Academic Affairs

On the second floor of the Kennedy Building, two new classrooms are challenging faculty to better design and deliver courses that promote greater collaboration among students.

James Grymes, interim chair of music, will discuss his book “Violins of Hope: Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkets Hour” on the Sept. 11 edition of “The Live Wire,” Inside UNC Charlotte’s streaming webcast. He also will discuss the upcoming “Violins of Hope” event scheduled for Sept. 11 in Robinson Hall’s Belk Theater.
Employees can watch “The Live Wire” at their desks or on their mobile devices starting at 2 p.m.

UNC Charlotte was one of three public universities cited by the Chronicle of Higher Education for making substantial progress in narrowing graduation gaps between students in underrepresented minority groups and white students.

The Office of Academic Services is holding free workshops during September for University advisors on a number of topics. Prospective participants can complete an online form for session(s) they plan to attend.

The third annual UNC Hispanic/Latino Faculty Forum will be held Friday and Saturday, Sept. 12-13, on the UNC Charlotte campus.
The forum begins with a fiesta from 7 to 11 p.m., Sept. 12, in the UNC Charlotte Student Union, Room 340 D-I. There will be live music, dancing and refreshments.
On Sept. 13, there will be several forum sessions, including a panel discussion on immigration and its impact on communities and the state, advancing through the faculty ranks and UNC campus initiatives aimed at recruitment and retention of Latina/o faculty, staff and students.

Effective Monday, Sept. 15, Heather Brown will become the executive director of the Women + Girls Research Alliance.
According to academic affairs officials, Brown will lead the alliance to fully realize its mission to become a recognized authority in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County on issues affecting women and girls.

Samuel Lopez, director of the Office of Multicultural Academic Services and adjunct associate professor of kinesiology, recently represented the University’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi—the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines—at the organization’s 43rd biennial convention held in St. Louis, Mo.
Lopez currently is president of the University’s chapter and attended the convention as its voting delegate.

Associate professor of education Tracy Rock is the 2014 recipient of the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence – one of the University’s most prestigious honors for faculty members.

Some 100 students from the new Charlotte Engineering Early College (CEEC) will be in the audience when the Echo Foundation hosts a student dialogue with two Nobel laureates on Wednesday, Sept. 10, in Cone University Center’s McKnight Hall.

The Harshini V. de Silva Graduate Mentor Award committee is soliciting nominations for the 2015 award. This award was established in memory of Dr. Harshini de Silva, an associate professor of biology, who was noted for her deep dedication to the academic and professional development of graduate students. Each year, the Chancellor’s Office and the Graduate School present this award to a full-time member of the graduate faculty who evinces these qualities of outstanding graduate mentoring.