Brian Woodard
Photo by Jon Gardiner
Brian Woodard
Senior Assistant Director, Office of Undergraduate Admissions
Class year
2009, 2012 (M.Ed)
Scholarships and enrichment programs
N.C. home
Snow Camp
Brian Woodard’s Heelprint is all over C-STEP
UNC-Chapel Hill's assistant director of admissions attended Carolina because of the program, and now his work helps generations of community college students do the same.
Pen and pad in hand, Brian Woodard asks students at Alamance Community College a question: What do y’all plan on studying at Carolina?
With each of the 20-plus responses, Carolina's senior assistant director of admissions takes notes and shares information about majors from nursing and dental hygiene to business administration and neuroscience and everything else in between.
Once unsure of his own path to Carolina, Woodard ’09, ’12 (M.Ed) is now an expert on the multitude of pathways Tar Heels can follow in Chapel Hill.
“I never would’ve imagined Chapel Hill as an option.”
When he graduated from Southern Alamance High School, Woodard didn't think Carolina was in his future. But his parents, Adolph and Susan, always wanted him to attend college. After two years at Alamance Community College and two more at Carolina, he earned the first of his two degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2009. (Submitted photos)
“I know that you all are prepared — you’re ready for this,” he tells these students enrolled in the Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program.
C-STEP gives students from low- and moderate-income backgrounds the opportunity to study at a North Carolina community college and then transfer to UNC-Chapel Hill to complete their studies. Those who earn an associate’s degree with a GPA of at least 3.2 are guaranteed admission.
of C-STEP students graduate from Carolina.
students have participated in C-STEP since the program began.
Woodard’s words of encouragement carry a sense of authenticity and credibility. Not only is he a C-STEP alum himself, but like the students he’s meeting with, he too is a product of Alamance Community College.
Nearly 20 years after beginning a Carolina journey that includes two degrees, a stint in the Carolina College Advising Corps and a career in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Woodard spreads a message to students across the state informed by his life experiences:
“If I can succeed at Carolina, you can too.”
Growing up, Woodard gained an appreciation for how hard his parents worked. His father, Adolph, served in the military and then entered a decades-long career fixing machinery in textile factories. Susan, his mother, pulled tobacco and worked at a sock factory before later becoming a certified nursing assistant.
After graduating from Southern Alamance High School, he enrolled at Alamance Community College, eyeing a potential career in carpentry.
That didn't pan out, but he connected with a history professor, Sherri Singer, who put C-STEP, a program in its infancy at the time, on his radar.
Alamance Community College named Woodard a distinguished alumnus in 2023. (Submitted photo)
Although Chapel Hill was only 22 miles away from his Snow Camp hometown, Carolina felt a world away to Woodard. C-STEP would assure his acceptance, but he still had concerns about finances.
But he was amazed and relieved when he learned he would be a Carolina Covenant Scholar and receive a financial aid package allowing him to graduate from Carolina debt-free.
Woodard helped fellow Tar Heels as a student mentor, and his work with C-STEP ensures students can get to and make the most of their time at Carolina. (Submitted photo and John Roberts / UNC-Chapel Hill)
As he settled into campus life and made connections with peers and professors, he began taking on responsibilities and roles to aid fellow Tar Heels with their transitions to Carolina.
Woodard created a National Honor Society chapter for transfers at Carolina and became a student mentor in the C-STEP and Carolina Covenant programs.
“How can I leave this better for other folks who are coming along the pipeline?”
That work with students influenced his career path.
He spent two years at McMichael and Morehead high schools in Rockingham County through the Carolina College Advising Corps, a program that helps low-income, first-generation and underserved students find their way to colleges that will serve them well.
Soon after earning a master’s degree in guidance and counseling at the UNC School of Education, Woodard returned to Chapel Hill as the C-STEP program coordinator, a new position to help the program grow as it expanded partnerships throughout North Carolina.
Woodard regularly meets with students at community colleges across the state, including the one he attended: Alamance Community College. He gives details on the admissions process, answers questions about majors and career paths, and gives guidance on campus life. (John Roberts / UNC-Chapel Hill)
Woodard’s roles and responsibilities have changed over the years but always present is the desire to let students across the state knows there’s a place for them in Chapel Hill.
As he wraps up his conversation with the Alamance Community College students, Woodard tells them about the exciting journeys C-STEP students regularly take at Carolina. Some, he says, have participated in historic mosaic digs as part of study abroad. Others, like LaChaun Banks, return to Carolina as professors.
“You can do anything a first-year can do,” Woodard tells the room of future Tar Heels.
In Woodard’s case, that includes sustaining and growing the program that brought him to Chapel Hill.
“I wouldn’t be here without the University.”
Story by Brennan Doherty, University Communications. Video by John Roberts, University Communications.
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