Strategic Plan

Under Chancellor Aswani K. Volety's leadership, UNCW launched its newest Strategic Plan: Soar Higher in 2023-24.

Significant progress has been made or actions are underway regarding each pillar, priority and objective. The qualitative updates, especially when combined with the dashboards elsewhere on the website, reflect the initiatives, actions and successes of the entire Seahawk community.

Collectively, we will continue to Soar Higher.

Updates

UNCW leadership identified the highest priorities for the first three years of the strategic plan. Some of these priorities required new strategic investments while others, already in progress, were further developed. University leaders focused on top priorities that required initial support for planning and design.

EXPLORE OUR PROGRESS

Key Strategic Plan Pillars

Unparalleled Opportunities

National Prominence

Community Commitment

World-Class Operations

Unparalleled Opportunities

UNCW's most important asset is its people. We provide unparalleled opportunities for faculty, staff and students to succeed. We are a community of learners who all believe in the power of education to make the world a better place.

See Our Objectives and Progress

National Prominence

As a doctoral university, UNCW’s high level of regionally relevant and globally important research will continue to expand, especially in areas of societal need and existing expertise, such as health programs and programs reflecting our coastal location.

See Our Objectives and Progress

Community Commitment

We will draw on UNCW’s demonstrated commitment to enhancing local and regional access and engagement, especially through the arts and athletics and on connecting Wilmington to the world through global perspectives and international partnerships.

See Our Objectives and Progress

World-Class Operations

We think of place not only as our coastal location, but also as the physical infrastructure and institutional operations that support our mission as well as our attitudes and approaches to environmental stewardship and sustainability.

See Our Objectives and Progress

Our Mission

The University of North Carolina Wilmington, the state's coastal university, integrates teaching and mentoring with research and service. UNCW’s commitment to student engagement, creative inquiry, critical thinking, thoughtful expression, and civic responsibility defines the student experience. UNCW offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs in areas of expertise that serve the needs of the state, as well as the needs of our local and global communities.

(Approved by UNC Board of Governors in November 2024)