Housing crunch exacerbates WCU’s stagnant salaries

With the state’s biennial budget process  now nearing its conclusion, Western Carolina University employees are hopeful that they could soon see their first permanent raise in three years. 

Leadership changes on WCU board

On Friday, June 4, three longtime trustees said goodbye to seats they’d held on the Western Carolina University Board of Trustees since July 2013. 

‘As normal as possible’: WCU outlines plans for Fall 2021

As the pandemic continues to recede, Western Carolina University is planning for a fall semester that “will look more like fall 2019 around here than fall 2020,” Chancellor Kelli Brown told trustees during a June 4 meeting. 

Our public colleges make N.C. the envy of others

By Kelli R. Brown • Guest Columnist | There are more than 242,000 students attending the 17 institutions of the University of North Carolina System. It is one of the larger and, arguably finest, systems dedicated to public higher education, research and community uplift in the country.  

Committed to movement: WCU professors push for diversity in education

Professors at Western Carolina University are tired of just talking about the importance of diversity within the teaching industry and are committed to turning all the talk into meaningful movement forward. 

WCU will offer full college experience this fall

Western Carolina University is gearing up for a traditional college experience this fall with plans to resume all typical academic, social and extracurricular activities. 

‘My place in life’: Nursing student finds peace in COVID-19 response

For Malcom Skinner, the pandemic was not a pause, but rather a call to action. 

“I’ve been trained up to this moment,” he said. 

WCU women create local branch of University Women

The American Association of University Women was founded by a group of female college graduates in 1881 to advocate for women and help open the doors of higher education. One of the group’s first research endeavors involved an 1885 study disproving the prevailing myth that college impairs a woman’s fertility. One of its more recent studies? The economic impact of workplace sexual harassment. 

Student grades, retention slip at WCU

With the first full semester of pandemic instruction now in the books, preliminary numbers at Western Carolina University show dips in fall-to-spring retention and student grades compared to previous years. 

Virtual nature: Highlands Biological gets creative with outreach amid pandemic

By Geoff Cantrell • Contributing writer | In a typical school year, Highlands Biological Station serves nearly 10,000 students through more than 250 programs for 50-plus schools across the mountain region. 

This was not a typical school year. 

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