General News

The first home football game is against Johnson C. Smith Saturday, and the Charlotte Area Transit  System (CATS) provides service to reach campus for the contest.
Route 11U North Tryon runs from the Charlotte Transportation Center in Uptown Charlotte to campus every 30 minutes starting at 6 a.m.; CATS also offers service along Sharon Amity and W.T. Harris on Route 29 every 45 minutes starting at 8:10 a.m.
The fare to ride the bus is $2.20 each way; exact change or a bus pass is required. Buses do not take debit/credit cards.
 

The McCormack Scholarship for Nontraditional Student receives support through the Charlotte University City Rotary Club annual golf tournament, which will be Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the Skybrook Golf Club in Huntersville.
The tournament is a captain’s choice format with a 12:30 p.m. shotgun start. The deadline to register is Friday, Sept. 26; contact Tim O’Connell at 704-333-1966 or email timoconnell@carolina.rr.com.
The Office of Adult Students and Evening Services awards the McCormack Scholarship.

Throughout this month, the Venture program is conducting a number of outdoor adventure trips open to the UNC Charlotte and greater communities. Participants can enjoy excursions that range from canoeing to hiking.  Experience is not required, and instruction is provided to prepare for trip activities.
Venture trips scheduled for September are:
Stone Mountain Waterfall Day Hike, Sept. 14

UNC Charlotte is the recipient of the inaugural Air Compliance Excellence Award from the Mecklenburg County Air Quality (MCAQ); the honor is for local industry air quality permit compliance, pollution reduction and air quality improvement. 

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

The Belk Foundation recently awarded Charlotte Teachers (CTI) Institute a grant for the fifth consecutive year, this time for $25,000 to support seminars serving 100-plus teachers in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS). CTI is an innovative, educational partnership among UNC Charlotte, Davidson College and CMS designed to strengthen teaching and learning in CMS by cultivating content knowledge, creativity, leadership skills and collaboration among teachers. 

Debra Smith, associate professor of Africana studies, is among the five finalists for one of UNC Charlotte’s top honors – the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence. The recipient of this award will be revealed at a special ceremony on Friday, Sept.

Jessica Barton is taking on a new challenge this year as the first-ever communications officer for the UNC Charlotte Staff Council.
“One of our goals is to reach out to more staff members to increase awareness about Staff Council events and initiatives,” said Barton, who is a business analyst for the Belk College of Business. “I plan to explore how to use other forms of communication beyond email, such as the digital displays in buildings, and we are in the process of reworking the Staff Council website, too.”

A new garden in the works at UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens will  blend southeastern native flora, sustainable practices and smart home landscape design in a 1/5-acre showplace that will add to the diversity of these public gardens.

Longtime UNC Charlotte friend Carol Grotnes Belk, the wife of UNC Charlotte benefactor Irwin “Ike” Belk, died Aug. 25 at The Cypress.
Born in Park Ridge, Ill., Carol Belk was a founding trustee to Charlotte Latin School and served on the board of Discovery Place. She and Ike Belk were married almost 66 years, and Carol is survived by her husband and their sons and daughters William Irwin Belk (Georgia), Irene Belk Miltimore (Dean), Marilyn Belk Wallis (Edward) and Carl Grotnes Belk (Beth).