks and more.
Tickets range from $20 to $40, depending on whether you hold a membership to the arboretum and when you purchase. Tickets are $5 for children 12 and under. Learn more about the event and buy your tickets here.
Higher ed news I’m reading
There are 64 campus buildings at UNC that still have some amount of lead in water fixtures following widespread testing that revealed the toxic substance in more than 120 buildings, The Daily Tar Heel reported.
Students at Appalachian State University in Boone are raising concerns about the quality of housing and accommodations at Sleep Inn, a hotel where the university is offering housing for transfer students, The Appalachian, App State’s student newspaper, reported.
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That’s all for this week’s round-up of North Carolina higher education news. I hope you’ll stay tuned for more in the weeks to come.
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