Message from Chancellor Aswani K. Volety
Dear UNCW Community:
Summer has arrived at UNCW. With the traditional academic year behind us, the campus remains busy with incoming students participating in Orientation, K-12 students joining enrichment camps, and — as always — faculty and staff hard at work.
Kate Bruce and Mark Galizio, faculty in the UNCW Department of Psychology, are leading research that explores the possibility of symbolic processes in animals that will be funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Over the next three years, the $452,750 grant will enable the team to conduct experiments exploring symbolic abilities in rats.
Cynthia Demetriou, associate provost for Student Engagement, Enrollment, and Retention (SEER), has been selected as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar. The award from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Program will send Demetriou to France in October for a two-week group seminar on French higher education and research. I participated in this program back in 2017-18, when I was a dean at UNCW, and it was an invaluable experience.
Works by both UNCW students and staff were recognized at the 45th Telly Awards, an institution honoring excellence in video and television globally. Winning productions came from the Department of Communication Studies and the Office of University Relations.
UNCW Athletics saw six programs rank among the nation's best in the annual Academic Progress Rate (APR), released by the NCAA. Among those Public Recognition Awards, which go to teams earning multiyear APRs in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sport, were four programs with perfect scores of 1,000.
Visitors also keep our campus active in the summer as they attend conferences, arts events and more. Kenan Auditorium welcomes all ages throughout the summer for SEAHAWK FAM, a series of one-hour shows for families. A creative and entertaining break from the summer heat, the performances are a draw for families of all kinds.
I’d like to take a moment to congratulate chief of staff Bradley Ballou ’06 on accepting the position of Vice President for Executive Leadership and Management with the UNC System Office. I deeply appreciate his dedication and service during his nine years with the Office of the Chancellor and know he will continue to create connections on a wider level in his new role.
These are the final days to be part of UNCW history, as Like No Other: The Campaign for UNCW concludes June 30. There’s so much to be proud of with more than $134 million raised so far, yet many Seahawks still need your support. With every gift fueling our collective success, we can soar higher together!