UNC Asheville names its 9th chancellor: Who got the job?
ASHEVILLE - UNC Asheville has named Kimberly van Noort as its ninth chancellor after a Nov. 29 vote by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors.
Van Noort has served as interim chancellor of UNCA since Jan. 1, succeeding Nancy Cable after she stepped down last year.
Before coming to UNCA, van Noort served as senior vice president for academic affairs and chief academic officer at the UNC System Office since October 2018 and as vice president for academic programs, faculty and research from 2016 to 2018.
The school announced in June that it had selected a search committee to look for a new chancellor, led by Robert Aiken, chair of the UNCA Board of Trustees.
The nationwide search attracted more than 130 applicants and nominees from 28 states and D.C.
Aiken praised the 13-member search advisory committee for its "engaged and thorough efforts" that resulted in recommending three finalists to UNC System President Peter Hans, according to a Nov. 29 news release.
Van Noort said she was "thrilled, honored, humbled, and excited" when reacting to her appointment. A scholar of French literature and a Nebraska native, she began her career in 1995 as an assistant professor of French at the University of Texas at Arlington.
“UNC Asheville was my very first campus visit after arriving at the UNC System Office in 2016 and I remember vividly how it struck me as a very special place with incredible potential," van Noort said in the release.
“Seven years later, after serving first as interim provost and now interim chancellor since the start of the new year, I can easily report that my first impression has been confirmed ten-fold.”
'Ready to hit the ground running'
Van Noort's official appointment as the ninth permanent chancellor of UNCA begins Jan. 1.
“Dr. van Noort is ready to hit the ground running,” Aiken said of her selection by Hans and unanimous approval by the Board of Governors, calling her “the right person to carry UNC Asheville forward.”
Since assuming her leadership role, van Noort quickly developed a "solid operational model" to align the size and mission of the school in order to ensure its long term health, said the release.
A key component of this effort was shifting the existing enrollment model to a student-centered approach that resulted in the largest incoming class of new first-time students in the last four years, as well as increases in applications over previous years.
The university also saw significant gains in new first-generation and Pell-eligible students, in addition to reaching its highest-ever overall enrollment of students from underrepresented populations, said the release.
Van Noort also led efforts to launch the new Access Asheville financial aid program, which guarantees full tuition and fees to qualifying students from North Carolina whose family income is less than $80,000.
Looking ahead to the centennial celebration of UNC Asheville in 2027, van Noort said in the release that she is excited to partner with all campus stakeholders on planning for what she sees as a very bright future.
“The people, the location, the support from the community, the generous donors who keep coming back to give more, and the potential of campus assets all position the University to be very successful moving into its second century,” she said.
More information about van Noort can be found at https://new.unca.edu/announcing-9th-chancellor/.
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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: UNC Asheville names its 9th chancellor after a nationwide search
