General News

Amy Palmer with the College of Education’s Department of Special Education and Child Development won a $250 U.S. Airways gift card as part of a Giving Green raffle. The drawing was held to encourage financial support for agencies within the State Employees Combined Campaign.

Faculty, staff and students can enjoy the fall weather while assisting with this semester’s campus cleanup, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22. As part of this effort, tree banding to protect against canker worms will be from 10 a.m. to noon.

Eric Heberlig, professor of political science, is a co-recipient of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation’s D.B. Hardeman Prize for the work “Congressional Parties, Institutional Ambition and the Financing of Majority of Control.”

Founder and CEO of DonorsChoose Charles Best will discuss his “crowd funding” approach to philanthropy at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14. Inside UNC Charlotte will livestream the presentation. Best has been named to Fortune magazine’s “40 Under 40 Hottest Rising Stars in Business” for three consecutive years. He created the nonprofit DonorsChoose.org while a history teacher in the Bronx to address inequality in education funding. Through the website, teachers could create classroom project requests, and donors could pick the projects they wanted to support financially.

Heather Smith, professor of geography in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, is the 2014 recipient of the Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement.  Established in 2012, the award honors a tenured faculty member whose teaching, research and service embodies the University’s commitment to civic involvement and whose work strengthens the relationship between UNC Charlotte and the larger community.

UNC Charlotte has created an on-campus food pantry, located in the Colvard Building, Room 3135, to benefit off-campus students who may have need. A recent national study showed an unexpectedly large number of college students are unable to find or afford nutritious food.

“As a University, we are deeply committed to fostering the best education possible, and that starts with making sure our students are eating nutritious meals consistently,” said Sean Langley, food pantry program co-founder and assistant director of off-campus and volunteer outreach.

Interactive a capella duo Dakaboom will perform at 2 p.m., Monday, Oct. 27, in the Student Union Rotunda as part of “Union Unplugged.”

Described as postmodern vaudeville, Dakaboom is a music-and-comedy duo from New York and Los Angeles.

Long-time best friends Ben McLain and Paul Peglar comprise Dakaboom; the two utilize a cappella, loop stations, stand-up, sketch, crowd interaction and several musical genres to create a world all their own.

Carlos Seminario, a Ph.D. student in the College of Computing and Informatics, is a recipient of the Lucille P. and Edward C. Giles Graduate School Dissertation-Year Fellowship, which is awarded to promising students in the final stages of their doctoral work who demonstrate strong potential to make a significant contribution to society by completing their terminal degree.

Estimating attendance can be difficult, but Staff Council officials are confident this year’s Fall Festival set a record for attendance.

The city of Charlotte will celebrate its third Minority Economic Development Week, starting Monday, Oct. 13, and UNC Charlotte will participate in the event.

The University will share event sponsorship with several locally based government agencies and building contractors that are committed to providing streamlined opportunities for minority-owned businesses in Charlotte’s growing economy.