General News

UNC Charlotte freshman Jack Bretz Jr. was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia this past August. At the time, the 20-year-old was weeks from attempting to obtain a black belt in the martial art form Tang Soo Do.
After months of treatment, staff members at Novant Health Blume Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, inspired by Bretz’s “courage, resolve, determination and discipline,” contacted the Dream On 3 organization to help Bretz realize his sports dream to meet Chuck Norris.

College of Computing and Informatics alumnus Hakim Touati and graduate students Fadi Mohsen, Saeed Al-haj and Mohammed Al-saleh finished second in “The Money Event (TME) Charlotte Challenge Hackathon.” 
This regional event, held in the PORTAL Building, was one of several competitions sponsored around the world.  The CCI team created a mobile solution called “SkipLine” that helps customers skip checkout lines at busy bakeries or coffee shops.  The winning team was comprised of professional developers with three to four years of experience.

Olin Broadway, executive-in-residence in the UNC Charlotte College of Computing and Informatics (CCI), will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award during Charlotte Business Journal’s second annual Chief Information Officer of the Year reception Thursday, July 17. The event honors Charlotte’s top technology leaders.
Broadway joined CCI in 2000; during the past 14 years, he has organized or directed a number of college initiatives, including the Charlotte Informatics Conference, Software as a Service Conference and the eBusiness Technology Institute.

UNC Charlotte has been granted associate membership in the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM).
Founded in 1924, NASM is an organization of schools, conservatories, colleges and universities with approximately 650 accredited institutional members. It establishes national standards for undergraduate and graduate degrees in music.

Amber Carpenter, music alumna and harpist, won first prize in the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists presented by the Appalachian Summer Festival and Appalachian State University. 
Carpenter graduated from the UNC Charlotte Department of Music in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance (harp) and a minor in voice. She completed a graduate certificate in vocal pedagogy in May 2014.

UNC Charlotte students this summer are creating an innovative theatrical production that combines works of two significant playwrights, while delving into topics including diversity, theatrical performance, language, history and the craft of writing.
These students are studying in England, collaborating with Kingston University students, British theater professionals and a UNC Charlotte scholar to combine versions of Cervantes’ “The Sultan’s Queen” (La gran sultana) and Shakespeare’s “Pericles, Prince of Tyre.”

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act was passed 40 years ago, and recent changes to the University’s student education records policy address advances in technology since FERPA became law in August 1974.
“Our definition of directory information was similar to that of other colleges and universities across the country,” said Jesh Humphrey, deputy general counsel with the Office of Legal Affairs. “However, a couple of months ago, the chancellor asked the Office of Legal Affairs and the Registrar’s Office to review our policy to better protect our students’ privacy.”

UNC Charlotte recently hired three individuals to support the Data Science and Business Analytics initiative, which is an industry-University-state partnership led by the College of Computing and Informatics and the Belk College of Business with strategic input from the College of Health and Human Services and other academic units.
Mark Armstrong, Rick Hudson and Shannon Schlueter are the industry/University program coordinator, senior project manager and data scientist, respectively, for the DSBA initiative.

Simona de Silvestro, a Sauber Formula 1 affiliate driver, will be on campus from 5 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 24, in the Motorsports Research Lab. Students, alumni, industry partners and members of the campus community are invited to attend the event, which will feature a preview of the clean air energy Formula 1 racecar, guest speakers and refreshments.
RSVPs are requested; email fcausey@uncc.edu.

The Energy and Environmental Assistance Office has released the June winners of its annual raffles, an incentive to faculty and staff members to help improve Charlotte air quality during the summer ozone season.