UNC General Administration Names Four NC Graduates as 2017-18 Presidential Scholars | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    CHAPEL HILL     UNC system president Margaret Spellings announced Thursday that four recent UNC system graduates will serve as Presidential Scholars for the 2017-18 academic year.

    The Presidential Scholars serve a one-year appointment and provide a wide range of professional functions for UNC General Administration. The position has regular interaction with senior leadership and members of the UNC Board of Governors and will also work to help research, write, and implement policy.

    "The Presidential Scholars program allows some of our most talented graduates to hone professional skills and gain real working experience in higher education," said President Spellings. "Scholars also have the unique opportunity to explore and understand the inner workings of an institution that has helped transform our great state."

    Scholars were selected among May 2017 UNC system graduates who demonstrated leadership skills, strong motivation, intellectual curiousity, and were not afraid to take risks. Previous Scholars had projects assigned from all General Administration departments including legal, advancement, academic affairs, and communications.

    This year's Presidential Scholars include:

• Carson Rich, Appalachian State University, political science; Rich, of Weddington, plans to pursue a master's degree within the UNC system, studying public health, public policy, higher education, or law. Rich's interests include hiking, higher education policy, movies and watching C-SPAN;
• Katie Stanley, East Carolina University, political science; Stanley, of Greenville, plans to pursue a master's degree in public policy with the goal of working in the North Carolina state government. Her interests include reading, running, outdoor activities, and volunteering, and she was a member of the ECU Honors College and Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society. She previously interned for Senator Thom Tillis and Representative Dean Arp;
• Elizabeth Boney, Western Carolina University, political science; Boney, of Fuquay-Varina, is interested in traveling, reading, hiking and baking. She plans to pursue her master's of business administration and would like to work in the international business consulting sector.
• Farris Smith, University of North Carolina Wilmington, history. Smith, a native of McGee's Crossroads, loves to study history, especially North Carolina and presidential history. She hopes to attend law school and eventually work in public policy.

    About the University of North Carolina

    The oldest public university in the nation, the University of North Carolina enrolls nearly 225,000 students and encompasses all 16 of North Carolina's public institutions that grant baccalaureate degrees, as well as the NC School of Science and Mathematics, the nation's first public residential high school for academically gifted students. UNC campuses support a broad array of distinguished liberal-arts programs, two medical schools and one teaching hospital, two law schools, a veterinary school, a school of pharmacy, 11 nursing programs, 15 schools of education, five schools of engineering and a renowned arts conservatory. The UNC Center for Public Television, with its 12-station statewide broadcast network, is also under the University umbrella.

• Contact: Joshua N Ellis
•     jnellis@northcarolina.edu