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GREENSBORO — When the UNC Board of Governors meets today to announce N.C. A&T’s new chancellor, many Aggies may see it more as a “welcome home.”

Harold Martin, an A&T alumnus and former chancellor of Winston Salem State University, is widely expected to take the position. Faculty and staff at A&T and UNC general administration said they could not discuss Martin Thursday, citing confidentiality concerns.

But if he does become the school’s next leader, he’ll be taking the helm in one of the most challenging periods in its history.
The new chancellor will face financial, academic and philosophical problems before students even return to campus in the fall.

The state budget crisis has wreaked havoc at all the UNC campuses. Staff and faculty have been laid off as the schools cut their budgets by 7 percent.

Even deeper cuts are expected next year, with some predicting as much as 10 to 15 percent.

A&T already has more than 100 vacant teaching positions, more than any other school in the system. Adjunct professors have been let go and class offerings and availability are shrinking.

Even before the budget crisis, A&T had faced academic troubles for years. In 2007, 25 percent of all students at the school were on academic probation. That number has improved in the past two years, but is still at 12 percent.

The school’s popular football team was punished by the NCAA earlier this month for performing beneath minimum standards on its Academic Progress Rate report. This is the fourth consecutive year the team has failed to meet the minimum standard. As a penalty, the school will now be able to award fewer football scholarships.

Chancellor Stanley Battle led the school for fewer than two years before abruptly resigning in February — but he spent much of his tenure addressing those problems.

Under Battle, the school raised its admission standards to combat poor retention rates and low grade point averages. It worked: in 2008, incoming freshmen at A&T had an average SAT score of 947 — still below the state average of 1008, but the highest the school had in 25 years. The freshman GPA was 3.22, also a big improvement.

In pushing for higher standards and improved performance, Battle was following the direction of UNC President Erskine Bowles — but it reportedly led to conflicts with longtime faculty and staff.

Battle cited personal and family reasons for resigning and has refused to talk about his decision since.

But many staff and faculty said Battle was seen as an outsider and his aggressive moves to modernize the university were met with strong resistance.

Faculty members say Martin may have an easier time of it — he’s an Aggie who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the school, taught there and served as dean of its school of engineering.

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com