Written and designed by the staff of the Center for Teaching and Learning. Reproduce with permission only.
To be a successful teacher, you need to know something about the institution in which you teach and about the undergraduates who take your classes. This knowledge is particularly important if you come from out of state or another country. Every university has a unique history and special culture that can influence classroom teaching in subtle ways. Your students' academic and cultural backgrounds also directly affect aspects of instruction, so the more you know about them, the more effective you can be as a teacher.
The following profile is based on data from the 1990-1991 school year and is intended to provide a broad context for understanding UNC and its students. Your task as a teacher is to find out more specific information about the institution and your department and about the background, skills, interests, and needs of the students in your classes.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the flagship of the 16-campus university system. UNC was chartered in 1789 and opened its doors in 1795, making it the first state university to admit students. From one building, 41 students, and two professors, the University has grown to 162 major buildings, 23,852 students, and 1,900 full-time faculty teaching in more than 100 fields.
In addition to full-time faculty members, there are many lecturers, part-time faculty, and, in an average year, about 1,200 graduate teaching assistants. The University is composed of 14 colleges and schools with more than 70 departments, related centers, and institutes. These colleges and schools offer 67 Bachelor's, 88 Master's, and 61 Doctoral degrees, as well as professional degrees in dentistry, medicine, pharmacy and law. The University has two divisions: Academic Affairs and Health Affairs (see list below for schools in each division). Of the 1,900 full-time faculty, 46% are in Academic Affairs and 54% are in Health Affairs.
As with all research universities, UNC's reward system is based very heavily on measures of research productivity. However, the University also has a long tradition as a teaching institution. As a result, in many departments good teaching is assumed to be the goal (and the personal responsibility) of every faculty member or TA, without regard to extrinsic rewards. To reward outstanding teaching, the University, various philanthropists, and the student government have all funded teaching awards that carry both prestige and significant honoraria. Some schools and departments also make teaching awards.
Remember that UNC is a state university, and although it enjoys a national reputation for its leading research role, one of its missions is to educate the people of North Carolina. By law, at least 82% of UNC's total student body must be in-state, and currently the figure is closer to 84% in-state, which means that the vast majority of your students will be from North Carolina. Given UNC's national reputation, new faculty members and TAs from other states may have unrealistic expectations about the undergraduate population. When these expectations are not fulfilled, new teachers can become disillusioned and feel unprepared to teach effectively. Developing a more accurate picture of UNC students, their abilities, and their needs, will help you prepare for a successful teaching experience.
In fall semester 1990, there were 23,852 students enrolled at UNC. Approximately 65% (15,463) of these students were undergraduates, 27% were in graduate programs, and 7% were in professional programs. Almost all of the undergraduates enroll in programs in the Academic Affairs Division (13,848 students in 1990).
Among undergraduates, women outnumber men 59% to 41%. Approximately 85% of undergraduate students are white; 10% are black; 5% are Hispanic, Asian, American Indian or Alaskan natives. Eighty-four percent of the undergraduates come from North Carolina, representing every one of the 100 counties in the state. Although there are out-of-state students from most regions of the country, the majority come from states on the eastern seaboard. Students from foreign countries make up less than 1% of the undergraduates and over half of these students come from western Europe and Canada.
You can expect freshman students to have a wide range of academic abilities. Some students have very sophisticated academic backgrounds while others have only the basic skills required for enrollment at the University. Out-of-state students have higher SAT scores as a group than in-state students. In 1990-91 the average SAT score for enrolled in-state students was just over 1120; for out-of-state students the average was 1293. In-state students generally come from the top 6-7% of their graduating class while out-of-state students come from the top 4-5%. The University received 15,172 undergraduate applications in 1990 (6,446 in-state, 8,726 out-of-state) and accepted 5,530. Of the in-state applications, 64.7% were accepted, but only 15.6% of the out-of-state applications were accepted. In the Fall, 1990, semester, 3,252 students enrolled: 2,649 in-state and 603 out-of-state students. It is obvious that out-of-state students have a much harder time getting into UNC than in-state students, and those who make it are generally very good students with strong academic backgrounds.
Between 55 and 60% of freshmen graduate in four years and between 70 and 75% will graduate in five years. Eventually, about 80% will complete their undergraduate degrees here. These graduation rates are higher than the average for major public research universities in the Southeast and compare favorably with national averages as well.
Since the vast majority of UNC's undergraduates are from North Carolina, you need to know something about the state to understand their background. North Carolina has a population of 6.5 million people, but there are only 10 cities with populations over 55,000 and only 5 cities with populations of over 100,000. The largest city, Charlotte, has over 395,000 people, but 245 towns have a population of 1,000 or less. For some students, their first class at UNC will have more people than their hometowns. Many students may have no experience with the kind of urban life that is common in the Northeast and little understanding of the culture and sociology of large cities.
North Carolina has a centralized public education system with a State Department of Public Instruction and a State Superintendent of Education. The state mandates a minimum standard course of study for both the core and elective curriculum in all public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. For graduation, all high school students must earn twenty Carnegie Units, including four courses in English, two in math, two in social studies, two in science, one in physical education and health, and nine additional courses that are determined by the local school board. Students who expect to go to UNC-CH must also take a foreign language, college preparatory math, and three courses in science. Local school boards can go beyond the minimum curriculum set by the state and offer a variety of electives and advanced courses. North Carolina high schools, which vary greatly in size, also vary in the number of teachers with higher-level degrees, the number of Honors and Advanced Placement courses offered, and in the student-teacher ratio.
North Carolina has some innovative educational programs for public school students, including the School of the Arts, the School of Science and Math, and numerous special programs, but the state currently ranks 49th in SAT scores. And although the state ranks 12th in the nation in the amount of money it spends, per capita, on higher education, it is only 40th in per capita funding for elementary and secondary education.
You can conclude from this picture of the state's public school system that most students at UNC have not had to face the competition and educational demands that would prepare them for work at a nationally ranked university, even though they are drawn from the top 6 to 7% of their high school graduating classes. Many students also lack experience in academic self-discipline, and most have had their planning imposed upon them. They are nonetheless quite capable of doing high-level work and will work hard if you let them know you have high expectations for their performance and if you provide them with sufficient structure and direction.
Many environmental factors can conspire to trap students into academic jeopardy. For the first time in their lives many of them will face the need to monitor and take responsibility for their own behavior, and they may be overwhelmed by the rich social and recreational life in Chapel Hill. As a university town, Chapel Hill has a cosmopolitan ambiance compared to many of the small towns and cities in which the majority of students grew up, and it affords many potential distractions. UNC's varsity sports program is a major source of entertainment for undergraduates, and sports may preoccupy some of them to such an extent that their studies will suffer. The campus also has a very active fraternity and sorority system, which places additional demands on the attention of a substantial number of students. Finally, many undergraduates are the first members of their families to attend college, and because the experience is unique and UNC is so large, they can feel alienated or lost.
You should also be aware that approximately 30% of all undergraduates receive some type of financial aid, and many work part-time for their entire college careers. Although the majority of UNC students are middle-class, there are many from families of modest means. If a student is not performing well in a course, it may be because of a heavy work schedule rather than lack of skill or motivation to learn.
You will need to take all these factors into account as you teach and counsel students. Although you cannot (and should not) play the role of parent to your students, by learning as much as you can about them and taking an interest in them as individuals, you can educate them and help them to succeed as college students. There are a number of suggestions for learning about your students in the section called "The First Day of Class."
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Last Updated: January 30, 2001