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A transformational gift to the UNC School of Education will create a unique fellowship program that will enable a multi-faceted approach to ensure highly effective educators serve students in rural, high-needs North Carolina communities.
State-wide data has shown that having a Carolina-trained teacher can boost student learning beyond what is expected for learning in a given school year. The largest gains were among students from underrepresented backgrounds and economically disadvantaged schools.
With a $3 million commitment over the next four years, the Fellows for Inclusive Excellence program will remove barriers and support current UNC School of Education students and recent graduates to serve as teachers and school counselors in Title 1 schools, starting in Chatham County Schools and Person County Schools.
Ultimately, the Fellows program aims to create high-quality professional learning communities that provide school students with enhanced opportunities to succeed and thrive.
The Fellows for Inclusive Excellence program was made possible by donors who wish to remain anonymous.
Students in the UNC School of Education’s Master of Arts in Teaching and Social Counseling programs will work with teachers and counselors in Chatham and Person counties’ Title 1 schools.
Once graduated, those teachers and school counselors will have the opportunity to return to those schools as new school professionals and receive professional development opportunities to help them thrive in their profession. Combined with district funding, they will also receive a generous graduated bonus, earning more money over a 3-year period if they choose to continue working in their school.
“I do not know of another program like the Fellows for Inclusive Excellence,” said Fouad Abd-El-Khalick, dean of the UNC School of Education and Alumni Distinguished Professor. “One that takes a comprehensive approach, beginning within an educator preparation program and engaging nearly every level of school personnel, to create the highest quality professional learning communities.
“The best education begins with investment in educators. The Fellows for Inclusive Excellence program exemplifies that.”
The UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s Center for the Business of Health (CBOH) and Acadia Healthcare have announced a partnership to fund a two-year project to create an adaptable opioid settlement playbook for state, municipal and local governments to effectively address America’s opioid epidemic.
The project’s goal is to review the opioid epidemic’s deep impact, address untested or under-researched treatment and prevention approaches, and develop best practice recommendations tailored to individual communities.
The partnership with Acadia Healthcare comes as thousands of communities across the U.S. are receiving money to support opioid recovery efforts, the result of legal settlements with opioid manufacturers and pharmacy chains. North Carolina has already received about $30 million in settlement funds of the nearly $758 million coming to North Carolina communities through 2038.
“States and municipalities are receiving these funds without any guidance on how best to deploy them,” said Professor Brad Staats, CBOH faculty director and senior associate dean for strategy and academics at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “As settlement funds flow into communities across the country and North Carolina, we hope a playbook will help guide policy and other decision makers as they allocate resources.”
Ana Zurita Posas ’24 grew up in Bladen County, a rural area in southeastern North Carolina.
“At first glance, Bladen County was quiet and isolated compared to nearby Fayetteville and Wilmington. However, as I grew up, I constantly recognized one of its strongest features: community,” said Zurita Posas.
“When Hurricane Florence hit Bladen County with huge gusts of wind and tremendous amounts of water, it was the community of families, students, small business owners and local politicians that inspired unified rebuilding.”
Bladen County is one of many rural, tobacco-dependent areas in the state of North Carolina: often rural communities struggle to improve economic vitality and have a lower rate of secondary degrees than urban areas. Rural North Carolinians make up 46% of the state's population but only 38% of UNC System undergraduates.
State funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with tobacco companies are stimulating rural economies and helping rural students complete degrees of their choice.
The Golden LEAF Foundation, established by the State Legislature of North Carolina, administers a portion of the settlement money by sending it back into rural communities. The foundation aims to increase economic opportunity for the state’s rural and economically distressed communities through a variety of grantmaking – including scholarships.
In 2020, Zurita Posas was awarded the Golden LEAF Scholarship to attend UNC-Chapel Hill. This four-year scholarship aids students from qualifying rural and economically distressed counties of North Carolina who will attend a participating North Carolina institution of higher learning.
The Golden LEAF Scholarship aims to help talented young students from rural areas gain knowledge and skills that they can take back to their communities. Scholars who receive the Golden LEAF Scholarship get more than just financial support; they receive access to paid rural internships.
“The Golden LEAF Scholarship has inspired me to return to rural southeastern North Carolina in order to enhance mental health education and resources for children and families,” said Zurita Posas who is studying both Geography and Human Development and Family Science.
Golden LEAF Scholars, university officials, and representatives from the Golden LEAF Foundation networked at a luncheon on campus in February 2023. Scott Hamilton, the president and chief executive officer of the Golden LEAF Foundation, and Kevin M. Guskiewicz, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, were in attendance.
“The Golden LEAF Scholarship Program is a component of Golden LEAF’s strategy to help rural communities thrive by creating a future generation of skilled, educated workers to come back home to live, work, and raise families,” said Golden LEAF President, Chief Executive Officer Scott T. Hamilton. “We see this investment in students as a critical component to the continued success of rural North Carolina.”
“We believe that every student who gets into our university deserves the chance to come here regardless of their financial background,” Guskiewicz said at the event. “The Golden LEAF Foundation shares that passion with us. Carolina now has 109 Golden LEAF Scholars representing rural counties from across our state of North Carolina. Each one of our scholars are here to discover their career path and to be part of our community.”"
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