General News

Students at UNC Charlotte are partnering with students in Russia to promote healthy living, through a collaboration created by program director Yuliya Baldwin and funded by the U.S. Department of State.

“When I saw this grant being offered, I immediately knew that I would like to partner with Russia simply because UNC Charlotte had never done any type of exchange with Russia,” said Baldwin, a lecturer in Russian in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

The Campus Accessibility Advisory Committee, a 15-member group appointed by the chancellor, recently recommended that students be able to use any gender restroom on campus to which they self-identify. In response, the Trans* Committee and the Office of Disability Services have partnered in a joint effort to establish accessible and gender-neutral restroom facilities in every academic building on campus.

The website Best College Values has ranked UNC Charlotte’s Student Union at number six on its list of “30 Most Amazing Student Unions.”

In determining its compilation, the website examined architecture and exterior appeal, facilities, interior appeal and tradition when ranking student unions across the country.

Oscar de la Torre, assistant professor of Africana studies, will discuss Brazil as the third speaker in the 2015 Great Decisions lecture series.  This talk, scheduled for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 28, at UNC Charlotte Center City, will be a joint networking event with the Magellan Society, the young professionals of the World Affairs Council of Charlotte.

Roslyn Mickelson was named the 2014 University Professor of UNC Charlotte.  This honor recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement in a professional field, as well as demonstrated ability to excel in interdisciplinary research, teaching and service.  The University Professor is recommended to the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees by the chancellor and holds this title for life.

Internship Week is set for Monday, Feb. 2, through Friday, Feb. 6, and the University Career Center will host a week of programs and events to encourage students to gain relevant experience, to prepare them for the internship search and to connect them directly to potential employers.

The Charlotte-based LGBT arts, entertainment and news publication qnotes recently named Josh Burford, assistant director for sexual and gender diversity in the Multicultural Resource Center, as its “2014 Person of the Year.”

The recognition stemmed from Burford’s extensive campus and community involvement, and in particular, his outreach initiatives related to the establishment of a community LGBTQ historical archive in UNC Charlotte’s J. Murray Atkins Library Special Collections.

Judy Rose, the University’s director of athletics, is among the first members appointed by the NCAA Board of Directors to the Division I Council, which is the newest level of leadership in Division I.  She is one of 27 athletic directors named to the 40-person council, which holds its first meetings today in Washington, D.C.

J. Scott Derrick, executive director of the Student Union and Cone University Center, is president-elect for the Association of College Unions International (ACUI); he will be installed formally in April at the organization’s annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.

“I am both honored and humbled to have been elected by my fellow ACUI colleagues as president-elect,” said Derrick. “To be trusted with this responsibility is something that I take very seriously.”