General News

Derrick Griffith, a UNC Charlotte alumnus who was an outstanding student leader in the early 1990s, has been identified as one of seven people killed in a train derailment in Philadelphia.

Griffith, 42, most recently was dean of student affairs and enrollment management at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, N.Y. He joined the college in 2011 and had just earned a doctorate of philosophy in urban education from the City University of New York Graduate Center.

The University’s three commencement exercises held recently provided an opportunity for graduates and their family and friends to celebrate an important accomplishment. But for thousands of individuals who couldn’t make it to the Queen City, they, too, were able to witness the ceremonies via the Web.

Members of the Internal Audit Department visit approximately 15 campus units each year. These visits can be anxiety-inducing and prompt questions such as “What if we are doing something wrong? Am I going to lose my job over this?  How can we be prepared for the audit?”

One way departments can relieve their anxiety is through conducting a controls self-assessment.

Bill Anderson, former executive director of the public education advocacy group MeckEd, is joining the University’s College of Education as special assistant to the dean for community relations.

Anderson, a veteran teacher, administrator and educational policy leader, has nearly four decades of experience. He completed a master’s degree in education from the University in 1989 and a doctorate in 2001.

Bissell House is the official residence of UNC Charlotte’s chancellor, and its namesake, Sara Bissell, was devoted not only to her business and family but to the greater Charlotte community.

Dedicated on Nov. 18, 2004, Bissell House has been the venue for hundreds of campus and community events, with Chancellor Philip L. Dubois and his wife Lisa Lewis Dubois offering a gracious welcome to UNC Charlotte students, faculty, staff and visitors. Named the University’s fourth chancellor in early 2005, Dubois and his family became Bissell House’s first occupants.

Phillip Brown, internal communications manager in the University’s Public Relations Office, recently won a Gold Hermes Award for publication writing for the article “Trailblazers Turn the Tassel.” The feature was published in the second quarter 2014 edition of the UNC Charlotte magazine.

UNC Charlotte broke ground May 12 on a new residence hall dedicated to housing students of the Levine Scholars Program and the Honors College. The new facility will be known as Levine Hall, in honor of Sandra and Leon Levine. Through their foundation, the Levines have committed more than $18 million to the Levine Scholars Program, which began in 2009. Levine Hall is scheduled to open in summer 2016.

Through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the UNC Charlotte J. Murrey Atkins Library will investigate how best to license and acquire electronic resources for academic libraries. The $271,000 award is a two-year research and planning grant to produce recommendations for the licensing and acquisition of electronic resources, particularly eBooks. 

Starfish will replace Niner Advisor on 49er Express starting Sunday, June 28. This new system will allow instructors to notify their students systematically regarding their academic performance in their courses. Starfish is already integrated with Banner and Moodle for users.

Members of the UNC Charlotte Retired Faculty and Professional Staff Association recently gathered for lunch, tour and wine tasting at Morgan Ridge Vineyard, located in Gold Hill.

The association organizes three to four events a year; the group participated in a tour of the PORTAL Building recently, too.

The mission of the UNC Charlotte Retired Faculty and Profesusional Staff Association is to provide a way for interested retired faculty and professional staff to continue their relationship with the University.