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Richmond Community College in Hamlet has partnered with Wingate University to create a pathway to the Wingate University School of Pharmacy (WU-SOP), in Wingate, N.C.

The new agreement spells out a course of study that will give students all the prerequisites for application to the School of Pharmacy. Completion of the pre-requisite courses will also earn a student an Associate in Science degree from RCC.

“Admission to an accredited pharmacy school is extremely competitive,” said Robert B. Supernaw, Dean of the WU-SOP. “This year, the school received approximately seven applications for each seat available. Therefore, it is very important that all pre-pharmacy requisite courses be completed in order to enhance the applicant’s chances of admission.”

“This articulation agreement … assures the RCC student that the requisite pre-pharmacy courses taken at RCC are exactly what will fulfill the WU-SOP requirements,” he said.

While it does not guarantee admission into the School of Pharmacy, RCC President Dale McInnis believes the Wingate agreement adds greater value and quality to the programs offered at the college.

“Pharmacy is a growing field right now and Wingate is one of the top schools in the Southeast,” said McInnis. “This agreement will open up greater opportunities for students from Richmond, Scotland and surrounding counties to take advantage of the Wingate University School of Pharmacy and enter into high-demand, high-wage careers in the industry.”

According to McInnis, the agreement fits into RCC’s strategy to add to the rigor of its course offerings and increase the transfer options for RCC students.

“Our faculty have gone the extra mile so that our students will have all the courses and resources they need to be successful at the university level, and it is paying off,” said McInnis. “Last year, 94 percent of our students who transferred from RCC to a four-year institution were successful in their third year of college.”

The Wingate University agreement is the third new partnership with four-year institutions announced by RCC in the past month.

In May, the college entered into a first-of-its-kind dual enrollment agreement with The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Just last week, RCC announced an expanded agreement with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at North Carolina State University that added seven majors students can begin at the college.

“The need for a successful transfer program gets more critical every year, and we want our students to have as many options as possible to continue their educations after they complete their degree at RCC,” said McInnis.

For more information on the Wingate University School of Pharmacy partnership, or any of the college’s 60-plus degree, diploma or certificate programs, contact RCC at 910-410-1700 or visit online at www.richmondcc.edu.

Campbell

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I went to last week’s Moral Monday protest to learn what all the rancor is about and gained some insights from the experience.

I didn’t find a bunch of lefty loonies, morons or outsiders. Because of tornado alerts and impending rainstorms the crowd numbered less than a thousand. The call from episcopal religious leaders across the state brought out a large number of clergy persons. The crowd contained more whites than blacks and obviously they were more philosophically liberal; if there were conservatives or Republican legislators present they kept a low profile.

Speakers on stage were mostly black, almost all men, and the message focused almost entirely on the disenfranchisement of the poor and minorities. If this movement is really interested in engaging mainstream North Carolinians and bringing about significant change it must become more inclusive. The needs and concerns of women, middle-income taxpayers, parents of school children and people of all races and ages must become more integrated into their message that too many are being shut out of the legislative and decision-making process. And while the numbers of those arrested each week might get news headlines those arrests do clog up our legal system and reach a point of diminishing returns.

For their part, Republican leaders seem to be doing more to help this protest movement grow into a statewide imperative than calming it. Every time one of them calls the protesters “outsiders” or ridiculous names like “morons,” whenever these leaders say they are not open to civil discourse and refuse to back down, they throw fuel on the protest fires. These leaders might win today’s legislative and government battle but they are losing the public opinion war.

Current leaders were elected on a platform of more accountability, smaller government and lower taxes, but voters did not hand them the keys to government expecting them to be arrogant, unresponsive and unwilling to work for the common good. As public servants they need to remember they represent all the public, even those who don’t agree with them.

In truth, there have also been outlandish statements made by protest leaders. It’s time for everyone to take a deep breath, dial down the dialogue and stop playing to the media or partisan supporters. We are at a crossroads and it is now time for those involved to take the moral high ground and get off their moral high horses. North Carolina has too many serious issues for us to be fighting with each other.

Unyielding demagoguery isn’t getting us anywhere. Each side claims they are willing to meet the other and seek resolution, but if that were true we would see evidence of honest and respectful dialogue underway. Now is a time for statesmen and true leaders to surface, to sit and reason together, seeking to understand as much as to be understood. And that likely means both sides might have to compromise, an essential element that has kept our republic viable for as long as we have existed. North Carolinians are watching, hoping all involved will demonstrate their care and concern for one another and our future.

— Tom Campbell is former assistant North Carolina State Treasurer and is creator/host of “NC SPIN,” a weekly statewide television discussion of North Carolina issues airing Sundays at 6:30 a.m. on WRAL-TV and at 8:30 a.m. on WRAZ-TV FOX50. He can be reached at www.ncspin.com.