Grants and Writing Resources for the University of North Carolina at Pembroke

A junior journalism major who edits The Pine Needle won first place for breaking news reporting in the Society of Professional Journalists' Region 2 competition, UNCP reported on April 30, 2026. The winning story, "Opposition Dubbed Casino Cartel," covered the debate over federal recognition of the Lumbee. Region 2 draws entries from North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Delaware and Maryland, and the first-place finish sends the story on to the national SPJ round.

Undergraduate Research Grants

The Pembroke Undergraduate Research and Creativity Center, known as PURC, runs several grant programs for extracurricular projects done with a faculty mentor. The student writes the proposal, and the project has to benefit the student, the department, the university or the community. Every grant recipient presents at the spring symposium.

The PURC Symposium is held each spring, with research posters, oral talks, exhibits and performances of original work. The 2026 symposium was held in the Mary Livermore Library.

Graduate Research and Travel

Graduate students compete in the Graduate School's Graduate Research Symposium, which first went online in 2020 and was listed for 2025 as the Virtual Graduate Research Competition. It has three categories: research posters and creative works, research papers, and Three Minute Thesis. Winners take first, second and third place, and some participants may be invited to present their work to state legislators at Graduate Education Day.

The Graduate Student Travel Grant pays transportation, lodging and conference registration. Eight awards of up to $500 go to students presenting research or scholarly art, and eight of up to $250 go to students attending a conference, exhibition or studio visit tied to their program. Applicants need signatures from a faculty mentor and the program director, and they must agree to present at a Graduate Research Symposium or have already done so.

Student Publications

Students write, edit, illustrate and publish The Pine Needle, an independent newspaper that prints 14 times a year during the fall and spring semesters and posts news, podcasts and video online.

The Aurochs, the student literary magazine, publishes poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and art by UNCP students once a year, in the spring. Students can contribute work or help produce it. Creative writing and professional writing minors can use the work for their portfolios and resumes, and the English department invites students in mass communication, art, music, theatre and English education to join the staff.

Writing Help and Theses

Tutors at the University Writing Center in the D.F. Lowry Building take assignments from any course or department, in person, in live online sessions or as written feedback. They work on purpose, audience, organization, sentence structure and citation styles, and on presentations and research posters, from brainstorming to final editing. The center also teaches students to edit and proofread their papers.

The Graduate School's forms and resources page points graduate students to the Graduate Writing Center, where graduate peer tutors give help specific to each discipline. Thesis students find the thesis forms and directions there, and they return completed forms, with every required signature, to the Graduate School.

Our editors give theses, research papers and essays a last check for grammar, consistency and format before they go to a committee or a professor. See our UNCP dissertation and thesis editing and UNCP essay editing pages, or write to editors@editorsforstudents.com.

From Our Writing Guides

• How to Write an Argumentative Essay: Beyond For and Against
• Methodology Chapter Secrets: Building the Architecture of Your Argument
• The Literature Review: Avoiding Intellectual Overwhelm