University of North Carolina Wilmington Academic Affairs Records

Wilmington College opened in 1947, under the authority of the New Hanover County Board of Education. Financial support came from a county-wide tax levy voted by the citizens in addition to tuition fees. The principal of New Hanover High School, Thomas T. Hamilton, simultaneously served as first college president. Dale K. Spencer, principal at another local school, simultaneously served as the first Dean. In 1948, Wilmington College acquired space for administrative offices in the Isaac Bear building, a former elementary school, and R. C. Beemon became Dean. The Dean coordinated with John T. Hoggard, chair of the board of education and second college president, and H. M. Roland, Superintendent. In 1952, William Madison Randall, driving south with his wife, had an automobile accident in Wilmington. Educators and civic leaders heard that an experienced academic administrator was in the hospital and called on him to apply for the Dean position that had become vacant at the young college. Randall was Dean until 1958 when he became college president. Wilmington College offered one diploma, the Associate in Arts. The college offered a two-year college transfer program, preparing students to enroll in a four-year college or university, along with terminal programs in vocational and technical fields. The Distributive Education division provided training and short courses for adult learners in the community. Topics included practical nursing, driver education, and small boat handling.

Wilmington College moved to a new campus on College Road and became a four-year liberal arts school, awarding its first baccalaureate degrees in 1965. Administration included Institutional Research by the end of the 1960s. In 1969, Wilmington College changed its name upon entering the University of North Carolina System. The Academic Dean continued to serve in administration, reporting to the Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs/Provost starting in 1972. In 1979, the university reorganized into colleges or schools, with each unit having its own Dean reporting to the Provost.

In the 1970s, the university began offering graduate degrees and created an office for sponsored programs and research administration. The Department of Military Science and the Army R. O. T. C program operated in the 1980s, closing in 1991. The 1980s also saw the establishment of the General College. The Center for Teaching Excellence began in the 1990s, along with International Programs and a university-wide honors program. The university provided administrative support for undergraduate research, applied learning, and first-year experience in the 2000s. As the institution grew, its needs expanded, and the administrative structure became more complex.