Though N.C. State is facing deep budget cuts and the challenge of making college more accessible, Chancellor Randy Woodson said he is hopeful for the future at his annual spring update Monday.
The Chancellor’s Spring Update took place in the brand-new Talley Ballroom, which was recently completed along with Phase I construction of the new student center. In his address, Woodson discussed technological and academic advancements N.C. State has accomplished in the past year and said the University will only continue to succeed.
“I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that our future never looked brighter,” Woodson said.
Woodson commended the new student union, stating that Talley was a great example of N.C. State’s progress into the future.
Woodson discussed a number of N.C. State’s accomplishments from the past couple of years as well as some of the challenges, including budget cuts.
“N.C. State saw its appropriate budget reduced by 4.5 percent last legislative session on top of numerous other cuts in the recent years,” Woodson said. “Over the last decade our state-appropriated budget has been reduced by almost $275 million.”
However, Woodson said these cuts won’t deter the University’s growth.
“This sort of change will not keep us from pursuing our mission at this University or providing our students outstanding educational opportunities.”
Woodson said N.C. State had a long-term strategic plan set to deal with these sorts of set-backs and listed a number of key-goals the University wants to accomplish.
“We wish to enhance the success of our students, enhance scholarship and research by investing in faculty and infrastructure, enhance interdisciplinary scholarship to address the challenges that we face in society, enhance our organizational excellence by creating a culture of constant improvement and enhance local and global engagement,” Woodson said.
Woodson then went on to list the honorable achievements the University recently accomplished.
He spoke about the recognition the James B. Hunt Jr. Library received when it was ranked the 14th most beautiful academic library in the world.
Woodson also addressed the successful ventures taken on by the new College of Sciences and the opportunities offered by the 13 Living and Learning villages on campus.
He said N.C. State is ranked as one of the most productive research universities in the nation, and the National Science Foundation named State as the only university that leads two engineering research facilities.
He mentioned President Barack Obama’s recent visit to the University and how he chose N.C. State to lead the $140 million research grant. Woodson said the University’s endowment was about $769 million in 2013, and they are aiming toward reaching a billion dollars.
Woodson included a number of other honors N.C. State received, such as its recent ranking of being the fourth best value public university in the nation by the Princeton Review. Woodson discussed the University’s commitment to financial aid.
Woodson also talked about the athletic achievements of the University, specifically that in the 2012-2013 year, N.C. State was one of the few universities to send its football team to a bowl game, basketball team to the NCAA tournament and baseball team to a college world series.
He concluded his speech by mentioning the accomplishments of specific University affiliates such as Jay Baliga and Carl Koch. Woodson also talked about the dialect work of Joshua Katz, an N.C. State Ph.D. student who created a map of different dialects in the United States.