Media Contact:
Tim Lucas, News Services, 919/515-3470

March 24 , 2003

NC State Chancellor to Continue Listening Tour in Gaston County

North Carolina State University Chancellor Marye Anne Fox will continue “NC State Listens,” a statewide series of visits designed to renew and strengthen the connections between North Carolinians and their state’s land-grant university, with a trip to Gaston County on Wednesday, March 26.

Media coverage of her visit is welcomed. Among the events on the day’s schedule that may be of greatest interest to area media are:

• At 10:30 a.m., the chancellor will visit the Gaston County Cooperative Extension Service at 1303 Dallas-Cherryville Highway, in Dallas, where she’ll take part in a media announcement and ribbon-cutting for the office’s “Gateway County Concept,” a new program designed to make it easier for local citizens and businesses to benefit from NC State’s university-wide extension and engagement activities. Gaston County is one of less than a dozen sites statewide selected to take part in this pilot project. Fox will tour the offices and meet staff and invited guests, including Joe Carpenter, chair of the Gaston County Commissioners.
• From 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., the chancellor will take part in a “Listening Roundtable” at Gaston College at 201 Highway 321 South, in Dallas. Sponsored by the Gaston Chamber of Commerce, the roundtable will give members of the Chamber’s Education Workforce Development Committee, local business and education leaders, legislators, and NC State alumni a chance to share their concerns about local education, economic development and quality of life with Chancellor Fox. Topics are scheduled to include challenges to K-12 education and the local manufacturing industry, and how the state’s universities and community colleges are helping the state’s citizens cope with these challenges.

“We need to hear what the people of our state are saying,” said Fox, “about the needs of their communities, about changes in the business world and in technology, changes on the farm, changes that should be made in how we educate the leaders of tomorrow.”

NC State has a strong presence in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties, through Cooperative Extension offices, Industrial Extension offices, research stations, 4-H centers and university forests. “From Murphy to Manteo,” said Fox, “NC State touches people in their hometowns every day, fostering partnerships with individuals and communities to solve problems. It’s our legacy.” The chancellor emphasized, however, that the university has an additional obligation. “We need to listen, as well, so we can continue that legacy of achieving results that make a difference for our state.”

“NC State Listens” visits to Waynesville, Duplin County and other communities around the state are planned for later this spring. Visits to Wilson and New Bern took place earlier this year.

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