General News

The Food and Drug Administration is expanding its efforts to reduce the amount of artificial trans-unsaturated fatty acids (trans fats) in American diets. The federal agency declared trans fats unsafe for human consumption last week, giving companies three years to come into compliance with the new policy.

Trans fats have been linked to weight gain and heart disease, and the FDA says it expects the ban to prevent thousands of fatal heart attacks a year.

David Goldfield, the Robert Lee Bailey Professor of History and a renowned Civil War authority, will join a panel to discuss the current debate on the Confederate flag at 9 a.m., Friday, June 26, on WFAE Charlotte Talks. Tune in to listen at 90.7 FM or stream online.

Outstanding instruction is a hallmark of the UNC Charlotte experience, and that extends to the large number of online offerings available through the University’s Distance Education Office.

Four faculty members recently completed online course redesigns to obtain certification of having met Quality Matters standards, a national, faculty-centered, peer-review process considered the gold standard for how distance education courses are structured. Quality Matters was started by MarylandOnline Inc., a consortium of colleges and universities.

With the purpose of teaching the science and engineering of solar energy and partnering with industry to research methods for producing more-efficient and lower-cost solar cells, the Lee College of Engineering has opened the new Photovoltaic Technology Research Laboratory.

Located in the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center, the new photovoltaic lab is under the direction of Aba Ebong, professor of electrical and computer engineering.

Since learning about the University’s migration to Google Calendar and Gmail, Laura Williams, interim controller in financial services, has tapped into Google technology to encourage a collaborative working environment among her team members.

The College of Education’s Mickey Dunaway, a former principal and superintendent and an expert on public school law, will be the guest on the June 25 edition of “The Live Wire,” Inside UNC Charlotte’s streaming webcast. He will talk about how schools today continue efforts to maintain the delicate balance between students’ freedom of expression and right to privacy with teachers’ need to maintain a strong learning environment.

Watch “The Live Wire” via computer or mobile devices starting at 2 p.m.

The UNC-TV program “N.C. Now” will broadcast a segment on the University’s Mobile Arts & Community Experience (MAX) facility as part of its June 19 show, which airs at 7:30 p.m.

The UNC Charlotte Office of University Communications produced the video feature in conjunction with UNC-TV.

MAX is a mobile performance venue/community gathering space that can accommodate everything from circus arts to a neighborhood association meeting; it was built by Boxman Studios and funded through a grant from the Knight Foundation.

With UNC Charlotte’s campus footprint continuing to grow, the University is taking the steps to ensure one of the its most valued natural resources is being sustained — trees.

Beyond a source of shade, trees help clean the air and add an aesthetically pleasing element to campus. UNC Charlotte’s commitment to effectively manage its tree population has led to it being named a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

Math and science classes have long been the stuff of nightmares for many, but there is a movement under way to change that perception.

UNC Charlotte’s College of Education recently hosted one of the faces of that movement – Oakland University engineering professor Barbara Oakley, author of “A Mind for Numbers.” Her research delves into the neuroscience of learning in an approachable way. It explores topics ranging from the specific ways the brains focuses, to why people procrastinate and how to stop.

Bank of America is a major employer in the Charlotte region, and a large number of UNC Charlotte graduates work for the global financial services leader.

Recently, the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association held a reception for Bank of America employees who are University alums. Nearly 200 attended the event where Chancellor Philip L. Dubois provided them with an update on their alma mater, and how the University and Bank of America have forged a beneficial, long-term relationship.