University of North Carolina Charlotte issued the following announcement on Feb. 17.
The Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has voted to bestow emerita status upon two long-serving faculty administrators. Joan F. Lorden, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Nancy A. Gutierrez, dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, were recommended for the distinction for their distinguished service to UNC Charlotte by Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber.
“For nearly two decades, Provost Lorden and Dean Gutierrez have served UNC Charlotte with distinction. They have been passionate champions for our students, dedicated advocates for our faculty and visionary leaders who have made lasting, transformational impact on our University,” said Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber. “We are grateful to the Board for honoring their contributions in this way.”
Celebrating achievement
UNC Charlotte honors the leadership and accomplishments of Lorden and Gutierrez, who both announced plans to leave their positions at the end of the academic year.
Joan F. Lorden, 2003 to 2022, designated provost emerita
The longest-serving provost in the UNC System, Lorden, who is a professor of psychology as well as the University's chief academic officer, has dedicated herself to the progress and programs that serve students, the University and community. In doing so, she has made notable contributions to the growth and transformation of UNC Charlotte. Named Charlotte Woman of the Year in 2016, Lorden shares her leadership skills with many community organizations, including the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, Discovery Place, the Echo Foundation, the Women’s Impact Fund and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Foundation. Under her leadership at UNC Charlotte:
- The College of Arts + Architecture, the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Institute for Social Capital, the Levine Scholars Program, the School for Data Science, the Office of Undergraduate Research and the School of Professional Studies were launched. In addition, 13 doctoral programs were initiated, the number of doctoral students quadrupled and University research funding doubled.
- The interdivisional Student Success Working Group, which she directed, developed a multipronged graduation initiative to reduce students’ barriers to progression and graduation, implement a proactive advising system and create a semester-long academic course for incoming freshmen, which led to a greater than 15% increase in the six-year graduation rate – and an Award for Student Success in 2019 from the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU).
- The University developed and implemented UNC Charlotte’s first Plan for Campus Diversity, Access and Inclusion. A champion for diversity and inclusion, Lorden, a neuroscientist and the principal investigator for the UNC Charlotte NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant, established programs to support the progress of women faculty in STEM areas that led to the development of the ADVANCE Faculty Affairs and Diversity Office.
- UNC Charlotte increased its footprint in the community, guided by the development of the Civic Action Plan, reorganized the Office of Metropolitan Studies into the Office of Urban Research and Community Engagement.
Nancy A. Gutierrez, 2005 to 2022, designated dean emerita
Among UNC Charlotte’s most veteran academic leaders, Gutierrez started her tenure with what was then the College of Arts and Sciences. A professor of English, dean and passionate advocate for the liberal arts, she has centered her work around championing faculty development, incorporating the scholarship of engagement into promotion and tenure decisions, advocating for interdisciplinary research and programming, and globalizing the curriculum. She has shared her expertise broadly as a member of the boards of directors for the Charlotte Museum of History and Arts and Science Council (Charlotte), a board member and chair of North Carolina Humanities and president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences. During Gutierrez’s 17-year tenure as dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences:
- The college grew significantly in research and graduate education, increasing funding from external sources by more than 30%, doubling the number of doctoral degrees offered and enrolling nearly twice the number of graduate students.
- Academic programs expanded to include the development of the departments of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies and Global Studies as well as the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies, the Center for the Study of the New South and the Center for Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies.
- The University was accepted for a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honor society for students of the liberal arts and sciences, an honor held by just 10% of U.S. colleges and universities.
- Personally Speaking, a speaker series featuring published faculty members, implemented in 2010 and hosted by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, J. Murrey Atkins Library and The Dubois Center at UNC Charlotte Center City, has thrived. Its consistent schedule has helped to introduce the greater community to UNC Charlotte’s faculty experts.
Honoring excellence
Emeritus status is an honor and a mark of distinction granted to fully retired faculty members and senior administrative or academic officers whose service is characterized by high personal achievement and outstanding service to UNC Charlotte. Emeritus faculty members are granted several privileges, among them use of the University library and recreational facilities; a University email account; inclusion in the University catalog and campus directory; invitations to University Commencement and other events; opportunity to purchase tickets for University athletic and cultural events at faculty rates; receipt of University and alumni publications; and free campus parking.
Original source can be found here.
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