Chairman Boliek’s Remarks

Boliek is an attorney and partner with Williford, Crenshaw, Boliek and Frangakis LLP in Fayetteville. His practice focuses on litigation and consults on healthcare issues, specifically those in the allied health field. Previously, he spent several years as an award-winning journalist, political consultant and public relations professional. Boliek also previously served as CEO of a government contracting firm and as a prosecutor in Cumberland County.

Good morning, and welcome to our meeting of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Trustees. Once again, we have good news to report. I want to be the first to formally congratulate Coach Karen Shelton and the Tar Heel Field Hockey Team for earning their 25^th ACC championship title, having bested the third-seed Cavaliers last week. This title is the sixth in the row for the Tar Heels. And this is Coach Shelton’s 25^th title while coaching the program.

[Update: Shelton’s team soon thereafter won its 10th NCAA title, Carolina’s fourth in the past five years, giving the Tar Heels a total of 10 — more than any other Division I field hockey program. Carolina finished 21-0 for its fifth undefeated season in the program’s history. Coach Shelton has since announced her retirement, to great and widespread acclaim.]

And, of course, our academic reputation remains strong. As you probably read in September of this year, The University held strong, and for the fifth consecutive year was ranked 5^th best college among public universities by the U.S. News & World Report. But it’s important to consider what else happened in that ranking:

• Our undergraduate nursing program tied for fifth in the nation.
• Our undergraduate program in business tied for eighth overall, ranking:
  • Eighth overall for management.
  • Ninth overall for marketing.
  • 10th overall for real estate.
  • And 10th overall for entrepreneurship.
• And something we can all be proud of, especially in light of tomorrow, UNC ranked 12th overall for best colleges for veterans.

This is the consistency in excellence this Board of Trustees, in partnership with the Administration, has worked hard to maintain. And the work we are doing to shore up our foundation for the continued pursuit of excellence in all that we do will provide an even better future for our beloved University.

And that leads me to my final point. We recently published a report on the September meeting on the Board of Trustees website. Titled “Meeting Reports,” this tab provides access to a report from each board meeting, designed to update our most important constituents – the people of North Carolina – on the important work we are doing on their behalf.

Soon after each meeting, we will provide a report on our priorities and our progress. In our first edition, my colleague, Trustee John Preyer, reported on the critical work we have done to consolidate and streamline our budgeting process. I encourage you all to read it and to share it with others interested in the growing strength and stability of the University.

We’re doing great work, and we’re doing it together. The future of our university is strong, and we have a real opportunity to continue leading in important ways, many of which we will hear more about today.

Thank you for your continued support of the University of North Carolina.