College News
In the fragile pages of recipe books from the early modern period, UNC Charlotte researcher Jennifer Munroe and her students find traces of life and death. They decipher the words and absorb the daily struggles and joys of the women who created these chronicles of life between 1550 and 1800. These books are much more than repositories for recipes. Through the process of transcription, scholars worldwide are digitizing images of each page of old books, transcribing the vocabulary and script and publishing the content in online databases for the world to study and share.
Five UNC Charlotte students are attending the two presidential nominating conventions this summer – one as an elected delegate and four through an academic program with The Washington Center. Four of the students are pursuing majors or minors in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, while the fifth is a finance major in the Belk College of Business.
Girls Rock Charlotte, a July summer camp that aims to amplify confidence and boost self-esteem through the power of rock music and leadership lessons, is giving young girls a positive voice. While the initiative is not a formal UNC Charlotte program, it draws many of its leaders and volunteers from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and the university.
UNC Charlotte students are learning research and debate skills through their participation in the North Carolina Student Legislature. The statewide student legislature provides students a chance to participate in a model General Assembly. Through this process, the students gain valuable insight into how the state engages in policymaking. They also learn to express their own beliefs and ideas with confidence.
UNC Charlotte Professor Emeritus Ted Arrington has won third place in Common Cause’s second annual Gerrymander Standard Writing Competition. Arrington’s paper presented criteria for determining when districting arrangements so distort the process of translating votes into seats in a legislature that the process or the redistricting plan rises to a constitutional violation.
UNC Charlotte researcher Margaret M. Quinlan and colleagues received a regional Emmy® nomination for Creative Abundance, a film that explores how art can redefine vocational opportunities and expand the lives of people with developmental disabilities. Quinlan, an associate professor in Communication Studies and core faculty with the Interdisciplinary Health Psychology doctoral program, is a co-producer on the film.
One in every eight couples nationwide struggles to conceive or maintain a pregnancy. At least 4,000 people are seeking infertility treatment in Charlotte. As Charlotte emerges as a hub of knowledge and resources on the topic, two UNC Charlotte researchers are focused on improving how caregivers and patients communicate around this medical condition.
The UNC Charlotte Gerontology Program celebrated its 25th anniversary this spring, while helping state leaders roll out North Carolina’s first plan to comprehensively address dementia. The community conversation drew students, scholars, practitioners and community activists from the gerontology field to UNC Charlotte Center City.
Judy Lekoski has joined UNC Charlotte as the Major Gifts Officer for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. In this role, she is leading the private fundraising for the university’s largest and most diverse college. Lekoski brings decades of fundraising and communications expertise and an enthusiasm for applying that knowledge.
UNC Charlotte has earned nationwide recognition as the second-best value college for earning a Master of Public Administration degree. “This recognition helps showcase how successful our students and alumni are in serving the public and nonprofit sectors,” program Director Suzanne Leland says.
Jeffrey Leak, English professor and President of the Faculty, is one of 25 people nationwide chosen for the inaugural class of the Emerging Leaders program of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). Participants will engage in a national dialogue with experienced leaders and experts in higher education and to develop a network of colleagues from across the country.
Retired Charlotte City Manager and UNC Charlotte alumnus Curt Walton will serve UNC Charlotte as interim associate provost for Metropolitan Studies and Extended Academic Programs. In addition to this role, Walton will continue as executive-in-residence with teaching and advising responsibilities in the Gerald G. Fox Master of Public Administration program in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, a role he assumed in late 2015.