Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Records #40040, University Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Periodic transfer from the offices that create these records.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: University Archives Staff

Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Animal experimentation--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Astrophysics--Study and teaching--North Carolina--History.
• Biotechnology--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Cognitive science--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Education, Higher--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• Poteat, Patricia Lewis.
• Research--North Carolina.
• Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research.
• Universities and colleges--North Carolina--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill--History--20th century.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Research.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Office of the Provost.
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Special Assistant to the Provost.

The records contained in this group are those of Patricia L. Poteat, who became Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs on 1 July 1990. Before that time, Dr. Poteat had been Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, a position she filled beginning on 25 January 1988. Effective 1 January 1989, she was appointed Special Assistant to the Provost. However, she continued to act as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research until mid-1990. Her dual roles were the result of an administrative restructuring that took place in November 1988. At that time, J. Dennis O'Connor, who had been Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research since 1987 and acting Provost since July 1988, was appointed Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. The position of Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies and Research was eliminated. The Office of the Provost was given broader responsibilities, including the oversight of research activities. A position titled Associate Provost and Dean of Research was created but was not filled until July 1990. In the interim, Dr. Poteat essentially did two jobs. In July 1990, Dr. Poteat became Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in the Office of the Provost; she served in that position until 30 June 1994. As Vice Chancellor, she continued her oversight of research initiatives begun in her previous positions.

As Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Dr. Poteat's primary responsibility was to enhance and support the research mission of the University by developing new research initiatives and funding sources; providing technical assistance to faculty; and acting as liaison and spokesperson on research matters with outside institutions and funding agencies. Among Dr. Poteat's major activities were directing the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, assisting the establishment of the North Carolina Association for Biomedical Research, organizing the university-wide Cognitive Science Working Group, and coordinating university efforts to fund and build the Southern Observatory for Astrophysical Research, a 4-meter telescope in Chile.

Correspondence and other files of Patricia L. Poteat as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, then as Special Assistant to the Provost, and finally as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. In all three positions, her responsibilities were essentially the same, chiefly relating to newly developing areas of research in which the University was becoming involved. Most of the materials, however, pertain to projects initiated as Associate Vice Chancellor for Research. Her files on the issue of animal care and use of animals in research, as well as the telescope project, are quite extensive. (N.B. Other files on the issue of animal care will be found in the records of the following offices: the Provost, Chancellors Fordham and Hardin, and the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs.)