University Profile

Western Carolina University , a campus of The University of North Carolina system, is a leading regional comprehensive university serving a diverse student body with career-focused studies at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. In addition to a tradition of academic excellence, Western offers small class sizes and personal attention from highly qualified faculty with a strong interest in their students’ success. Courses are available in Cullowhee, Asheville and online. The university is an educational community committed to prosperity, growth, service and engagement throughout Western North Carolina.

Highlights

• Less than two years after its inception, Western’s master of entrepreneurship program this year won first place in a national competition sponsored by the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship to recognize the top program in this field. Previous winners were Harvard and Wake Forest.

• Collaborating with the University of Southern California and Stanford University, Western’s Center for Integrated Technologies is using a $4.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense for research leading to the mass production of intricate connectors necessary to bring high speed fiber optic communications to consumers’ desktops.
• Western has joined UNC-Charlotte and Clemson University in the Micro-Optics Triangle, a regional alliance that is focused on basic research, manufacturing processes and student education in the $170 billion-a-year photonics industry.
• Western is partnering with UNC-Asheville and Furman University in the Western Carolinas Biotechnology Consortium, enabling the three universities to develop high-tech resources, facilities and equipment needed to provide training in several biotechnology fields, including genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics.
• Western is partnering with UNC-Charlotte in offering a joint degree electrical engineering; computer engineering will be offered in 2006.
• Western’s Center for Applied Technology is a high-tech facility designed for education and outreach with engineering laboratories for technology-based manufacturing, state-of-the-art audio and video production facilities, and a center for the study of business-to-business sales.
• Western has received state funding to plan a new $34.8 million School of Health and Gerontological Sciences facility as part of the N.C. Center for Health and Aging collaboration with the Mountain Area Health Education Center and the
• Western soon will have 12 endowed professorships. Eight are fully funded at the $1 million level; private contributions have been received for four more endowed professorships, including faculty positions in engineering and communication disorders.
• Western’s new Fine and Performing Arts Center is among $100 million in campus construction and renovation projects funded through the 2000 state higher education bond package. A $30 million centerpiece for the arts and humanities, the 122,000-square-foot facility includes classrooms and studios for students majoring in the arts and humanities, as well as public galleries and a 1,000-seat hall for off-Broadway music and theatrical performances.

Admissions

• Western offers more than 120 majors and areas of concentration for undergraduates. Graduate students work in 51 areas of study at the master’s level, as well as doctoral studies in education.
• Student enrollment at Western in Fall 2004 reached an all-time high of 8,396, an 11-percent increase over last year’s enrollment and the second consecutive year of double digit growth.
• The student-faculty ratio at Western is about 16 to 1, and most classes have fewer than 25 students. Small class sizes and personal attention from highly qualified faculty who are interested in their students’ successes are part of a longstanding tradition at Western.
• Western’s residential Honors College, the first of its kind in North Carolina, now enrolls more than 900 students and provides a focused living and learning environment for those seeking advanced academic challenges and more choices for independent study . Honors Scholars are exceptional students who take tutorial classes to prepare for regional and national research projects and to compete for prestigious national and international scholarships.
• In the Fall of 2005, Western initiated a successful mentoring program, which matches staff and faculty volunteers with incoming freshmen and transfer students who are interested in extra non-academic advice and support on campus.
  
  
• The university’s new One Stop Center makes it quick and convenient for students to receive help and conduct university related business involving financial aid, registration, cashier services, Cat Card activity, career services and student support services.
• Freshmen admitted to Western are automatically considered for available scholarships, based on their academic achievement. The University annually awards $1 million in merit-based scholarships and more than $30 million in needs-based aid to students. About 50% of Western’s students receive financial assistance in some form – scholarships, grants, loans and work study.
• Western’s award winning faculty include the winner of one of this year’s national O. Henry Awards for short fiction, an Emmy-winning movie director, the composer and music editor for the JAG television series, a nationally-known hurricane researcher, a former Yale School of Medicine professor who specializes in genomic education, and many more professors at the highest levels of their academic disciplines.
• Students are involved in a wide range of non-academic activities including intramural and club sports; community service organizations; Greek life; political and religious clubs; theatrical, dance and musical performances; the widely respected Pride of the Mountains Marching Band; student government; student-run media; student entertainment organizations; and much more.
• Western provides a full array of NCAA intercollegiate sports, including men’s and women’s track, cross-country, and basketball; women’s golf, soccer, tennis and volleyball; and men’s baseball, golf and football.
• Located in a beautiful valley between the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains, Western offers convenient access to outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, white water rafting and camping in one of the nation’s most popular vacation areas.

For more information, call the Office of Admissions at 1-877- WCU-4YOU (1-877-928-4968) or go to www.poweryourmind.com.