University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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History

Prior to UNC Charlotte's founding, Charlotte had long sought a public university. In the late 1880s, the city bid for what would become North Carolina State University, but lost to Raleigh after a local farmer offered to donate land for the campus. In 1946, the city sought a state-run medical school; instead, the state expanded the existing medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In 1946, to handle the expected surge of applicants resulting from the G.I. Bill, the Consolidated University of North Carolina (now the University of North Carolina) opened 12 "extension centers" across North Carolina. On September 23, 1946, the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina opened with an enrollment of 278 students. The Charlotte city school system was tasked with running the center, and it named doctoral student Charles Bernard director of the center. The center held night classes at Central High School in present-day Uptown Charlotte. It initially offered only freshman-level courses, but added sophomore-level courses in 1947 by demand. Also that year, Bernard resigned his position to resume his doctoral studies, and the center's mathematics teacher, Bonnie Ethel Cone, was named director.

By 1948, the Charlotte Center was one of only four extension centers still open. The Consolidated University determined that its three campuses could handle student demand, and it announced that it would close the remaining centers on July 1, 1949. On April 4, 1949, in response to local efforts led by Cone, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Charlotte Community College System. The system included two schools, both of which opened in 1949: Charlotte College, which served white students, and Carver College, which served black students. In 1950, the state recognized Charlotte College as a "standard junior college", allowing students to transfer credits to senior colleges.

Cone served as director—and later president—of the college, which continued to hold classes at Central High School. The school was racially desegregated as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 (Carver College would later merge with another institution to become Central Piedmont Community College). By 1957, enrollment increased to 492, and the school's leaders began searching for a permanent site for the campus. They decided on a 250-acre (100 ha) tract of land northeast of the city. The college became state-supported in 1958 upon joining the newly formed North Carolina Community College System and moved to its current location in 1961. It added a junior year of study in 1963, and a senior year in 1964.

On March 3, 1965, the North Carolina General Assembly designated Charlotte College the fourth campus of the University of North Carolina, under its current name, effective July 1. On May 29, 1966, 81 students became the school's first graduating class as a UNC system school. In 1969, the school opened its first dormitory, housing approximately 600 students, and also that year, the university began offering programs leading to master's degrees. The school's first graduate degree—a master of education—was awarded in May 1970. By 1973, enrollment had increased to 6,123 students, with 853 of those being graduate students.

In 1992, UNC Charlotte was authorized to offer programs leading to doctoral degrees.

Leaders of the university

Bonnie Ethel Cone (1907–2003), or Miss Bonnie as she was known to students, was chosen to be director of the Charlotte Center in 1947. From 1949 to 1965, she served as president of Charlotte College. When Charlotte College joined the UNC system in 1965, Cone served as acting chancellor until 1966.

Dean W. Colvard (1913–2007) was appointed the first chancellor of the young university in 1966. A North Carolina native, Colvard had served as president of Mississippi State University (MSU). At MSU he was the first president to defy university policy of not playing against integrated teams when he ordered the men's basketball team to play Loyola University Chicago in 1963. At UNC Charlotte, Colvard took on the challenge of converting the school from a small college to a four-year member of the UNC system. Indeed, he had been chosen specifically because UNC system officials believed the newly minted UNC Charlotte needed a leader with experience running a four-year university. Colvard oversaw accreditation of the university, development of University Research Park (now one of the top five largest research parks in the country), constructed the first residence halls, created the first graduate programs, and grew the enrollment from about 1,700 to just over 8,000 students. He retired as chancellor in 1978, served as Chancellor Emeritus until his death. Colvard also received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The Colvard building, completed on the main campus in 1979, is named in his honor and houses the Department of Psychology.

E.K. Fretwell (1923–2012), the second chancellor of the university, was named in 1979. He came to the university from Buffalo State College where he was president. Under Fretwell, campus enrollment surged from 8,000 students to over 12,000. He oversaw the creation of the Graduate School, created more graduate degrees, integrated the library's card catalog into the Internet in 1983, created the groundwork for a major business incubator, helped to develop the university's surrounding neighborhood, and increased academic grants to over $6.1 million. Fretwell retired as chancellor in 1989. He served as interim president of the University of Massachusetts system from 1991 to 1992, and in 1998, he served as the interim president of the University of North Florida. In 1996 UNC Charlotte opened the Fretwell building, dedicated in honor of him and his wife Dorrie. The building headquarters the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

James H. Woodward succeeded Fretwell in 1989. Woodward came to UNC Charlotte from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he served as dean of engineering and senior vice president of academic affairs. Under Woodward, enrollment grew to over 19,000 students. Like his predecessors, he continued the growth of the Graduate School and added new doctoral programs. He oversaw the largest fundraising campaign in the school's history and its largest building boom; in the summer of 2005, no less than six buildings were actively under construction on the main campus. He also oversaw the creation of the CRI Campus. Woodward announced his retirement in 2004 and left the office of chancellor on June 30, 2005. Woodward Hall, which houses the College of Computing & Informatics, was dedicated in his honor on November 16, 2005. He is currently Chancellor Emeritus and teaches in the university's William States Lee College of Engineering.

Philip L. Dubois was the fifth leader and fourth chancellor of the university. Dubois assumed his duties as chancellor on July 15, 2005. He returned to Charlotte after serving as the president of the University of Wyoming from 1997 through 2005. Previously, he was the Provost and Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science (now the Department of Political Science and Public Administration) at UNC Charlotte from 1991 until 1997. Dubois, along with his wife and children, was the first chancellor to occupy the Chancellor's Residence (known as the Bissell House) on the UNC Charlotte campus that was completed in the winter of 2005. His goal was to oversee the process of the university becoming the fourth research-extensive university in the state.

Colleges and programs

The university offers 171 majors that lead to 79 baccalaureate (bachelor's degree) degrees, 66 master's degree programs, and 24 doctoral programs. Fifteen degree and certificate programs are offered via distance education, from 25% to 100% online.

The university is divided into ten colleges:

College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences - academic disciplines including the humanities, social sciences, and environmental sciences

Klein College of Science - focusing on mathematics and natural sciences

College of Arts + Architecture - fine and performing arts (art, theater, dance, and music), as well as the School of Architecture, which is housed within the college

Cato College of Education - the school of education

College of Health and Human Services - social work, kinesiology, and athletic training; also contains the School of Nursing and programs like public health and health administration.

William States Lee College of Engineering - engineering college with undergraduate and graduate programs in the following: civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering and engineering science, electrical and computer engineering, systems engineering and engineering management, construction management, and engineering technology

College of Computing and Informatics - computer science, computer programming, health informatics, and bioinformatics; as of April 2021, the College of Computing and Informatics is the largest computing college in North Carolina — and the number 1 producer of computer science graduates in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Belk College of Business - the business school, which offers undergraduate, graduate and executive education in five major departments: Accounting, Business Information Systems and Operations Management (BISOM), Economics, Finance, Management, and Marketing. The college offers three undergraduate degrees (Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and Bachelor of Science in economics); five master's programs (Master of Business Administration, Master of Accountancy, Master of Science in Economics, Master of Science in Real Estate, and Master of Science in Mathematical Finance as well as a Professional Science Master's (PSM) program in Data Science and Business Analytics); a Doctorate in Business Administration and a Ph.D. in Business Administration concentrating in finance. The college was established in 1965, became the College of Business Administration in 1971, and was renamed the Belk College of Business in honor of the Belk family in 1990.

University College - general education college for undergraduates who have not yet declared a major

Honors College - a selective honors college that seeks to provide students with a liberal arts college experience

Graduate School - graduate school; works with the undergraduate colleges to organize the master's and doctoral degree programs

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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