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Inside the January 2006 issue of FYI Carolina

Kiplinger’s ranks UNC as America’s best public university value
Carolina ranks first among the 100 public universities that offer the best combination of top-flight academics and affordable costs, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. UNC has been first five consecutive times since the magazine began periodic rankings in 1998. Kiplinger’s February 2006 analysis stresses academic quality, as well as cost and financial aid offerings. Carolina was the only school in Kiplinger’s survey that meets 100 percent of each student’s financial need. Chancellor James Moeser says that a robust financial aid program, coupled with the overall excellence of a Carolina education, makes the university the nation’s top value.

Carolina wins eight top NIH "Roadmap" grants, more than any other university
Carolina is the nation’s only university to receive eight new grants in the National Institutes of Health “Roadmap for Medical Research” initiatives, which encourage researchers to attack complex problems using interdisciplinary collaboration and sophisticated computational techniques to create quick translations to patient care. Following UNC were Vanderbilt and Columbia, with six; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center with five; Johns Hopkins at four; Harvard and Stanford with three; and Duke with two. New funding through this program so far totals $15.5 million and includes starting the Carolina Center of Nanotechnology Excellence, which will marry expertise in nanotechnology with patient research at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Last year, UNC received three of the 21 initial Roadmap grants—more than any other university.

Carolina First Campaign's December pace breaks $100 million record
This fiscal year, the Carolina First Campaign has reached $100 million in gifts and grants in record time. The December tally raised the fiscal year total to more than $106 million, as Carolina broke the $100 million mark before the end of the calendar year for the first time. The campaign is generating private funding at unprecedented levels to support faculty, students, research and facilities. And it launches new initiatives that put Carolina at the forefront of discovery and teaching in medicine, science and the arts. Overall, the campaign has raised more than $1.6 billion toward an overall goal of $2 billion.

Journalism school helps lead new international outreach effort
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication will join six other leading journalism programs, the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to promote journalism excellence around the world. The Edward R. Murrow Journalism Fellows Program will invite about 100 international media professionals to engage with journalists and participate in leading journalism schools in the United States.

Microchip technology holds promise for health advances
Mike Ramsey has a dream: one day you’ll walk into a pharmacy and pick up a microchip for the blood test you need. You’ll take the chip home, insert it into an analyzer, and place your finger on it to extract a tiny sample of blood. Instant results. How close is he to his dream? Ramsey, the Minnie N. Goldby Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, is a chemist and a pioneer in the field of microfluidics. Click on the headline above for the full story in Endeavors, the university’s magazine covering research and creativity.

First in study abroad, again
For the third consecutive year, Carolina posted a higher rate of students going abroad than any other U.S. public research university. That finding appeared in a new report published by the Institute of International Education. In 2003-2004, 1,362 Carolina undergraduates studied in other countries for academic credit. That represented nearly 37 percent of the 3,715 undergraduate degrees conferred by the university.

The online FYI Carolina is for alumni, parents of current students and friends of the university. Through this free service, the Office of University Relations provides opportunities for you to learn about people, events and issues at Carolina. If you have comments or questions, email FYICarolina@unc.edu, telephone, (919) 962-8593 or write to the Office of University Communications, 210 Pittsboro St., Chapel Hill, NC 27599-6210.