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Archives Fall 2000
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Good Old Days
Thanks to alumna Nancy Cole, the good old days continue at Carolina

"It was great. It was the good old days," says Dr. Nancy Cole (’68 Ph.D.) of her graduate experience at Carolina. Those good old days helped influence her decision to pursue an extraordinary career in higher education. Formerly Dean of the School of Education at the University of Illinois, Dr. Cole has been President of Educational Testing Service (ETS) for the past seven years.

As president of ETS, Dr. Cole guides the most prominent organization in higher education testing. ETS produces the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), Advanced Placement (AP) exams, the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and numerous other educational assessment examinations. ETS also is responsible for collecting and analyzing data for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation’s academic report card published each year by the Governors of the United States. Since ETS is "one of the leading research organizations on issues of measurement and
statistical theory," she says, "we work with people back in the psychometrics lab in the psychology department at Carolina who are doing similar research."

Dr. Cole knows the psychometrics lab at Carolina well. She studied there between 1964 and 1968 on a fellowship sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, researching quantitative and statistical aspects of psychology. In the psychometrics lab, Dr. Cole developed her interest in educational testing and her belief that tests could, and should, be improved. She says she has spent her career finding ways to make tests "more educationally relevant," with the goal of putting tests "in a form that can contribute to the students’ and the teachers’ understanding of student achievement and progress."

But Dr. Cole didn’t spend all of her time at Carolina in the lab. "One of the people in the lab," she says, "was a folk dancer who had a folk dancing group in which I participated." In that activity she met her future husband, Jim, then a graduate student in mathematics and statistics. They were married a year and half later.

Photo courtesy of Nancy Cole
"I don't think we put enough stock in what it takes to attract some really outstanding students from around the world to study at Carolina, and what they contribute to the University."

Dr. Cole enjoyed the close-knit camaraderie of the psychometrics lab and the warmth of the psychology department. "The lab was relatively small," she remembers, "as it still is." She found the faculty extremely attentive and interested in the students’ work and has especially fond memories of Dr. Lyle V. Jones, then director of the psychometrics laboratory and vice chancellor and dean of the Graduate School from 1969 to 1979. "I have continued to admire him and appreciate him," she says. "I felt like it was a great advantage for me to have an early training experience with him."

That sense of admiration has led Dr. Cole to contribute to the establishment of the Lyle V. Jones Dissertation Fellowship. A Royster Fellowship, the Lyle Jones Dissertation Fellowship provides tuition and a living stipend for one year to an advanced student completing research leading to the Ph.D. "I thought it was especially appropriate that a fellowship be named in Dr. Jones’ honor," she says, "because he has done so much for me and people like me in getting us the funding that allowed us to have a special graduate experience."

In a larger sense, Dr. Cole supports the mission of the Royster Society of Fellows to attract excellent scholars to the University of North Carolina. She explains that fellowships play a crucial role in the University’s competition for students, and that competition for top-notch students can be especially keen. "I don’t think we put enough stock in what it takes to attract some really outstanding students from around the world to study at Carolina," she says, "and what they contribute to the University."

She explains that her decision to honor Dr. Jones with a fellowship award also reflects her commitment to graduate education for the State of North Carolina. Since the Graduate School at Carolina shaped her career, Dr. Cole describes her gift as a way to show her appreciation and as a way to focus attention on the University’s graduate mission. "Particularly with state schools," she says, "it is sometimes hard for legislators and citizens of the state to understand the level of contribution that graduate education brings to the state and how much goes right back to the state. The graduate school is a great asset to the citizens of North Carolina."

This fall Dr. Cole is retiring from ETS, and she and her family are moving to Colorado to enjoy the outdoors and, most importantly, to ski. Her husband, a native New Englander, introduced her to skiing in the mountains of western North Carolina while they were graduate students at Carolina. Since then, skiing has become a family tradition for the Coles — their son David even teaches it. As for her ability, Dr. Cole says, "I’m not a very good skier, but I’m sure a committed skier."

Dr. Cole brings the same sense of commitment to her alma mater. In recognition of Dr. Cole’s achievements, she will receive the Distinguished Alumna Award on University Day this fall. This award, created thirty years ago, is given annually to five alumni selected by a faculty committee for their achievements in furthering humanity in their chosen fields of endeavor. "I’ve always considered it a great honor to have my degree from Carolina," she says, "so to have them recognize me is especially important and valuable to me."

- David A. Davis

 

© 2002, The Graduate School, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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