Home

10%

UNC Asheville Annual Report

2020-21

By UNC Asheville

June 3^rd, 2022

UNC Asheville’s national reputation for empowering human potential is rooted in its unique student-centric mission and driven by close-knit connections among students and their faculty and staff mentors. With the support of our alumni network and our friends and partners, UNC Asheville is preparing the next generation of innovative, ethical, creative and resilient leaders who seek to understand complex global challenges and find creative, sustainable solutions that benefit our communities and the world.

Total Operating & Nonoperating Revenues & Total Expenses

The University reported $9.4 million in net income after all sources of operating and nonoperating revenues and expenses. Record setting combined returns of 40.7% yielded net investment income of $6.6 million. In addition, by strategically managing COVID Relief funding for lost revenues during Fiscal Year 2021, UNCA leadership was able to replenish fund balances resulting in approximately $3.0 million higher balances.

Revitalization Plan 2021-2028

As UNC Asheville approaches its centennial year in 2027-28, we 1 continue to pursue the mission set forth by our founders to provide a unique model of public higher education in Western North Carolina. As enduringly articulated in 1963 by Dr. Roy A. Riggs, then chairman of Humanities and later dean of the faculty:

UNC Asheville is traditionally sound and boldly experimental. Our students explore the interrelationships among broad fields of knowledge to develop a system of ethics and morals worthy of free people as they confront difficult intellectual challenges with knowledge and understanding that will equip them to pursue their individual goals, to function effectively and constructively in society, and to find meaning in their personal lives.

This statement, adapted from the UNC Asheville Founding Document: Aims and Objectives 3 is still as compelling and relevant today as it was nearly 60 years ago.

Today, with our mission as our firm foundation, we are gaining momentum through the power of UNC Asheville’s possibility and potential. Under the steady, inclusive leadership of Chancellor Nancy J. Cable, the revitalization of UNC Asheville is underway.

Developed with insights and feedback from hundreds of UNC Asheville students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends over the past three years, we are pleased to present the UNC Asheville Revitalization Plan 2021-2028. This plan will guide and frame the University as it thrives in perpetuity as an intellectual and cultural beacon in Asheville and Western North Carolina.

Three key strategic priorities frame the University’s revitalization efforts:

1. Increase our fiscal strength and capacity.

Design and successfully complete UNC Asheville’s first comprehensive fund-raising campaigns
Become a high demand summer destination for national thought leadership, summer study and research

2. Evolve & Innovate our curriculum, institutional culture and student support.

Talent identification and student success scholarship
Master’s programs in UNC Asheville’s existing hallmark strengths

3. Enhance our public-private partnership footprint across the region, state and beyond

Leverage our Millennial Campus designation from the UNC System to partner with regional leaders on key public-private projects
Strengthen partnerships in the UNC System and across North Carolina
Enhance our proven role as an academic and financial incubator for the UNC System

Together, we will build upon our strengths, continue to engage our community and friends in each step of the plan, and revitalize what we do best. It is time for UNC Asheville to restate our position as one of the most dynamic, high-quality and student-centered universities in the UNC System and the nation.

For more information about the UNC Asheville Revitalization Plan, please visit unca.edu/about/revitalization-plan

Check it Out

A few numbers from Ramsey Library

(on average, annually)

198 workshops 6,955 tech lends

$6,278,343 savings to students, faculty and staff

Rankings & Accolades

#2 Best College Location & Best Liberal Arts College in North Carolina (Niche)

#9 Among Public Liberal Arts Colleges (U.S. News and World Report)

Top 10 “Best Buy” among public universities (Fiske)

#54 Social Mobility among National Liberal Arts College(U.S. News and World Report)

Great College City and Great Town-Gown Relations (The Princeton Review)

Green College (The Princeton Review)

New Grants & Awards

Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership

UNC Asheville received a four-year sub-award from the Sloan Foundation’s $4.5 million dollar grant to Purdue University, becoming the first undergraduate insti- tution in the nation to be part of the Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership (SIGP). Funded by the Sloan Foundation, the program is designed to increase the number of Native American and Indigenous students attending graduate programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). UNC Asheville will use this funding to support undergraduate STEM students who identify as Native American and increase the number who continue their education at SIGP graduate programs. Funding will support faculty mentorship, undergraduate research opportunities, and travel to associated conferences and internships.

NEH CARES Act

UNC Asheville was one of just 317 organizations in the U.S. to be awarded a highly competitive CARES Act grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The nearly $300,000 grant funded professional development and curricular digitization, enabling key humanities courses to be delivered in engaging hybrid and online formats. Most importantly, the grant ensured the preservation of adjunct instructor positions in the humanities.

Windgate Foundation

Windgate Foundation funding continues to support a partnership between UNC Asheville and the Center for Craft, with $346,951 funding new initiatives in placekeeping for craft in the community, in higher education and across the nation. This latest grant will support “Optimizing Programmatic Collaboration and Community Outreach through Craft.”

National Science Foundation

UNC Asheville has been awarded a $457,020 grant from the National Science Foundation to implement undergraduate research experiences unique to “Climate City” with worldwide impact. The interdisciplinary project will span three years, with up to 30 undergraduate scholars awarded funding. Each student will work closely with an expert mentor from UNC Asheville’s Departments of Atmospheric Sciences, Biology, Environmental Studies, and Education, in partnership with UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) and community climate organizations such as NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), CASE Consultants International, and the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies (NCICS).

NEMAC

UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC) had more than $1 million in grants. They focused on the Cape Fear River Basin for a resilience assessment, developed and supported NOAA climate products and service, assessed climate change vulnerability and adaptation for the City of North Miami, and worked on the North Carolina Energy Resilience Pilot.

NCCHW

The North Carolina Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) at UNC Asheville received nearly $3.4 million. Their work spans the state, from strengthening the North Carolina Health Aging NC Network to support- ing value-based care through evidenced-based falls prevention programs to Building our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure public health programs to address Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementia. They worked with the city of Asheville to implement a culture of results, studied the impact of social isolation on adults during COVID-19, and administered the funding for Student Health Ambassadors at UNC Asheville and five additional college campuses across Western North Carolina.

Rankings & Accolades

College of Distinction among public colleges nationally, all colleges in North Carolina and with special recognition for diversity and inclusion (Colleges of Distinction)

Voter Friendly Campus 2021-22 for the University’s work in registering, educating and turning out student voters in 2020(Fair Elections Center’s Campus Vote Project (CVP) and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education)

#1 2021 Campus Race to Zero Waste Competition among medium-sized campuses (National Wildlife Federation)

LEED Gold Certification for The Woods residence halls (U.S. Green Building Council)

Tree Campus for the third consecutive year (Arbor Day Foundation)

Bee Campus for the fifth consecutive year (Bee Campus USA)

UNC Asheville Annual Report

2020-21

January 26^th, 2026

Senior Chemistry Student Adam Wold Powers Meaningful Change in Sustainability Research

December 2^nd, 2025

An epic journey from UNC Asheville to the prestigious Harvard/MIT MD-PhD Program

2025 Alumni-Owned Holiday Gift Guide

Recognizing Zoobi’s Creative Legacy and Supporting Future New Media Students

January 26th, 2026