A crash course might be a poor choice of words to describe a
classroom on wheels.
But that is exactly what the Tar Heel Bus Tour has been
during the past decade for hundreds of newly arrived faculty members and
administrators, and what it will be again when the tour his the road May
12–16 for the 11th class of passengers.
To lead requires being out front. But
being a leading public university, Andy Johns has learned, means something
slightly different.
For Carolina, being out front creates an
opportunity to show others a better way. And it is out of that tradition that
the idea of sharing
the University-grown RAMSeS (Research
Administration Management System and
e-Submission) emerged.
In a classroom in Wilson Library, Robert Cox pauses to
update his class about the sudden disintegration of a massive Antarctic ice
shelf.
Raising his eyebrows, he gestures animatedly in front of
satellite images depicting a slab of ice the size of Connecticut crumbling into
the ocean.
With passion in his voice, he adopts a preacher-
like rhythm that suggests that some of his words are italicized: “The physics
of it are so uncertain and unstudied that we cannot model how quickly this will
break down.” He is referring to scientists’ projections about how global
warming will affect the rest of the ice.
Cox has good reason to be passionate about the collapse of
Antarctic ice. In addition to teaching
a course about global warming in the communication studies department, he is
president of the board of directors of the Sierra Club.
Read the Gazette's insert honoring recipients of the 2008 University Teaching Awards, the highest campuswide recognition for teaching excellence. It is available as html with color photos (file.5.html) or as a pdf.