‘EXACTLY ON COURSE’
ECU School of Dental Medicine holds first convocation
Ledyard E. Ross Hall will house the ECU School of Dental Medicine, serving both dental students and patients. A grand opening for the new building is planned for this fall. (Photo by Cliff Hollis)
East Carolina University has lived up to its promise to educate dentists for rural and underserved populations, Chancellor Steve Ballard said Aug. 15 during the first faculty and staff convocation for the ECU School of Dental Medicine.
“We’re exactly on course. Exactly,” Ballard said. “And we’ve done everything we said we would do.
“But the proof is in the pudding when the school’s 10 community service learning centers are up and running across the state,” he continued. “We’re on our way.”
Ballard congratulated the school’s students, faculty and administrators for developing Ledyard E. Ross Hall, the school’s new 188,000-square-foot facility on ECU’s Health Sciences campus. He also noted the June 2012 opening of the first community service learning center in Ahoskie, where residents and a supervising dentist are already caring for patients.
“We’re working in the toughest climate I’ve ever seen in higher education,” Ballard said. “And we must each focus every day on ECU’s mission of service while showing the public that we are using funds wisely.”
Phyllis Horns, vice chancellor for ECU Health Sciences, echoed the chancellor by encouraging “creative partnerships between health sciences faculty to maximize resources and deliver health care that is as friendly to consumers as possible.”
School of Dental Medicine Interim Dean Greg Chadwick said the school is an extension of ECU’s mission of serving the educational and health needs of the state.
“We have been given a wonderful opportunity with unbelievably talented and committed faculty, staff and students,” said Chadwick. “We also have the support of our university, the UNC System, our legislators and, most importantly, the people of North Carolina.”
Chadwick listed more firsts for the school that are coming up this fall, including the grand opening of Ledyard E. Ross Hall, a white coat ceremony for the class of 2015, the opening of a community service learning center in Elizabeth City and the kick-off of a fundraising campaign.
Faculty and staff of the ECU School of Dental Medicine kicked off the 2012-2013 school year by gathering for the school’s first fall convocation. (Photo by Elbert Kennard, Health Sciences)