University of North Carolina at Asheville explained

University of North Carolina at Asheville
Former Names:Buncombe County Junior College (1927-1930)
College of the City of Asheville (1928-1930)
Biltmore Junior College (1930-1934)
Biltmore College (1934-1936)
Asheville-Biltmore College (1936-1969)
Image Upright:.7
Motto:Levo Oculos Meos In Montes (Latin)
Mottoeng:"I Lift My Eyes to the Mountains"
Established:[1]
Endowment:$70.4 million (2021)[2]
Chancellor:Kimberly van Noort (Interim)
Faculty:220 (Fall 2022)
Students:3,233 (Fall 2021)
Undergrad:3,233 (Fall 2021)
Postgrad:5 (Fall 2021)
Country:United States
Campus:Small city[3]
Mascot:Rocky
Colors:Blue and white[4]
 
Logo Upright:.9
Free Label2:Newspaper
Free2:The Blue Banner
Accreditation:SACS

The University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of North Carolina system.[5] It is a member and the headquarters of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges.[6]

History

UNC Asheville was founded in 1927 as Buncombe County Junior College, part of the Buncombe County public school system.[7] It was the first tuition-free public college in North Carolina. It was located in the Biltmore School in south Asheville on Hendersonville Road (U.S. 25). In 2001, Biltmore School was recognized by the Save America's Treasures program.

During the Great Depression, the college started charging tuition. In 1930 the school merged with the College of the City of Asheville (founded in 1928) to form Biltmore Junior College. In 1934 the college was renamed Biltmore College. In 1936, the name changed to Asheville-Biltmore College, and control was transferred to the Asheville City Schools.In 1949, the college relocated to the 20,000-square foot Overlook Castle, also known as Seely's Caste, which included 29 acres on the crest of Sunset Mountain.[8] Evelyn Grove Seely, widow of Fred Loring Seely, sold Overlook to the college $125,000; she also donated $50,000 to the acquisition fund. The college renamed the house Seely Hall, as requested by the seller.[9] The house, no longer part of the college, was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[10]

In 1961, Asheville-Biltmore College moved to the present UNC Asheville campus in north Asheville.[11] That year, the college desegregated with the enrollment of Etta Mae Whitner Patterson.[12] In 1963 it became a state-supported four-year college, and awarded its first bachelor's degrees in 1966. Its first residence halls were built in 1967. It adopted its current name in 1969 upon becoming part of the Consolidated University of North Carolina, since 1972 called the University of North Carolina System.

UNC Asheville desegregated its faculty in 1981, along with all schools in the University of North Carolina.[13] [14] It is one of three baccalaureate colleges within the University of North Carolina System, and has been classified as a Liberal Arts I institution since 1992.

Administration

The university operates under the guidance and policies of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Asheville.[15] Members of the board are appointed by the governor of North Carolina. As part of the seventeen-campus University of North Carolina System, UNC Asheville also falls under the administration of the system's president, Peter Hans.[16] The UNC System is administered by the UNC Board of Governors, which is elected by the North Carolina Legislature, and advised by the UNC Faculty Assembly.[17] [18] Kimberly van Noort, former interim provost, is currently serving as interim chancellor of UNC Asheville, following the departure of Nancy Cable in December 2022.

Chief executive officers

Presidents/deans

Chancellors

Campus

The campus includes 365 acres in a small city setting.[27] Noteworthy campus features include:

Academics

Curriculum

UNC Asheville operates on a semester calendar. It offers four-year undergraduate programs leading to Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Bachelor of Science degrees in 36 majors, and is classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education as a Baccalaureate College–Arts & Sciences (Bac/A&S).[34] [35]

The University's most popular majors include biology/biological sciences, business administration and management, computer science, digital arts, English language and literature, mass communication/media studies, psychology, and sociology. It also offers joint degrees with North Carolina State University, including a 2-2 B.S. in engineering, a 3-1 B.S. in engineering, and a joint B.S. in engineering in mechatronics concentration.

All students complete a capstone or culminating academic experience. UNC Asheville founded the National Conference on Undergraduate Research and has hosted the event five times. Some sixty percent of student complete undergraduate research or creative project. Around 20% of students participate in study abroad or study away. More than 48 of its graduates have received Fulbright Fellowships.

Located on campus, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute has some 220 faculty and offer more than 350 classes each year.

Faculty

UNC Asheville had 222 full-time faculty members the fall of 2022, with 87% holding terminal degrees in their field. Another 99 faculty serve part-time.[36] Faculty teach all classes; there are no teaching assistants. Nearly 60% of the classes have less than 20 students. As of 2022, the student-faculty ratio was 14:1.[37]

Admissions

UNC Asheville's acceptance rate for the fall of 2021 was 82%. At that time, total enrollment was 3,233, with 57% female students and 43% male students. As of fall 2020, students came from 43 states and seventeen countries; 12% of the current study body was from outside of North Carolina. The student demographics were 73.57% White, 8.84% Hispanic, 5.11% Black, 1.68% Asian, and 5.08% unknown. 87% of the enrollees were full-time students.

There are deadlines for admissions, and either a ACT or SAT is required. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 35% of students received a Pell Grant.

Library

D. Hiden Ramsey Library is located in the center of campus.[38] It includes the Media Design Lab and the crAFT (Creativity, Art, Fabrication, and Technology) Studio. The library's holdings include Special Collections and University Archives which started in 1977 as the Southern Highlands Research Center and focuses on the history Asheville and Western North Carolina.[39]

Annually, the library gives the Ramsey Library Community Author Award; the winner receives a yearlong residency in the library.[40]

Rankings and reputation

In 2022-2023, UNC Asheville's ranking in U.S. New & World Report 8 in Top Public Liberal Arts Schools and 136 in National Liberal Arts Colleges. It also ranked 130 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Program for institutions that do not offer a doctorate.

Forbes:494
The Wsj:501–600
Usnwr La:136
Wamo La:76

The Princeton Review ranked UNC Asheville as number six for Green Matters, number nine for LGBTQ-Friendly, number 25 for Best Quality of Life, number 22 for Most Politically Active Students, and number 15 for its College City.

The 2022 edition of The Fiske Guide named UNC Asheville a best-buy; the list only includes ten public and ten private universities from across the United States. In 2019, Forbes magazine ranked UNC Asheville number 494 in Top Colleges, number 176 in Public Colleges, and number 165 in Liberal Arts Universities.[41] Washington Monthly ranked UNC Asheville number 76 on its 2022 Best Bang for the Buck Rankings: Southeast and number 77 for its national Liberal Arts Colleges Ranking.[42] [43]

Student life

Organizations and activities

There are more than sixty campus clubs and organizations. Student activities include Greek organizations, with 2% of males belonging to a fraternity and 1% of females belonging to the one sorority. Some 44% of students participate in a service learning project, while 11% participate in intramural sports.

UNC Asheville's Student Government Association (SGA) consists of two branches, an eighteen-seat Student Senate and an executive branch comprising a president, vice-president, and Cabinet. UNCA Out is a student group dedicated to students that identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, asexual, queer, questioning, two-spirit, intersexed, and straight allies.

UNC Asheville's Concerts on the Quad features weekly outdoor concerts during the summer months. The North Asheville Tailgate Market is open Saturdays, April through November, and features around 40 local vendors.

Dining

UNC Asheville Dining Services are located in Brown Dining Hall. They serve about 265,000 meals annually, and donate to Food Connections on a weekly basis.

Housing

In the fall of 2021, 46% of students lived on campus.

Athletics

See main article: UNC Asheville Bulldogs. UNC Asheville's athletics teams are known as the Bulldogs. They are a member of the NCAA's Division I and compete in the Big South Conference.[44] The university's colors are blue and white. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer, tennis, and both indoor and outdoor track and field. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, diving, golf, soccer, swimming, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty and staff

Academics

Athletics

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Founders Day 2022 at UNC Asheville - YouTube.
  2. Web site: Data USA: University of North Carolina at Asheville . Data USA . October 4, 2023 .
  3. Web site: IPEDS-University of North Carolina at Asheville.
  4. Web site: Color Palette | Communication and Marketing . Communication.unca.edu . 2016-04-01 . 2016-04-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160411142552/https://communication.unca.edu/color-palette . live .
  5. Web site: UNC Asheville – UNC System . 2022-12-25 . The University of North Carolina System.
  6. Web site: Quick Facts . 2022-12-24 . UNC Asheville . en-US.
  7. Web site: Williams . Wiley J. . 2006 . University of North Carolina at Asheville NCpedia . 2022-12-24 . www.ncpedia.org.
  8. Web site: Elliston . Jon . 2014-03-03 . Castle in the Sky . 2022-12-24 . WNC Magazine . en.
  9. Web site: Slusser . Dale Wayne . "Overlook"-Fred Seely's Stone Castle: Forde Abbey Transposed on Overlook Mountain . 2022-12-24 . The Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County . en-US.
  10. Web site: Lois Staton . Overlook . National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory . July 1980 . North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office . August 1, 2014 . May 8, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190508161214/https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/BN0037.pdf . live .
  11. News: November 13, 2015 . Today in Asheville history: Botanical gardens created . Asheville Citizen-Times . live . November 13, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201120165548/https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/11/13/today-asheville-history-botanical-gardens-created/75695332/ . November 20, 2020.
  12. Judson, Sarah. “‘I Am a Nasty Branch Kid’: Women’s Memories of Place in the Era of Asheville’s Urban Renewal.” The North Carolina Historical Review, vol. 91, no. 3, 2014, pp. 323–50. JSTOR, Accessed 24 Dec. 2022.
  13. Web site: Division of Legal Affairs of the University of North Carolina (System) Records, 1927-1999 (bulk 1970-1981) . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20190722041204/https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/40015/ . 2019-07-22 . 2018-09-01 . finding-aids.lib.unc.edu.
  14. Web site: Sexton . Taylor . April 10, 2018 . Dwight Mullen reflects on his career at UNCA . 2022-12-24 . The Blue Banner.
  15. Web site: Janice Brumit Becomes Acting Chair of UNC Asheville Board of Trustees . 2022-12-24 . www.asheville.com.
  16. Web site: DeWitt . Dave . 2021-11-05 . Learning more about UNC System President Peter Hans . 2022-12-24 . WUNC . en.
  17. Web site: Leadership and Governance – UNC System . 2022-12-24 . www.northcarolina.edu.
  18. Web site: UNC System Faculty Assembly (FA) . 2022-12-24 . The University of North Carolina at Pembroke . en.
  19. Web site: February 2008 . UNC Asheville Fact Book 2007-2008 . 2008-06-10 . University of North Carolina Asheville .
  20. Web site: September 16, 1995 . Patsy Reed is Installed as Chancellor at UNC-Asheville . 2022-12-24 . scholar.lib.vt.edu . The Virginian-Pilot.
  21. Web site: Fisher . Kerra Bolton . UNCA officially installs new chancellor . 2022-12-24 . Hendersonville Times-News . en-US.
  22. Web site: May 13, 2005 . Asheville native to be UNCA chancellor . 2022-12-24 . Wilmington Star-News . en-US.
  23. Web site: Blake . Casey . August 1, 2014 . New chancellor announced for UNC Asheville . 2022-12-24 . The Asheville Citizen Times . en-US.
  24. Web site: Steward . Kristy . 2017-09-13 . UNCA Chancellor Mary K. Grant has resigned . 2022-12-24 . WLOS . en.
  25. Web site: October 19, 2017 . UNC Asheville selects Urgo as interim chancellor as search begins . 2022-12-24 . The Asheville Citizen Times . en-US.
  26. Web site: Barrows . Kari . 2022-10-15 . UNCA Chancellor Nancy Cable announces plans to step down, interim appointed . 2022-12-24 . WLOS . en.
  27. Web site: University of North Carolina Asheville . December 24, 2022 . U.S. News & World Report.
  28. Web site: University of North Carolina at Asheville - UNCA . 2022-12-25 . RomanticAsheville.com . en.
  29. Web site: 2019-08-28 . 19 cool facts about UNC Asheville . 2022-12-24 . AVLtoday . en.
  30. Web site: Narcisse . Eric . Wilma Dykeman's residence now home to writer-in-residence program . 2022-12-25 . The Asheville Citizen Times . en-US.
  31. Web site: UNC Asheville Art and Art History Faculty Exhibition and Grand Re-Opening Celebration . 2022-12-25 . aah.unca.edu.
  32. Web site: Battle of Asheville Historical Marker . 2022-12-25 . www.hmdb.org . en.
  33. Web site: Top 10 Civil War Sites for Asheville & Western North Carolina . 2022-12-25 . RomanticAsheville.com . en.
  34. Web site: University of North Carolina at Asheville. Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. 2008. 2008-06-10. 2020-11-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20201120165614/https://www.carnegiefoundation.org/not-found/?key=748&subkey=15564&start=782. live.
  35. Web site: April 27, 2014 . UNC Asheville Degrees . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140427174923/http://www.unca.edu/academics/degrees . 2014-04-27 . 2014-04-27 . University of North Carolina at Asheville.
  36. Web site: UNC Ashville Fact Book 2018-19 . University of North Carolina Asheville . 41 . December 26, 2019 . December 27, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191227044002/https://irep.unca.edu/sites/default/files/reports/factbook/Factbook_2018-19.pdf . live .
  37. Web site: University of North Carolina Asheville - The Princeton Review College Rankings & Reviews . 2022-12-24 . www.princetonreview.com.
  38. Web site: Ramsey Library . 2022-12-24 . UNC Asheville . en-US.
  39. Web site: Home . 2022-12-24 . Special Collections & University Archives . en-US.
  40. Web site: 2016-11-01 . UNC Asheville accepting applications for first Ramsey Library Community Author Award . 2022-12-24 . Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce . en-US.
  41. Web site: University of North Carolina, Asheville . 2022-12-24 . Forbes . en.
  42. Web site: 2022 . 2022 Best Bang for the Buck Rankings: Southeast . 2022-12-24 . Washington Monthly.
  43. Web site: 2022 . 2022 Liberal Arts Colleges Ranking . 2022-12-24 . Washington Monthly.
  44. Web site: Big South Conference History . 2022-12-24 . bigsouthsports.com . en.
  45. Web site: Barnwell, Tim 1955- Contemporary Authors . 2022-12-25 . Cengage Encyclopedia.
  46. Web site: 2005-05-17 . TONY CAMPANA - Featured Baseball Factory Alumnus . 2022-12-25 . Baseball Factory.
  47. Web site: Honorary Degree Recipients. University of North Carolina Asheville. 26 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120308035743/http://www.unca.edu/about/history-and-traditions/honorary-degree-recipients. 8 March 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  48. Web site: Roy A. Taylor Award. UNC ASHEVILLE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION. 26 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120202063343/http://alumni.unca.edu/roy-taylor-award. 2 February 2012. dead. dmy-all.
  49. Web site: March 9, 2021 . UNC Asheville Alumnus Jethro Waters Wins Emmy Award . 2022-12-24 . UNC Asheville . en.
  50. Web site: Tommy Hays: A Writer in Full — The Great Smokies Review . 2022-12-24 . www.thegreatsmokiesreview.org.
  51. Web site: Tommy Hays . 2022-12-24 . Simon & Schuster . en.
  52. Web site: Hays, Tommy Contemporary Authors . 2022-12-24 . Cengage Encyclopedia.