General News

The Belk Gym pool, which measures half of an Olympic-sized pool at 25 meters long and 22 meters wide, has reopened for use. Pool improvements include new tile lane markers, lighting and ventilation, an improved pool deck and bleacher area and on-deck showers and restrooms. Additional improvements were made to the main drains and tile work around the pool deck during renovations.

Thought leader April Rinne, an expert on shareable cities, will discuss “The Sharing Economy in the Urban Millennium” at 2 p.m., Thursday, March 24, in the Cone University Center McKnight Hall. This presentation is for the University’s TIAA Lecture Series.

Rinne is an advisor and guide on the sharing economy, the concept of a peer-based sharing of access to goods and services, coordinated through community-based resources. Examples include car sharing, the rental of apartments/houses and even the sharing of one’s talents and skills.

Faculty members from two universities in Nigeria and a professor from Davidson College will be guest speakers for a spring lecture series organized by the University’s African Studies Academy.

Enajite Ojaruega, senior lecturer, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria, will present “Songs Only Women Sing: Female Struggle with Identity in African Traditional and Modern Poetry” at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, March 24. Ojaruega researches African women and conflict in literature and gender studies.

David Broome, vice chancellor and general counsel for the University, was named an outstanding general counsel by the Charlotte Business Journal. He and 21 other top lawyers for the region were recognized at a special event held recently at the Myers Park Country Club.

Broome was selected in the category of general counsel in a department with between two and 10 attorneys.

The J. Murrey Atkins Library is hosting the traveling exhibition “From DNA to Beer: Harnessing Nature in Medicine and Industry.”

 Produced by the National Library of Medicine, in cooperation with the National Museum of American History, the display explores some of the processes, problems and potential of technologies that use microbes.

Work to extend the CATS Blue Line onto campus continues, and beginning in the next days and for the next several months, construction will impact the UNC Charlotte campus, particularly at Institute Circle. As with all construction, weather may change the projected schedules for the below phases of the project.

Chancellor Philip L. Dubois has been busy briefing civic groups in Union, Iredell and Gaston counties on the Connect NC bond. The $2 billion measure, if approved by voters on March 15, would bring $90 million to UNC Charlotte for a science building and a total of $135 million to the Charlotte region.

Dubois has said that the funds are critically important to the continued growth of the University and the long-term economic vitality of North Carolina.

After three years of preparation and extensive review from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), UNC Charlotte has received the official designation as a “StormReady Community.”

StormReady is a community preparedness program of the National Weather Service, a division of NOAA; the program encourages government entities and commercial gathering sites to prepare for severe storms.

College of Education professor Chance Lewis is the 2016 recipient of the Harshini V. de Silva Award. This annual honor is presented to a faculty member who best exemplifies the commitment de Silva, a former UNC Charlotte professor, displayed to graduate student mentorship.

The Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Urban Education and executive director of the Urban Education Collaborative, Lewis began his tenure at UNC Charlotte in 2011. Since then, colleagues consistently have noted his impact on the student experience.

Alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the University can purchase an authentic piece of the Belk Tower.

Belk Tower mementos are acrylic cubes that measure 4-by-4-by-4 inches and are seated on a blackened cherry wood base with mirror. A portion of the tower is inside the cube (each piece will vary in size and color).  A 4-by-6-inch frame that features a tower photo and historical facts is included.