At N.C. Central University, Chancellor Charlie Nelms continues with the message he's been thumping since his arrival in Durham two years ago.
NCCU students, he continually insists, must be better communicators. They must be masters of the spoken and written word.
Such was one theme of his State of the University address, given last week during the university's convocation.
Nelms has long held that the success of college students hinges in large part on effective communication skills. Here's part of what he had to say in his address:
Helping our students learn to communicate properly must be a campus-wide effort.
The English Department cannot do it all on its own. Faculty, whether you teach trigonometry or abnormal psychology; we need you to commit yourselves to improving the quality of the written and oral presentations of our students.
Staff, when students speak to you using improper grammar, correct them.
It’s a competitive world out there and for our graduates to have a fighting chance, we must help them gain the soft skills they need to succeed.
Nelms' address also hit on a number of campus highlights. One Nelms favorite: a recent U.S. News ranking that tabbed NCCU as the top public historically black university in the nation.
You can click on the attachment below to read Nelms' entire speech.
