Wednesday, August 15, 2001

By Chris W. Rogers, student worker

WILMINGTON, NC – The popularity of UNC Wilmington continues to increase as the upcoming school year 2001-2002 approaches. Classes begin Wednesday, Aug. 22 with a record number of incoming freshmen and a record-sized student body.

About 1,700 freshmen will move into campus housing between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 18. More than 600 volunteers have signed up to move the new freshmen into their residence halls. Approximately 2,000 incoming freshmen will bring the student body total to 10,300. About 400 students have been accepted into the Graduate School.

Construction of Lakeside Hall is complete and the building will be ready for fall classes. This $8 million facility with 54,000 square feet of space offers a distinctive atmosphere for learning. Classrooms have advanced technology. “The whole ambiance of the building I think is very professional,” says Dr. Thomas Barth, professor of political science. Between Lakeside Hall and Morton Hall construction of two gates will be completed soon. This campus landmark, with its large Greek columns, will visually connect the two buildings and provides a striking entrance to the north side of campus. Lakeside Hall will house the following departments: communication studies, foreign languages and literatures, political science, social work and film studies. Its classrooms will be used as models in planning the two new buildings to be funded by bond issue money.

There will be two new academic programs, Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, offered for the first time this fall.

The Watson School of Education will have a ground breaking for a new building in 2002. Renovations to Westside Hall will begin in the summer 2002 also. Offices on New Centre Drive will house the payroll and human resources departments sometime this fall. Pubic service, advancement, and enrollment affairs already occupy offices there.

Currently ranked 75th among America’s Most Wired Universities, UNCW continues to improve on-campus technology. All students living on campus this year will be given their own voice mail accounts. Wireless remote access to the campus network is available in nearly all campus buildings and also in some areas outside. Using a wireless remote card inserted into a laptop or PC will give students access to the campus network. “We’re upgrading our infrastructure to make sure that we’re moving forward,” says William Vereen, director of telecommunications. The whole campus should have wireless access to the Internet by fall of 2002.

Beginning on the first day of classes, Aug. 22, a major change in traffic flow will take place. Between the hours of noon to 6 p.m., left turns will be prohibited from Wagoner Drive onto Randall Drive, to ease problems with traffic congestion. Countdown crosswalks will be installed on College Road at both the main entrances of campus. These signals will digitally countdown the seconds before the traffic signal changes allowing pedestrians to know how much time is left to cross the intersection. All Wilmington Transit Authority and Seahawk Shuttle buses are still free to faculty, staff and students.

For additional information on:

Campus statistics, contact Bob Fry, assistant to the vice chancellor for planning, 962-3520

Housing, Brad Reid, director housing and residence life, 962-3241

Wireless information, William Vereen, director of telecommunications, 962-3555

Traffic, Dick Scott, assistant vice chancellor of business affairs, 962-3151