General News

UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production and Infrastructure Center, in conjunction with CLT Joules, will hold the energy seminar series “Reinventing the Power Industry” from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday, April 21.

Mirsad Hadzikadic, executive director of the Data Science Initiative and director of the Complex Systems Institute, will moderate “Ideology, Conflict and Hope: The Bosnia Project” at 5 p.m., Tuesday, April 26.

Technology can make life much easier, but it can distract people from their college education. Jose Antonio Bowen, president of Goucher College, envisions the use of technology in the classroom as a way to engage students rather than to simply educate them.

The School of Social Work and Department of Special Education and Child Development announce the approval of a joint certificate program in early childhood mental health (ECMH). This program, which requires 15 graduate hours, focuses on children birth to five years of age and their families.

Graduates of the certificate program will be able to:

The 15th annual Charlotte Venture Challenge, which will be held, Tuesday, April 19, at the North Carolina Research Campus, will showcase 27 startup finalists to investors, corporate innovation executives and the business community.

In addition to presentations by the startups, Chis Heivly, cofounder of MapQuest, will deliver a keynote presentation, and there will be updates from alumni who participated in past challenges. Register to attend this year’s celebration online.

UNC Charlotte’s Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration program is ranked in the top 25 percent of public affairs programs in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. The MPA program continued its strong ranking in the 2017 “Best Graduate Schools” rankings released in March 2016, landing at No.  63.

Four degree candidates in the College of Education Department of Middle, Secondary and K-12 Education have received fellowships to participate in the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s prestigious Teacher Seminar program.

Brittany Gibson, Renae Kaister, and Marticia Turner are teachers at Newell Elementary School; Erin Byrd teaches at Butler High School. Gibson, Turner and Kaiser are pursing master’s degrees in teaching English as a second language; Byrd, a master’s in secondary education.

Students from the UNC Charlotte Department of Dance, under the direction of Professor of Dance Sybil Huskey, will participate in the National Water Dance. Scheduled for Saturday, April 16, National Water Dance is an annual event that builds a “movement choir” of dancers who join together to draw attention to global water issues. The topic is particularly urgent this year, with the recent drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., and the persistent drought in California.

Alumni are among the most valuable advocates for their alma mater, and the UNC Charlotte Alumni Association recently recognized eight individuals for outstanding contributions to their professions, their communities and to the University.

UNC Charlotte alumnus Bobbie Cavnar of Gaston County is the North Carolina Teacher of the Year for 2016-17.

Cavnar, an English teacher, completed a master’s degree in English at UNC Charlotte in 2011. This is his 17th year in the teaching profession; he has taught since 2003 at South Point High School in Belmont.

“Bobbie sees public education as the one thing that is equal and fair in a child’s life,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson. “He sees teachers as the equalizers, the keepers of America’s promise of equal opportunity.”