Death of history professor Andrew F. Clark

Andrew F. Clark, a UNCW history professor, recently died. He was found in his home Jan. 2. Clark taught at the university for more than 20 years. He earned his Ph.D. in African history from Michigan State University and began teaching as an assistant professor at UNCW in 1990. Clark became a full professor in 2000.

In a press release from Chancellor DePaolo, Paul Townsend, chair of the Department of History, said, “Andrew was an absolutely dedicated, demanding and beloved teacher above all else. He was twice nominated by the department for the Chancellor’s Teaching Excellence Award. He designed and taught UNCW’s African history courses, often taught Honors Program courses and was also a popular teacher in Continuing Education courses, where he shared his knowledge and love for African culture and history. He was at the center of department life.”

The Department of History is planning to organize a campus memorial for Clark.

UNCW moves up in Kiplinger’s 2011 rankings

UNCW recently announced that the university has moved up in Kiplinger’s 2011 ranking of best value public universities. Last year, UNCW was ranked fourth in North Carolina, and this year the university ranked third, falling behind UNC Chapel Hill and N.C. State University. Nationally, UNCW is ranked 27—the same as last year. Since 2003, Kiplinger’s has ranked UNCW in the top five public universities in North Carolina.

Schools from the list were ranked according to academic quality, including admission and retention rates, student-faculty ratios, four and six year graduation rates and cost and financial aids.

Controlled forest burn on campus

UNCW, along with the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources, will conduct a controlled burn within the long leaf pine forest on campus the week of Jan. 10. The areas will mostly be on the northeast side of campus; however, a small burn may also be conducted near the athletic fields and east of the Fisher Student Union. The larger burn will be located north of Seahawk Landing. The burn will be located on ground level, not in the trees, and specific locations will be determined by weather conditions. Although the burn may cause smoke, the burns are being planned for times when weather conditions will ensure that the smoke will rise to minimum exposure. Academic buildings closest to the burning sites include the education, cultural arts and nursing buildings.

Verizon brings 4G to Wilmington area

Verizon will bring its 4G wireless network to Wilmington as it expands its service into 140 more markets this year. No specific dates are known at this time. According to a press release, the 4G network is 10 times faster than the 3G network. The network will cover the mainland and beaches of New Hanover and Brunswick counties, from Sunset Beach to Castle Hayne.

UNCW launches new homepage

UNCW recently launched a new design for the homepage. The process has been ongoing for over a year. The new homepage was designed with input from the campus community through surveys.

In January of 2010, the Cameron School of Business launched the redesign of their Web site. The Watson School of Education Web site went live in August 2010, and a new UNCW admissions site launched this past September.

Now that the homepage redesign has gone live, the UNCW Web redesign team will undergo the process of migrating the remaining UNCW sites to the new design.