On May 10 the UNC Board of Governors approved a doctoral program at UNCW in marine biology, beginning in the fall 2002 semester. This will be the only marine biology doctoral program in the state and one of two on the East Coast. Since 1990, there has been a cooperative doctoral program in marine science offered between N.C. State University (NCSU) and UNCW. At the Board of Governors meeting, NCSU was the only school to oppose the approval of the program.

“Approval of the doctoral program in marine biology is the crowning achievement and ultimate recognition for the long and dedicated efforts of the faculty,” said Dr. John Cavanaugh, then-provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“Since 1972, when the marine biology program was first established at UNCW, it has been a conscious effort of the UNC campuses to make UNCW the center for excellence in marine science,” said Dr. Robert Roer, professor and graduate school coordinator of the biological sciences department. “I also believe this marks the beginning of doctoral education being offered at UNCW in the future.”

According to Roer it was quite an extensive process to get the program approved. The first step was to put in what’s called a “Request to Plan a Degree or Program.” This request describes the program in general and justifies why it should be approved. If the “Request to Plan the Program” is approved, the second step is to put in a “Request to Establish a Degree or Program.”

“The rough draft of this request was completed in August of 2000 and presented to the UNC school system,” Roer said.

The “Request to Establish” is a much more extensive report containing all the fine details of the program including courses being offered, requirements and faculty backgrounds. It was approved and returned to UNCW for revisions in June 2001. The revision process took until February 2002, when the completed request was submitted to the UNC Board of Directors for final approval, which was granted by a vote of 14-1 on May 10, 2002. The only opposing vote came from NCSU.

The funding for the new doctoral program came from external grants as well as some internal funding from the biological sciences department. Funding from UNCW is not expected due to the tight budget of the school. Since UNCW has such an extensive variety of resources from the undergraduate program, including experienced faculty and convenient access to the marine environment, the program has a strong foundation to start with.

UNCW’s undergraduate program in marine biology ranks fifth in the nation.

“We’ve received applications from several different parts of the country before the program was even approved,” Roer said.

“The program will consist of about 30-40 students per year, with about five or six being accepted each semester,” Roer said. “We expect about 80-90 applications each semester.”

“It feels very rewarding to have this Ph.D. program being offered at UNCW, even though the opposing folks up the road (NCSU) tried to make it tough,” Roer said. “Our department is very fortunate that the UNCW administration has made marine biology such a high priority.”

Students who are interested in the marine biology doctoral program can view the requirements and general information at the following web site: http://people.uncw.edu/roer/PhD%20Program.htm.