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Campus scores big with bond win

It's a new day at Carolina.

With the support of more than 70 percent of North Carolina voters, the $3.1 billion bond referendum for the state's higher education facilities needs passed Nov. 7. That means Carolina will get $499 million for construction projects over the next five to seven years.

"On behalf of everyone at Carolina -- faculty, staff, students and even future students -- I want to thank North Carolina voters for approving this bond referendum," said Carolina Chancellor James Moeser. "It is a tremendous investment in education, and it will return benefits to the state for decades to come."

Among the first major Carolina projects that will be completed from bond proceeds is a $26.73 million medical biomolecular research building. More than $88 million will go to a new science complex.

"The passage of the bonds is an epochal event for the School of Medicine," said Jeffrey Houpt, vice chancellor for Medical Affairs and dean of the medical school. "Prior to today the poor repair of our facilities was the single biggest obstacle to recruiting and retaining the country's best faculty.

"With that impediment removed, we can now provide North Carolina students the best available medical education."

Linda Dykstra echoed that sentiment from her Academic Affairs vantage point.

"This decision by the voters of North Carolina is a very important step forward," said Dykstra, dean of the Graduate School and interim vice provost for graduate studies and research. "It will provide Chapel Hill with the infrastructure we so desperately need to reclaim our momentum as one of the nation's top research universities."

Other projects include numerous classroom renovations and a new $27 million student services building that will consolidate advising, financial aid, registration and housing.

"Passage of the bond is a very positive step," said Risa Palm, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. "Had it failed, we would have been consigned to ever-deteriorating spaces and increasing difficulty in doing the kind of teaching and research that our students deserve.

"Passage means that facilities will not be an impediment to achieving our highest aspirations."

Among other improvements will be upgrades to Carolina's technology infrastructure and physical plant. And funding will be restored for renovations to House Undergraduate Library, a project delayed when the state diverted dollars to Hurricane Floyd recovery efforts. (For a detailed list of Carolina projects that will be funded by the bonds, see http://www.unc.edu/govrel/

The UNC system's needs were documented in a 1999 independent study that found $6.9 billion in renovation and construction needs across the system. That total represented the amount needed to get existing facilities up to standard as well as get ready for some 48,000 additional students expected to enroll at UNC schools over the next decade, including more than 3,000 at Carolina.

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