When the first Carolina Covenant Scholars entered the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in fall 2004, the main message was about financial aid.
The program’s purpose was to ensure that UNC was and would remain accessible to all academically eligible students, including those from low-income families. For students admitted to UNC whose family incomes were not above 150 percent (now 200 percent) of the federal poverty level, Carolina would cover all financial need for four years of college with combinations of grants, scholarships and the federal work study program. It was a promise of a no-loans education.
Now, as the first class of Covenant Scholars prepares to graduate (see story, http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/students/
first-covenant-scholars-set-sights-on-commencement.html ), the program has blossomed far beyond those basics to a broader spectrum of giving. Private donors, individuals, centers and departments have sought to enrich the scholars’ experiences and increase their chances of success – in life as well as academics.
Soon after Chancellor James Moeser announced the Covenant in fall 2003, private contributions to the program began. By early last month, gifts totaled nearly $10 million. Donors’ support allowed Carolina to expand eligibility for the program and add services to help the scholars adapt to campus life and address the financial, social and cultural barriers faced by the scholars, many of whom are first-generation college students.
Like the donors, numerous members of the Carolina community couldn’t resist getting involved with such a program. Associate Provost Shirley Ort believes that the extra efforts contributed to a 90.6 percent retention rate through last fall for the first class of Covenant Scholars, now seniors.
“Even without graduation data yet in hand, we know the Covenant is a success, because it has pushed the refresh button on Carolina values,” said Ort, director of scholarships and student aid and chief architect of the Covenant. “It has made us as a community more welcoming and sensitive to low-income students.”
Since the Covenant began, more than 80 other universities have adopted programs to make higher education more accessible to students from low- to moderate-income families.
In spring 2005, the University began recruiting faculty and professional staff mentors to help first-year Covenant Scholars integrate into college life and help with academic advising and counseling. Now, some 27 mentors each help up to 15 scholars, meeting with them individually several times per semester and holding group social activities for all of them, said Ann Trollinger, associate director of the Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, also a mentor. Each mentor receives $2,000 per year for their contribution, plus up to $1,500 for costs – all from private funds.
This year, several UNC medical faculty members began a monthly mentoring class for Covenant Scholars interested in health-care careers. Dr. Marion Couch, M.D., Ph.D., who started the class, called the Covenant “a wonderful opportunity for these students, and the right thing to do.”
The mentors don’t accept the Covenant stipends and expense money to which they’re entitled. Instead, they use it to buy dinner for the scholars to munch during the evening classes. The doctors allow interested scholars to shadow them in clinics and stay after the classes to talk individually with the one dozen to 40 scholars who attend and – although, as Couch said, “These are undoubtedly some of the busiest people at the hospital.”
She is an associate professor in the otolaryngology department, a clinician and surgeon for head and neck cancers. The other main mentors in the class are Dr. Bruce Cairns, distinguished associate professor of surgery and director of the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center; Dr. Lisa Carey, an associate professor of medicine who specializes in breast cancer; and Dr. Matthew Ewend, chief and program director of neurosurgery.
The class scope surpasses such topics as seeking admission to medical school. “We give advice on how to build a life and a career,” Couch said.
“This program (Covenant) is so consistent with our mission at the hospital, which is to serve people,” Cairns said. “And to meet the challenges of the future in medicine, we will need people who otherwise might not consider careers in medicine.”
UNC’s Dr. Charles van der Horst has been helping Covenant Scholars since 2005, the second year of the program. A professor of medicine and infectious diseases, he travels in and out of Africa continually for his research on HIV/AIDS. He also is a visiting professor at a South African university.
Yet he makes time for the Covenant, offering all scholars individual meetings and helping with academic schedules, summer work ideas, research project ideas and more. “Sometimes I have office hours at the Pit,” he said, referring to a popular outdoor campus gathering space. “I also have dinners regularly and invite faculty from other health science schools, as too many of the scholars solely focus on medical school, whereas they can have wonderful lives in pharmacy, nursing and dentistry.
“It has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” van der Horst said. “I’m not sure how much they get from me, but I certainly get a lot from them. It makes me very proud to be a member of the Carolina family.”
All Covenant Scholars may take a financial skills and management program developed just for them, complete with booklets and seminars. Existing tutoring programs added workshops just for Covenant Scholars, on topics including note-taking, studying for science courses, test-taking and preparing for final exams. The Division of Student Affairs underwrites the cost of summer orientation for Covenant Scholars and their parents. Public speaking courses are planned for this fall.
Other campus units involved include Carolina Performing Arts, which contributed 40 tickets for each of seven performances to the Covenant during the 2006-2007 season and 40 each to eight shows this season, allowing scholars to attend programs by some of the world’s top artists in music, dance and other genres.
“Because we believe so deeply in the power of the performing arts to enrich the lives of our students, we wanted to make sure every Carolina student can experience the great performances we bring to campus,” said Priscilla Bratcher, development director for Carolina Performing Arts.
Marcia Harris, director of University Career Services, commits extra hours to help the scholars, aside from her busy daily schedule of career counseling and organizing job fairs. Twice a semester, she speaks at an etiquette dinner for Covenant Scholars at the Carolina Inn, funded by the Covenant program. Similar dinners offered for all students often are funded by businesses, which Harris said demonstrates employers’ expectations.
“More and more employers are having receptions, travel and meals, not only for full-time job recruiting but also for internships,” Harris said. Students of lesser means may have less experience with etiquette than others. Dining etiquette is covered during the two-hour dinners, “but this is far more than which fork to use at the right time,” said Harris, who speaks about all kinds of business do’s and don’t’s during the meal.
All of the above helped motivate Covenant Scholar Stacy Bodette, a junior from Burlington, Vt., to start Covenant Gives Back, a public service group in which scholars to do just that. They have organized donations and cleaned up inside and out at the Ronald McDonald House in Chapel Hill, helped staff Relay for Life – a student event benefitting cancer research – and picked up trash around Jordan Lake.
“We want to give back to the community because we’ve been given so much – given the opportunity to go to college, whereas a lot of us might not have been able to go to college without the Covenant,” Bodette said. “This way, we can give back to the community and show that we’re not taking this experience for granted.”
Ort believes that Chancellor Moeser’s consistent, visible support of the Covenant has helped to foster the spirit of giving that surrounds the program. From endorsing the concept at its outset, Moeser went on to present it to higher education leaders across the country and community leaders, school administrators and public school teachers and students throughout North Carolina.
“He readily endorsed a holistic approach that provides Covenant Scholars with both an exceptional financial aid package and a campus-wide support system to help them overcome barriers to their success.” Ort said. “He attends scholar events whenever possible. His ongoing commitment to the Carolina Covenant has contributed to the campus-wide embrace of the program.”
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| Dr. Marion Couch works with Covenant Scholar Nesochi Adimorah. |
Covenant Scholars in the group Covenant Gives Back clean up litter at Jordan Lake. |
Note: Some graduating Covenant Scholars tell their stories at http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/students/
carolina-covenant-scholars-reflect-on-their-experiences.html for vignettes.
Ort can be reached at (919) 962-9246 or shirley_ort@unc.edu.
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589