Teaching & Advising

Jennifer Webb is among the 2020 recipients of the UNC Board of Governors Awards for Excellence in Teaching. She considers her classroom a space where students are co-creators in the process of learning with the goal of enhancing student motivation and learning.

The Department of Africana Studies is this year’s recipient of the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for its collective dedication to high-quality teaching and improvements to student learning and outcomes that have resulted in increased interest in the major and minor.

UNC Charlotte has created a new Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies Department, the first academic department of its kind in the Carolinas. As part of the new department, a proposed Bachelor of Arts degree is designed to address the changing nature of writing.

Education students at UNC Charlotte are now using virtual reality (VR) to prepare for real life classrooms, in a program that looks to reshape the way future teacher candidates learn about how students and teachers interact. Meghan Barnes, an English education professor from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Hilary Dack from the Cato College of Education developed the program, which allows students to interact with videotaped K-12 classes through VR headsets.

Two of the three finalists for each of the University’s two teaching excellence awards are faculty in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. They are Oscar Lansen, Jordan Poler, Terry Shirley Jr., and Jennifer Webb.

In recognition of their exceptional and innovative teaching, Jennifer Munroe, Sarah Pollock and Lane Rhodes have received the College’s Excellence in Teaching Awards for the 2018-2019 academic year.

James Cook, a professor in the Department of Psychological Science at UNC Charlotte, has received the 2019 Outstanding Educator Award, a top award given by the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA), Division 27 of the American Psychological Association. The award recognizes Cook’s long-standing and far-reaching contributions to community psychology and community research and action through education.

UNC Charlotte’s German Studies and Japanese Studies are number two and four, respectively, in the nation when it comes to awarding undergraduate degrees. The national rankings speak to a concerted effort by faculty, staff, students and partners of the Department of Languages and Culture Studies to ensure that what students are learning is not only challenging, but also relevant, said Ann Gonzalez, chair of the department.

UNC Charlotte’s nationally accredited Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration program has been ranked in the top 21% of 285 public affairs programs nationwide that were included in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 Best Graduate Schools rankings, released on March 12. The UNC Charlotte program ranked #60 nationally, with or ahead of much larger public affairs programs that were part of the rankings. The program also has achieved national specialty area rankings, including #16 in local government management, #22 in urban policy, and #27 in public finance and budgeting.

Public sector managers face specific challenges that differ from those of people working in the for-profit arena. To address these challenges, UNC Charlotte’s Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration Program and the University’s Continuing Education Office offer the MPA Public Management Academy Professional Development Certificate program.