Chancellor's report ... from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro

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Chancellor’s Office
303 Mossman Building
PO Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402- 6170
336.334.5266 Phone 336.256.0408 Fax
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
2007- 2008 Chancellor’s Annual Report
Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan
Introduction and Strategic Directions
Last December, I announced my decision to retire as chancellor of The University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, a position I have been honored to hold for almost 14 years. When
I started on Jan. 1, 1995, I was given responsibility for leading an excellent institution with a
great heritage and an even more promising future. Our students, faculty, staff, alumni and
supporters have worked as a team for more than a decade to move this campus forward in every
measurable category to make UNCG a prestigious, top- tier university.
Our progress continued this past year, a year marked by new research initiatives and
academic programs, enrollment growth and major success in The Students First Campaign. We
met the needs of North Carolina as a diverse, student- centered, high- research university linking
the Triad and North Carolina to the world, through another year of learning, discovery and
service.
Perhaps the major development of the year was the successful conclusion of the national
search for UNCG’s next chancellor. Dr. Linda P. Brady, provost and senior vice president at the
University of Oregon, was elected by the UNC Board of Governors ( BOG) on June 12, and will
become chancellor on August 1.
The university completed the final year of The UNCG Plan 2003- 2008, our institutional
planning document. The plan’s update was delayed to incorporate recommendations from the
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UNC Tomorrow commission, and six outstanding initiatives were developed and have been
proposed to UNC General Administration. Creation of a new UNCG Plan will begin in 2008- 09.
Operational highlights are summarized in this report, along with accomplishments under
the UNCG Plan’s five strategic directions, which are: 1- Teaching and Learning: Promote
excellence in teaching and learning as the highest university priority; 2- Creation and Application
of Knowledge: Strengthen research, scholarship and creative activity; 3- Campus Community:
Become a more diverse and actively engaged community of students, faculty, staff and alumni;
4- Economy and Quality of Life: Be a leader in strengthening the economy of the Piedmont Triad
and enhancing the quality of life for its citizens; and 5- Access and Student Success: Recruit and
retain students with the potential to succeed in a rigorous academic environment.
Noteworthy highlights and developments include the following:
• Two graduates received prestigious Fulbright Awards for 2008- 09: Catherine S. Burns, a
bachelor’s in German and art history will teach English in Germany; and Peter Goff,
MFA in studio arts will be a visiting artist at Chancellor College in Malawi.
• UNCG and NC A& T announced plans to build a Joint Primary Data Center to handle
computing for both campuses and the Gateway University Research Park.
• A $ 6.6 million project, aimed at reducing diabetes, cardiovascular disease and HIV/ AIDS
in Triad minority populations, was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
• The innovative Building Entrepreneurial Learning for Life Project, or BELL, was
developed to expose students to the process of starting and operating businesses.
• A $ 1.4 million grant from the U. S. Department of Education has established the TESOL
program to enhance instruction statewide for teaching English as a second language.
• Fall enrollment was 17,127 – a new record.
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• Development of upgraded emergency plans for the campus continued, and UNCG led
UNC system efforts with an “ active shooter” exercise that simulated an emergency
situation and drew more than 400 participants and observers.
• A Center for Research Excellence in Bioactive Food Components was established at the
North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.
• The state’s first Virtual Early College High School was created by the Division of
Continual Learning and went online last fall. UNCG was selected for the project by Gov.
Mike Easley. The program had 2,648 enrollments in 134 high schools in 61 counties.
• Major speakers during the year included Bernice King for Martin Luther King Day,
Pulitzer Prize winner Gene Roberts for Friends of the University Libraries dinner, Nobel
Prize- winning chemist Sir Harold Kroto for the inaugural Science & Society Lecture,
former Kennedy speechwriter Theodore Sorensen for an American Presidency lectures,
rhetorician David Zarefsky for the Harriet Elliott Lectures, and Davidson College
President Tom Ross for our May commencement.
Administration and Trustees
The University’s Board of Trustees welcomed new trustee Randall R. Kaplan and
returning member Linda A. Carlisle, who served as vice chair. Chaired by Stephen C. Hassenfelt,
the board also included Earlene Hardie Cox, secretary; Dr. Kate R. Barrett; Jean E. Davis; Dr.
Carolyn R. Ferree; Dr. Richard L. ( Skip) Moore; William J. Pratt; Jane Preyer; James N. ( Smitty)
Smith; and Gwynn Swinson. Student Government Association President John R. Bryant served
as an ex- officio member.
UNCG’s budget for the year totaled approximately $ 316 million in operating and non-operating
revenues. The state operating budget, including appropriations and receipts, was about
$ 201 million, up from $ 172 million a year earlier, primarily due to enrollment and tuition
increases as well as state funding for salary and benefit increases. UNCG’s endowment grew
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slightly to $ 184 million, with 965 named endowments. Endowment spending rose to $ 7.1 million
from $ 6.4 million.
The university awarded more than $ 1 million in scholarships to 280 students for 2007- 08.
This included $ 927,000 for 168 new and renewed scholarships in the Merit Awards Program.
Undergraduates and graduate students were charged $ 4,029, with $ 2,458 in tuition ( up from
$ 2,308 last year) and $ 1,571 in required fees ( an increase from $ 1,505).
In addition to Dr. Linda P. Brady being named chancellor, key administrative
appointments were David H. Perrin as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, Celia R.
Hooper as dean of the School of Health & Human Performance, and Steven L. Serck and
Christine Dorrestein- Schultz, as associate and assistant university counsels.
Academic Affairs Division
A major development was the appointment of James G. Ryan of the University of Albany
as founding dean of the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering, our major
collaboration with NC A& T. He will begin planning for the facility, which will be located on the
South Campus of Gateway University Research Park and for which $ 65 million has been
earmarked by the North Carolina Legislature. In connection with the JSNN, the Board of
Governors has approved planning of MS and PhD degrees in nanoscience.
A record enrollment of 17,127 started the year, including 13,411 undergraduates ( up 480
from fall 2006), 3,716 graduate students (+ 11). The freshman class of 2,446 (+ 18) was UNCG’s
largest to date, and the average SAT score for the class was 1039. A total of 3,055 students
graduated during the year – 1,967 undergraduates and 1,088 graduate students. The 61 who
received doctorates included the first Ph. D. awarded by the School of Nursing.
The university was again recognized as a “ Best Value” and “ Best Buy” in college
rankings by the Princeton Review and Kiplinger’s Review. For the 13th straight year, the School
of Education ranked among the nation’s top 100 education schools recognized in the U. S. News
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& World Report rankings, and at the graduate level, the Counselor Education Program was rated
fourth among its peer programs in the nation
The university continued its leadership role in distance education, and the Division of
Continual Learning ( DCL) was recognized with honors from state and national distance learning
associations. Coordinated by DCL, the number of credit hours in distance learning jumped to
24,249 from 19,257 in 2006- 07, and has more than quintupled in the decade 1998- 2008.
In University Libraries, the electronic access program Journal Finder was purchased by
WT Cox Subscriptions for $ 350,000. Library staff members created the program to provide
access to electronic resources. Libraries also added hundreds of new journals and databases
covering the arts, humanities, education, and the social and behavioral sciences.
Between January 2007 and May 2008, the International Programs Center had 560
international students, including 297 classified as degree- seeking. Travel grants totaling
$ 205,900 were awarded to 361 UNCG students. UNCG signed new exchange agreements,
bringing its total of foreign exchange programs to 92.
Women made up 51 percent of the faculty, which numbered 1,080 – 839 full- time and
241 part- time, with 78.3 percent holding doctorates or other terminal degrees. Minority faculty
numbers increased to 121 in 2007 from 113 in 2006. Of that number, 49 were African- American,
43 Asian/ Pacific Islander, 27 Hispanic and two American Indian.
Faculty served as officers, editors or board members of national associations and
organizations, including 11 who served as presidents or presidents- elect. The following faculty
were among those honored for teaching, research and service: Vidyaranya Gargeya, UNC Board
of Governors Teaching Excellence Award; Shelly Brown- Jeffy and Annette Van, Alumni
Teaching Excellence Awards; Susan Calkins and Anatoly Miroshnichenko, Research Excellence
Awards; Matina Kalcounis- Ruppell, Jan Rychtar, Kelly Wester, David Cardenas, Lois
VonCannon, Susan Dennison, Gavin Douglas, William Harden and Nir Kshteri, college and
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school- level Teaching Excellence Awards; and Eileen G. Kohlenberg, Gladys S. Bullard Award.
Two retiring faculty members, Robert C. Calhoon and Bert A. Goldman, received the Order of
the Long Leaf Pine.
Research
The university’s research initiatives and infrastructure continued to grow. Exciting
developments took place at the Gateway University Research Park, the Joint Millennial Campus
of NC A& T and UNCG. Construction moved ahead for the U. S. Department of Agriculture
facility on the South Campus. All operations of the federally funded SERVE Center were moved
to the North Campus to a renovated building which was dedicated in July 2007.
New interdisciplinary units opened – the Institute for Community and Economic
Engagement and the TRIAD Center for Health Disparities. The Center for Research Excellence
in Nanobiosciences was opened with Dr. Yousef Haik as director. The McDowell Research
Center for Global Information Technology was opened and dedicated in the Bryan School of
Business and Economics.
External funding for research, public service and creative work set a new record, totaling
$ 38.7 million in 306 individual awards, up 8 percent from $ 36 million in 2006- 07. The total
included $ 25.2 million in federal funding, primarily from the U. S. Department of Education.
Other grants were from private foundations, non- profit organizations, state and local
governments, and business and industry sources. A record 397 proposals for $ 131.4 million were
submitted, up from $ 96 million in 391 proposals the year before.
Grant totals by units were: School of Education, $ 12 million, including $ 10 million
through the SERVE Center; Administration, $ 7.3 million; College of Arts and Sciences, $ 4.5
million; School of Human Environmental Sciences, $ 8.2 million; School of Nursing, $ 3.6
million; School of Health and Human Performance, $ 2.3 million; Bryan School of Business and
Economics, $ 521,217; and School of Music, $ 331,200.
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Data from January 2007 to May 2008 showed that faculty engaged in numerous scholarly
or creative works: They published 83 books and 855 refereed articles, gave 1,929 presentations
at professional conferences and meetings, and presented 474 public performances.
University Advancement Division
For 2007- 08, the Students First Campaign approached its goal of $ 100 million with more
than $ 98 million in gifts and pledges as of June 30 – and went on to exceed the target a month
later on July 29, 2008. Although the goal was realized almost a year ahead of schedule, the
leadership team and advancement staff have developed plans for continuing the campaign
through June 2009.
The success of the campaign earned University Advancement two WealthEngine Awards
for fundraising excellence from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. For
2007- 08, UA had total fundraising receipts of $ 18,098,352. Through June 30, the campaign has
created 14 new professorships, 168 new undergraduate scholarships, 38 new graduate
scholarships and 145 program endowments and student awards programs. Gifts have been made
by 13,268 alumni, 7,431 friends, 903 corporations and foundations, and 1,135 faculty and staff.
The fundraising year included several major gifts, including an enormous matching gift
of almost $ 27 million from the C. D. Spangler Foundation to the entire UNC system. Over five
years, the gift will provide UNCG with six $ 1 million distinguished professorship endowments.
The foundation has provided full funding for the UNCG first professorship, and matching funds
for two others were raised this year.
Other significant gifts or pledges included a scholarship endowment of $ 1 million from
1943 alumna Carolyn Bason Long; a 50th reunion gift of $ 1.08 million from the Class of 1958,
which marked UNCG’s first million- dollar class gift; a $ 333,000 gift from Cone Health Systems
to create a professorship in the School of Nursing; an estate commitment of $ 1 million from
developer Petro Kulynych to provide a scholarship fund in honor of his two daughters; a will
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bequest of $ 500,000 from Jane Keister Bolton to create university- wide scholarship fund; and
$ 700,000 to create an unrestricted scholarship fund.
The second UNCG Business Summit, which draws business executives from across the
state, had David Bronczek, president and CEO of FedEx Express as its keynote speaker.
University Relations provided a variety of marketing, communication, design and
creative services to promote and publicize the university and to support the Students First
Campaign. More than 50 programs were organized and coordinated by the Special Events unit.
In addition, a key activity for UR was development of the PIER system which will be used for
emergency communication in the event of a crisis on campus.
The Alumni House renovation project was completed and staff moved during the late
spring. Alumni Affairs continued its work with the Development Office and University Relations
to conduct several “ Inside UNCG” events to reconnect alumni with the university and support
the Students First Campaign.
Student Affairs Division
Community involvement and public service have continued to grow at UNCG. Last year,
almost 7,800 UNCG students logged over 64,000 hours of service through a variety of
experiences, including Alternative Spring Break trips, Days of Caring, Fall Hunger Awareness
Day, Big Sweep, Get Down Town Leadership Challenge, Winter Walk for AIDS and Summer
Launch.
The division had another productive year of providing student services. UNCG’s adult
student population has grown steadily, reaching 3,205. Two new support projects this year were
Focus on Honoraries, which recognizes adult students who are inducted into honor societies, and
Operation Thomas, in which adult students sent weekly emails to a UNCG student who was sent
to Iraq before the start of fall semester.
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Aycock Auditorium’s renovation was completed and the University Concert & Lecture
Series will return in the fall after two years at the Carolina Theatre. Two major plans were
developed for Residence Hall improvements: one for installing sprinklers in all halls by 2012,
and the other to make facilities ADA- compliant within five years.
Business Affairs Division
Business Affairs posted advances in planning, technology, construction and
budgets/ finance. A major project was the year- long preparation for the July 2008 startup of
Banner HR, an integrated system to handle all human resources processes. The university again
received clean audits from the State Auditor’s Office and from the external auditor for affiliated
organizations. In addition, UNCG was recognized as a “ Benchmark Campus” for its best
practices in general accounting, financial reporting and budgeting in the UNC System
Operational Assessment.
An updated version of the UNCG Master Plan was approved by the Board of Trustees in
September. The document details the physical development of the campus to support the
University’s academic programs, student life and research. The university also took an active
role in the City of Greensboro’s High Point Road/ West Lee Street Corridor Improvement Study.
Further developments in UNCG’s overall traffic planning included creation of a bicycle plan for
the campus. Involvement in the citywide Higher Education Area Transportation ( HEAT) system
is a continuing success, with HEAT providing 91,000 rides for our students last year and
reducing vehicle traffic and parking needs on campus.
Green building and sustainability concepts continued to be incorporated into the design,
construction and maintenance of campus facilities, with planning for the new School of
Education building as the latest example. It will be constructed on Spring Garden Street at an
approximate cost of $ 43 million. Four of the final five N. C. Higher Education Bonds renovation
projects, totaling more than $ 48 million, were completed: Aycock Auditorium, Alumni House,
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Brown Building and Petty Science Building. Renovation of the Forney Building will conclude
the bonds projects in 2008- 09.
During the year, Facilities Design and Construction oversaw construction on 16 projects,
with a total value of $ 43.6 million, and 18 design- phase projects, with a total value of $ 64.8
million. Projects totaling $ 40.6 million were completed and went into service. These included the
four bonds projects and the McNutt Building renovation.
Information Technology Services Division
The ITS division implemented technology enhancements and laid the groundwork to
improve technology services at the university. Efforts focused on expanding access to
technology services, while working toward improvements in efficiency, reliability and security.
Two major technology infrastructure initiatives were launched to support UNCG and NC
A& T collaborative efforts and the broader technology needs of both universities. They are a
Joint Primary Data Center to be located at Gateway University Research Park South, and
planning for the network infrastructure to the park’s south campus. A partnership with
Appalachian State University was established for a remote disaster recovery site, hosted by ASU,
for UNCG’s Banner environment. After a successful pilot program, UNCG will outsource all
student email to Google by fall 2008, placing UNCG among the first UNC campuses to
implement this PACE initiative.
The success of the Student Laptop Initiative has made it possible for UNCG to offer
courses designated “ laptop intensive,” and has allowed the Information Systems Operations
Management department to move introductory courses into regular classrooms. ITS has
continued to expand support for the Blackboard learning management system and is hosting NC
A& T’s Blackboard learning system, a relationship that offers cost reductions to both institutions.
ITS worked closely with university partners on two major initiatives: planning for emergency
communications and the July implementation of Banner HR.
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Intercollegiate Athletics
UNCG celebrated its 40th year of intercollegiate athletics competition with a variety or
events, including a fall Women’s Weekend which honored former women’s athletes. Three
individuals and the 1981- 82 women’s basketball team were inducted into the UNCG Sports Hall
of Fame. Top athletes during the year were men’s basketball forward Kyle Hines, a four- year
standout whose jersey was retired, and women’s tennis star Alejandra Guerra, who was
undefeated in singles and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year.
The women’s soccer team won the Southern Conference regular season title and
advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I tournament play. Six players were named
first- team All- Conference, and Coach Eddie Radwanski was named “ Coach of the Year.” The
men’s and women’s athletic programs finished fifth and eighth, respectively, in the Southern
Conference Cup standings. A total of 105 UNCG student- athletes were named to the Southern
Conference Academic Honor Roll, a distinction for those earning a 3.0 or better GPA. The total
represents about 46 percent of the university's student- athletes. Two students had perfect 4.0 GPAs
for the year.
The Academic Enhancement Program continues to serve more than 230 student- athletes
with their academic pursuits at UNCG. When the NCAA’s Academic Progress Report was
released, nine UNCG teams achieved perfect 1000 scores for the 2006- 07 reporting year. Three
men’s teams received contemporaneous penalties for scholarship reductions, but student welfare
programs in academic support and retention are in place to correct this.
Director of Athletics Nelson Bobb was named the Division I Southeast Region Athletic
Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Athletics Directors. Women’s
basketball coach Lynne Agee was inducted into the Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame.
Outreach activities included hosting the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life walk in the
soccer stadium, which raised more than $ 25,000.
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Conclusion
My years as chancellor of UNCG have been a wonderful and fulfilling journey, and I
submit my final annual report with pride that UNCG had another great year in 2007- 08, with
progress in research and programming initiatives and enrollment growth. I want to thank the
faculty, staff and students for making my final year another advance toward the University’s goal
of being a “ diverse, student- centered research university, linking the Piedmont Triad and North
Carolina to the world through learning, discovery and service.”
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia A. Sullivan