Chancellor Belcher receives raise, faculty gets small one-time bonus

Chad Grant co-authored this article. Western Carolina University Chancellor, David Belcher, received a 19 percent pay raise in late October while WCU faculty pay remains stagnant. The University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Governors voted in a closed-door meeting on Oct. 30, 2015 to give 12 of 17 chancellors in the UNC system significant […]

Sexual assault prevention online program “Haven” may not be right for universities

Since the Fall of 2014 WCU’s campus, along with over 350 other universities nationwide, first year and transfer students are required to complete Everfi’s online sexual assault program called “Haven.” The program not only teaches students about sexual assault, but a big part of the program is also intervention and prevention, teaching students when and […]

Elementary Education: Is it worth it? “Yes it is,” says a professor and her students

As a reaction of the profile story on elementary education students, Jessica Shearin,  we received a reaction from Dr. Carrie Rogers and the students of ELMG 495: Elementary & Middle Grades Education. We are publishing the full reaction with minor editing to adhere to AP style.  As a faculty member in the elementary education department, I […]

“Haven” sexual assault program may use inaccurate statistics

Western Carolina University’s Department of Student Community Ethics requires all incoming students to complete an online alcohol education, Alcohol Edu, and sexual assault prevention courses, Haven. The programs are administered through a private company, EverFi. Some critics say the statistics used by the Haven program are inaccurate and can skew the results of surveys. For the full […]

WCU student addresses sexual assault on college campuses

A recent survey (spring 2015) conducted by the Association of American Universities (AAU) on 27 university campuses throughout the United States, reported that 23 percent of female college students are sexually assaulted due to physical force, threat of physical force or incapacitation. Out of this percentage, 10.8 percent experienced penetration. WCU criminal justice student, Beth […]

Majoring in Elementary Education: Is it worth it?

Bent over a wooden table littered with textbooks and sheets of tattered instructions, a Western Carolina senior clicks incessantly on her keyboard, eyes glazing over from looking at the same computer screen for hours—or is it sleep deprivation that is causing her eyes to cross? Creating lesson plan after lesson plan, Jessica Shearin, an Elementary […]