General News

The 15th annual Charlotte Venture Challenge, which will be held, Tuesday, April 19, at the North Carolina Research Campus, will showcase 27 startup finalists to investors, corporate innovation executives and the business community.

In addition to presentations by the startups, Chis Heivly, cofounder of MapQuest, will deliver a keynote presentation, and there will be updates from alumni who participated in past challenges. Register to attend this year’s celebration online.

Four degree candidates in the College of Education Department of Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education have received fellowships to participate in the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s prestigious Teacher Seminar program.

Brittany Gibson, Renae Kaister, and Marticia Turner are teachers at Newell Elementary School; Erin Byrd teaches at Butler High School. Gibson, Turner and Kaiser are pursing master’s degrees in teaching English as a second language; Byrd, a master’s in secondary education.

Students from the UNC Charlotte Department of Dance, under the direction of Professor of Dance Sybil Huskey, will participate in the National Water Dance. Scheduled for Saturday, April 16, National Water Dance is an annual event that builds a “movement choir” of dancers who join together to draw attention to global water issues. The topic is particularly urgent this year, with the recent drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., and the persistent drought in California.

Alumni are among the most valuable advocates for their alma mater, and the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association recently recognized eight individuals for outstanding contributions to their professions, their communities and to the University.

UNC Charlotte’s Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration program is ranked in the top 25 percent of public affairs programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The MPA program continued its strong ranking in the 2017 “Best Graduate Schools” rankings released in March 2016, landing at No.  63.

UNC Charlotte alumnus Bobbie Cavnar of Gaston County is the North Carolina Teacher of the Year for 2016-17.

Cavnar, an English teacher, completed a master’s degree in English at UNC Charlotte in 2011. This is his 17th year in the teaching profession; he has taught since 2003 at South Point High School in Belmont.

“Bobbie sees public education as the one thing that is equal and fair in a child’s life,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson. “He sees teachers as the equalizers, the keepers of America’s promise of equal opportunity.”

Winners of the 16th annual Graduate Research Symposium were named at the event, held earlier this month in the J. Murrey Atkins Library. 

The top presenters, by category, were:

Public Health, Social Sciences, Business

Oral sessions:
First – Elmer Fos, Master of Health Administration
Second – Meika Berlan, Ph.D., Public Policy
Third – Konstantin Ekstrom, Master of Economics
Honorable Mention – Shahar Gur, MS, Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Poster sessions:
Best poster – Lee Ann Long, MS, Nursing

Last week, I informed you that the University was anticipating formal guidance from the General Administration as to how the newly-enacted Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, also known as House Bill 2, applies to UNC Charlotte. We now have that guidance in the form of a memorandum from UNC President Margaret Spellings, available here on the General Administration website. The text of the Act, which I would encourage you to read, is appended to the memorandum.

How World War I transformed the Charlotte region is the focus of a documentary screening and “teach-in” scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, April 23, at UNC Charlotte Center City.

This event is free and open to the public; advanced registration is requested and includes a parking pass and refreshments.

In celebration of Earth Month, the Office of Waste Management and Recycling is sponsoring several events in which the campus community have opportunities to contribute to a cleaner, greener UNC Charlotte.