Groups advise on Carolina North

Don't call it the Horace Williams tract anymore. Seriously.

From now on, it is Carolina North, and don't you forget it.

Associate Provost Stephen Allred hammered that point home on Feb. 4 when he told members of a newly formed advisory group that he would charge a dollar to anyone who dared to err by uttering the dreaded "HW" word.

Allred was joking, of course, but in so doing reinforced what is a serious point.

The change in name is really about a change in perception of the nearly 1,000 acres of land that lie only about one-and-a-half miles north of the main campus on Airport Road. For years, it's been undeveloped land surrounding the University's airport. Now, the airport is scheduled to close; and the land, including the flat strips that constitute the airport runways, will be transformed into a part of the University that has yet to be fully conceived or imagined.

Nothing has been decided for certain, except this: University officials want Carolina North to function as, and be perceived as, an integral part of the main campus -- not a satellite appendage cut off from the rhythms and flow of its sister to the south.

Because of its sheer size and proximity not only to main campus but also to the wider Triangle, its potential uses almost seem limitless.

And therein lies both promise and peril.

The property will be developed over decades, not years, but before any development begins the University wants to establish the necessary blueprints to do it right.

And that process is gearing up in earnest now.

A formal organization and process already has been established, and at the center of both will be Tony Waldrop, the vice chancellor for research and graduate studies.

Waldrop serves as a member of the Executive Committee, a decision-making body consisting of upper-level administrators and some University trustees. In addition to Waldrop, members are Chancellor James Moeser, trustees Tim Burnett, Paul Fulton and David Pardue, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Shelton, and Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Nancy Suttenfield.

The group Allred is leading, called the University Uses Advisory Group, is one of four advisory groups that each were given a specific charge. As the name suggests, Allred's group will be charged with discussing and offering advice on the potential uses of Carolina North. It will focus on the characteristics and criteria that could be used as benchmarks in deciding what programs and departments and uses would be suited best for Carolina North. The group may recommend specific programs and activities, but is not required to do so.

Bruce Runberg, associate vice chancellor for planning and construction, will chair the Infrastructure Advisory Group. The charge for Runberg's group is to develop advice on the physical development of Carolina North, from utilities to parking to stormwater management to general aesthetics.

The New Business Development, Private, and Other Uses Advisory Group will develop advice on defining, by category or type, those public, private or community uses that would benefit from inclusion in Carolina North. This group has been asked to identify and recommend specific infrastructure and resources needed on the Carolina North campus to promote the formation and growth of start-up companies based on University-generated intellectual property assets. The chair is Mark Crowell, associate vice chancellor and director of the Office of Technology Development.

The fourth group, the External Relations Advisory Group, will offer advice for communication strategies and partnership approaches the University might employ with local, regional, national and international communities and business organizations. In particular, this group has been asked to recommend a longitudinal approach to capturing and tracking statistics and indicators of the economic and business development impact of Carolina North as its development unfolds.

The work of all these groups will be funneled into a broader group called the Carolina North Advisory Committee. This group will serve as a committee of the whole for the four work groups. Waldrop, who will serve as an ex-officio member of each of the four advisory groups, will lead the advisory committee. The advisory committee's responsibilities include facilitating the work of the advisory groups and conveying through Waldrop the ideas and recommendations of these groups to the Executive Committee.

Waldrop, in his introductory remarks before the University Uses Advisory Group at a Feb. 4 meeting, detailed the history of the property since planning began in 1995. The early work took the form of an initial concept plan completed in 1998 called the JJR Report. Afterward, a Horace Williams Advisory Group was formed that worked with the Ayers Saint Gross architectural firm to develop a concept master plan for the property. Ayers Saint Gross is the same company that worked with the University community to develop the new master plan for main campus.

But this group's work was stalled by a succession of tumultuous events that began in July of 1999 with the death of Chancellor Michael Hooker.

Waldrop recounted how trustees decided to take a "breather" on proceeding with talks about the property to allow a new chancellor to be hired and for the new chancellor to hire his own administrative team.

Moeser and members of his team met last year during a two-day retreat to review the status of Carolina North and discuss how to proceed. A product of the retreat is the following mission statement for Carolina North:

"Carolina North is a living and learning community, expanding Carolina's multiple missions, intensifying innovation and redefining our engagement with the region, the state and the world. Carolina North is an environment where diverse partnerships are created and new endeavors are born and nurtured. Carolina North is a place of exceptional energy, beauty and contemplation, connecting to and enhancing both the original campus and neighboring communities."

It is, in short, the epicenter of where a substantial part of the University's future will unfold.