UNC Charlotte to host visit by UNC system president

March 11, 2016
Categories: General News Tags: Chancellor

New UNC system President Margaret Spellings will visit UNC Charlotte Monday, March 14. Her trip to the University is part of a listening tour to the 17 UNC system campuses during her first 100 days as president.

Her focus, while here, will be the Connect NC bond proposal on the March 15 primary ballot and her observations about student access, affordability and achievement in higher education.

If passed, the Connect NC Bond would fund a number of projects across the state. For UNC Charlotte, it would mean $90 million toward the construction of a new science building. In a recent interview with UNC-TV, Spellings supported the impact the bond would have on UNC system institutions.

“These (the campuses) are places that are educating the next generation of doctors, artists and students of every discipline. It (the Connect NC bond) is an investment in our future. I welcome my fellow North Carolinians to visit the facilities once they’re built, because they’re owned by the taxpayers of this state. We should be proud of them,” Spellings said.

Her visit to UNC Charlotte includes a campus tour, meetings with UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees, community leaders, students and campus faculty and staff.

Prior to her appointment as system president, Spellings served as the U.S. Secretary of Education and White House domestic policy advisor under President George W. Bush. Following her work with the Bush administration, Spellings worked with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and served on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Education Advisory Board. In 2013, she was named president of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, where she launched the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, a one-of-a-kind leadership program borne out of the first-ever partnership of multiple presidential centers.

As president of the 17-campus University of North Carolina system, Spellings has said she sees her tenure as a chance to speak on behalf of public education in the broadest sense. The statewide tour offers a chance for Spellings to learn about the University and her new home state.