A Joint Millennial Campus of North Carolina A&T State University (A&T)
and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG)

Preface

For the Greater Greensboro Area to be competitive in the still emerging global economic environment, the major universities in Greensboro must help to create an engine for economic and community development.  The long-term future of this area, including its economic development and overall quality of life, will be dependent upon its success in attracting, establishing, and/or retaining effective educational and community service agencies and businesses driven by the discovery of new knowledge and technologies.  Leaders of the State and Triad must keep this desired vision firmly in focus.  A joint A&T-UNCG Millennial Campus for research, training, and development will help to make this vision a reality.

Concept

Recognizing the power generated by leveraging the human capital and financial resources of two outstanding public institutions, North Carolina A&T State University (A&T) and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) will jointly establish a Millennial Campus.  This Campus will respond to the needs of the Greater Greensboro Area and the State with a synergy that would not be possible if either institution were working alone.

Both institutions are home to numerous faculty members with expertise in the health, physical, natural, and social sciences, education, technology, engineering, business, arts, and humanities.  This combined expertise is distributed across many academic departments in Arts and Sciences and professional schools, and is demonstrated in basic and applied research projects, as well as through outreach provided by various clinical services and educational programs at both institutions.
Combining the research talents of both faculties will foster scientific research and teaching with the potential for technology transfer and patents, for creation of new revenue-generating companies, and for services to local and state agencies.  Economic development projects will typically be characterized by efforts to improve the businesses/industries of today while helping to invent the businesses/industries of tomorrow.  Building on the complementary strengths of both universities, initiatives born and nurtured at the Millennial Campus will help strengthen the area's economy, improve community services, and enrich the quality of life.

Facilities/Programmatic Emphases

This exciting new venture will include the development of northern and southern campuses, providing significant physical resources (land and buildings) while enhancing the potential for a broad level of outreach and programmatic diversification.  North Campus will be located just off Highway 29 on the property formerly known as the Central North Carolina School for the Deaf.  South Campus will be located on approximately 75 acres of the A&T Farm property, bordered by I-40 and Lee Street.

Faculty members from each institution will work together in a collegial fashion at both North Campus and South Campus.  The Millennial Campus sites will ultimately house a large number of programs and projects, enabling the faculty and students involved in them to forge collaborations, share facilities and administrative support, and develop new programs that make optimum use of the space available.  By design, however, the facilities and programmatic emphases of North Campus and South Campus will differ in important respects.

North Campus.  The facilities of the former Central North Carolina School for the Deaf offer a comprehensive and self-contained environment for program development and learning in selected disciplines within the social and behavioral sciences, business, education, and computer science. Buildings at the site currently provide 146,939 gross square feet (GSF) of space.  Taking advantage of the site's existing physical assets, the two universities will establish an Institute for Training, Research, and Development at the North Campus.

The Institute will initially target the needs of school systems, business and industry, and various health/social services agencies to stimulate economic growth and vitality throughout the region.  They will include a broad range of efforts related to economic development, technology-focused professional education and training, and program evaluation/assessment.  Hosted activities would include conferences and other forms of continuing professional development.
Specific projects might include the following:
• Economic development, workforce preparedness, and small business development seminars, research, and related programming
• Professional development in computer skills assessment and enhancement, including the application of distance learning technologies
• Training/educating staff from various agencies, such as public schools, the Department of Health and Human Services, and others, in health/safety issues and matters related to human development across the lifespan (early childhood, youth, adults, seniors)
• Programs for and research on students with emotional disabilities, substance abuse, and other social/behavioral problems
• Technical assistance to public schools and social services agencies in strategic planning and assessment
• Research and programming on issues specific to seniors and older populations

The North Campus contains nine major buildings, including a main administrative building (16,222 GSF), two academic/instructional buildings (each 17,031 GSF), two residential structures (each 32,223 GSF), a gymnasium (15,270 GSF), maintenance shop (7,603 GSF), greenhouse (5,000 GSF), and a central kitchen (4,293 GSF).  Other facilities include picnic shelters and small support buildings used for storage.  The wooded land area totals 75 acres, less than half of which is currently developed.  Ample parking is available on site.  North Campus buildings are generally in excellent condition, and the site is well served by existing roadways and utility systems.  A site map is provided as Enclosure A.

It is anticipated that the North Campus facilities will require some infrastructure investments to become fully operative.  For example, high-speed computer connections and videoconferencing technology will be needed to allow the campus/Institute to communicate better with distant research and service partners (including faculty on the main campuses).  In addition, it is anticipated that a shuttle system will be developed to transport faculty and staff members between the North (and South) Campus and the A&T and UNCG campuses in central Greensboro.

South Campus.  A&T and UNCG will seek to develop state-of-the-art science research park facilities for cutting-edge work in the life and physical sciences, engineering, technology and other applied science areas on the South Campus.  Working together, leaders from area businesses/industries and the Technology Transfer offices at A&T and UNCG would use the research findings and knowledge-based products developed by faculty and students to serve the needs of new and existing companies in the Triad and beyond.  South Campus is envisioned as a premier center for basic and applied research, with the potential for the incubation and development of new industries.  Most of the research will be externally funded by government agencies and private foundations, but business leaders and other investors must play a major role in facilities development.  In the early stages of South Campus' development, institutional resources from both A&T and UNCG and the wider business and corporate community will be required to create a facility and assist in start-up funding.

Areas of research emphasis, with some specific examples, would include the following:
• Biotechnology and Biochemistry (genetic manipulation, cellular and developmental biology, pharmacology, physiology)
• Environmental Sciences (water quality, aquatic ecology, waste remediation, chemical hazards, pollution reduction, environmental restoration, geographic information systems, land use)
• Electronics and Human Factors (electrical and software engineering, internet and computer security, data visualization and simulation, high performance computing, artificial intelligence, neural networks)
• Food and Nutrition (disease prevention, diet analyses, bone biology, mineral/vitamin absorption)
• Materials Science and Engineering (polymer and composites science, surface modifications)

Research in these fields, and others, can provide major benefits for the Triad.  For example, they provide graduates with promising careers, attract outstanding scientists and business leaders from other parts of the country, can draw upon external funding from a variety of sources, and have significant potential for economic development in the Greater Greensboro Area.

The timeline for initiating research activities at the South Campus is obviously dependent upon the universities' success in securing funds for the physical development of the property.  The A&T Farm includes an immense area of gently rolling land, and 75 acres will be carved from this total for the creation of the South Campus as depicted in Enclosure B.  More detailed land surveys and other official drawings will be prepared at the appropriate time.
Structure/Governance

Structurally, the Boards of Trustees at A&T and UNCG have approved for submission to the Board of Governors the establishment of a jointly owned non-profit corporation that will hold title to all North and South Campus real estate, promote, develop, and assist the research and teaching activities of both universities' faculty, staff, and students.  Although the Millennial Campus will operate in large measure using non-state funding (private and federal contracts, grants, and other sources, including earnings from patents, research management projects, and real property development), it will operate exclusively for scientific and educational purposes for the benefit of A&T and UNCG.  These factors help to qualify the governance entity as a not-for-profit corporation.  Because of the benefits of being a tax-exempt organization (i.e., ability to receive tax deductible contributions and the reduction or elimination of income tax, sales tax, certain excise taxes), it is advantageous to establish this type of entity.

Both A&T and UNCG currently control separate tax-exempt foundations, but it is prudent to establish a new corporation/entity for the operation of the Millennial Campus.  One of the primary reasons to form a new entity is to avoid conflict between the purposes and operations of the two existing entities.  We will file incorporation papers for the new entity shortly.

The corporation will have an Executive Director, a Board of Directors, and be governed by its own articles of incorporation.  The respective Boards of Trustees of the two universities have approved the entity's articles of incorporation and by-laws.  A search for an Executive Director will begin shortly and a Board of Directors appointed as soon as the entity gains the appropriate approvals.

Summary

The joint Millennial Campus builds on the strengths and resources of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and North Carolina A&T State University.  It acknowledges and responds to the present and emerging needs of the Triad and State, offering a single and rich resource for growth, development, and learning in central North Carolina.