“What we did over two years was start the debate by asking the question, ‘What are our goals for our graduates?’” Woodward said.
“Once that was settled, how then do we package and offer courses and other educational experiences in a way to ensure that those goals are met?”
He said the restructuring is an achievement of which he is most proud.
“We want to assure the students who graduate can live life as a human being, participate as an active citizen, as well as make a living in a chosen profession,” he said.
UNC-C has added several academic programs during the past decade, including some at the doctoral level, Woodward said.
He added that many of the university’s freshman-level courses are taught by senior professors, including some endowed professors.
“A student will walk into a class that will be taught by one of the most distinguished professors at UNC-Charlotte,” Woodward said.
A large expansion
Originally a center of learning for returning World War II soldiers, UNC-C became part of the UNC system in 1965 and has grown into the fourth-largest school in the system.
Director of Admissions Craig Fulton said he projects that enrollment at the university will continue to grow about 4 percent annually during the next few years.
UNC-C has had one of the lowest ratios of academic space per student in the system.
But Fulton said that as a result of the system’s 2000 bond referendum, UNC-C now has the capacity to take on more students.
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“The bond referendum was to provide increased access for citizens of North Carolina, so clearly we want to respond to that,” Fulton said.
“We put all of the bond money here into new academic space and … renovating existing space.”
Woodward said that almost $300 million has been spent on construction that is recently complete, under way or in planning. Of that, $190 million was funded by the state.
In addition to seven or eight academic buildings, he said, the university is completing a $35 million science and technology building. This spring, construction will begin on a new alumni center. And a new student union building is being designed.
Smooth sailing
UNC-C officials have been making an effort to improve student retention and graduation rates with the formation of an Office of Student Success and Retention in fall 2003.
“I think you try to recruit a student who can be successful academically and then provide the support that students need while they are here,” Fulton said.
“We clearly are committed to that.”
Some of that support comes from academic advising and other resources.
And research from the Office of Student Success and Retention and the UNC-system Office of the President has provided the university with information on ways to give students what they want and need to graduate.
Fulton said that getting students involved through new student orientation, clubs and organizations is a key to retention because they develop an attachment to the school, the campus and each other.
“If you can get students connected to the university, to each other and to the faculty, they will be more likely to perform at a higher rate, get better grades, have a better college experience. And they will be more likely to graduate.”
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
