Our 2008-09 academic year is off to a wonderful start. This past Saturday at "Move-In," a record 1,600 volunteers--faculty, staff, returning students, retirees and community organizations--turned out to welcome our incoming freshmen and their families, and to help our new students move into their residence halls. It's always rather startling to drive onto campus for the very early morning welcome-back breakfast for all the volunteers and to see them--hundreds of them--streaming toward Wagoner in the still dark morning. Later, hearing the comments of families is so gratifying; they clearly already understand what the Seahawk Spirit means.

Today's New Student Convocation marked a significant and symbolic beginning to the academic year - an important way for our students to enter our community of scholars. It was inspiring for us to see the ocean of teal that filled Track Coliseum. It was probably even more inspiring for our new students to start their academic career here seeing our faculty in academic regalia—rather than seeing that for the first time when they are leaving us at graduation. There's no more powerful visual symbol that they are entering an intellectual community. I want to thank those faculty and staff members who helped make this year's convocation so memorable for our new students.

We've been receiving some external kudos lately. For the fifth consecutive year, UNCW is ranked as one of the best colleges in the Southeast, according to the Princeton Review. This is a survey-based ranking, so it reflects what our own students most value about UNCW: especially our "small but challenging classes," a relaxed, coastal atmosphere, "excellent, passionate professors" and affordability. Last week Forbes listed us as the top comprehensive university in North Carolina and second only to UNC-Chapel Hill among all of the public universities. I'm confident that the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, to be released later this week, will give UNCW national recognition once again for the high quality and relatively low cost that is representative of UNCW.

Our total enrollment this year will be approximately 12,500. Our incoming freshmen have an average high school G.P.A. of 3.75, and their average SAT score is 1156, more than 50 points higher than the freshman class of 2003. We are no longer a "back up" school for North Carolina's best and brightest students. We want them in Wilmington, and they want to be here. That popularity has proven, in fact, to be our major challenge at the start of this year: we had carefully planned for a freshman class of 1,950, but because more students accepted our offers than historical trends could have predicted, we now have a freshman class of about 2,150.

A very high proportion of them also want to live on campus, which has presented an additional challenge to our Housing and Residence Life staff. We have set up triples--rooms with three students--in Belk, Graham and Hewlett halls, and have converted study and conference areas into dorm rooms. Earlier this summer, we gave students affected by temporary assignments the option to cancel their housing contracts, and we held a Wilmington-area apartment fair on campus in June to help them make other living arrangements. We will relocate students as spaces become available on campus. In the meantime, students placed in triples will receive a $25 credit for each week they spend in such close quarters, to be applied to next semester's costs. We urgently need the new housing and parking deck now under construction on our campus, but for now, we all need to realize that many of our students are not living under the most optimal conditions for learning; so far their attitude about it is wonderfully positive, but I'm glad that last year we made the decision to open Randall Library 24/5 so that they'll have a quiet place to study.

To our new faculty and staff, welcome to the UNCW family. You have joined a community of incredible faculty and dedicated staff who truly care about the academic and personal success of our students. You have come to a state that truly values higher education, and I am proud to say that at a time when neighboring states are furloughing faculty, our state legislature has awarded pay increases this year. As a result of the legislature's commitment and also because we have made salaries a priority for the use of campus initiated tuition funds, for the first time in a decade, UNCW faculty salaries are above the national average. Staff salaries also are increasing by 2.75% or $1,100, whichever is greater.

I also want to extend a warm welcome to our new Provost Brian Chapman; Charles Maimone, Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs; and Jose Hernandez, Associate Provost for Institutional Diversity and Inclusion. All are quickly showing themselves to be great hires in key positions. In addition, I want to congratulate Denise DiPuccio for being named assistant provost for international programs, an area of high priority for UNCW's future.

Last year, I told you about the Thomas S. Kenan III Distinguished Professor of Jazz, provided by the C.D. Spangler Foundation with matching funds from the state. Our successful search to fill that professorship resulted in us hiring internationally known jazz drummer, composer and educator Joe Chambers to fill that professorship, and he has joined us this fall.

We are fortunate indeed to benefit from major funding this year, both public and private. State funding highlights include:

• $4.3 million to construct an oyster hatchery at the Center for Marine Science
• $4.3 million to plan our allied health building
• funds for campus safety initiatives across the system
• matching funds for the Distinguished Professors Challenge Grant (we have definitely benefited from this program)

In private funding, donors, including 35 percent of our faculty and staff, established a new university record for contributions within a fiscal year, giving more than $13.8 million in gifts and pledges to UNCW in 2007-08. We received several significant contributions valued at $1 million, including gifts to name the Beckwith Recital Hall to support the music department, the Belk Endowed Professorship in Nursing and the Fisher University Union, as well as gifts to support a new academic center for student-athletes.

What's ahead for UNCW this year? UNC Tomorrow will continue to occupy a great deal of our time, focusing our campus and the entire system on serving our state, enhancing the quality of life in southeastern North Carolina, creating opportunities for technology transfer, providing a better educated workforce, more teachers, more nurses, and forwarding many community engagement and outreach initiatives. UNCW is already a leader in all of these areas, but we will be judged by how we determine to do even more to prepare North Carolina, and especially our region, for future success.

More specifically, President Bowles asked each of the chancellors recently to list the three things we feel are most important to accomplish this fiscal year. Ours were easy since our seven strategic goals have intentionally focused our efforts for the past several years. First, we will continue to focus on our strategic plan and the progress measures that resulted from that plan, with priority particularly given to retention and graduation rates and diversity. Second, under the umbrella of UNC Tomorrow, we will move forward on our satellite campus in Onslow County and creating our new College of Health and Human Services. Third, our comprehensive campaign will, I hope, consume us, as we work toward securing the private funds we so need for scholarships, faculty development, academic program support, and more. I know you'll each help in this work throughout the year.

Our physical campus, already transformed in the last several years by numerous new buildings and widespread renovation, will see even more construction this year, hopefully helping to alleviate our continuing space crunch (even with all the new construction, we remain near the bottom in the system for square footage per student). We will finally break ground on the long anticipated School of Nursing building in October during the next meeting of the Board of Trustees. You were probably surprised to see Seahawk Crossing and our first parking deck going up so quickly. And with the $4.3 million from the General Assembly, we will begin planning for our next academic building.

Finally, as the new year begins, I encourage you to take part in a variety of Welcome Week events. They offer a great way for you to meet our students as well as other faculty and staff. For a full list of events, visit www.uncw.edu/uncwelcome.

In addition, make an effort to show your Seahawk pride this fall by attending soccer, volleyball, cross country matches or any of the many other UNCW athletic events (Check out www.UNCWsports.com). And attend at least one of our arts events and academic lectures calendar. This fall's events will be outstanding. Check out www.uncw.edu/arts. Many events are free; for others, faculty and staff may purchase tickets at a reduced rate.

I am extremely proud of the progress we are making in so many areas at our great university. Our remarkable achievements and our unparalleled commitment to excellence have positioned UNCW to soar even higher this year. Thank you for everything you do. I look forward to working with all of you as we continue to make this wonderful university even better.

All best wishes for a great year,

Rosemary DePaolo