East Carolina University: Economic Development
HOMEGROWN RESOURCES
Grant to help ECU recruit, teach, place librarians in region
A grant of nearly $500,000 will help East Carolina University recruit and teach school librarians
from economically disadvantaged and historically underrepresented backgrounds who want to
live and work in eastern North Carolina.
The library science degree program in the College of Education at ECU has been awarded a 2014
Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
ECU will provide $165,045 in nonfederal matching funds, bringing the total to $657,369.
“This project will increase the number of trained, professional media specialists that reflect the
diversity of their communities and increase the ability to connect with those diverse
populations,” said Dr. John Harer, master of library science degree coordinator and associate
professor of library science in the College of Education.
The funding will support recruitment efforts and full-tuition scholarships at ECU for 30 library
science graduate students beginning studies this fall.
The project will use a “grow your own” model, focusing on students who want to stay and work
in eastern North Carolina and complete their master’s degrees online, officials said.
Recruitment will begin immediately.
In addition to tuition costs, the grant will cover university fees and offer a book stipend for the
entire degree program until spring 2017. Membership in the North Carolina School Library
Media Association and a travel stipend to attend an association conference will be included.
“The project will provide training for jobs as school media specialists, skills in searching for
professional jobs and assisting students in securing employment in their home communities,”
Harer said.
ECU’s location and mission to support eastern North Carolina aligns with the Institute of
Museum and Library Services’ charge to prepare librarians to work in high-need districts,
officials said.
“Rural public schools in the economically depressed communities of eastern North Carolina face
daunting challenges in recruiting and retaining school librarians,” the grant announcement said.
ECU’s master of library science degree program, established in 1939, is the largest producer of
school library media coordinator graduates in the state. The online program supports
nontraditional students seeking employment as librarians and information professionals in
primary, middle and high schools, universities, community colleges, and public libraries.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded 23 grants out of 82 proposals received
from across the country. Only two North Carolina institutions, ECU and the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, received grants.
For more information on ECU's program, e-mail Harer at harerj@ecu.edu or call 252-328-4389.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the
nation’s 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. To learn more, visit http://www.imls.gov.
— Written by Crystal Baity of ECU News Services
Below: Meredith Hill, an ECU graduate in library science, assists students with computer
activities in the library at Creekside Elementary School in Winterville, North Carolina.
East Carolina University— Public Service
ART + COMMUNITY
Project aims to Reduce Crime, Build Connections in Neighborhood
For the Greenville Police Department, deterring crime and building community relationships go
hand in hand. Thanks a new collaboration, that combination of efforts is being advanced thanks
to an appreciation for art.
The Art + Community project began when Greenville Police Officer Niki Cates visited East
Carolina University’s School of Art and Design in search of artists to create work for the police
force’s Property Protection Initiative. Aimed at reducing personal and property crime in a
neighborhood across the street from the university’s Main Campus, the project is rooted in the
principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED): the idea that proper
design and effective use of buildings and public spaces in neighborhoods can help reduce fear
and incidence of crime and enhance the quality of life for citizens.
“We are trying to use art and our community partners to strengthen community ties and bridge
any gaps that may exist,” Cates said. “We want the community to have confidence in local law
enforcement and get to know us on a personal level.”
Cates, who received CPTED training, is part of the newly formed City Center Task Force created
by Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden to address challenges that the university and historic
downtown areas of Greenville face.
A research team including ECU faculty with experience in community organizing and engaged
scholarship already had been formed to beautify the South Tar River Greenway by adding
artwork to manhole covers. That project had fallen dormant due to lack of funding. The team—
which includes Dr. Misun Hur from the Department of Geography, Planning, and Environment;
Dr. Kate LaMere from the School of Art and Design; and Dr. Traci Birch from the Department
of Geography, Planning, and Environment—was in need of a new project.
The faculty mapped opportunities for public art in the neighborhood, including retaining walls in
disrepair, light poles, utility boxes, and sidewalks. They also reviewed examples of public art
projects, identifying how art could be used to beautify the area and build community.
Permanent residents of the neighborhood, students, business owners, members of the Civic Arts
Committee, local artists, Greenville police officers, and the researchers met to brainstorm ideas,
themes, and locations for public artwork in the neighborhood. The meeting yielded a number of
outcomes. The number of partners involved in the project expanded dramatically, and the
community had its first opportunity to voice concerns, ideas, and opportunities about public art
in their neighborhood.
Today, the partnership includes the three faculty, the Greenville Police Department and Cates,
the Tar River University Neighborhood Association (TRUNA), the University Neighborhood
Association (UNA), Holly Garriott of the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge and Greenville
Civic Arts Committee, Michael Drought of the Greenville Civic Arts Committee and director of
ECU’s School of Art and Design, planning students, a creative writing student and member of
the Third Street Community Center, and community members.
“I am deeply impressed with the initiative taken by our officers involved in this partnership,”
Aden said. “Public art and policing are not often thought of as ways to reduce crime and improve
safety. This is another example of the nontraditional ways our men and women serving in the
GPD are enhancing our community.”
The partners are planning a fall kick-off event and follow-up actions to create and install the first
pieces of artwork in the neighborhood. These events will provide opportunities for residents to
be involved in making and creating pieces of artwork in their neighborhood, increasing
ownership over the area. The police department and city will provide information to college
students about their rights and responsibilities as residents of the neighborhood. The researchers
will gather feedback from residents about the neighborhood and the project. The partners
anticipate that this event will occur annually, coinciding with the start of the fall semester when
college students have returned to town. An early spring event might evolve to help residents,
associations, and the partners stay connected with the community throughout the academic year.
Other plans for the project include bringing in a visiting artist or scholar, funded by the director
of the School of Art and Design, to discuss the relationship between public art and community
well-being. Organizers hope to connect with art classes in the School of Art and Design to create
projects within and for the neighborhood. External grants are being sought to create a “treasure
map” that connects the historic uptown business district with the university and artwork installed
in the neighborhood; this would also advertise uptown businesses and cultural amenities in the
city center. Plans also are under way to connect with local artists to install their work within the
neighborhood and connect rotating exhibitions of outdoor artwork with the uptown district’s
First Friday Art Walks.
This emerging partnership directly connects with East Carolina University’s mission. The
students, faculty, and administrators involved in the project demonstrate the power of public
service to positively impact a community, help reduce crime, and improve a neighborhood
through community building and art. Students develop leadership skills by working with
community members under the guidance of faculty. The project focuses on improving the quality
of life of Greenville residents by leveraging the resources of the university to empower
community to create positive change.
“Bringing together the local police, planning faculty and students, the arts council,
neighborhoods, and art and design faculty creates a unique mix of experience and expertise,”
said LaMere. “We all come to the partnership with unique perspectives on improving this
neighborhood and building community through public art.
“We are stronger together than if we had tried to do this alone—the possibilities are endless and
exciting.”
Greenville Police Officer Niki Cates introduces the concept of CPTED (Crime Prevention
Through Environmental Design) at the community meeting.
Greenville artist Jeremy Fineman discusses his table’s ideas for artwork themes at the
community meeting.
Participants offered concepts for artwork themes in the neighborhood.
An example of work from the community meeting shows participants’ ideas on where artwork
could be installed and themes for the work.
East Carolina University— Public Service
LUGGAGE 4 LOVE
Social work students reach out to children in need
Packing for a move is never easy, but for thousands of children in North Carolina, it often means
packing in garbage bags for unknown destinations.
Luggage 4 Love, a service project conceived in an East Carolina University master of social
work community engagement course, is working to eliminate half of that equation.
Stacy Connor, Latoya Davis, Elizabeth Spruill, and Jeanette Vanaske, graduate students in the
School of Social Work at ECU, have collected luggage, book bags, cinch bags, and duffel bags
to help children in the foster-care system leave with dignity.
When parents are unable to care for their children, relatives usually are the first line of support.
When a kinship placement is not possible, social workers turn to foster care while a more
permanent living arrangement or reunification with their parents can be accomplished.
Parents who have children with mental health challenges and behaviors may seek help by
moving them to therapeutic foster care out of their home. The transition can be very stressful for
children, in addition to the circumstances that have created a need for them to be removed from
their homes.
“Too many children in foster care have no other option but to use trash bags to carry clothing and
personal items during this unstable time in their lives,” Connor said. “Children often move
multiple times while in foster care. A recent referral moved 25 times before being placed at
Easter Seals UCP.”
The project’s Facebook page chronicles its work. “This is definitely something to consider as
misplaced children are in this situation,” Stacy Davis said in a post. “(This is) one of the many
ways we can bring them through with more confidence and esteem.”
Seeing the need in their community, the students partnered with Easter Seals UCP and ACI
Support Services in Craven County to collect bags for distribution. At an April event, the group
collected more than 600 bags and monetary donations that will be used to purchase new luggage.
“We will continue to collect and purchase more bags for children to use so they do not have to
move through the foster-care system using trash bags to transport their lives,” Connor said.
Dr. Michael Robinson, assistant professor of social work, is in awe of the projects his students
have produced. “The first semester I taught this course I asked them to plan, but not implement, a
community project,” Robinson said. “I quickly learned that these students wanted to actually
impact the individuals and communities they were researching, not just plan to do so.”
This community engagement effort is in line with ECU’s strategic direction to create a strong,
sustainable future for the East through education, innovation, investment, and outreach. Students
were able to apply the knowledge they learnt in the class room and apply it to a real-world
situation. They also were able to apply the shared values that are at the core of ECU such as
teamwork and a commitment to serve.
In addition to Luggage 4 Love, this semester’s projects included Kibbles for a Cause, collecting
pet food for the elderly; Renaissance Women, offering career search skills, advice, and wardrobe
to women entering the work force for the first time; Operation Cinderella Onslow County,
collecting prom dresses for students in need; and Burma Bears, helping Burmese immigrants and
their children adapt to eastern North Carolina.
Robinson required his students to think about and plan for the long-term sustainability of their
projects. Former projects have remained intact, such as Operation Cinderella, which is now in its
second year.
Additional Information
http://www.kinston.com/news/local/luggage-for-love-hauls-in-the-bags-1.296592
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Luggage-4-Love/1418473015063195
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/collegeofhumanecologyatecu/sets/72157644963008084/
East Carolina University social work students collected more than 600 bags for foster-care youth
from across North Carolina.
East Carolina University— Co-Curricular Service
MEDICINE TO THEIR SPIRIT
Adopt-a-Grandparent program matches students with senior adults
Katie Simpson has received more than an education at East Carolina University. She has new
grandparents.
Simpson spends at least an hour a week at Golden Living Center in Greenville through the
“Adopt-a-Grandparent” program with the goal to match students and local senior citizens for
supportive, meaningful, one-on-one relationships. Simpson learned about the program at the
ECU Volunteer and Service-Learning Center.
“From one-time activities to ongoing service experiences in the community to service-learning
courses, there are so many opportunities through the VSLC to extend your education beyond the
classroom and campus,” said Dennis McCunney, director of ECU’s Volunteer and ServiceLearning Center. “These experiential learning opportunities can really help students figure out
where they can best use their skills and talents. At the same time, students learn from local
community members through that direct contact.”
In her Cornelius high school, Simpson volunteered with children with special needs, which
inspired her ultimate career choice: occupational therapy. When she came to ECU, she wanted to
try working with a different group. “I may want to do something in gerontology now because of
my experience with ‘Adopt-a-Grandparent,’” Simpson said. “It’s been awesome.”
Golden Living Center offers short-term and long-term rehabilitation and end-of-life hospice care.
Residents often are recovering from hip fractures or hip replacement, heart attacks, falls, motor
vehicle accidents, or any type of acute medical condition that requires hospitalization for three
days or more. ECU’s Department of Family Medicine provides primary medical care for the
center’s 152 residents, and health sciences students go there for clinical learning.
Terry Edwards, director of recreation and volunteer services at the center, said the visits from
ECU students are like “medicine to their spirit. It’s something a pill or money can’t buy.”
On a recent weekday, ECU students from Gamma Sigma Sigma service sorority, recreational
therapy, and other majors played bingo with residents. In between rounds, they sang requests like
“How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” and “You Are My Sunshine.”
Lindsay Caddell, a junior nursing major and sorority member, has been volunteering at the center
since she was a freshman. “I love all the residents and love doing bingo,” said Caddell, an EC
Scholar from West End. “Coming here is a great stress reliever.”
Students lead a variety of activities from scrapbooking to art projects to painting nails, playing
music, and more. “It’s genuine and goes beyond fulfilling a task. It’s a commitment. It’s
something that blossoms between that resident and volunteer,” Edwards said.
The interaction helps rejuvenate interests that may have been set aside because of ailment or age.
“We have to show them a reason to keep going. It’s that feeling of wanting to be loved and
respected,” Edwards said.
Simpson experienced what it’s like to lose someone close for the first time this summer when her
adopted grandparent Arlene Searcey died. “I knew it was coming,” Simpson said. “At the end of
my first year, she would say things like ‘I’m ready to go home.’ This year, I noticed she was
doing it more.”
Searcey liked to sing in church services, and it was one of the last happy things Simpson shared
before Searcey’s health failed quickly. Simpson said it was a scary experience and one that she
would never forget. “The time I spent with her, in her last moments, I would never give that
away,” she said. “She opened her eyes for the first time in three days. She didn’t have a lot of
facial expression, but I could tell she was smiling with her eyes. I was holding her hand when she
passed away.”
In those final days, Simpson learned even more about Searcey from her family, whom she came
to know through the years. “They filled in all her memories,” Simpson said. “She was a very
rambunctious woman. If you’ve ever seen Driving Miss Daisy, that was her.”
At the family’s request, Simpson started visiting regularly with Searcey’s sister, Blanche Tillias,
who also lives at Golden Living Center.
As Simpson prepared to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, she wanted other
students thinking about volunteer service to dive in.
“I thought it would be depressing,” said Simpson, who has applied to graduate school for
occupational therapy. “But they want to have fun. They genuinely want to see you. If you’re not
there when you’re supposed to be, they will call you out the next time they see you.”
Resident Rena Medlin, vice president of Golden Living’s resident’s council, said the student
visits are wonderful. “It’s something that everybody looks forward to—always,” she said.
Students in the program are asked to attend orientation, monthly meetings, and reflection events
and to commit to visiting their adopted grandparent(s) at least once a week with the goal of
completing at least 32 hours by the end of the semester, said Nichelle Shuck, the VSLC’s
associate director.
“We encourage all ECU students and community members to be a part of the power of creating
friendship from all ages and sharing our stories with each other and the community,” Shuck said.
Related video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DK7gdrzeCQ
ECU student Katie Simpson, standing, works with resident Eva Murray during a bingo game
held for senior adults at the Golden Living Center.
ECU student Tina Vue assists resident Hilda Cullipher with the bingo game.
East Carolina University—Public Service
NAVIGATING THROUGH PARTNERSHIP
North Carolina Agromedicine Institute helps workers in insurance initiative
When the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute learned about the opportunity to participate in a
statewide effort to provide in-person assistance to people wishing to enroll in health insurance as
a provision of the Affordable Care Act, the organization saw a chance to help.
The institute is a University of North Carolina inter-institutional organization whose partners are
East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, and North Carolina Agricultural and
Technical State University. Relying heavily on its collaborative partnerships with the agricultural
community, other universities, businesses, health-care organizations, governmental agencies, and
nongovernmental organizations, the institute joins with those who are dedicated to identifying
and addressing the health and safety risks of farmers, foresters, fishers, their families, and
communities in North Carolina and surrounding states in the mid-Atlantic region.
“Here at the institute, we’re focused on the people who feed and clothe us,” says Robin TutorMarcom, interim director/associate director. “In farming, fishing, and forestry, or the three ‘Fs’
as we call them, the rates of injury and fatalities are higher than in any other profession in North
Carolina. It is our responsibility with the institute to shed light on the newest medical research
and health education to these groups. We are a hub of information.”
Across the state, about 30 percent of farmers, 50 percent of loggers, and 80–90 percent of
fishermen are uninsured. These occupations have a fatality rate 7.5 times greater than the average
for all other occupations in the state. Although injuries are not always reported, rates for
occupational-related injuries are estimated to be equally high. Additionally, the institute has
determined that two-thirds of the state’s farmers have hypertension and are overweight or obese,
with another 30 percent having diabetes. For uninsured individuals or surviving family members,
the medical expenses associated with occupational-related injuries and adverse health outcomes
events can be devastating, resulting in the loss of the farming, fishing, or logging operation.
In September 2014, the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute received funding as one of 11
organizations in the NC Navigator Consortium. In addition to the institute, the consortium—led
by the Community Care Network of North Carolina—included Council on Aging Buncombe,
Legal Service of NC, Disability Rights of NC, NC MedAssist, the Benefit Bank, Access East,
Partnership for Community Care, and Community Care Wake and Johnston Counties.
Funding allowed the institute to educate farmers, fishers, and loggers about the ACA as well as
to provide one-on-one assistance to individuals wishing to purchase health insurance through the
federal marketplace. Partnering with local cooperative extension offices, agricultural commodity
groups, and offices of planning and economic development, the institute provided ACA
information and/or individual assistance to 2,130 individuals in 34 counties.
One of the most successful events was held in partnership with Brunswick County Cooperative
Extension and Brunswick Catch, a local seafood collaborative. A married couple with two
children and a combined annual income of $18,000 received a tax credit and cost share, allowing
them to purchase health insurance for $7.48 per month. The couple had never had health
insurance and was relieved that they could take care of both themselves and their children.
Another fisherman shared that he was appreciative of the institute’s help. “We’re on the boat 200
days per year, and when we come in we’re only home from Thursday lunch until Sunday
afternoon,” he said. “We don’t see our families or anyone else. It’s hard for us to get anywhere to
take care of business.”
In addition to being of direct service to citizens in rural areas of North Carolina, the institute has
served as a voice for them within the NC Navigator Consortium, among rural health work
groups, and at the federal level. This has been especially important as the majority of efforts to
educate individuals about the ACA and provide in-person enrollment assistance has focused on
urban centers.
Reaching individuals living in rural areas has been particularly challenging not just because of
location but also because of a tendency for individuals living in rural areas to be somewhat less
trusting of government programs. This—along with misperceptions that insurance available for
purchase as the result of the ACA would be “government insurance” and that eligibility for tax
credit and cost share would be based on gross farming, fishing, or logging operation income—
has caused many rural citizens not to investigate their options under the ACA.
These factors—combined with the fact that farmers, fishers, and loggers work nontraditional
hours, making it difficult for them to access health care or social services agencies—have made
reaching individuals living in rural areas particularly difficult. The ability of the institute to
understand these challenges and to work with other organizations to understand them has
brought increased attention to the fact that multiple options exist when planning and
implementing a program across the state’s 100 counties.
Efforts are now under way statewide to improve outreach to rural areas of the state in year two of
the ACA. The institute is seeking funding to continue its work in this area.
This project aligns clearly with the mission of the UNC system and ECU to serve the citizens of
North Carolina through community engagement and education. It also directly addresses the goal
to improve the health and well-being of the state’s citizens, particularly those in rural,
underserved areas. Reducing the number of uninsured individuals will decrease the burden of
indigent care on the state’s health-care providers.
“The institute was a major player in helping to establish our nationally recognized school for
forest equipment operators,” said Doug Duncan, CEO and executive director of Forest
Equipment Operator Training School. “It is expected upon gainful employment many of these
graduates would find themselves in a situation without employer-provided health insurance,
falling into the some 50 percent of loggers who do not have coverage. Ensuring that these
individuals receive ongoing preventive and primary care is essential to maintaining a healthy
workforce for our state’s number one industry—agriculture, of which forest harvesting activities
is a major component.”
Additional Information
https://www.communitycarenc.org/about-us/update-archive/navigator-grants-awarded/
http://www.healthinsurance.org/blog/2014/03/12/acas-surprisingly-successful-exchanges/
Below: Relying heavily on its collaborative partnerships with the agricultural community, other
universities, businesses, health-care organizations, governmental agencies, and nongovernmental
organizations, the North Carolina Agromedicine Institute joins with partners who are dedicated
to identifying and addressing the health and safety risks of farmers, foresters, fishers, their
families, and communities in North Carolina and surrounding states in the mid-Atlantic region.