Carolina has never been stronger than it is today. Our current position provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to make bold moves that will propel the University to even greater heights.
Consider these strengths:
Carolina is among the 62 leading American and Canadian campuses forming the Association of American Universities, an influential force in U.S. higher education.
The University is consistently ranked among the top five public universities, along with Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan and Virginia. (As one example, U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked UNC 5th among public universities for eight consecutive years in the “America’s Best Colleges” guide.)
Carolina’s academic culture fosters excellence in interdisciplinary teaching and scholarship between and among the health, natural and social sciences, as well as the liberal arts and the humanities. This approach helps develop the student body into thoughtful individuals, informed citizens and compassionate leaders.
Our students successfully compete for the most prestigious international and national scholarships. We rank 2nd among top public research universities for producing Rhodes Scholars (41) and we have had several recent Luce, Truman, Churchill and Udall Scholars.
Nearly 30 percent of Carolina undergraduates participate in research, and we offer 300 study-abroad programs in 70 countries.
The Carolina Covenant is a national model for making a college degree possible for qualified low-income students. Carolina was the first major public university to provide a debt-free program. Now, more than 80 similar initiatives for low- to moderate-income students have been modeled after the Carolina Covenant. The first class of Covenant Scholars graduated in May.
The University is consistently lauded for its commitment to access and affordability. For the seventh consecutive time, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine named Carolina the No. 1 best value in American public higher education.
U.S. News & World Report’s “Great Schools, Great Prices” listed Carolina first among all public universities, based on academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student receiving the average level of need-based financial aid.
Through an admissions policy that evaluates each candidate individually and comprehensively, both the academic preparation and diversity of the entering class have significantly improved.
For the incoming fall 2008 class, the University received 21,511 applications - a new record for the third consecutive year. Some 7,307, or 34% were admitted, and about 3,900 - 53% of the admits - were expected to ultimately enroll.
The projected average SAT score for this year’s class was 1301. Forty-three percent finished 10th or higher in their graduating high school class; 79% were among the top 10%. Those numbers represent gains from a year ago.
The Carolina student body has become dramatically more diverse since 2000. Carolina has had among the highest percentages of African-American students in the entering class 7 times in 9 years (through fall 2007) among the top 50 national universities.
America’s first public university has a long tradition of public service.
Learning extends well beyond classrooms. Students help identify problems and seek solutions, while also taking advantage of precious opportunities to work alongside faculty and staff who have been at the forefront of efforts to address some of the biggest challenges facing North Carolina, the country and the world.
Carolina’s campus culture is engaged and collegial. Examples include APPLES (service learning providing a link between classroom learning and community work) and the Public Service Scholars (provides a framework or undergraduates who want to serve communities beyond traditional volunteerism).
North Carolina is recognized nationally for the Legislature’s strong support of higher education.
Carolina’s total revenues exceed $2.3 billion. State appropriations account for more than $574 million - about 24% of the University’s total operating budget in fiscal 2008-09. The Legislature has provided generous support for faculty - salary increases, the North Carolina Distinguished Professors Endowment Trust (leveraging private gifts) and President Bowles’ strategic faculty retention and recruitment fund.
For example, this year’s General Assembly approved the equivalent of an average 3% salary increase for Carolina faculty, as well as a second year of funding allocated to the president’s strategic faculty recruitment and retention fund. Those funds are being leveraged by another $4.7 million for faculty salaries and new faculty positions through campus- and school-based tuition (except for a freeze on the rates for North Carolina undergraduates).
Another major vote of confidence by the Legislature in our faculty was the creation of the University Cancer Research Fund to support basic research and basic science departments through the LinebergerComprehensive Cancer Center. Legislators directed $25 million to UNC beginning in 2007-08, and that investment rises to $50 million annually starting in 2009.
Total research grants and contracts in fiscal 2008 exceeded $678 million - more than double the amount from a decade ago. That’s up from about $610 million last year and a particularly strong performance by the faculty as the federal government throttles back on funding for research, increasing competition for available grants dramatically.
Carolina’s funding from the National Institutes of Health was more than $356 million in fiscal 2008 - up sharply at 13.3%.
Although there are no official comparative numbers available among our top peers, University leaders believe, based on anecdotal evidence to date, that the 2008 performance ranks among the best for a public university this year.
More importantly, the research is helping cure diseases and bring innovations resulting from new knowledge to the commercial marketplace and the general public. Key areas include a genome science initiative, an Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanosciences and Technology and the Renaissance Computing Institute, based at Carolina in partnership with Duke University, North Carolina State University and state agencies. UNC-Chapel Hill also is opening a new nutrition institute this fall at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.
Through its teaching, research and public service, Carolina connects with the people of our state every day in ways that improve lives and build futures.
Examples include the Area Health Education Centers Program (AHEC), which works with nine regional centers to bring health sciences faculty and students to communities to provide care, share knowledge, reduce disparities among the underserved and help produce the next generation of North Carolina’s health professionals. And the School of Government helps improve the lives of North Carolinians through engaged scholarship - the application of university expertise to address community needs - that helps public officials understand and improve state and local government.
In response to the UNC Tomorrow Commission’s report, our Phase I response focused on engagement activities around the state. We realized that if our broad-ranging expertise can offer individual responses to the report’s six major policy areas - global readiness, access to higher education, public education, economic transformation, health and environment - then that same expertise should be capable of developing a comprehensive and more effective approach as well. The Community-Campus Partnership for Tomorrow is a commitment by Carolina to forge comprehensive and integrated partnerships with underserved communities in North Carolina, especially the most distressed counties as designated by the N.C. Department of Commerce.
Carolina First ended in December 2007 as the fifth biggest among completed campaigns at that time and the South’s largest. With 194,000-plus donors, Carolina First raised $2.38 billion.
That final total included $419.7 million for faculty, including 208 new endowed professorships; $345.3 million for students, including 577 new scholarships and 196 new fellowships; $579.4 million for research; $664.8 million for strategic initiatives; and $185 million for facilities.
The campaign helped double the University’s total endowment to more than $2 billion.
Our fundraising didn’t stop when the campaign ended. In fiscal 2008, fundraising broke the $300 million mark for the first time with a fifth consecutive record-setting year for gift support. That mark was up from $250.8 million in 2007.
The Carolina First Campaign’s success has more than made good on Carolina’s pledge in 2000 to triple the investment North Carolinians made by approving the Higher Education Bond Referendum. Voters overwhelmingly supported the referendum, which brought $515 million to Carolina for new buildings and renovations.
The University has invested its own funds from sources including gifts and faculty research grants to create - at about $2.1 billion - one of the nation’s largest campus building programs.
Carolina has completed 88 percent of 49 bond-funded projects, the final one of which is scheduled to be completed in January 2009.
In all, the building program is adding 6 million square feet of facilities to the main campus. Goals include making the campus pedestrian friendly and incorporating innovative sustainability features as part of a campus master plan.
The Board of Trustees just approved design plans for the Innovation Center, the first building scheduled to launch development at Carolina North. The public-private partnership will provide much-needed laboratory space for faculty research with potential in the commercial marketplace. This fall, plans for the Innovation Center go to the Chapel Hill Town Council for review.
In its last session, the General Assembly approved spending $11.5 million for planning and infrastructure as part of a plan to relocate the School of Law from main campus to Carolina North. The move was the first major state support for the project and sent a strong message about the scope of future plans for Carolina North.
These positive developments capped an intensive internal planning process that included significant community input and approval for the overall design plan for Carolina North by the trustees.