UNCW Board of Trustees elects new members

Nathan Johnson | Intern

Two new members have been selected to the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Board of Trustees. Michael Shivar was elected as the new chair, H. Carlton Fisher as the new vice chair, and Wilma W. Daniels was re-elected as the secretary.

Shivar has served on the Board of Trustees for five years, previously served as chair for the External Affairs Committee, and is a member of the Executive Committee.

“Your duties are to conduct the meetings, appoint committees, and this year will be the appointment of a selection committee for the chancellor’s search,” said Shivar.

The officers are nominated from a nominating committee who is appointed by the current chair. Then, they present a slate of officers to the full Board of Trustees. The nominees have to win by a favorable outcome by the Board, and then accept the position.

“It’s very gratifying from an individual standpoint to be involved with the university,” said Shivar. “I enjoy working with the university promoting the students and faculty, and it’s been enjoyable for five years.”

Shivar accepted the chair nomination to help UNCW become a better place for students to develop in their education.

“We are very cognizant that students and faculty are the priority,” said Shivar. “What we are trying to do is provide an excellent learning experience for students and continue to advance the university against our peers.”

Fisher, the vice chair of the Board of Trustees, is also a member of the Executive Committee.

“I am an alumni, and my father was an alumni, and my son is now in school there; so it is very humbling that I can have the opportunity to be selected to participate in this position,” said Fisher.

The Executive Committee consists of a chair, vice chair, secretary and the chairs of the standing committees. It convenes in a smaller group.

There are three different committees within the Board of Trustees- Business Affairs, External Affairs and the Audit Committee. Business Affairs deal with the business operations of the university, tuitions issues and refinancing bonds. External Affairs handles community relations and athletics. The final committee is the Audit Committee which oversees the accountability in the accounting department of Business Affairs.

Fisher has been a part of the subcommittee for the Athletic Improvement Project, which has begun working on the athletic field improvements. Later this year, he will be a part of selecting the future UNCW chancellor.

“The opportunity that I will have in the upcoming year in the selection of a new chancellor will be extremely important to the future viability of UNCW,” said Fisher. “I really am going to dedicate myself to make sure that whoever we get in here is going to work diligently to make UNCW an even better place than it is now. We have a great campus and we want somebody that is going to make it even better.”