The State of Higher Education in Charlotte

[15895]

Isn't the UNC system being dismantled by the NCGA and UNC Board of Governors?  

I wonder if that could be eventually help us?

[Silicon Dogwoods]

Isn't the UNC system being dismantled by the NCGA and UNC Board of Governors?  

Not so much dismantled as degraded.

Seemingly endless funding cuts, a BOG that is hardly worthy of the name, the never-ending scandal at Chapel Hill (the handling of which has been a clinic on how not to manage a scandal.) Mind you, the BOT for the Chapel Hill campus has more direct oversight over the "flagship," but the BOG could have and should have ended the dithering. 5 years, near-loss of accreditation, a profoundly embarrassing, painful debacle-and I'm a Chapel Hill alum.

This BOG is particularly ill-equipped to engage in a search to replace a guy that should have never been fired. Not that they are not entitled to hire their own President, but they've gone about it so badly that the UNC system is starting to be seen as toxic-not unlike the University of Wisconsin. I suspect the candidates for President that the search firm bring forward will not be all that impressive, because impressive candidates will want nothing to do with it. Even if everything were great, UNC is notorious for underpaying for talent.

Many North Carolina Republicans think UNC is too big for its britches and have been waiting since forever to snack it down. Some of this was self-inflicted but most of it reflects a disdain for intellectual pursuits.

[Miesian Corners]

^An educated constituency is always a bad thing. 

[Silicon Dogwoods]

^An educated constituency is always a bad thing. 

Ain't it? 

[birky]

But Charlotte's real need is a major research university.Until we have that (and we may never have it) we will have a big hole in our civic landscape.

 

Atlanta-2-Ga Tech and Emory

Raleigh-3 if you count all the Triangle universities, 1 in-town, NC State.

Nashville-Vandy

Miami-U of Miami

Austin-UT

Dallas-SMU

Houston-Rice and U of Houston

Knoxville-the other UT 

Georgia Tech - 1885

Emory* - 1836

UNC - 1789

NCSU - 1887

Duke* - 1838

Vanderbilt* - 1873

Miami* - 1925

Texas - 1883

Rice* - 1912

Houston - 1927

Tennessee - 1794

UNC Charlotte - 1946

 

* denotes a private ($$$) institution

 

Of the public schools listed, all except Houston have a good 60 years on UNC Charlotte.  A school which, by the way, has accounted for nearly 50% of all growth in the entire UNC system over the last decade or so.  The school is trying very hard to build it's brand as a research institution (and make no mistake - it is a serious research institution), but when you experience such massive growth in a short span, a lot of your money goes towards building facilities and amenities on campus.Think about just what's happened at UNCC in the past 10 years - they've built the entire CRI campus, the Center City campus, added football and built a stadium on campus.  Not to mention lots of new academic buildings, dorms, dining halls, etc.  There has been huge, huge progress at UNC Charlotte recently.  People need to take a step back and realize that UNCC is becoming a serious player among public universities in the region, but these things take time. Yes, the BOG has been dominated by old-school UNC types for the it's history, and yes, the state continues to defund the entire university system, but as Charlotte continues to grow as an economic center in the southeast (not to mention in population), the dynamics of the BOG could change.

One question I wonder, is what is the best way to raise the profile of a school?  I know the answer might be all-of-the-above, but wonder what is the "fastest" way to establishing UNCC as a premier research university so that is does have great visibility.

 

1) Focus on 3-5 programs, and dump tons of money there to get them to be top ranked in nation and creating a halo affect for the school overall?

2) Raise admission standards and slow growth to push the school up the USN&WR rankings (this obviously has negative side affects)

3) Beg/plead for more PhD programs?  Maybe direct endowment money for this effort?

UNCC has been dumping money into certain graduate programs, specifically the Data Science & Business Analytics program and the Health Informatics program.  The funding for these programs comes directly from the chancellor's office.  They are two of the programs the school is keying on as major attractors of upcoming talent, especially since not a lot of schools offer them at this time.

 

With regards to adding more programs, the University already offers 21 doctoral programs and 71 master's programs. We have over 5,000 enrolled graduate students and we're literally bursting at the seams.  Several programs are now ranked in the top 100 nationalwide.  Not too shabby for a school that only began offering graduate level degrees in 1970.

We need to be patient.  The University will continue to grow and move up those rankings.  The University expects 35,000 students by 2030, making it far and away the largest school in the state.  Who knows where things will be in 50 years.

[Niner National]

^excellent post.

[tozmervo]

This list doesn't even include some of the huge projects (new construction & renovation) that will get underway in the next year. The potentially biggest of which would be a new $120 million science building, which McCory's bond plan (Connect NC) includes.

http://facilities.uncc.edu/our-services/business-related-services/capital-projects/construction-information-updates/current-construction-updates

[Third Strike]

UNC Charlotte now has the second largest undergrad population in North Carolina, as of Fall 2014. The university has likely surpassed NC State for the Fall of 2015. We are still fourth in graduate students, and still fourth in overall population, but is very close to overtaking ECU for the third spot. Based on how fast UNCC is growing, we will likely overtake UNC by 2020 or so, becoming the second largest university in the UNC system in overall student population:

UNC Data Dashboard

[kickazzz2000]

I had a dream that Queens became a major doctoral university with a Law and Business building at Levineland overlooking the park and a massive health sciences campus in Eastland, with a med, dental, pharmacy, and public health school. 

 

Lets start a gofundme

[Niner National]

UNC Charlotte now has the second largest undergrad population in North Carolina, as of Fall 2014. The university has likely surpassed NC State for the Fall of 2015. We are still fourth in graduate students, and still fourth in overall population, but is very close to overtaking ECU for the third spot. Based on how fast UNCC is growing, we will likely overtake UNC by 2020 or so, becoming the second largest university in the UNC system in overall student population:

UNC Data Dashboard

I think it is also important to point out that despite all the growth, unc charlottes acceptance rate has steadily dropped. Now sitting at 62.7%. More students and better students are.applying than ever before.

 

When I went from 05 to 09, acceptance rate was 70+% I believe. It's great to see some of the new program offerings and scholarship opportunities bringing in a higher caliber of student than we have had before. 

 

Charlotte will never be a selective university because that isn't it's mission, but I will be happy if we see it drop into 50a. NC state admits about 53% of applicants. I'd like to see Charlotte near there as well.

[Miesian Corners]

^ Agreed, but my alma mater's graduation rate is still below the UNC system average. According to the university's provost report, UNC Charlotte’s target six-year graduation rates for Fall 2007, 2008, and 2009 cohorts are 53.3%, 53.6%, and 54.0% respectively, well below the 2009 average of 59.2% for the UNC system.  UNC Charlotte’s 2010 retention rate ranked 11th among peer institutions (below VCU, Old Dominion, UNLV, and Louisville, among others).  Those numbers should really increase for the university to shine in the region.

[Niner National]

^ Agreed, but my alma mater's graduation rate is still below the UNC system average. According to the university's provost report, UNC Charlotte’s target six-year graduation rates for Fall 2007, 2008, and 2009 cohorts are 53.3%, 53.6%, and 54.0% respectively, well below the 2009 average of 59.2% for the UNC system.  UNC Charlotte’s 2010 retention rate ranked 11th among peer institutions (below VCU, Old Dominion, UNLV, and Louisville, among others).  Those numbers should really increase for the university to shine in the region.

Definitely an area that needs to be improved upon. Have to imagine that will improve as the caliber of student goes up.

Do you know if those percentages are only for undergraduate? If not, it may not be a great comparison since many of our peer institutions have professional schools that we do not have. Retention rates are extremely high for professional programs and UNC Charlotte has almost none of those.

[cltbwimob]

Queens University is launching a rebranding campaign to better position themselves in the minds of prospective students.

https://www.charlotteagenda.com/46373/queens-university-unveils-new-brand-strategy-including-new-logo-new-value-proposition/

While interesting this kind of seems like the whole "lipstick on a pig" problem.  Although Queens is not a bad school the fact that they are seemingly expending more effort to conjure up a kitschy marketing campaign rather than actually making the school better is tantamount to putting the cart before the horse in my opinion.  Call me crazy, but I believe great universities market themselves precisely because they are great, not because they have logos that are aesthetically pleasing.  I mean, schools like Duke, Wake, William and Mary, UVa, Johns Hopkins, etc could incorporate a dead animal carcass into their logos, and students would still desire to attend based on the prestige, rigor, and alumni groups such schools have.   

I think if Queens wants to raise its stature, it should start looking to increasing its offerings and increasing the rigor of the programs it already has.  Obviously, they will never be a major research university, but they could focus on their strengths as a school steeped in the liberal arts tradition by adding programs more suited to that style of institution.  A major school of public admin/policy, school of law, and a proper school of journalism coupled with an improved school of business and increased offerings in the humanities and social sciences could really bump the schools profile with no marketing gimmicks whatsoever.

 

[Niner National]

Heard from someone that works at UNC Charlotte that there was a BoT meeting recently that discussed funding costs for a medical school. Might be pie in the sky planning and nothing concrete, but at least they seem to be discussing it.

[Third Strike]

I have no idea how much UNC Charlotte is affected by this, but there is a huge scandal going on with UNC Chapel Hill, and the entire UNC system was mentioned in the article. I would assume UNCC would not be guilty (or as guilty) of this, since our football program is new, and our basketball teams are no where near as high profile as some of the other colleges in the system. But the fact that we share the same banner as our flagship could taint our reputation as well:

UNC academic scandal leaves university in peril beyond athletics

 

[R.Talbott]

1 hour ago, Third Strike said:

I have no idea how much UNC Charlotte is affected by this, but there is a huge scandal going on with UNC Chapel Hill, and the entire UNC system was mentioned in the article. I would assume UNCC would not be guilty (or as guilty) of this, since our football program is new, and our basketball teams are no where near as high profile as some of the other colleges in the system. But the fact that we share the same banner as our flagship could taint our reputation as well:

UNC academic scandal leaves university in peril beyond athletics

 

The scandal is pretty much in one department and involving a few people in classes that are normal (no show) at a lot of universities.  Mary Willingham, who is noted in the article, is a fraud.  Most of the claims made over the years have been proven wrong or there has been no evidence to support it.

 

The main issue is that the problems spanned a couple of decades and women's basketball will be hit hard with sanctions.  Football and men's baseball were let off the hook just last week.

 

The article is really just trying to beat a dead horse.

[Vitamin_N]

12 hours ago, R.Talbott said:

The scandal is pretty much in one department and involving a few people in classes that are normal (no show) at a lot of universities.  Mary Willingham, who is noted in the article, is a fraud.  Most of the claims made over the years have been proven wrong or there has been no evidence to support it.

 

The main issue is that the problems spanned a couple of decades and women's basketball will be hit hard with sanctions.  Football and men's baseball were let off the hook just last week.

 

The article is really just trying to beat a dead horse.

Do you work in UNC PR or something? It was just not just Af-Am and Mary Willingham is not a fraud. UNC was put on academic probation by SACS, for pete's sake. That never happens with major research universities.

[Niner National]

It hasn't been publicly announced, but UNC Charlotte quietly launched a capital campaign about a year ago. It's supposedly going very well. I think the goal is something like $250 million. Mostly for academics, although I heard that 40 million or so will go to athletics. It will be made public once the quiet phase is over, which should be sometime this year or the beginning of 2017.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Niner National

[R.Talbott]

3 hours ago, Vitamin_N said:

Do you work in UNC PR or something? It was just not just Af-Am and Mary Willingham is not a fraud. UNC was put on academic probation by SACS, for pete's sake. That never happens with major research universities.

You got me

[kickazzz2000]

5 hours ago, Vitamin_N said:

Do you work in UNC PR or something? It was just not just Af-Am and Mary Willingham is not a fraud. UNC was put on academic probation by SACS, for pete's sake. That never happens with major research universities.

She PLAGIARIZED her masters thesis.  If that isn't the definition of fraud.....

 

http://robesonian.com/opinion/87049/as-wasnt-predicted-the-worst-isnt-coming-to-unc

 

 

 

 

 

[cltbwimob]

On 4/12/2016 at 4:43 PM, Niner National said:

Heard from someone that works at UNC Charlotte that there was a BoT meeting recently that discussed funding costs for a medical school. Might be pie in the sky planning and nothing concrete, but at least they seem to be discussing it.

 

On 5/5/2016 at 11:53 AM, Niner National said:

It hasn't been publicly announced, but UNC Charlotte quietly launched a capital campaign about a year ago. It's supposedly going very well. I think the goal is something like $250 million. Mostly for academics, although I heard that 40 million or so will go to athletics. It will be made public once the quiet phase is over, which should be sometime this year or the beginning of 2017.

$200 million is the number that was officially released last week.  Also, I have been looking at some of the institutional and strategic plans; it looks like they are really going to start doubling down on STEM and research-intensive majors.  Ones I have seen from recently updated plans that are either under study or in the works include Bachelors in Chemical, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering; Masters in Environmental, Systems, and Computer Engineering, and PhDs in Civil and Systems Engineering as well as a PhD in Applied Physics.  Also, they are looking at adding PhDs in Business Analytics and Urban/Regional Economics in the B-School, and they have formalized that they are officially studying next steps toward potentially establishing a Medical School.  Perhaps Charlotte is on the precipice of actually having a major research university, which would be phenomenal for the city.

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, cltbwimob said:

 

$200 million is the number that was officially released last week.  Also, I have been looking at some of the institutional and strategic plans; it looks like they are really going to start doubling down on STEM and research-intensive majors.  Ones I have seen from recently updated plans that are either under study or in the works include Bachelors in Chemical, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering; Masters in Environmental, Systems, and Computer Engineering, and PhDs in Civil and Systems Engineering as well as a PhD in Applied Physics.  Also, they are looking at adding PhDs in Business Analytics and Urban/Regional Economics in the B-School, and they have formalized that they are officially studying next steps toward potentially establishing a Medical School.  Perhaps Charlotte is on the precipice of actually having a major research university, which would be phenomenal for the city.

Would love for them to expand in uptown. I had heard from a friend that Levine's tower would be anchored by UNCC. I think that'd be fantastic.

[cltbwimob]

On September 27, 2016 at 9:05 AM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

Would love for them to expand in uptown. I had heard from a friend that Levine's tower would be anchored by UNCC. I think that'd be fantastic.

That would be awesome.  While we're on the topic of things we'd like to see, I would like to see them buy the Charlotte School of Law; merge that with their departments of  Public Policy/Administration, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Urban/Regional Planning, plus any associated research center like the Urban Institute; and create a single College of Law, Government, and Public Policy.  That could anchor Levine's building and complement the School of Business which is already Uptown.  Also, Levine's building could house the joint universities library and student union facilities that various Uptown booster organizations have called for.

On September 27, 2016 at 8:44 AM, cltbwimob said:

 

$200 million is the number that was officially released last week.  Also, I have been looking at some of the institutional and strategic plans; it looks like they are really going to start doubling down on STEM and research-intensive majors.  Ones I have seen from recently updated plans that are either under study or in the works include Bachelors in Chemical, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering; Masters in Environmental, Systems, and Computer Engineering, and PhDs in Civil and Systems Engineering as well as a PhD in Applied Physics.  Also, they are looking at adding PhDs in Business Analytics and Urban/Regional Economics in the B-School, and they have formalized that they are officially studying next steps toward potentially establishing a Medical School.  Perhaps Charlotte is on the precipice of actually having a major research university, which would be phenomenal for the city.

Also forgot to put down that they are looking to add an M.S. in Architecture.

Edited September 29, 2016 by cltbwimob
Spelling

[birky]

 

On 9/27/2016 at 8:44 AM, cltbwimob said:

 

$200 million is the number that was officially released last week.  Also, I have been looking at some of the institutional and strategic plans; it looks like they are really going to start doubling down on STEM and research-intensive majors.  Ones I have seen from recently updated plans that are either under study or in the works include Bachelors in Chemical, Environmental, and Biomedical Engineering; Masters in Environmental, Systems, and Computer Engineering, and PhDs in Civil and Systems Engineering as well as a PhD in Applied Physics.  Also, they are looking at adding PhDs in Business Analytics and Urban/Regional Economics in the B-School, and they have formalized that they are officially studying next steps toward potentially establishing a Medical School.  Perhaps Charlotte is on the precipice of actually having a major research university, which would be phenomenal for the city.

 

On 9/28/2016 at 5:14 PM, cltbwimob said:

That would be awesome.  While we're on the topic of things we'd like to see, I would like to see them buy the Charlotte School of Law; merge that with their departments of  Public Policy/Administration, Political Science, Criminal Justice, Urban/Regional Planning, plus any associated research center like the Urban Institute; and create a single College of Law, Government, and Public Policy.  That could anchor Levine's building and complement the School of Business which is already Uptown.  Also, Levine's building could house the joint universities library and student union facilities that various Uptown booster organizations have called for.

Also forgot to put down that they are looking to add an M.S. in Architecture.

Wouldn't expect the joint program with the CSL to continue for much longer (for good reasons).

Can confirm there are plans for an MS in Architecture which will really be a modification of something they already offer. There are also talks about a PhD in Civil Engineering, but nothing has been approved. Master of Science in Management was just approved for the Business School, which will be a Center City program for students with UG degrees in non-business disciplines. The B School also added a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) for next academic year (@ $28,000 a year). There is a new MS in Cyber Security starting in Spring 2017. There is a new PhD in Educational Research, Measurement , and Evaluation as of this year. I would be beyond shocked if a PhD in Physics was added (or really if a PhD in Liberal Arts & Sciences were added at all).

With regards to a Med School, I know there is interest within the community, but there are two major roadblocks: 1) the school's endowment and 2) CMC and/or Presby have to be on board, and they are not.  The amount of resources they would have to add is enormous.

Edited October 24, 2016 by birky

[Niner National]

1 hour ago, birky said:

 

 

Wouldn't expect the joint program with the CSL to continue for much longer (for good reasons).

Can confirm there are plans for an MS in Architecture which will really be a modification of something they already offer. There are also talks about a PhD in Civil Engineering, but nothing has been approved. Master of Science in Management was just approved for the Business School, which will be a Center City program for students with UG degrees in non-business disciplines. The B School also added a DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) for next academic year (@ $28,000 a year). There is a new MS in Cyber Security starting in Spring 2017. There is a new PhD in Educational Research, Measurement , and Evaluation as of this year. I would be beyond shocked if a PhD in Physics was added (or really if a PhD in Liberal Arts & Sciences were added at all).

With regards to a Med School, I know there is interest within the community, but there are two major roadblocks: 1) the school's endowment and 2) CMC and/or Presby have to be on board, and they are not.  The amount of resources they would have to add is enormous.

Because CSL has a bad reputation or because UNC Charlotte is working on a school of their own?

With regards to the medical school comment, many schools have smaller endowments than Charlotte, yet have a med school. ECU was one of them until very recently. They just surpassed Charlotte in the last couple years and their endowment isn't much larger (187 vs 152). As far as hospitals being on board, the former CEO of Presbyterian was a big proponent of a med school here. He wanted Presby, CMC, and UNC Charlotte to all partner. CMC did not want to do that. Their CEO is a Tar Heel and Chapel Hill wanted a satellite campus here, so that is what he favored. The interest is still there from Presby, but not from CMC.