Fall 2015 Newsletter

Dear Colleagues:

We finished off 2015 in fine fashion by congratulating nearly 3,600 brand new graduates at our 70th commencement ceremonies in Halton Arena on December 19.

Each of our new graduates has a unique story to share. Perhaps the most amazing was that of Shella Hollowell, age 76, who completed her undergraduate degree in history after having attended various colleges over a period of 56 years, fulfilling a promise that she had made to her late father.

Of course, we had a number of younger graduates as well. Three of them, in particular, came through our Army ROTC program and have now been commissioned into the Army in what happens to be the 100-year anniversary of the Army ROTC program. We also awarded a degree to one Air Force ROTC cadet in the winter ceremonies.

So, welcome to 2016! I hope that you all had the best of holiday seasons and took some time to recharge your batteries. And now, here we are, ready to jump right back into another semester at UNC Charlotte. Before we get too far into the New Year, I always enjoy this opportunity to update all of our friends on the events of the past semester and to preview the upcoming few months. Of course, if you would like more information on any item covered in this newsletter, please contact my executive assistant, Shari Dunn. You can also check the Chancellor’s Outbox on the Chancellor’s Office website for additional information.

Clearly, this is an exciting time to be a 49er. There is much to do and much to celebrate. Thank you for the part that you play in ensuring our continued success. I wish for you and yours all the best in 2016.

Go Niners!

Phil signature

Philip L. Dubois
Chancellor

By far the most important news of the fall concerned the election of Margaret Spellings by the Board of Governors as the next president of the UNC system. We look forward to her officially assuming that critically important position in March.




The 2015 session of the NC General Assembly resulted in several positive outcomes for UNC Charlotte, most notably the full funding of our enrollment growth and passage of legislation authorizing the Connect NC bond referendum.




The challenge of maintaining UNC Charlotte as a high-performing institution is no different than what is known to be true for many other organizations and businesses. To be successful, we need to identify, recruit, develop, reward, and retain the best talent we can find to serve on our faculty and staff. Although the General Assembly did approve one-time payments of $750 for each employee at the very end of 2015, we knew that this would not be sufficient to address the market disparities that have come to exist in the continuing salary levels of our faculty and staff.




We continue to see a high demand for undergraduate and graduate education at UNC Charlotte. Overall, enrollment from fall 2014 to fall 2015 rose by 745 students, with 227 of those new students at the graduate level. Our official total enrollment for 2015-16 is 27,983. We are projecting an overall enrollment increase of 726 students from fall 2015 to fall 2016, including targeted growth of 59 more freshmen in the fall 2016 class.




Research Growth on Many Fronts

Our faculty members continue to generate a large and diverse collection of research and creative works. Books, performances, scholarly papers and other works all contribute to the national reputation that we are building as a research university. Much of their work is funded by government, corporate, and institutional partners. Here are a few of the many projects that have been funded recently:




Diversity and Inclusion Forum Scheduled for January 25




Niblock Gives Back to Belk College of Business




I try not to use this space to share too much “inside baseball” about the operations of the University, but visitors to campus should notice significant improvements in the condition of our information technology infrastructure. Last spring, Information and Technology Services (ITS) was actively investigating an improved WiFi solution for our 31,000+ campus users. After vetting several vendors, two finalists installed their products in specified areas and were compared based on performance indicators including coverage, device connection speed, and reliability.




Although our inaugural football season at the FBS level in Conference USA was a difficult one on the field for Coach Brad Lambert and his team, 2015 brought many additional “firsts” for the 49ers football program, including the debut of the “Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band.” The marching band’s inaugural performance was September 12 as the 49ers hosted Presbyterian College.




My newsletters always afford the opportunity to tell you about additions to our campus, and this one is no exception. But this time around I also note the subtraction of a longtime campus landmark, the Belk Tower, which marked our central gathering place and free-speech area since the 1970s. The tower was funded with a gift from Irwin (Ike) Belk and his three brothers—John, Thomas, and Henderson.