UNC Pembroke News

NC SHAPE Convention
December 17 Adrielle Cooper

UNCP students earn statewide recognition at 2025 NC SHAPE Convention

UNC Pembroke health and physical education students and faculty recently stepped onto a statewide stage at the 2025 NC SHAPE Convention, presenting original sessions and earning top honors at the professional gathering for health and physical education educators across North Carolina.

DNP Hooding Ceremony

UNCP Awards First Doctoral Degrees, Marking a New Chapter in University History

As the lights rise inside Givens Performing Arts Center tonight, eight nurse leaders will step onto the stage and into the history books. Their doctoral hoods, symbols of perseverance, scholarship and service, mark a moment 138 years in the making for the University of North Carolina Pembroke.

Transforming Healthcare

A Shared Vision: Transforming Healthcare, One Story at a Time

Shannon Cummings doesn’t remember a time when her father was healthy. From the moment she could read, she was by his side — helping manage his medications, keeping track of appointments and eventually driving him to dialysis treatments.

SAMI Expo
October 15 Mark Locklear

UNCP Sparks Regional Innovation Through Additive Manufacturing Expo

UNC Pembroke hosted its first-ever Southeastern Additive Manufacturing Initiative (SAMI) Expo last week, bringing together students, faculty and industry leaders from across the region for a day of hands-on learning, networking and innovation in 3D printing and additive manufacturing.

Chancellor Robin Cummings, Dr. Sean Smolenyak and Dr. Rich Castillo
September 04 Mark Locklear

UNCP Hosts NC Optometric Society District Meeting as Optometry Program Advances

UNC Pembroke recently welcomed North Carolina Optometric Society (NCOS) members for a district meeting highlighting the university’s progress toward launching the state’s first public Doctor of Optometry program.

Occupational Therapy Child Assessment Lab
July 31

UNC Pembroke’s OPTIMISE Program Receives $2.3 Million Grant Renewal to Expand Rural Behavioral Health Workforce

The Department of Social Work at UNC Pembroke has secured a four-year, $2.3 million federal grant renewal to continue and expand the OPTIMISE program. The program trains graduate students to serve in integrated behavioral healthcare settings across rural North Carolina. The award comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) Program.

Collage of photos featuring Dr. Ash Walker
June 27

Professor Ash Walker Elected to National Board for Clinical Exercise Physiology

Dr. Ash Walker, assistant professor of exercise and sport science at UNC Pembroke, has been elected treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of the Clinical Exercise Physiology Association (CEPA), a national organization affiliated with the American College of Sports Medicine.

UNCP nursing students working in the simulation lab
June 05

McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing Receives 10-Year CCNE Accreditation

The McKenzie-Elliott School of Nursing at UNC Pembroke has been granted a full 10-year accreditation for its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which will extend through June 30, 2035.

UNCP Chancellor Robin Gary Cummings (left) and UNC Chancellor Lee H. Roberts join Dean Richard Gay (standing) and Dean Janet Guthmiller at a signing event establishing the Early Assurance Admission initiative
May 16

UNCP Launches Direct Pathway to UNC Adams School of Dentistry

UNC Pembroke and the UNC Adams School of Dentistry (ASOD) have formalized an agreement to create a pathway for aspiring dentists through an Early Assurance Admission initiative. The initiative will offer high-achieving students admission to one of the nation’s top-ranked dental programs

Brandon and Madison Swallow attend Commencement
May 10

Graduates Celebrate Strength Resilience and New Beginnings

All his life, Brandon Swallow has refused to let his disabilities define him. He was born with cerebral palsy, hemiplegic dysplasia, and scoliosis and has a condition known as optic nerve hypoplasia, meaning he has low vision.