General News

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).

Rebecca MacNair-Semands, senior associate director of the Counseling Center, was named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association at the organization’s national convention in Washington, D.C.
The APA bestows Fellow status upon members who have shown evidence of unusual and outstanding contributions or performance in the field of psychology. According to the APA, Fellow status requires a person’s work to have had a national impact on the field of psychology beyond a local, state or regional level.

Tracy Rock, an associate professor in the College of Education, is a finalist for the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence, one of the University’s most prestigious honors.

For its innovative and efficient application of National Instruments products, the Lee College of Engineering’s Rocket Team won a chance to travel to Austin, Texas, to present at the 20th annual NIWeek. Out of 3,250 student projects submitted from 25 countries for the Student Design Competition, National Instruments selected the 49er team as one of three finalists.

The Graduate School has issued a call for nominations for the 2014 Graduate Dean’s Master’s Thesis Award, which recognizes outstanding work by a master’s student in each of the following areas:

Math, Physical Sciences and Engineering (one award)
(Physics, Chemistry (excluding Biochemistry), Astronomy, Atmospheric Sciences, Geology, Earth Sciences, Metallurgy, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Sciences and Engineering)

Charlotte 49ers red-shirt quarterback Matt Johnson is among the nominees for  the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, considered one of the most coveted and prestigious off-the-field honors in college football.
The award recognizes players whose charitable involvement and community service contributions stand out among all other student-athletes participating in the sport. Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) announced a record-breaking 182 nominees from across the country.

Katareena Geller, a senior in the College of Computing and Informatics Department of Software and Information Systems, is one of 11 women to receive the national Scholarship for Women Studying Information Security.
Awarded by the Applied Computer Security Association (ACSA) and the Computing Research Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research (CRA-W, the $2,500 scholarship is funded by the Hewlett-Packard Company; winners also may receive internship opportunities through HP.