Academic Affairs

On Saturday, Oct. 17, UNC Charlotte hosted a large crowd of visitors on campus for the 40th installment of its International Festival, and thousands more experienced the wonder of the festival via a live webcast.

This annual event featured the traditional offerings of art, costumes, games music, dance and food representing cultures from around the world. New for 2015, in recognition of the festival’s four decades, the Office of International Programs introduced a lively procession of nations and a celebratory fireworks presentation.

Lindsey Pollak, a national career expert, will speak at 2 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 29, in Cone University Center, McKnight Hall.

The Department of Sociology in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences is the 2015 recipient of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, and the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology received the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Academic Advising.  Also, José Gámez, associate professor of architecture, was presented the Provost’s Faculty Award for Community Engagement.

The InnovateHER Challenge national prize competition organized by the Small Business Administration (SBA), in partnership with Microsoft, is seeking products and services that impact and empower the lives of women and families.

Regional competitions are under way to identify 10 national finalists that will compete for $70,000 in cash prizes funded by Microsoft.

The Charlotte regional competition, hosted by Ventureprise and UNC Charlotte, invites applications; the deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The Center for Teaching and Learning has launched a new professional learning community for adjunct instructors at the University. Its goal is to build community among the participants and provide pedagogical support, which will benefit the faculty members as well as their students.

Robin Coger, dean of the College of Engineering at N.C. A&T State University and former UNC Charlotte faculty member, will present “Advancing Your Professional Career” at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 30, in EPIC, Room 1249. She also will discuss “Mentoring: Key to Your Success” at noon; graduate students are invited to this presentation, and RSVPs are required for lunch.

World religions take various approaches to answer the question “Is There Life after Death?” Representatives from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths will share their perspectives on the afterlife in a panel discussion at 6:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 19, in the Student Union Theater. The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life is sponsoring this event.

Speakers for the Oct. 19 discussion are:

The University Career Center will hold Majors Day from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Cone University Center, Lucas Room.

Majors Day is an annual event that helps UNC Charlotte students explore many of the 80-plus undergraduate majors and minors that the University offers, said Career Center officials.  Faculty, advisors and current students representing all of the University’s academic colleges will be on hand to discuss programs.

Joël Gallegos, assistant provost for international programs, and Christina Sanchez, associate director of international programs, will appear on the Oct. 15 edition of “The Live Wire,” Inside UNC Charlotte’s streaming webcast. Starting at 2 p.m., they will discuss UNC Charlotte’s 40th annual International Festival, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17.

City Startup Labs (CSL) is establishing a Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurial Competency, Innovation and Leadership (CoE) at UNC Charlotte, in association with Ventureprise, a campus-based venture development organization.

The center will operate from Ventureprise offices in PORTAL. Ventureprise Inc. is a nonprofit corporation affiliated with UNC Charlotte that serves as a venture development organization for the University and the Charlotte region.