GREENSBORO – As UNC Greensboro develops a new strategic plan, Chancellor Frank Gilliam says he wants the university to focus on a few very important things to make itself better:
- Support for students: “Whatever it is, we have to lower the cost for students,” Gilliam says in the accompanying video, citing increased fellowships, grants or scholarships as tools to do that.
- Attract and retain the best faculty: That partly involves competitive recruitment packages, Gilliam says, but also an emphasis on Greensboro as a great place to live, with low housing costs, good public schools and safe neighborhoods. “It’s very attractive to people,” he says.
- Change the physical nature of the campus: UNCG is seeking designation of two “millennial” campuses where it could collaborate more with private businesses: One focusing on health and wellness, including the new Kaplan Wellness Center and student housing with food markets along Gate City Boulevard; and the other focusing on arts and culture along Tate Street.1
“The fact of the matter is kids only spend 10% of their college time in class. So where are they? They’re in the library, they’re in the student union, they’re in the local coffee shop or pizza joint. And we have to build that around our campus to make it an inviting and exciting place and a vibrant intellectual community,” Gilliam says.
“That’s where a lot of the cool ideas happen. You’re in the coffee shop, you’re in the plaza, you’re at an outdoor café and you’re talking to a faculty member, another student, and the ideas are going – that’s what makes college so exciting.”
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