NCSSM-Morganton Update
Greetings!
Happy New Year! As the calendar turns to 2018, we are inching ever closer to our goal of opening the new Morganton campus of NCSSM in 2021. As we commemorate the one year anniversary of our 'start-up' operation in Burke County, we can point to measurable progress in the overall planning process for our new campus. This milestone also presented a wonderful opportunity to breathe new life into our web presence on the NCSSM website. I encourage you to navigate through our new pages to explore the information, resources, and materials that are now available.

In this month's newsletter, we have included information related to our next phase of planning - affectionately referred to as 'phase two.' We have ambitious plans to engage hundreds of constituents, partners, and those with appropriate subject matter expertise in operationalizing the incredible work contributed last year by our Core Planning Team. Simultaneously, we will be traveling throughout North Carolina to engage prospects and friends in an effort to secure five million dollars in critical private support that will enable elements of our master plan to move forward.

I hope you will continue to be in touch with your ideas, recommendations, and support as we continue to advance the planning process. We are especially appreciative of the many bridges being built by alumni, educators, business people, and community members to engage prospective partners and champions who can invest in this vision. We could not do it without your support and participation as we work together to build the newest campus for the UNC system.

Best wishes,

Kevin Baxter
Director of Western Campus Planning

828.448.3540 (o)
301.520.0930 (m)
Phase Two Planning for NCSSM-Morganton
With the start of a new calendar year, the work of NCSSM-Morganton will move forward into phase two planning efforts. We will continue advancing our educational program planning and the construction plan for our campus site. Concurrent to this work, we have developed formal requests that will be submitted to the UNC Board of Governors to support an initial allocation of recurring dollars for our NCSSM-Morganton division of the institution and an additional capital outlay to enable us to build out the full vision of phase one, option two of the master plan.

Design, Development, and Construction
The NCSSM board of trustees approved our CM at risk firm for the project. Barnhill Contracting was selected as CM at risk and will arrive on site in Morganton early in 2018. We have also secured approval from the State Construction Office to proceed with phase one, option one of our master plan. Duda|Paine has launched schematic design, and that is estimated to conclude in late-spring with a deliverable that will be reviewed by the State Construction Office before transitioning to the Design Development phase of our work. Our overall timeline for the project remains on track. There will also be additional site visits during phase two of design, development and construction. These visits will be inclusive of STEM high schools and Institutions of higher education.

Educational Program
The Friday Institute completed their final phase of work in late 2017, and the next steps are to assess opportunities for advancing their work and the incredible contributions from our Core Planning Team in a manner that retains the inclusiveness and organizational support enjoyed during the advance planning phase. We will share additional detail around the organizational structure that will take shape in delivering this next phase of work in our February newsletter. Stay tuned!
NCSSM-Morganton M ail Bag
As part of the NCSSM-Morganton public unveiling event on Thursday, September 28, 2017, the audience was invited to submit questions to the presentation team. Many of the questions were addressed but the program concluded with several unanswered due to time constraints. In an effort to respond to these unanswered questions, we will continue to feature responses in each of our upcoming newsletters.

Q: Are there any plans to provide public transportation to and from downtown in order to connect the two areas?

A: Trails and paths will be in place leading from the campus and connecting students to neighboring institutions within the district as well as to downtown Morganton and beyond. In addition, it is anticipated that the Morganton campus - like the current campus in Durham - will have its own buses for transportation. Bus loops around the region are intended to be a normal part of weekend activities.

Please continue to submit any questions you may have for the NCSSM-Morganton Mail Bag to Kelly Lookadoo at kelly.lookadoo@ncssm.edu.

Construction Manager at risk announced for NCSSM-Morganton
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) has announced Barnhill Contracting Company as Construction Manager (CM) At Risk for the NCSSM-Morganton campus. The project will include both renovation of existing structures...

NCSSM launches 2nd episode in ‘Road to Morganton’ series
The North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics recently launched the second episode in its short film series, “Road to Morganton,”...

#GivingTuesday raises $70,000, doubles participation goal
On November 28, NCSSM participated in its third Giving Tuesday. In the biggest success to date, #NCSSMGives brought in more than $71,000 from 515 donors -- more than doubling this year’s participation goal -- in a single 24-hour period. Thank you to all of those who participated as NCSSM-Morganton was earmarked by a number of individual donors during the event!

Western Campus Planning Office

1001 Burkemont Avenue | 260 Moore Hall
Morganton, NC 28655