By Steve Gilliam , University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-5371
Posted 11-3-06
Provost Edward Uprichard addressing faculty and staff at UNCG's August 2006 convocation
GREENSBORO, NC – After more than a decade as the chief academic officer of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Dr. A. Edward Uprichard will step down as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the end of the current academic year.
Chancellor Patricia A. Sullivan made the announcement today and said a search committee will be named this month to seek his replacement. Sullivan appointed Uprichard to the position on April 1, 1996, after he had served as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs for nine months.
Starting as early as July 1, 2007, Uprichard will have a one-year leave of absence to re-tool for the classroom and then return to teach with an appointment as professor of mathematics education in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He will have the title of Provost Emeritus.
“UNCG has enjoyed remarkable success on many fronts since Ed Uprichard became Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in 1996,” Sullivan said. “The number, quality and diversity of the student body have grown as our retention rates have increased. The quality and diversity of the faculty, already known as outstanding teacher-scholars, has increased. The research enterprise has grown to the point that UNCG in 2006 was characterized by the Carnegie Foundation as a ‘high research activity’ university. Our engagement with the public schools, business, industry and the local community is stronger and more integrated into the ongoing work of the university.
“These successes are a tribute to the vision, creativity and extraordinary leadership of Ed Uprichard. He leaves the university a far better institution that enjoys respect and admiration from colleagues in the UNC system and beyond. I am grateful to Ed for leading a solid renaissance of this extraordinary institution. He will be missed.”
As provost, Uprichard has provided leadership and oversight to academic programs that include 88 majors at the undergraduate level, 65 majors at the master’s level and 22 areas at the doctoral level. He has administrative oversight for UNCG’s six professional schools, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Graduate School; and support units which include the University Libraries, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Division of Continual Learning, and the offices of Undergraduate Admissions, Financial Aid, University Registrar, Student Academic Services and International Programs.
He also supervises the senior associate provost for academic affairs and four associate provosts who have responsibilities for enrollment services, international programs, undergraduate education, and research and public/private sector partnerships.
“The best decision I have made in my academic career was coming to UNCG as professor and dean of the School of Education,” Uprichard said. “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve first as a dean and then as provost of this wonderful institution.
“Over the years, I have had the opportunity to work with an outstanding chancellor in Patricia Sullivan, a first-rate faculty and staff, and a very accomplished academic leadership team of deans and associate provosts. Together we supported each other, took measured risks, engaged in creative thinking, implemented innovative programs and reached out to the community as we worked to raise the academic profile of the university. I hope we have contributed to making the university a better place for faculty, staff and students.
“Working with Chancellor Sullivan has been a great experience. She has been a terrific colleague, and our working relationship has been characterized by trust, respect, shared responsibility, openness, honesty and a love of this university. This campus could not have a better leader.
“I am proud to be a member of the UNCG community and look forward to working with the faculty, staff and students in the future. Change creates excitement, challenges and opportunities. I have confidence, trust and faith in this university community to move forward in new and creative ways as we strive to be a diverse, student-centered research university and a university of first choice for undergraduate and graduate students.”
Uprichard’s term as provost has been marked by a number of advances at UNCG. Some of the major ones are:
• Creation and continued funding of the SERVE Center, the federal educational laboratory and think tank that is affiliated with the UNCG School of Education. Initially funded in 1990 when Uprichard was dean of education, it has been refunded three times, most recently in March of 2006. It has brought over $150 million in research money to the campus.
• Establishment of the Greensboro Center for Innovative Development, the joint millennial campus that is being developed by UNCG and N.C. A&T State University.
• Increasing contract and grant support to $33.4 million in 2005-06, an increase of more than 160 percent from 1994-95.
• Development of new academic programs for undergraduates, including the Lloyd International Honors College, Communication Across the Curriculum, Grogan College Learning Community, Office of Undergraduate Research and the International Programs Center.
• Establishment and growth of a wireless computing network for teaching on campus that now extends to all classroom buildings and several other buildings where students gather regularly.
• Growth in academic programs, including the establishment of seven new doctoral degrees in community health, economics, geography, history, information systems, nursing, special education, and a forthcoming eighth PhD in communication sciences disorders.
• Expansion of the research agenda and infrastructure at UNCG, including creation of the Office of Research and Public/Private Sector Partnerships and the Office of Technology Transfer.
• Increase in the number of technologically enhanced classrooms, from one in 1994-95 to 118 in 2005-06.
• Development of UNCG’s first comprehensive undergraduate enrollment management plan, which has increased admission and retention standards, increased the application pool, lowered acceptance rates and increased enrollment.
• Establishment of Universitywide centers and institutes, such as the Center for Youth, Family and Community Partnerships, the Center for Biotechnology, Genomics and Health Research, and the Guilford Genomic Medicine Initiative.
• Establishment of UNCG as a leader in North Carolina and beyond in the development of online courses.
• Development, with counterparts at N.C. A&T State University, of a proposal to establish a joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.
Uprichard joined UNCG as dean of the School of Education in 1988, coming from the University of South Florida where he had been associate dean for programs in the College of Education. There, he was also director of graduate studies and a professor of mathematics education. He received both his PhD and Master of Science degrees from Syracuse University and is a graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia. He is co-author of three books, “Fundamentals Underlying Number (FUN Program),” “Diagnosing Mathematical Difficulties” and “Mathematics Programs: A Guide to Evaluation.”
