Annual Report

UNCW stands out as a top doctoral and research institution with nearly 18,000 students, more than 2,500 faculty and staff, over 170 buildings, 650 acres, an endowment of more than $150 million and an annual operating budget in excess of $400 million. Nearly 100,000 Seahawks are a part of the UNCW alumni network.  
   
UNCW is one of 139 institutions in the country with the designation “doctoral university with high research activity.” Interdisciplinary collaboration drives UNCW’s research and innovation efforts, which have yielded 182 new projects and $25 million in funding — a 64% year-over-year increase (largest in more than a dozen years). The university also had an over 200% growth in license income from university-generated intellectual property.     

 In June 2022, UNCW was one of 10 schools in the nation honored by the National Security Agency’s National Centers of Academic Excellence Cybersecurity program for the outreach efforts of the UNCW Center for Cyber Defense Education (established in 2018). The university launched a bachelor’s in cybersecurity in fall 2022, the first cybersecurity undergraduate major offered in the UNC System.

Historic enrollment by the decades     

In November 2022, UNCW became one of 80 higher education institutions nationwide designated by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities as an “Innovation & Economic Prosperity University.”   

The designation acknowledges public research universities working with public and private sector partners in their states and regions to support economic development through a variety of activities, including innovation and entrepreneurship, technology transfer, talent and workforce development, and community development. 

UNCW’s strengths were noted in three areas.

1. Community engagement and equity   
2. Blue Economy, coastal resilience, innovation and entrepreneurship   
3. The talent pipeline developed in partnership with surrounding communities   

In December 2022, UNCW received $1.1 million in federal funding to establish the Seahawk Upward Bound Math and Science Program, an intervention effort to help area high school students in math and science while supporting them to pursue college and careers in STEM.  Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the Seahawk UBMS program is part of the federal TRIO Programs, outreach and student services initiatives designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.      

Also in December, UNCW partnered with Montgomery, South Piedmont and Richmond community colleges to establish a bachelor’s degree pipeline for students to seamlessly progress into UNCW’s Master of Social Work program.   

Commemorative artwork honoring the Indigenous peoples of southeastern North Carolina was unveiled in November 2022 in the Fisher Student Union.   
  
Artist Jessica Clark, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, was commissioned to create the piece. “Honoring Southeast NC Indigenous Peoples” brings awareness to contemporary Native issues while celebrating perseverance and traditions.  
  
The project is a collaboration between the UNCW Office of Community Engagement and Impact, the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion and several North Carolina tribal communities. The unveiling ceremony was preceded by an afternoon of performances highlighting Indigenous culture.

UNCW’s Asian and Pacific Islander students have a place to gather and find additional support and resources with the establishment of the Asian Heritage Cultural Center, one of four centers that provide an environment where Seahawks feel a sense of belonging and connection.  

The AHCC officially opened in August 2022 as an inclusive space that supports students' engagement and facilitates connections across campus and in the community. It also provides co-curricular educational programming that enriches the understanding of Asian American and Pacific Islander cultures and histories. The center is located in the Fisher University Union.   

Members of the Asian Student Association petitioned and advocated for the space and worked with the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion in its planning and opening.   

UNCW.edu/Asian-heritage-cultural-center
  

The Randall Library Renovation and Expansion project commenced in May 2022. The three-story expansion project includes 80,000 square feet of new building construction, renovations of the existing building and the addition of a connecting bridge, akin to the one that joins Fisher University Union and Fisher Student Center. Once completed (anticipated fall 2024), the space will be a true 21st-century academic library with a dedicated event and programming space, data visualization lab, technology hub and multimedia studio.

Library.UNCW.Edu/Expansion

It was a banner year for the Seahawks, who won a school-record five Coastal Athletic Association team championships (baseball, men’s golf, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving). It was the ninth CAA crown for the men's tennis team in 13 years and the second time in the school’s history to have both swimming and diving teams capture CAA titles in the same year.   

New Director

Athletics welcomed Michael Oblinger as its director in April 2023. He previously served as deputy director of athletics-external relations at the University of Connecticut. He is the university's seventh full-time athletics director, taking over the helm from Jimmy Bass, who retired after nearly 13 years in the role.

Athletic Highlights

The men's basketball team captured the Baha Mar Nassau Championship in the Bahamas, reeling off a school-record 13 straight victories.   

UNCW’s student-athletes across 19 intercollegiate teams netted impressive stats in the classroom as well, compiling an impressive 3.395 cumulative grade point average. Seventy-eight percent of the student-athletes earned a 3.0 GPA or better with 18 teams posting at least a 3.0 GPA in each semester.   

For the first time, the women’s swimming and diving team received the CAA’s Team Academic Excellence Award for having the highest collective GPA among women's swimming and diving schools in the conference.     

UNCWSPORTS.COM

Throughout 2022-23, the Strategic Design and Planning Steering Committee, working with guidance from Chancellor Volety, prepared a strategic plan that received endorsements from Staff Senate, Faculty Senate and Student Government Association leadership. The plan, formulated with extensive input from the campus and community, emerged from two years of hard work by the committee. In July 2023, the plan received endorsement from the UNCW Board of Trustees. Early stages of implementing the plan begins in 2023-24, marking a major milestone for UNCW that will set the university on a positive trajectory over the coming decade.

UNCW.EDU/STRATEGICPLAN

Through the generous support of the UNCW community, the university has raised more than $113 million during Like No Other: The Campaign for UNCW. We are more than 90% toward a $125 million stretch goal to ensure the UNCW experience is affordable and accessible for future Seahawks. Accomplishments during the 2022-23 year include $15.47 million in philanthropic gifts and commitments, record-breaking support for student-athletes and scholarships for first-generation students.

GIVING.UNCW.EDU