General News

Chancellor Philip L. Dubois has been busy briefing civic groups in Union, Iredell and Gaston counties on the Connect NC bond. The $2 billion measure, if approved by voters on March 15, would bring $90 million to UNC Charlotte for a science building and a total of $135 million to the Charlotte region.

Dubois has said that the funds are critically important to the continued growth of the University and the long-term economic vitality of North Carolina.

After three years of preparation and extensive review from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), UNC Charlotte has received the official designation as a “StormReady Community.”

StormReady is a community preparedness program of the National Weather Service, a division of NOAA; the program encourages government entities and commercial gathering sites to prepare for severe storms.

College of Education professor Chance Lewis is the 2016 recipient of the Harshini V. de Silva Award. This annual honor is presented to a faculty member who best exemplifies the commitment de Silva, a former UNC Charlotte professor, displayed to graduate student mentorship.

The Carol Grotnes Belk Distinguished Professor of Urban Education and executive director of the Urban Education Collaborative, Lewis began his tenure at UNC Charlotte in 2011. Since then, colleagues consistently have noted his impact on the student experience.

Schnavia Hatcher is the inaugural director of the School of Social Work in the College of Health and Human Services.

Hatcher will begin her position with the University in early August. She will join UNC Charlotte from the University of Texas at Arlington, where she serves as a tenured professor in the School of Social Work and director of the Center for African American Studies.

Alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends of the University can purchase an authentic piece of the Belk Tower.

Belk Tower mementos are acrylic cubes that measure 4-by-4-by-4 inches and are seated on a blackened cherry wood base with mirror. A portion of the tower is inside the cube (each piece will vary in size and color).  A 4-by-6-inch frame that features a tower photo and historical facts is included.

The Advisory Committee to the Chancellor for Employee Health and Wellness (ACCEHW) will offer the four-week initiative “Spring into Wellness” starting Sunday, March 13.

The lunch-and-learn “Improving Your Memory” and a webinar “Sailing on: A Guide to Transitioning into Retirement” are among March offerings sponsored by the committee, too.

“Materialities of Ritual in the Black Atlantic,” co-edited by Akin Ogundiran, professor of Africana studies, was named an outstanding academic title for 2015 by Choice magazine.

In its January issue, Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries published its list of “Outstanding Academic Titles” reviewed during the previous calendar year. According to the magazine, the list represents approximately 10 percent of the some 7,000 works reviewed by Choice in 2015.

Chemistry student Lizeth Hernandez talks about the pride that she and fellow students have in conducting research and how that would increase with better facilities.

For his commitment to democratic ideals, humanistic values and literary excellence in Africa, Tanure Ojaide, UNC Charlotte’s Frank Graham Porter Professor of Africana Studies, has won the Fonlon-Nichols Award.

Ojaide will receive the prestigious honor at the 42nd annual African Literature Association (ALA) conference in Atlanta, scheduled for April 6-9. The thematic focus of the conference is “Justice and Human Dignity in Africa and the African Diaspora.”

UNC Charlotte’s gold and silver anniversary Classes of 1966 and 1991 will be in the spotlight for the first Alumniner Weekend, but this event will be an opportunity for all alumni and their family and friends to return to campus, too.

Scheduled for Friday, April 8, through Sunday, April 10, Alumniner Weekend will include reunions for Greek organizations, the Student Government Association and student media participants.