Housing shuffle planned at WCU
Student housing at Western Carolina University will see a massive shuffle over the coming years as university leadership looks to update old buildings while preparing for the school’s continued growth.
WCU breaks enrollment records — again
Western Carolina University’s enrollment hit an all-time high this fall for the seventh out of the past eight years, with the population of student Catamounts increasing 5.48 percent over fall 2017 — roughly twice the enrollment increase Western was aiming for.
Fall color will likely be dimmer than normal
Autumnal vibrancy will depend on weather conditions over the next few weeks, according to Western Carolina University’s fall color soothsayer.
Speir, Cats excited about 2018
By Todd Vinyard • Special to The Smoky Mountain News
Taking over a football program coming off five wins in the previous three seasons before you arrived as coach would certainly require a plan and changing the culture. Mark Speir has relied on both in his past seven years as the head coach at Western Carolina University.
WCU, Morris partnering to provide high-speed internet to Cullowhee Valley
Western Carolina University has reached an agreement with Morris Broadband to expand high-speed internet service to rural, underserved areas of the Cullowhee Valley area near campus through the use of existing power poles owned by the university’s electricity distribution service.
Politics and the search for WCU’s chancellor
As the yoke of political influence grows ever heavier around the neck of the UNC Board of Governors, Western Carolina University’s chancellor search has gone off the rails and there is not yet any indication when it will get back on track.
Because much of the process used to replace a chancellor is shrouded in secrecy, those who care deeply about this university and its faculty and staff are left guessing as to what exactly happened. But there are many of us who can’t help but suspect the worst kind of chicanery, especially given the brand of politics played by the current legislative leadership. It’s a sad state of affairs, particularly if our great university system becomes just a pawn in this ongoing power play.
WCU chancellor finalist withdraws from consideration
Western Carolina University will have to wait a little longer to welcome a new chancellor to Cullowhee following a July 16 announcement from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.
New housing planned for WCU
With no end in sight to rising enrollment, Western Carolina University is hoping a public-private partnership with Wilmington-based Zimmer Development Company will help meet the housing needs of future upperclassmen.
WNC celebrates life of David Belcher
For the son of a small-town Baptist preacher who studied to become a classically trained pianist — only to find his professional career take an unexpected change of tempo into academia — the Saturday, June 23, memorial service for Western Carolina University Chancellor David O. Belcher hit all the right notes.
Backyard trails: Local mountain bike trails surge to popularity
In 2013, Western Carolina University cut the ribbon on 7-mile trail system zig-zagging an otherwise unbuildable piece of university property.
Over the five years since, the trails have become an indispensible resource for mountain bikers — as well as trail runners and hikers — in the Cullowhee area, and last fall a trio of WCU employees set out to back up those observations with hard numbers.