More than 30 legislators from the Charlotte region joined a dinner hosted by Chancellor Phil Dubois and Board of Trustees Chair Karen Popp in Raleigh, on February 10.
Attendees included UNC Board of Governors members John Fennebresque and Ed McMahan, UNC President Tom Ross, UNC Charlotte Student Government Association President Steven Serio and all nine UNC Charlotte alumni serving in the legislature.
Legislators heard an update from Chancellor Dubois and rallied around the 2015 legislative priorities: funding for enrollment growth, planning funds for a new science building and an increase in management flexibilities.
University officials are requesting $18 million to keep up with enrollment growth. UNC Charlotte accounts for 46 percent of the entire system’s growth during the past six years.
The University also is seeking $12.6 million in planning funds for a new science building. In a student body of more than 27,000, more than half of the students with declared majors are in science or other disciplines that require lab sections.
“It’s the single factor that could stop us from growing,” Dubois said. A new building, he added, “will mean we can prepare students for the world of modern science.”