MURFREESBORO, N.C. (ABP) — Chowan College trustees voted April 6 to adopt a new name, exchanging “Chowan College” for “Chowan University.”
Though it is often assumed that the name “university” necessarily implies the presence of graduate programs, that is not the case, said President Christopher White. Accrediting agencies do not require any more of schools that bear the label “university” than of those known as colleges, he said.
Even so, White sees continued growth and expanded programs at the 800-student school, including the addition of graduate schools and distance-learning options. Chowan, which is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is already “incredibly diverse,” incorporating several schools within its structure, White said. Changing the name to Chowan University illustrates “not just what we are but what we are becoming,” he said.
Being known as a Chowan University will help the school stand out from community colleges, White said, some of which are removing “community” from their name, and will send a clearer message to the school's growing population of international students. In some parts of the world, the word “college” is equivalent to high school, and “university” refers to post-high school studies.
White, longtime president of Gardner-Webb University, left that Baptist-affiliated school following a grade-changing scandal. Since coming to Chowan as its interim president in July 2003 and being named to the permanent post in May 2004, White has led the school to see a strong upturn in both fundraising and enrollment.
Financial struggles that led Chowan trustees to declare a state of “financial exigency,” cut salaries, and lay off some employees in the fall of 2002 have been reversed, and the school is now on solid financial ground, White said. Salary reductions and other emergency measures have been rescinded, and the school still has “significant surpluses,” he said.
Student enrollment grew by 40 percent in 2005, White said, with half of the 800 students enrolled for the fall 2005 semester being freshmen.
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