Chancellor’s Letter
As we close out another record-breaking year, there’s so much for us to celebrate. Together, and despite the ongoing pandemic, we have made momentous gains, including:
- Record fall enrollment of nearly 30,500
- Over 8,400 degrees and certificates awarded
- Record fundraising support of $74 million
- Historic investment of over $134 million from our state’s General Assembly
This past year, as we celebrated the 75th anniversary of this great University, our campus rallied together as we introduced Shaping What’s Next, a bold 10-year strategic plan that articulates a new vision as an emerging top-tier research university that is ready and eager to meet new challenges.
Supporting our strategic goals, we embarked on many key initiatives. Here are just a few highlights:
- Welcoming our inaugural Chief Diversity Officer, a Cabinet-level position that reports directly to me, and the new Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
- Being invited to and accepting the invitation to join the American Athletic Conference.
- Establishing the interdisciplinary Center for Computational Intelligence to Predict Health and Environmental Risks (CIPHER), which will help to predict and prepare for the next global pandemic.
- Establishing the School of Professional Studies to support flexible lifelong learning opportunities for working professionals.
- Creating a one-stop shop for our corporate partners to easily become connected with the University via the new Office of Corporate Engagement.
- Rebranding as “Charlotte” to better clarify and identify our unique connection to this wonderful metro area.
Thanks to the collective efforts of dedicated faculty and staff, the University is on a strong path, and national organizations and media are taking notice. The University’s innovative response to the COVID-19 pandemic received a national award from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), and the University was recognized for the first time by U.S. News & World Report for excellence in innovation.
I hope you will watch our year-in-review video and spend some time on our annual report website for a more complete picture of the incredible past 365 days.
Niner Nation’s future is bright. We can’t wait to show you how we are shaping what’s next in the new year.
Sincerely,
Sharon