The Adventure Continues Dubois Marks Five Years As Chancellor
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UNCThe magazine of The CharlotteUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte for Alumni and Friends • v17 n1 q2 • 2010 The Adventure Continues Dubois marks five years as chancellor UNCC-2Q10-final.indd 43 5/21/10 2:14 PM UNC CHARLOTTE | chancellor’s letter Moving Forward In Trying Times As we approach a new fiscal year, Governor ascendance as the nation’s “New Energy Perdue and the General Assembly are making Capital,” and EPIC will provide the cutting- important decisions about funding for higher edge research facilities and professional education. Since last spring, the North personnel necessary to the region’s future Carolina economy has continued to struggle, economic development. resulting in lagging state revenues to support The UNC Charlotte football program is the University and other state agencies. As a another initiative that will do a great deal for consequence, UNC Charlotte was forced to our University and for the region. Over the reduce its permanent budget by about $12.7 past year, the Board of Trustees and the UNC million for the 2009-2010 academic year. For Board of Governors unanimously approved 2010-2011, it is possible that UNC Charlotte plans to move forward with a football program could face additional cuts in the range of $9- that will begin competition in the fall of 2013. 10 million. The proposal calls for the University to borrow As the General Assembly goes to work on $40.5 million to construct a permanent a budget for next year, the economic situation 15,000-seat stadium, field house, and adjacent in North Carolina remains a question mark. practice fields. The Department of Athletics But there can be no question that we are has raised more than $6 million through seat very concerned about taking on even deeper license sales and private contributions, both cuts than those we have already sustained. of which we expect to accelerate once the These budget reductions affect all areas of General Assembly has given the final “green the University, including admissions, student light” for us to proceed. Fortunately, no state At the same financial aid, student/faculty ratios, availability funds are required to be approved. of courses to support students’ timely progress Finally, as best we can, we want to continue time as we toward degree completion, academic and to remain accessible to students seeking career advising, personal counseling, the undergraduate and graduate degrees. We expect struggle to protect provision of classroom/laboratory supplies to enroll over 25,000 students this coming fall. and equipment, and support for the work of How rapidly we grow toward our expected core academic the faculty and staff. With advance planning eventual enrollment of 35,000 students we have been able to avoid widespread and will depend on the availability of adequate activities, we also permanently damaging personnel layoffs. financial and physical resources. We remain don’t want the But the only way this has been accomplished optimistic that the Governor and the General is by our not filling more than 150 staff Assembly will eventually find a way to fund current budgetary and faculty positions that were intended to new construction required for our continued support our growth in enrollment. We are no growth, including a new $120 million Science circumstances to longer trimming at the edges, we are cutting Building that remains unfunded at this time. dangerously close to the core. As always, you are invited to visit campus stop our forward At the same time as we struggle to protect at any time. If you haven’t had a chance to see core academic activities, we also don’t want the the steel frame of the EPIC building rising momentum as current budgetary circumstances to stop our from the Charlotte Research Campus or forward momentum as an institution. the new Student Union, I can promise that an institution. With advocacy on our behalf by UNC you will be amazed at these remarkable new System President Erskine Bowles, former additions to the landscape of UNC Charlotte. Vice Chancellor of University Relations If you ever had any doubts, you’ll leave having and Community Affairs David Dunn, and realized that “it’s great to be a Niner!” the EPIC Advisory Board, the General Assembly provided $2 million last year in Cordially, ongoing funding to support the hiring of faculty and staff for our Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC). We hope to secure the final installment of $3 million of requested funding in the 2010 legislative session. An educated workforce will play Philip L. Dubois a critical role in the Charlotte region’s Chancellor UNC CHARLOTTE magazine www.UNCC.edu UNCC-2Q10-final.indd 44 5/24/10 10:48 AM contents | UNC CHARLOTTE 12 features departments 18 3 Meditation Helps 4 News Briefs Cognition 22 Center Stage 24 49ers Notebook 12 Chancellor Dubois - The 39 Class Notes Adventure Continues 40 Building Blocks 18 Pushing It to the Limit - 41 P erspective Motorsports Engineering stake your claim profi les 28 Doing Good - Humanitarian Honored 10 Seth Avett 16 Leigh Derby 30 Making of the Modern 34 Tracy Dodson Research Library 36 Michael Marsicano 30 On the cover: Chancellor Philip L. Dubois refl ects on his fi rst fi ve years at the helm of North Carolina’s urban research university. www.UNCC.edu Q210 | UNC CHARLOTTE magazine 1 UNCC-2Q10-final.indd 1 5/21/10 2:13 PM UNC CHARLOTTE | editor’s desk Forward, forward! “Locksley Hall” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson reads, in part, “Forward, forward let us range. Let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.” And thus it is at UNC Charlotte, where change truly is a constant and where even The University of North Carolina at Charlotte bittersweet changes haven’t dulled our trajectory. In this edition you’ll read all about change. Our cover story Volume 17, Number 2 tracks the first five years of Chancellor Philip L. Dubois’ tenure. Could there be more change in such a short time? More than Philip L. Dubois a dozen new academic buildings and other facilities have come Chancellor on line or are moving fast toward completion. Enrollment has Ruth Shaw increased by more than 5,000. Twelve new academic programs Chair of the Board of Trustees have begun. GPAs and SAT scores for incoming freshmen have Editor leapt significantly. A 12-story Center City building is rising fast. We’re starting a Director of Public Relations football team for goodness sake! These are all great changes for the university but John D. Bland just a sample of many, many enhancements. Creative Director Change. Read about our inaugural class of Levine Scholars. Read about the Fabi Preslar ingenious work going on to enhance the J. Murrey Atkins Library into a model Contributing Writers 21st century resource for the campus and the community. These are great, great Phillip Brown benefits for UNC Charlotte and the Charlotte region. James Hathaway Change brings challenges of course. Read, for example, of the departure of Cliff Mehrtens Arthur Murray Vice Chancellor David Dunn, a 1980 graduate. No one loves UNC Charlotte Paul Nowell more, and he has proven that in his roles leading the division of University Lisa A. Patterson Relations & Community Affairs, and previously the Alumni Affairs department. Staff Photographer David also served for many years as UNC Charlotte’s government liaison (read Wade Bruton lobbyist) in Raleigh. He was crucial to bringing to campus millions of dollars Circulation Manager of appropriations. He’ll be a tough act to follow, but he’s moving on to a fresh Cathy Brown challenge and that is a joyful thing. At UNC Charlotte, change happens – and plenty of it. And by providence and Design & Production SPARK Publications hard work, that moves us forward, forward. Regards, UNC Charlotte is published four times a year by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 ISSN 10771913 Editorial offices: Reese Building, 2nd floor The University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Blvd. John D. Bland, Editor Charlotte, NC 28223 704.687.5825; Fax: 704.687.6379 Director of Public Relations The University of North Carolina at Charlotte is open to people of all races and is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or employees based on race, color, national origin, religion, Printed on sex, sexual orientation, age or disability. recycled paper 17,500 copies of this publication were printed at a cost of $.52 per piece, for a total cost of $9,210. 2 UNC CHARLOTTE magazine | Q210 www.UNCC.edu UNCC-2Q10-final.indd 2 5/21/10 2:13 PM Brief Meditative Exercise Helps Cognition By James Hathaway Some of us need regular amounts of coffee group) after four days of training for only School of Medicine. He’s a former doctoral or other stimulants to make us cognitively 20 minutes each day. student at the University of North Carolina sharper. A newly published study suggests “In the behavioral test results, what we at Charlotte, where the research was perhaps a brief bit of meditation would prepare are seeing is something that is somewhat conducted. us just as well. comparable to results that have been “Simply stated, the profound improvements While past research using neuro-imaging documented after far more extensive that we found after just four days of technology has shown that meditation training,” said Fadel Zeidan, a post-doctoral techniques can promote significant changes in researcher at Wake Forest University Continued on p. 33 brain areas associated with concentration, it has always been assumed that extensive training was required to achieve this effect.