Gary L. Miller officially began his term as chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington this past Friday, July 1.
One of his first acts as UNCW’s top administrator was to appoint a Chancellor’s Transition Committee. The committee will work to ease the leadership transition and help Miller familiarize himself with the university’s faculty, staff, student and alumni communities. The CTC’s term begins immediately and will run through the official installation of Miller in spring 2012.

The CTC will specifically work to assist the Board of Trustees and university leadership in introducing Miller and his family to the university community, Wilmington and the state. Before accepting the position as UNCW’s top administrator, Miller was serving as provost of Wichita State University in Kansas. He is the fourth chancellor in UNCW’s history, replacing Rosemary DePaolo, who retired.

Another priority is to provide a venue for the university and community to reflect on the future of UNCW with the intention of mining these comments, suggestions and ideas for potential directions the university will pursue under Miller.

In order to deepen the pool of ideas for strategic planning, Miller and the CTC plan to survey faculty, staff, students and alumni to discover their ideas, issues, concerns and suggestions so the university can “move forward with a common purpose.”

“I want the broadest possible involvement and input for this committee,” he said. “With that in mind, members will include two faculty members, two staff members and two students, in addition to the university leaders from across the campus.”

He went on to say that surveying faculty, staff, students and alumni was one of the CTC’s first duties.

In addition, the CTC will plan and execute university activities surrounding the official installation of Chancellor Miller.

“I am thrilled to begin my term as chancellor of UNCW, and to work with its brilliant and dedicated faculty, staff and students to take the university to the next level of achievement,” said Miller. “The transition is an excellent opportunity to reflect on the record of success and promising future of UNCW.”