'The University of North Carolina at Charlotte' ('UNC Charlotte,' or for athletics purposes, 'Charlotte'), is a public, coeducational, research intensive university located in
Charlotte, North Carolina,
United States. The university opened
September 23,
1946—today, it is a fast-growing and an increasingly important member of the sixteen-university
University of North Carolina System. It has four campuses, the main campus in
University City (Charlotte), from which it carries out its endeavors focused on teaching, research, and public service.
History
Founded in 1946 as the Charlotte Center to serve the educational needs of returning World War II veterans, UNC Charlotte has grown to become a doctoral/research-intensive institution and is the fourth-largest of the 16 UNC campuses.
The city of Charlotte had sought a public university since 1771 but was never able to sustain one. For years, the nearest state-supported university was 90 miles away.
Like many of the
United States' "
post-World War II" universities, it owes its inception to the
G.I. Bill and its effects on
public education. In
1949, when the state closed the centers, the Charlotte Center was taken over by the city school district and became 'Charlotte College', a two-year institution. Funded first by student tuition payments, then by local property taxes, it became state-supported in 1958 upon joining the newly formed
North Carolina Community College System. Classes were held at Central High School, near uptown Charlotte, until the school moved to its current location in 1961 . In
1963, UNCC became a four-year college. It adopted its current name
July 1,
1965, upon becoming part of the Consolidated University of North Carolina, since 1972 called the
University of North Carolina System. In 1969, the university began offering programs leading to master's degrees. In 1992, it was authorized to offer programs leading to doctoral degrees.
Campuses
Main Campus - University City
The University operates several campuses in Charlotte. The Main Campus is situated on just under 1,000
acres (4 km²) of rolling land between
U.S. Highway 29 and
N.C. Highway 49, about 10 miles (16 km) from Uptown Charlotte in the
University City neighborhood. The campus is self-contained, meaning that no major roads run through the campus. The campus boasts several manmade lakes, and is heavily wooded. Near the center of campus are two gardens that attract over 300,000 visitors a year. Much of the architecture on the campus, particularly the oldest buildings, are precast concrete and utilitarian-looking because they were built with limited state funds in the 1960s and 1970s. Under the campus' third chancellor, James Woodward, the campus has and is undergoing a major change. The newest buildings, funded from state bonds, are being constructed in brick with neoclassical architecture. Concrete and asphalt sidewalks have largely been replaced by brick. The campus' road system is being upgraded to include landscaped medians and more trees.
Charlotte Research Institute Campus
Attached to the main campus is a 100 acre (0.4 km²) campus, created in 2000, called the
Charlotte Research Institute (CRI Campus). This research-oriented campus focuses on precision metrology and intelligent manufacturing; opto-electronics and optical communication; and software and information technology. This campus brings together faculty, students, and outside researchers to work together.
Uptown Campus in the Mint Museum of Craft + Design
Uptown Charlotte Campus
The third campus is located in Uptown Charlotte. This campus primarily focuses its attention on business and evening courses, which caters to Uptown workers. Currently located in the Mint Museum of Craft+Design, the campus recently announced plans to construct its own building in Uptown.
South Charlotte Campus (Ballantyne)
The fourth campus is located in an area of South Charlotte called Ballantyne. At this campus, the University's College of Computing and Informatics (formerly the College of Information Technology
[2]) offers a limited number of graduate courses. The University utilizes space in an office building for this campus.
Students
Of the approximately 21,519 (16,555 undergraduate) students enrolled at the school, 47 percent are male and 53 percent female. Students come from 50 states and 80 countries.
Student demographics
★ Faculty: 924 (Fall 2005)
★ Student-faculty ratio: 14:1
★ Average Class Size: 33
★ Average SAT score: 980-1160
★ Average ACT scores: (25/75 percentile)
English: 18 – 23
Math: 18 – 24
Composite:19 – 23
★ Campus size: 1,000 acres (4.00 km²)
★ African-American: 14% undergraduate
★ Asian-American: 5% undergraduate
★ Caucasian: 75% undergraduate
★ Hispanic: 3% undergraduate
★ Native American: 0% undergraduate
Academics
The university offers 89 baccalaureate(bachelors, undergraduate) programs, 61 master's degree programs, and 18 doctoral (Ph.D.) programs. Fifteen degree and certificate programs are offered via distance education, from 25% to 100% online. UNC Charlotte's first emphasis is on teaching, followed by research, engineering and responsive public service.
Rankings
U.S. News & World Report:
★ Top 10 public regional undergraduate universities in the South. (2006)
★ America's Best Colleges 2007- Cheapest (Most affordable) public schools
[3]
9th in the state of North Carolina and 98th in the U.S.A.
Lombardi Program on Measuring University Performance at the
University of Florida.
★ 80th among public universities in "The Top 200 Institutions - Faculty Awards (2004)".
(117th among public and private universities, on par with
Wake Forest University)
Colleges
★
College of Architecture
★
College of Arts and Sciences
★
Belk College of Business
★
College of Education
★
William States Lee College of Engineering
★
College of Health and Human Services
★
College of Computing and Informatics
★
The Honors College
★
The Graduate School
Research
University of North Carolina at Charlotte is designated a Doctoral/Research Universities by the
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
This classification is the second highest of the foundation's, there are only two (the other being East Carolina University) public universities in the state of North Carolina and out of 84 universities in the nation.
[4]
Library System
UNC Charlotte's J. Murrey Atkins Library system, named for the first chairman of the Board of Trustees of Charlotte College, has over a million books, diverse electronic and media resources, as well as an area for special collections. The recently renovated library includes a ten story tower that accentuates the library's place at the heart of UNC Charlotte's campus.
Endowment
With
$99.5
million (as of August 21, 2006) for approximately 21,519 students, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has the 4th largest per capita endowment of any state of North Carolina public university at $4,623 per student.
Compared to other public universities of its state:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill–$61,592 per student;
North Carolina State University–$14,417 per student;
University of North Carolina at Greensboro–$7,970 per student;
University of North Carolina at Charlotte–$4,623 per student;
University of North Carolina at Asheville–$3,727 per student;
Appalachian State University–$3,241 per student;
East Carolina University–$2,963 per student;
University of North Carolina at Wilmington–$2,878 per student.
Considering public university endowments nationwide:
University of Virginia –$177,000 per student. (Largest per capita endowment of any national public university in the
United States)
University of Michigan –$142,000 per student. (2nd largest)
University of Maryland at College Park–$8,600 per student.
Athletics
Charlotte 49ers logo
For athletics purposes, the school is known as simply 'Charlotte', a change made official by the athletic department on August 23, 2000. The athletic department sponsors sixteen varsity teams and competes in the NCAA's Division I. The university has been a full member of the
Atlantic 10 Conference since
2005. Charlotte is considered a I-AAA member of Division I since the university does not have football; a grassroots movement has emerged with the goal of energizing financial support to bring college football to Charlotte.
The nickname of the athletic team is the ''49ers'', indicative of the fact that UNC Charlotte (then Charlotte College) was saved from permanent closure in
1949. The mascot is "Norm the Niner," an old miner. The school's colors are green and white; gold and black are both featured in the logo and frequently used in the uniforms of several sports.
Since Charlotte does not have a football program, men's basketball is the most followed sport on campus. The team, coached by
Bobby Lutz, has reached the
NCAA Tournament eleven times, including a trip to the Final Four in
1977.
NBA players that once suited up for the 49ers include
Boston Celtics great
Cedric Maxwell,
2001 NBA Draft lottery pick
Rodney White, and
Eddie Basden.
Women's basketball has seen a surge in popularity on campus over the past several years, with the
2003 team, led by coach
Katie Meier, reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time. The team has made the WNIT in every season since then. Meier was succeeded in
2005 by
Amanda Butler, who left after two seasons to take over the same position at the
University of Florida.
Karen Aston will take the reins for the 2007-08 season.
Baseball has also experienced a resurgence at Charlotte, with the
2007 team posting a school-record 49 wins under coach
Loren Hibbs and winning two games over
N.C. State in the
NCAA Tournament.
The men's soccer team reached the
College Cup in
1996. 49ers soccer players now playing in the
MLS include
Floyd Franks and
Jon Busch.
Student Organizations
Main articles: List of UNC Charlotte student organizations
A large number of student organizations are associated with the university.
Ranging from Academic, Graduate, Honor Societies, Interest, International, Multicultural, Political, Religious, Service and Sports.
Greek Life, there are over 10 sororities and 14 fraternities at UNC Charlotte.
University Name
The official name of the university is "The University of North Carolina at Charlotte." "Charlotte", "UNC Charlotte" (no hyphen) and "UNCC" are all acceptable names for the university, but the athletic department has used 'Charlotte' exclusively for its sports teams since 2000. Issues of school identity persist and has led many people, including Charlotte mayor
Pat McCrory, to call for a name change to "The University of Charlotte." Current Chancellor Dubois opposes changing the name of the school despite UNC Charlotte often being confused with
UNC-Chapel Hill. Despite these confusions there is still a strong group of people who are against the name change including current Chancellor Philip Dubois. They cite arguments such as the abbreviation "UC" being just as confusing, and the fact that the University of North Carolina system's name is so prestigious.
University Nickname
The nickname, the 49ers, was chosen in recognition of the importance of the year 1949 in the history of the university. UNC Charlotte, which began as an off-campus center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, would have died in 1949 had Bonnie Cone and her supporters not convinced the N.C. Legislature that Charlotte needed a permanent college. Charlotte College was established that year. It is fortuitous that the campus is also location on N.C. Highway 49 and that Charlotte has a rich gold mining history - the term "49ers" symbolizing gold mining even though the Charlotte area gold preceded the one in California by a number of years.
A bronze statue of the 49ers Gold Miner sits in front of the Reese Administration building on campus. The statue recalls the region's history as a gold mining center and symbolizes the pioneering spirit and determination that has led to UNC Charlotte's dramatic growth.
University Logo
UNC Charlotte's logo has become one of the Charlotte region's most distinctive insignia. It symbolizes the university's link to the UNC system, to the Charlotte metropolitan region, and to the discipline of learning. The logo is suggestive of a "crown," reminiscent of Germany's Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, for whom the city of Charlotte is named. The "crown" also can be interpreted as a lamp of learning, a burning brush, an open book, the flowering of a plant or an individual, or a graduate in cap and gown. The letters "UNC" refer to The University of North Carolina, which was opened in 1795. The word "Charlotte" not only refers to the city but also to the surrounding 11-county metropolitan region, which is the university's primary service area, and the area from which it draws more than 12,500 of its students.
Alma Mater
UNC Charlotte's Alma Mater has deep roots in the institution's history. It was part of an "Academic Festival March" composed for UNC Charlotte by James Helme Sutcliffe, a Charlotte composer and music critic who lived in Germany at the time. Dr. Loy Witherspoon, professor of religious studies, commissioned the March in 1965 when he learned that Charlotte College would become a campus of The University of North Carolina. The March was first performed in 1967 at the installation of Dean W. Colvard as UNC Charlotte's first chancellor. Afterwards, it was performed as a recessional at every Commencement during Dean W. Colvard's as chancellor. When UNC Charlotte founder Bonnie Cone heard the March, she said, "I can hear an alma mater in it," referring to a hymn-like refrain. Dr. Robert Rieke, a professor of history, also heard an alma mater in it.
On a 1990 trip to Germany, Rieke visited Sutcliffe, picked up a recording of the March, and began writing words to fit the final refrain. On Christmas Eve 1991, he sent Bonnie Cone the words and music as a Christmas present to her and to the university, from which he had retired a year earlier.
Chancellor James. H. Woodward approved the composition as the university's Alma Mater in April 1992. It was sung for the first time at the following May Commencement and has been performed at every Commencement since.
Leaders of the university
Administration Timeline
Bonnie E. Cone, founder
Bonnie Cone's final resting place on the campus of UNC Charlotte, with Cato Hall and Fretwell Hall in the background.
'Bonnie E. Cone' (
1907-
2003), or Miss Bonnie as she was known to students, was chosen to lead the Charlotte Center in 1946, and she was instrumental in convincing the state to keep the school open in 1949. She was the leader that chose the current site of the school, and helped plan the original campus master plan. Until 1965, she served as president of Charlotte College. She stated that
March 2,
1965 was the "happiest day of her life"; it was the day the North Carolina
legislature voted to bring Charlotte College into the UNC system. She served as an acting
Chancellor of the university until 1966, when Dean Colvard was selected as permanent chancellor. Even though she had led the college since 1946, the State wanted a leader with experience of running a 4-year, public university. Cone and the university were profiled in the
July 16,
1965 issue of
TIME Magazine. In the article, she stated, "we are not here to elevate ourselves but the institution", when asked about the chancellor position. She served in various official positions until her retirement in
1973, at which time the main campus's student union was renamed the Cone University Center. Cone continued to work on behalf of the school in unofficial capacities until her death in March of 2003 . She is interred in the Van Landingham Gardens on the east side of the main campus, and a non-denominational meditation center is planned near the site. She is posthumously known as the founder of the school, a title which she rejected during her lifetime because she felt many people had a hand in creating and building the university. During her lifetime, she received 10
honorary degrees from various colleges and universities and was inducted posthumously into the
Order of the Long Leaf Pine in recognition to her contributions to North Carolina history. In 2004 the stretch of U.S. Highway 29 near the main campus was officially renamed the "Dr. Bonnie Cone Memorial Highway."
Chancellors
'Dean W. Colvard' (1913-2007) was appointed the first chancellor of the young university in 1966. A North Carolina native, Colvard had served as president of
Mississippi State University (MSU). At MSU he was the first president to defy university policy of not playing against integrated teams when he ordered the men's basketball team to play
Loyola University Chicago in 1963. At UNC Charlotte, Colvard took on the challenge of converting the school from a junior college to a 4-year member of the UNC system. He oversaw accreditation of the university, development of University Research Park (now one of the top 5 largest research parks in the country), constructed the first residence halls, created the first graduate programs, and grew the enrollment from about 1,700 to just over 8,000 students. He retired as chancellor in 1978, served as Chancellor
Emeritus until his death. Colvard also received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The Colvard building, completed on the main campus in 1979, is named in his honor and houses the Department of Psychology.
'E.K. Fretwell', the second chancellor of the university, was named in 1979. Fretwell came to the university from
University at Buffalo, where he was president. Under Fretwell, campus enrollment surged from 8,000 students to over 12,000. He oversaw the creation of the Graduate School, created more graduate degrees, integrated the library's card catalog into the
Internet in 1983, created the ground work for a major business incubator, helped to develop the university's surrounding neighborhood, and increased academic grants to over $6.1 million dollars. Fretwell retired as chancellor in 1989. He served as interim president of the
University of Massachusetts from 1991-1992, and in 1998, he served as the interim president of the
University of North Florida. In 1996 UNC Charlotte opened the Fretwell building, dedicated in honor of him and his wife Dorrie. The building headquarters the College of Arts and Sciences. He and his wife live in Charlotte.
'James H. Woodward' succeeded Fretwell in 1989. Woodward came to UNC Charlotte from the
University of Alabama at Birmingham where he served as dean of engineering and senior vice president of academic affairs. Under Woodward, enrollment grew to over 19,000 students. Like his predecessors, he continued the growth of the Graduate School, and added various new doctoral programs. He also oversaw the largest fundraising campaign in the school's history and its largest building boom; as of the summer of 2005, no less than six buildings were actively under construction on the main campus. Woodward also oversaw creation of the CRI Campus. Woodward announced his retirement in 2004, and left the office of chancellor on
June 30,
2005. Woodward Hall, the main campus's newest science and technology building, was dedicated in his honor on November 16, 2005. Woodward is currently serving as Chancellor Emeritus and teaches in the university's engineering department.
Dubois
'Philip L. Dubois' is the fourth and current chancellor, assuming his current duties on
July 15,
2005. He returns to Charlotte after serving as the president of the
University of Wyoming from 1997 through 2005 . Previously, Dubois served as the
Provost and professor of political science at UNC Charlotte from 1991 until 1997. Dubois is the first chancellor, along with his wife and children, to occupy the brand new Chancellor's House (known as the Bissel House) on the UNC Charlotte campus that was completed in the winter of 2005. Dubois is expected to oversee the process of the University becoming the fourth research-extensive university in the State.
Alumni and faculty
Main articles: List of University of North Carolina at Charlotte people
Every graduate of UNC Charlotte automatically becomes a member of the Alumni Association, an organization of more than 80,000 former students whose primary purpose is to advance the interests of the university. There are no membership fees, annual dues or initiation rites, but there is an expectation that members will be active participants in the organization.
In addition to promoting the interests of UNC Charlotte, the Alumni Association acts as a network of UNC Charlotte graduates who assist each other in their personal, professional and social development, and recognize and cheer the accomplishments of their fellow members.
The association offers members a number of benefits and services. Some are in the form of information and communications, including a UNC Charlotte magazine and a quarterly electronic newsletter which keeps alumni up to date on news from the association and the university.
The only requirement for membership is that alumni maintain contact with the Office of Alumni Affairs, provide an up-to-date address for alumni files and keep the association informed about their personal progress and career achievements.
Notable Alumni
★ Brandon J. Wyatt - May 2007
★ Philip P. Wolfe - May 2007
★
Clay H. Aiken - December 2003
★ Angela Coachman - May 2003
★ 'Amitkumar C. Govindji - May 2002'
★ Heather Eason - December 2003
Facts
★ The first-ever meeting of the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors was held in the J. Murrey Atkins Library on the UNC Charlotte campus in 1972.
★ When Chancellor Fretwell oversaw the library's card catalog system conversion to computers in 1983, the University became the first library in the country to have a computerized card catalog.
★ UNC Charlotte is the only university in the country to have three
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Professors of the Year on the faculty at one time.
★ By the year 2015, the University is projected to have over 30,000 students.
★ UNC Charlotte is the #1 rated University in the country in patents applied for.
★ UNC Charlotte is the #2 rated University in the country in patents granted.
★ UNC Charlotte is the #1 rated University in the country for number of startup businesses formed.
★ UNC Charlotte produces the second largest numbers of new teachers among all 47 of the higher education (public or private) institutions in the State of North Carolina.
See also
★
Dale F. Halton Arena
★
Bobby Lutz
★
Jeff Mullins
★
University City, Charlotte, North Carolina
References
External links
'School'
★
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte -- Official Website
'Publications'
★
NinerOnline.com the online University Times(UT) newspaper of UNC Charlotte
★
University Magazine of UNC Charlotte
★
Sanskrit UNC Charlotte's Literary-Arts Magazine
'Alumni'
★
UNC Charlotte's Alumni website
'Athletics'
★
Official Charlotte athletics site
★
Athletics Fans Message Board
★
Charlotte 49er Football Initiative
'Maps and Aerial Photos'
★
WikiMapia of UNC Charlotte
★
Street map from Google Maps
★
GoogleMap of UNC Charlotte apartments
★
Street map from Yahoo Maps
★
Topographic map from TopoZone
★
Aerial or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
★
Satellite image from Google Maps
★
Satellite image from Microsoft Virtual Earth
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