Demond ’97 and Kia ’98 Martin harness core values of service, gratitude and purpose to drive success for themselves and others
IN JUST 49 HOURS, NINER NATION RAISED MORE THAN $4.6 MILLION FROM 5,800+ GIFTS
PHOTOS
Only at Charlotte
At our Spring Commencement ceremonies, the families and friends of the record-breaking graduating class of more than 5,100 had a front-row seat to all the great things happening at Charlotte.
With every academic year, Charlotte's story grows richer, and 2023-24 was no exception. Despite some trying times, we accomplished some great things, many of which would not be possible without the generous support of our alumni, friends and community. Among them are:
• Enrollment records in both fall 2023 and spring 2024, and record first-year retention of 83.6%
• Continued success in national rankings, including 19 top-100 graduate program rankings, according to U.S. News & World Report
• A successful inaugural year in the American Athletic Conference with five conference tournament championships and excitement building as we begin the Phase 1 expansion of Jerry Richardson Stadium to support football program growth
• Campus improvements with the newly dedicated Dontá L. Wilson Residence Hall, named in recognition of the 1997 Charlotte alumnus, business leader and trustee; renovations underway to Cameron Hall; ongoing development of a new softball facility; and an in-progress overhaul of Upper Prospector
Of particular significance has been Charlotte’s ascent to toptier research status. Since the inception of our 10-year strategic plan in 2021, our aim to establish ourselves as a globally renowned research institution has steadily progressed. We’re on
notice. The Chronicle of Higher Education is projecting our official designation as a Carnegie R1 institution when the new classifications are released in early 2025. This milestone reflects our collective endeavors thus far and our trajectory toward becoming one of this nation’s preeminent public research universities.
These achievements and more are brought to life in this issue of UNC Charlotte Magazine. You’ll read about how, through a historic gift from the Mebane Foundation of up to $23 million, the Cato College of Education will continue its leading role in teacher literacy education. You’ll also see how Charlotte students, faculty and alumni are blazing trails in the use of artificial intelligence, and how our unique expertise in precision metrology is driving progress in advanced manufacturing.
I invite you to engage with Charlotte’s great public research university, and I thank you for your valued support. Go Niners!
Sincerely,
Sharon L. Gaber Chancellor
Board of Trustees Chair Dennis Bunker, fifth left, and Chancellor Gaber presented Fred Klein the 2024 Distinguished Service Award. Klein, senior managing partner at Childress Klein, was joined by past DSA recipients attending the ceremony.
Transforming
20 CENTER SPREAD
A collaboration with colleagues in the Lee College of Engineering helped biology professor Sarah Stellwagen develop a climate-controlled lab that has expanded her field research related to spiders, glow worms and similar species.
22 INNOVATE
MBA alumnus Igor Jablokov '01 is an AI luminary whose latest venture, North Carolina-based Pryon, is taking the tech world by storm, and Charlotte faculty are leading the charge in the use of artificial intelligence for teaching and learning.
30 CREATE
Across four decades, Jimmie Miller ’85, ’87 MSE, chief engineer for the Center for Precision Metrology, has held a front-row seat for Charlotte’s rise to international metrology prominence.
36 DISCOVER
The Cato College of Education, the state’s top-rated preparer of reading educators, is the driving force behind solutions that will ensure a literate future.
4 OPPORTUNITY
Charlotte’s top Army and Air Force ROTC cadets Erika Siebert and Elissa Whitcomb are prepared to assume leadership roles with the United States military.
12 GOING FOR GOLD
Cori Henderson Hoffler is an AAC-champion softball team leader and a supportive 49er teammate; her journey to Charlotte is a story of faith and resilience.
18 VOICES
Nontraditional student Sarah Vojnovich is using personal experience to help museums improve accessibility, belonging and community.
28 ALL-IN-C
Alyssa Brady, the inaugural graduate in the Master of Science in Architecture Critical Heritage Studies program, is conducting vital genealogical research to deepen the significance of Charlotte’s Historic Rosedale plantation.
PHOTO BY RYAN HONEYMAN
PHOTO BY AMY HART
PHOTO BY RYAN HONEYMAN
Driving progress for North Carolina and beyond
8 METRO
urbanCore, UNC Charlotte’s hub for urban research and community engagement, led a 10-month research effort that included forand nonprofit community partners, catapulting public-private support for a community-owned food cooperative in one of Charlotte’s most notable food deserts.
14 ENGAGED
For more than 30 years, Demond ‘97 and Kia ‘98 Martin have harnessed core values of service, gratitude and purpose to drive success for themselves and create opportunities for others. Their impact is making a difference at UNC Charlotte and in Boston, their home, where they were involved in the development of “The Embrace,” the work of public art that honors the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
MISSION
UNC Charlotte Magazine shares the stories of students, faculty, staff and alumni whose experiences represent the opportunities, scholarly research and diversity of Niner Nation and its impact on the city of Charlotte and beyond.
FEEDBACK
We want to hear from you. Email questions and comments to univcomm@charlotte.edu
www.charlotte.edu
Vol. 30 • No. 1
Jennifer Ames Stuart, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Chancellor for University Communications
EDITOR
Phillip Brown
Assistant Director of Strategic Content
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Phillip Brown
Wills Citty
Tenille Dellinger
Asha Ellison
Jennifer Howe
Susan Messina
Michael Solender
Meg Whalen
Byron White
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Amy Hart
Ryan Honeyman
Kat Lawrence
LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Ryan Honeyman
Myron Macklin
UNC Charlotte Magazine is published by The University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Blvd. Charlotte, North Carolina 28223-0001 ISSN10771913
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Email: univcomm@charlotte.edu.
UNC Charlotte is committed to equality of educational opportunity and does not discriminate against applicants, students or employees based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, actual or perceived gender identity, gender expression, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, veteran status or genetic information. In keeping with this commitment, UNC Charlotte actively seeks to promote diversity in its educational environment through its recruitment, enrollment and hiring.
27,500 copies of this publication were printed at $1.49 per piece for a total cost of $40,937.
PHOTO BY RYAN HONEYMAN
COVER PHOTO BY Malakhai Pearson, produced by APT5F
Charlotte’s ROTC cadets Erika Siebert and Elissa Whitcomb are prepared to take command
GUARDIANS
To prepare for leadership in the United States military, aspiring officers often take their initial steps through Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs. To that end, Army ROTC Cadet Command Sgt. Major Erika Siebert ’24 and Air Force ROTC Cadet Wing Commander Elissa Whitcomb ’24 are ready to lead.
Since graduating in May, both were commissioned as officers. Siebert is off to Oklahoma for four months of Basic Officer Leadership Course Training with the U.S. Army, and Whitcomb joins U.S. Space Force, America’s newest military branch, where, as an acquisitions officer, she will consult with civilian contractors to purchase critical needs ranging from computers to satellites.
TRADITIONS OF SERVICE
Throughout her early life, Whitcomb was doubly exposed to military bases and personnel, with an aunt who served in the U.S. Air Force and her dad who worked as a civilian for the military. Rather than push her toward military service, however, her family allowed her the freedom to choose her path.
“After observing the lifestyle and benefits of military service, I knew it was the path I would take,” said Whitcomb, who is from Belmont, North Carolina.
Initially, she considered colleges far from home with the U.S. Air Force Academy on her list. While she felt pressure to attend the academy after being accepted, Whitcomb took time to visit UNC Charlotte and interviewed with Lt. Col. Donald Land (now retired) for the Air Force ROTC scholarship. Before the interview was over, Land offered her the scholarship.
For Siebert, serving in the U.S. Army can be regarded as a family legacy. Her grandfather, dad and sister all have military service histories.
Siebert lived in Colorado, her birth state, with her family before military transfers took them to Washington, Virginia and North Carolina. Their last stop, when she was in middle school, was to Waxhaw, North Carolina.
“We moved around a lot,” Siebert said. “We became familiar with being at different bases and watching my dad work with different people. I saw all his opportunities; it really inspired me to join Army ROTC, and I have learned to love it.”
BY JENNIFER HOWE PHOTOS BY KAT LAWRENCE
& LEADERS
OPPORTUNITIES TO SUCCEED
For the Sieberts, UNC Charlotte is a family affair. Older siblings Mia ’19 and Olivia ’22 earned, respectively, a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a bachelor’s degree in exercise science.
The duo encouraged their sister to follow them to Charlotte, plus she preferred to stay close to home. Although she was unsure initially about a major, Siebert knew the University would offer her opportunities to succeed. Not only did she succeed, she has thrived — and discovered a passion for military service.
“We all love Charlotte,” said Siebert, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from the College of Health and Human Services with a minor in military science.
Before Whitcomb chose UNC Charlotte, she shadowed the University’s Air Force ROTC program. When she learned about the academic opportunities available through the College of Computing and Informatics, her choice was made. Whitcomb became a 49er.
“I knew I would receive a great education at Charlotte under scholarship with top-notch military training, near my family,” said Whitcomb, who completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a concentration in data science. “I knew I would have an outstanding four years of college.”
Something that excites Whitcomb is reconstructing a seemingly meaningless amalgamation of data into information that is useful to corporations, government agencies and research entities.
“Data science is about making new discoveries and sharing them with others,” she said. “This is information that makes the world go around.”
ROTC — A PATH TO LEADERSHIP, A FAMILY OF COMRADES
Siebert joined UNC Charlotte’s 49er Battalion ROTC Army program during the second half of her sophomore year. Jokingly, she calls herself a “late joiner.” Yet, she quickly immersed herself in ROTC life, making up for lost time.
“Army ROTC is like a full-time job,” she said. “It has taught me discipline, time management and basic skills such as delegating tasks and managing groups of people. The Army is a huge
Cadet Dominic Anastasio served under Whitcomb's command; she credits her ROTC experience with helping her mature as a leader.
“Through four years of training with the same group of people, you share experiences you won't with anyone else, and it gives you a close family of confidants that you can go to for anything."
organization, and it really fosters a team-building mindset.”
While it sometimes was a challenge to balance Army ROTC with school and a social life, she did it. Siebert found time to hang out with friends in NoDa, taking in the city’s arts and entertainment district, and train for a half-marathon.
Leadership opportunities came her way during her senior year. As a cadet command sergeant major, she mentored younger Army ROTC cadets, led morning physical training three days a week from 6 to 7 a.m., and instructed cadets to meet the ROTC’s expectations.
“There was a lot I didn’t know as a new cadet,” she said. “Through my role as cadet command sergeant major, I was able to assist those newer to the program.”
The lessons Siebert learned throughout her UNC Charlotte journey and the support she received from her professors, academic advisors, Army ROTC officers and fellow cadets have played a significant role in her success.
“They all have been great mentors,” she said.
For Whitcomb, Charlotte’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 592 was an extended family; she appreciates her fellow cadets and the officers who supported her as she achieved her goals.
As cadet wing commander, Whitcomb assisted in deter-
mining the trajectory for the detachment’s future and led her cadet wing in pursuit of its aims. A self-described “hands-on” individual who likes to be involved, Whitcomb says her ROTC experience helped her mature as a leader and become comfortable delegating responsibilities while empowering others.
“Through four years of training with the same group of people, you share experiences you won't with anyone else, and it gives you a close family of confidants that you can go to for anything,” said Whitcomb. “I am a better leader, student and friend.”
Being a full-time college student in a challenging major while holding a job, completing weekly military training and balancing a social life was not always easy for Whitcomb. But it was worth it, as it led her to the U.S. Space Force.
She was inspired to join Space Force after spending three weeks one summer at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She learned about the organization’s mission, visited other bases, learned to staff a satellite and participated on a zero-gravity flight, all supported by the Air Force ROTC.
She was hooked, eager to join the newest military branch dedicated to protecting the nation’s space assets.
Elissa Whitcomb ’24
“We do not realize how vital space is to our everyday lives and how future conflict likely will take place there,” said Whitcomb. “Satellites allow us to live our lives — with Google, cellphones, GPS and basically everything tech-related. Guarding our satellites is vital to our national security.”
NEXT STEPS
Whitcomb will use her UNC Charlotte degree to work with contractors to acquire what the U.S. Space Force needs to succeed. “Negotiating with contractors will be a challenge that combines my love for information with my expertise in research and data science," she noted.
For Siebert, Army ROTC was the right choice as it has provided an exciting and rewarding career path. Since graduating, she is completing Basic Officer Leadership Course Training, where she will gain experience with branched field artillery. This combat arms branch will train her to work with fire and artillery weapon systems, including cannons, missiles and rockets. Then she will be assigned her first duty station, she’s hoping in either Hawaii or Germany.
A member of the U.S. Space Force, America’s newest military branch, Walter Kirkland Jr. is — literally — a guardian of the galaxy. A real one. Scan the QR Code above to read his story.
Jennifer Howe is director of community and campus communications in the Office of University Communications.
Siebert discusses details of an ROTC exercise with fellow cadets.
BY ASHA ELLISON
BY KAT LAWRENCE
Feeding the future of West Boulevard
urbanCORE, UNC Charlotte’s hub for urban research and community engagement, led a 10-month participatory action research effort that catapulted public-private support to build a community-owned food cooperative in one of Charlotte’s most notable food deserts.
When Janiqua Jackson left Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 2023, she knew her life as a conventional grocer was over — there was a greater calling for her life. After more than 20 years of service and leadership in the grocery industry, her priorities and purpose had changed. Her passion to serve others, and her hunger for humanity would soon blossom in a new way.
The opportunity to lead a new initiative on Charlotte’s west side would move her back to the Queen City, a place she once lived, knew and loved. Plans to build a community-owned food cooperative in the West Boulevard corridor were underway for a commu-
nity of neighborhoods that hadn’t seen a full-service grocery store since 1989. The Three Sisters Market would need a general manager who could not only bring previous food co-op experience to the project, but also someone who understood the community — and whom the community trusted.
When longtime community advocate and West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition board chair Rickey Hall reached out to inform Jackson of the corridor’s need, she was inspired to answer the call.
“The work I do has to be meaningful and impactful,” Jackson said emphatically about her new role as general manager of the
PHOTOS
Byron White, urbanCORE; Guy Cousins and Janiqua Jackson, Three Sisters Market; with Rickey Hall, West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition are among the collaborators bringing the area its first full-time grocery store since 1989.
market. “It matters to me to help the community move forward; the people of West Boulevard deserve this market.”
A LONG TIME COMING
Advocacy efforts to revitalize the West Boulevard corridor have been in progress for decades. From 1998 to 2019, a number of multimodal market studies and assessments initiated by the city of Charlotte and the West Boulevard Neighborhood Coalition pushed plans to prioritize the corridor’s needs. The area, home to nearly 15,000 residents in 2021, once grappled with a decline in safety, infrastructure and employment as well food insecurity and an overall unfavorable quality of life — but it never lost heart. Long-time community leaders and advocates champion West Boulevard’s revival as Charlotte’s economic boom moves closer to the corridor.
Even with a $20.9 million HOPE VI grant in 2009 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to revitalize the neighborhood's Boulevard Homes as a mixed-income
"This collaboration recognizes community members as experiential experts who, together with researchers, share the opportunity to produce relevant solutions to the systemic challenges they face every day.”
Three Sisters Market, as a University business partner, has office space in PORTAL. Janiqua Jackson confers with Greg Needham, executive director, Office of Research Partnerships.
community that included plans for education and supportive services — now known as the Renaissance West Community Initiative — residents voiced their desire and a need to feed their families.
Although neighborhood leaders were on the ground steering engagement efforts, they were frequently met with resistance. The coalition needed support.
“From house to house, block to block, street to street, the cry of every neighborhood in the West Boulevard corridor was ‘we need a grocery store,’” said Hall.
In 2016, the West Boulevard community met with key players at the Stratford Richardson YMCA to further discuss the need for food access on the west side where it was determined that the best approach to mitigate West Boulevard’s economic and food challenges would lie in a collective solution. The idea to establish a food cooperative as the market model for the project moved to the conversation’s forefront.
Byron White, urbanCORE
“Beyond fresh food, the co-op will provide opportunities through the community kitchen for residents to create, expand food businesses, take and offer classes on cooking and nutrition. There will be spaces for art, visual and performance, and other community events.”
Nadia Anderson, director, City.Building.Lab
THE COMMUNITY-UNIVERSITY CONNECTION
In 2021, a push from Mecklenburg County to tackle food insecurity led to a $272,000 investment to support urbanCORE’s inaugural Community Innovation Incubator, which took a closer look at the economic and social challenges facing Charlotte’s west side.
Under the leadership of Byron White, associate provost for urban research and community engagement at UNC Charlotte, a partnership between West Boulevard neighborhood residents and researchers from UNC Charlotte and Johnson C. Smith University studied, evaluated and co-produced recommendations for actionable solutions to the area’s ailments garnered $3.25 million from Mecklenburg County, $1.5 million from the Charlotte City Council and $750,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Additional advocacy from North Carolina Congresswoman Alma Adams advanced plans for a food cooperative.
“This is the power of participatory action research,” said White. “Academics don’t enter the community thinking we have all the knowledge and answers. This collaborative method serves members of the community by recognizing them as experiential experts who, together with University researchers, share the opportunity to produce relevant solutions to the systemic challenges they face every day.”
Known as Three Sisters Market, the cooperative will cost approximately $10 million to complete and is currently raising the balance of funds through a capital campaign. It will boast 12,500 square feet of operational space at the corner of Clanton Road and West Boulevard on federal land managed by INLIVIAN, Charlotte’s housing authority. Slated to open in June 2025, the market will bring a full-service grocery store to the West Boulevard corridor for the first time in over 30 years, and it is expected to drive a positive economic shift for the community’s neighborhoods, infusing a sense of sovereignty, ownership, wealth-generation and longterm viability.
For UNC Charlotte, Three Sisters Market will serve as a model of the positive community solutions that universities, engaged researchers and neighborhoods can produce when they work together. The market will be more than a grocery store for West Boulevard residents; it will be a community space and an innovation hub, a center for nutritional education, where they can learn about Black or African American food traditions and can use the community kitchen to create or expand food businesses, learn to cook healthy meals, experience art and more. Above all, it will be a place that feeds the community and helps to fuel its future.
“This is a strong community where people help each other however they can. They bring meals to those who are isolated
and share rides when possible. But too many people have had to rely on fast food or convenience stores as their only available food options,” said Nadia Anderson, associate professor of architecture and urban design and director of the City.Building.Lab at UNC Charlotte. She and Colleen Hammelman, associate professor of geography and earth sciences, served on the faculty team that helped catalyze the co-op effort.
“The cooperative model gives residents a say in what the market provides and a way to become stakeholders such that wealth generated from the market stays in the neighborhood instead of accruing to a large corporation,” added Hammelman, who directs the Charlotte Action Research Project at UNC Charlotte.
ONGOING SUPPORT
As Jackson continues her work at the Three Sisters Market, she will continue to foster a relationship with urbanCORE to support engagement initiatives in and beyond the corridor. As a business partner of the University, she will have flexible operational space in the Partnership, Outreach and Research to Accelerate Learning building located at UNC Charlotte. Additionally, the University will support Three Sisters Market and Jackson as a pioneering business leader in the Charlotte region by providing access to a premier workspace and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, equipped with dynamic business resources to support the market’s growth and success from implementation to maturation — and to do it all while continuing to promote research and innovation.
“The relationship among Janiqua, the Three Sisters Market and the University will be beneficial to everyone,” said Greg Needham, executive director of UNC Charlotte’s Office of Research Partnerships. “Not only will Janiqua be able to employ student workers, she will have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty for continued community research, especially in the arena of economic mobility and food insecurity.”
The Three Sisters Market will not be the last community-university solution to emerge from urbanCORE’s participatory action research projects. With its second Community Innovation Incubator underway in Charlotte’s West Sugar Creek community, the unit's incubator work, supported by Bank of America, will continue across across the remaining four of the city’s underinvested corridors of opportunity including the Albemarle/ Central, Beatties Ford Road/Rozzelles Ferry, Freedom/Wilkinson and North Graham/North Tryon corridors.
Asha Ellison is director of research translation and engagement for the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute.
Guy Cousins, Beverly Clark, Brenda Campbell and Thomas Farrow are community leaders who have a vested interest in the success of the
The power of participatory action research
BY BYRON P. WHITE
The dramatic success that has been made toward establishing the Three Sisters Market, the first grocery store on West Boulevard in 35 years, is the first — but not the last — accomplishment resulting from ongoing, collective work of community leaders and university researchers in Charlotte.
The collaborative process that produced “Tackling Food Insecurity in West Charlotte,” the 2021 report outlining challenges and solutions related to that neighborhood’s food desert, is being duplicated in five additional Corridors of Opportunity projects in the Queen City. These are being coordinated by urbanCORE at UNC Charlotte and supported by a gift from Bank of America, headquartered in Charlotte.
Through its corporate foundation, Bank of America has committed approximately $1 million for urbanCORE to lead the replication process — now called the Community Innovation Incubator — across the city. For UNC Charlotte and urbanCORE, the investment presents an opportunity to demonstrate the power of participatory action research to accomplish a key priority outlined in Shaping What’s Next, UNC Charlotte’s 10-year strategic plan: co-producing transformative solutions to societal issues and challenges.
CREATING LASTING COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION
Participatory action research requires faculty members to share authority and expertise with community partners who act as co-producers in the design and implementation of research that will affect their community. Studies show that such research holds promise for creating lasting community transformation by connecting theory and data with tangible practices, policy solu-
tions and knowledge of place.
It is a research methodology championed by the University’s Charlotte Action Research Project and utilized by faculty researchers across multiple disciplines. It is an approach that urbanCORE staff had observed produced positive outcomes for projects that tended to be small in scale and narrowly focused, but lacked the relevance and public prominence to generate transformative, community change.
In response, staff sought to deliberately apply participatory action research principles to the food retail partnership with West Boulevard community leaders. For instance, at the project’s inception, faculty and community participants established “ground rules” to govern their interactions, emphasizing a commitment to operate with honesty, transparency, candor and authenticity and to acknowledge, value and utilize work and data the community had already assembled. These were codified in a formal memorandum of understanding signed by all participants.
The long-term, systemic potential of the West Boulevard initiative affirmed the benefit of this deeply collaborative approach for more complex, comprehensive projects. It is what caught the attention of Bank of America, which sought to invest in University research that produced measurable social impact. As a result of the Bank of America gift, which extends for five years, a second incubator project is concluding its work on the I-85/Sugar Creek Corridor and a third, along the Albemarle Road/Central Avenue Corridor, will begin this fall.
Byron P. White is associate provost, urban research and community engagement for urbanCORE (Community-Oriented Research and Engagement).
Three Sisters Market.
ANGEL IN THE INFIELD
Defying the odds, 49er Cori Henderson Hoffler finds her balance in faith, resilience and softball
BY TENILLE DELLINGER
Cori Henderson Hoffler stands at second base, ready for the next play. The bases are loaded. Her team is up by one. It’s the bottom of the ninth with two outs. On first base, homelessness. On second, the desire to belong to a loving family. On third, and anxiously inching toward home, the burden of everyone else’s expectations and the need to “act normal.” The ball is hit. It’s flying swiftly toward second base. The game rests on her abilities. Can she catch it to end the game? Can she defeat her circumstances? She can. She does. She triumphs.
DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS
Throughout her childhood, Hoffler was used to curveballs and strikeouts. With both a mother and father who struggled with addiction, it was she and her older brother against the world. At age seven, her mother left the family. By age 12, her brother went to live with grandparents, and ultimately she and her dad became homeless — jumping from hotels to friends’ couches to find shelter.
“Playing baseball with my brother is what got us through the hard times,” said Hoffler. “I remember he used to bribe me to play with him every day. Looking back, baseball — and eventually softball — is what kept me out of trouble and gave me the comfort I needed.”
Seeking a community, Hoffler got involved in a church youth group where she became close with the college-aged group leader, Megan Henderson. Henderson introduced Hoffler to her parents, who took her in as their own.
“To the rest of the world, I had a normal upbringing,” she said. “I hid my own struggles, but the Hendersons saw the truth, the real me. They opened their doors, and eventually broke through my barriers. They fought for me.”
On her 18th birthday, Hoffler received a new Bible from the Hendersons with “Cori Henderson” engraved on the front. She was adopted, loved, protected.
A RESILIENT LEADER WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE
“Until middle school, I refused to touch a softball,” she said. “I only wanted to play baseball with the boys. I also played basketball and volleyball — I just loved sports. In eighth grade, I finally agreed to play softball.”
Aimee DeVos, former head coach of the 49ers softball team, noticed Hoffler early on. She allowed Hoffler to attend camps at the University and tag along with her family. Ultimately, she gave Hoffler the opportunity to become a 49er.
"You can’t have excuses. You have to work hard and look out for others, because being part of a team is so much bigger than just you."
Cori Henderson Hoffler
“I didn’t think I was this star player, but knew, if given the opportunity, I would work hard to be the best I could be,” said Hoffler. “It was a blessing to be able to stay close to my new family. Now, I absolutely love Charlotte and all it has to offer!”
Currently in her fifth year as a 49er, Hoffler, a starting middle infielder, is a team leader and supportive teammate. In addition to being an athlete, Hoffler is working toward a double major in special education and psychology.
A NEWFOUND FAITH
At age 17, Hoffler became a Christian, and she said she began to see how God worked out every piece of her life.
“I realize that in my life, softball was consistent, and the Lord was consistent,” she said. “He has put so many people in my life to lead and guide me and has given me such healing, peace and restoration through His love.”
Hoffler describes her love of softball as a blessing to keep her distracted and moving forward in a positive direction.
“My past and softball have taught me that you can’t sit in your circumstances,” she said. “You can’t have excuses. You have to work hard and look out for others, because being part of a team is so much bigger than just you. I come from a past of having to fend for myself, but now I have a team and a family for support, and the ability to look apart from myself and see how I can care for others, too.”
In the past few years, she married a Charlotte alumnus, whom she met playing spikeball on campus, and focused on her future career. She hopes to tie her faith with her passion and teach special education ministry at a church — and, of course, coach softball.
“All in all, I wouldn’t be where I am today without God,” she said. “He gave me a loving family, used sports to help me get through tough times and has an exciting future planned for me.”
Tenille Dellinger is associate director of campus and community communications in the Office of University Communications.
Surrounded by the loving family she wished for as a child, softball standout Cori Henderson Hoffler was all smiles on her wedding day.
PHOTO BY RYAN HONEYMAN
“Every day, I'm trying to just do a little something for somebody else because there's so many people along this journey that have poured into my life.”
Demond Martin ’97
COMMUNITY WELLNESS PURPOSE
BY MICHAEL J. SOLENDER
Photo by Malakhai Pearson
Demond Martin
and
chairman/ co-founder of Improbable Media and ESPN host Jay Williams, during a recent visit to campus, spoke to students about the importance of resilience.
PHOTO BY AMY HART
Demond Martin harnesses core values of service, gratitude and purpose to drive success for himself and others
Demond Martin ’97 was barely six months into his job as assistant to the White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, when his car broke down. It was 1997. Martin was a fresh graduate from UNC Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, distinguished service as SGA president in his sophomore year and a tenure of academic achievement and student advocacy.
The previous summer, Martin held a position in the White House supporting Vice President Al Gore’s finance director. It was his standout performance that led him to the coveted new full-time role in the West Wing — a position that required him to be first into the office daily — regardless of the cooperation of his ill-tempered economy car.
“I was living in Alexandria, Virginia, on a fraternity brother’s couch,” recalled Martin. “I had no money, zero. And Erskine heard about it later, and came to me and said, ‘Come on, I'm living in this big house in Georgetown by myself. Why don't you just move in with me?’ And initially, I of course said no, but I soon realized I had no other options.”
The unlikely roommates formed a deep bond of friendship. Bowles became a close mentor to Martin and often introduced him to others as his own son. The connection was so close and special, Martin saw how it shifted others' perception of his capabilities and talents. In his new boss, Martin saw how the values of dedication, community and impact influenced the trajectory of others.
Martin reflected on how the relationship cemented the way he’s come to support others, especially young people, who cross his path. “The way he treated me and spoke about me to others signaled to those who would’ve believed the false narrative of what a Black kid was to look at me more closely. It endeared them to me in a way that I couldn't have by myself. That mentorship and sponsorship of my life is unlike
anything I could have imagined. I know with great clarity that opportunity is not evenly distributed, but talent is.”
WellWithAll
For Martin, the notion of making available equitable opportunities for others is a driving force in his personal mission and purpose.
Drawing upon relationships and experience built over his years at the White House, a subsequent Harvard MBA, and two decades of success at a Boston-based investment management firm, Martin co-founded a special venture, WellWithAll, in 2023. The purpose-led health and wellness consumer products brand is established on the premise that everyone deserves healthy lives and the opportunity to thrive. With community as its heartbeat, WellWithAll is investing 20 percent of its profits to lead the fight for health equity in Black, Brown and underserved communities.
Three years ago, during a family health trauma, Martin's direct interaction with emergency health care resources made him realize how access and means available to him and his family made all the difference between a positive and an unfavorable outcome.
“It became clear to me that inequities in health care access and services, particularly in impoverished communities, contribute to undesirable results,” Martin said. “We have the assets that put us in a position to access the wisdom and knowledge of some of the greatest minds and the greatest health care in the world. These resources should be available to all, regardless of their economic situation.”
Martin acknowledged research showing Black Americans face markedly higher mortality rates due to health issues like strokes, diabetes and heart disease compared to white Americans. Black and Brown youth are grappling with
Purpose in Parallel
For more than 30 years, Kia Martin has built upon shared values with her husband Demond to strengthen Black and Brown communities, create opportunities for others and lead a purposeful life
WhenKia Martin ’98 chose to attend UNC Charlotte upon graduating high school, she was the first person in her family to pursue a college education.
The Winston-Salem native, raised solely by her mother, was motivated to pursue higher education because she always knew that she wanted to be a teacher. Upon her acceptance at UNC Charlotte, she was especially attracted by the University Transition Opportunities Program. This six-week summer collegiate experience fast-tracks incoming freshmen to build relationships with their peers, faculty and advisors; gain exposure to campus resources; and develop study and college survival skills.
Martin’s participation in the program would end up changing the course of her life in ways she couldn’t have possibly predicted. Martin’s UTOP counselor was her future husband, Demond Martin ’97.
After 31 years, Kia and Demond Martin share core values of faith, family, service and purpose.
Having completed a master’s degree and Ph.D. in language and literacy at Harvard University, Martin also taught fourth grade at Paw Creek Elementary in Charlotte and second grade at an elementary school in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She offered her personal thoughts on the impact of a supportive family, her strong relationship with UNC Charlotte and philanthropy.
THE I MPORTAN CE OF FAMI LY
“My family was always there, always. I feel like my family went to UNC Charlotte. I went to college with three carloads of people. That's how many people moved me into my small little college room because everyone was always supportive.”
mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation at increasing rates.
“We are going to do whatever it takes and use whatever resources we have to pour into these communities,” Martin said. “We believe everyone needs an advocate. We want to use WellWithAll to close the access gaps, educate folks and lift them up.”
The company launched with two product collections. The first specifically targeted health — with supplements supporting blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol — which disproportionately affects communities of color. The second focused on everyday wellness for a healthier lifestyle — Vitamins D3+K2, omega-3 fatty acids and sleep support. Martin promises significant announcements in the coming months about expanding into new better-for-you-categories.
Martin says the company has an ambitious community investment goal of $300 million over the next 10 years and is already engaged in community partnerships and alliances in delivering on health equity in both Boston and Charlotte.
“A year before we launched the brand,” Martin said, “we started our philanthropic work. I put my own capital into ensuring that we got that piece right, because that's why we exist.”
One example of equitable outreach WellWithAll is supporting is through Boston’s Dimock Center, a low-cost, high-quality health care and human services provider for the underserved.
Through WellWithAll’s support, the Dimock Initiative focuses on improving heart health through prevention, education and treatment.
“Adjacent to the Dimock Center,” Martin said, “is a housing project for 900 that we work with. We brought in medical professionals and listened to residents address heart, maternal and mental health concerns. We trained youth as health educators and enacted them to become ambassadors within their community. We set up pop-up, heart-health monitoring stations where we've done blood pressure screenings, held community sessions and provided health intervention education.
“To solve the problems we face, we have to forgo tradition — both in our purpose and our business model,” said Martin. “In creating a purpose-led consumer products brand, we will be able to invite and activate our community through a giveback model that will impact health care inequities immediately and for generations to come.”
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Martin is building a legacy through being a difference maker for others.
In the spring of 2023, UNC Charlotte recognized his philanthropic contributions and community service with an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree. “Demond Martin has distinguished himself as a leader committed to bettering the lives
CONNECTION TO CHARLOTTE
“As students, whatever we could be engaged in and be involved in, we were. Demond becomes student body president. I’m Black Student Union president. He is joining Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity; I’m joining Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. And through those organizations, that's where we did community service. That’s where we learned a lot of leadership skills that we still use today. I feel like the UNC Charlotte family is just everything to us.”
ON PHILANTHROPY
“A big priority for me is to be hands-on and engaged in the philanthropic partnerships that we form. Demond and I look at what we can do to make life better for Black and Brown communities. It’s always been our focus. It will always be our focus. Sometimes people say, ‘You did what?’ And we're like, ‘Yes, we did.’ It is not about us. We truly believe that we have been blessed to be a blessing to as many people as possible. In particular for the next generation of leaders, I hope and pray that someone will hear our story and know that they too can give back to make life better for someone else.”
of those around him through inclusiveness and connectivity,” said Dontá Wilson ’97, chief retail and small business banking officer for Truist and a member of the UNC Charlotte Board of Trustees.
Martin’s connection to the University remains extraordinarily close and is felt in many ways. The Martin Scholarship, established together with his wife, Kia Martin ’98, is one of UNC Charlotte’s leading merit scholarship programs, investing in the educational journeys of deserving, high-potential students from underserved populations. In addition to funding the scholars’ unmet financial needs, the scholarship includes participation in the Honors College, and study abroad and professional development opportunities. Since its inception in 2016, the Martin Scholarship has benefited nearly 50 participants. Giving back, particularly to young people who show potential but may lack financial means, is a mirror to Martin’s youth. Along with Jay Williams, chairman/co-founder of Improbable Media and ESPN host, Martin recently visited campus to lead a conversation with students on the importance of reimagining resilience in their lives. During the conversation, Martin announced a $100,000 investment by WellWithAll in student mental health at UNC Charlotte.
“Given where Demond has come from and the adversity he's had to overcome,” said Kevin Bailey, vice chancellor for student affairs at UNC Charlotte, “he could have very easily taken a
different path. But he has taken that which made him vulnerable and turned it into a strength. It's very personal and deep to him and his family and who he is at his core. I don't recall engaging with another alum like Demond. There are alums who have amassed some fortune and have given back financially to the institution, but they're not engaged with the institution and the student body the way Demond is.”
Martin’s commitment to leading with empathy made for a natural progression in creating WellWithAll. Recognizing the significance of collective effort, Martin continues to connect with various communities — including customers, partners and ambassadors who all play pivotal roles in this journey, connecting and sharing experiences no matter where they are.
“A purpose of service is in everything I do. This is an improbable position that I'm in,” said Martin. “Every day, I'm trying to just do a little something for somebody else because there's so many people along this journey that have poured into my life. I’ve had these incredible teachers, and I had a mother and a father that constantly reminded me of my worth. And when you have that ingrained in you and then it's reinforced by moments of excellence that you're able to produce, it begins to build on itself and allows me to be who I am today.”
Michael J. Solender is a features writer in Charlotte, michaeljwrites.com.
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Photo by Malakhai Pearson
CONSTRUCTING THE ABC s OF ARTS ADVOCACY
BY MEG WHALEN
Nontraditional student Sarah
Vojnovich is using her personal experience to help museums improve accessibility, belonging and community
The first sound Sarah Vojnovich remembers hearing was the lap of her dog’s tongue in his water bowl. She was 10 years old and had just received a cochlear implant. Suddenly, the world resounded.
American Sign Language was Vojnovich’s first language. Having been diagnosed at 18 months with profound sensorineural hearing loss, she spent the next nine years learning to sign, read lips and even speak before the cochlear implant brought a cascade of new tones and timbres into her right ear. It would be another nine years before her left ear received the same awakening.
Drawn to visual art — and especially photography — as a child, Vojnovich won art contests in elementary school. She got her first camera, a pink Nikon COOLPIX, at age 13.
“It was my favorite thing ever,” she said.
PHOTOS BY AMY HART
“Without access, there is no belonging; without belonging, there is no community,”
Sarah Vojnovich
With a communications degree from Wingate University, a paralegal certificate from UNC Chapel Hill and an associate degree in advertising and graphic design from Wake Tech Community College, Vojnovich has returned to that early love and will earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography (with a minor in art history and a certificate in entrepreneurship) in December 2024. But her accomplishments as a student at UNC Charlotte extend far beyond refining her skills behind the lens. She is becoming an ardent advocate for accessibility in the world of visual arts.
ADVOCATING ART ACCESS
In the summer of 2022, Vojnovich had an internship at The Mint Museum where she helped conduct an audit of the museum’s operations, programming and facilities. The lack of resources at the museum for people with low to no vision prompted her to pursue the issue, and the following semester she completed an independent study, evaluating accessibility resources for both vision- and hearing-impaired visitors at three museums: the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“As a person with hearing loss, I believe in access for everyone. Accessibility in art is still a problem, especially for people with low to no vision,” she said.
Last summer, Vojnovich experienced “a dream come true” when she was hired for an internship offered jointly by the Smithsonian Institution, the National Parks Service and the Institute for Human-Centered Design. Among her tasks were designing exhibition layouts that would accommodate visitors in wheelchairs; creating in-person, hybrid and fully remote versions of instructional courses for museum docents to train them on ADA compliance and other diversity, equity and inclusion topics; and updating and designing new tactile map icons to be used in indoor and outdoor settings.
While the Smithsonian Institution is considered a national leader in museum accessibility, “the standards just haven’t caught up with how people are living and experiencing things now,” said Michelle Cook, the Smithsonian’s inclu-
sive design specialist. Cook supervised Vojnovich and said the work she did during her internship was invaluable.
“She was an absolute joy and treasure and asset in our office. It was a phenomenal experience for us both.” To work in inclusive design, Cook added, “you have to have a profound amount of empathy for the human experience and for experiences that are not your own.”
SEEING WITH YOUR HANDS
In particular, Vojnovich enjoyed her creative work on tactile map icons, which involved updating existing icons and Braille lettering, designing new identifiers for locations previously unrepresented (such as lactation rooms or family bathrooms) and testing all of her suggested designs with an expert-user focus group to determine preferences. The ultimate goal, she said, is for sighted maps and tactile maps, which are currently separate items, to be integrated into comprehensive maps that can serve everyone.
Cook said that Vojnovich’s efforts “will contribute to the field for years to come.” Recommendations and resources that the Smithsonian develops are available at no cost to the public.
“Our hope is that any arts or exhibitions organization will apply this to their work,” Cook said. “And the intention is to have the guidelines adopted into policy.”
Vojnovich is already putting her beliefs into practice as she prepares for her senior thesis exhibition project. In addition to the photographs that she will produce for the BFA exhibition in December, she is developing tactile versions of those images, which she will 3-D print and display alongside the 2-D photographs for visitors to experience with their hands. Vojnovich hopes that her work will inspire greater inclusivity in future exhibitions both on campus and off.
“Without access, there is no belonging; without belonging, there is no community,” she said. “How are we supposed to move forward as a society if we constantly exclude?”
Meg Whalen is director of communications for the College of Arts + Architecture.
Vojnovich creates 3-D prints of her 2-D photographs for visitors of all abilities to experience them. By touching the sculptural 3-D images, and feeling the textured picture, someone who is visually impaired can 'see' the images.
Sarah Stellwagen, a researcher and assistant professor of biological sciences in the College of Science, collaborated with campus colleagues from the Lee College of Engineering, Joe Dalton and Brian Dutterer, at the suggestion of engineering researcher Artur Wolek, who is also her husband, to design and develop a climatecontrolled lab unit that has broadened her approach to field research related to spiders, glow worms and similar species. This collegial project has made it possible for Stellwagen to study creatures through all phases of their life cycle in a hospitable environment suited specifically to their needs.
PHOTO BY KAT LAWRENCE
Intracampus connection leads to interdisciplinary collaboration
BY SUSAN MESSINA
Sarah Stellwagen spends a lot of time getting to know spiders and other creeping creatures. In fact, the assistant professor of biological sciences devoted her spring break this year to fieldwork in Australia, collecting arachnids and glow worms that produce a sticky, glue-like substance that allows them to trap prey and carry out other activities essential to their survival, a primary focus of her research.
Her excursion “down under” was productive in large part because she was able to bring home life forms she’d gathered to continue studying them in a newly developed, climate-controlled environment that mimics their native habitat, which prior to this trip was inconceivable.
“The specimens I research are best studied in their original environments,” Stellwagen said. “Transporting them from abroad was never an option.”
What changed? An ad hoc collaboration last year with Joe Dalton, a lab manager, and Brian Dutterer, a technology applications manager, in the William States Lee College of Engineering, had prompted — at Stellwagen’s direction — the design and development of a sealed-environment microscope chamber the size of a tissue box that is finely tuned to temperature and humidity specifications.
"Joe and Brian put their full force behind the design of the chamber — the only of its kind in the world — a truly marvelous feat of engineering,” said Stellwagen. “Now, I can test materials from any environment, controlling the inside to be dry and desertlike or humid and tropical, to match the climate of the sample’s origin.”
The unique unit offers other benefits as well. Simple to operate, its initial data output was collected independently by an undergraduate student, who presented results at a recent research conference — and took second place in the undergraduate oral presentation section. Plus campus proximity allows Stellwagen access to her engineering colleagues when necessary. “I’m able to walk over to get parts tweaked or fixed quickly whenever I need to,” she said.
Susan Messina is director of strategic content in the Office of University Communications.
Read more about Sarah Stellwagen’s research
As an MBA student, Igor Jablokov was fascinated by “Cyrillic Projector,” located outside the Friday Building. The sculpture, by artist Jim Sanborn, depicts an encoded message.
PHOTO BY AMY HART
AI visionary and entrepreneur Igor Jablokov '01 MBA connects people to the information they need
BY PHILLIP BROWN
As Facebook, Google and smartphones were becoming more ubiquitous in society, the one-time IBM research engineer and program director Igor Jablokov ’01 MBA stood on a stage before an audience, opened a Motorola Razr flip phone and began to speak. Behind him on a giant screen, for all to see, his words appeared. The year was 2006, and the event was Five Ventures Challenge, an entrepreneurial pitch competition sponsored by UNC Charlotte. The pitch competition was the forerunner of today’s Charlotte Venture Challenge.
This speech-to-text technology was the impetus for Jablokov to launch Yap Inc., a startup that offered a fully cloud-based speech-to-text transcription platform. Amazon purchased Yap in 2011, using the revolutionary technology to eventually create Alexa, Echo and Fire TV.
Today, Jablokov is an “Industry Luminary” according to Speech Technology Magazine. His latest venture, Pryon, is taking the tech world by storm. It is a knowledge cloud company that aims to reduce the distance between people and information through artificial intelligence.
“Every institution is missing the equivalent of a centralized dig-ital library,” Jablokov said. “We foresee every academic institu-tion, Fortune 500 company and government agency will need this knowledge core to unify and safely share intelligence with their clients, partners and employees.”
Investors agree. Now valued on paper in the hundreds of millions, Pryon is one of the largest technology enterprises east of the Mississippi River.
FROM GREECE TO PENN STATE TO CHARLOTTE
Growing up on the Greek island, Poros, Jablokov lived his first six years without electricity or running water or access to radio and TV, before he and his parents, both artists, moved to Phil-adelphia. A memorable childhood experience shaped Jablokov’s communications worldview.
“I saw a hurt dolphin impacted by a propeller, and I thought it would be ideal if I could talk with it to learn what happened
and warn them,” explained Jablokov. “That experience of being curious enough to interact with the world stayed with me. After being introduced to computers, I started exploring how to use natural language to enable people to interact with technology.”
After completing a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Penn State, Jablokov moved to Charlotte to work at IBM’s campus in University City. Jablokov worked on several research teams, including with the group for the project that eventually became Watson, the company’s computer system capable of answering natural language questions.
Jablokov appreciated IBM’s status as a global business leader. “The company was a systems business, which meant its leadership cared about software, hardware and networking versus just computer chips or another narrow niche.”
While at IBM, he served as a mentor for the Extreme Blue Program, which paired MBA candidates with four undergraduates during the summer. It was eye-opening for Jablokov to observe what a small team with access to leading-edge technology could accomplish.
“That was the first time I considered how five veteran subject-matter experts who joined forces could literally change the course of history,” Jablokov noted.
THE ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNEY
While witnessing an IBM project involving Sony and Toshiba before the term cloud-computing entered the lexicon, Jablokov proposed adding a microphone to a home-based device that would recognize human speech and respond. That product became the PlayStation 3.
“Everyone said no one is going to allow their voices to be streamed to someone they can't see,” he said.
Driven by a desire to innovate — and frustrated by corporate resistance to his AI assistant concept — Jablokov left IBM to start Yap. He typed up a one-page treatise for a multimodal portal, or AI assistant, which his brother, an MBA candidate at Wake Forest University, shared with his entrepreneurship professor who encouraged them to pitch it through a business plan competition, which they did at UNC Charlotte.
During a recent forum at UNC Charlotte, Jablokov discussed with Bojan Cukic, dean of the College of Computing and Informatics, the growing impact of the city of Charlotte on AI and the overall tech industry.
A former Amazon executive in attendance walked up to them and said, “I’m your first investor, and I’m your first board member.” He then requested they never publicly speak about the project again.
Experience working with small, dedicated teams that accomplished great things empowered Jablokov to recruit for Yap. He hired a lead engineer from Apple’s iPod R&D effort. The late Apple CEO Steve Jobs had placed the researchers in Charlotte. Members of that team joined Yap, along with others from IBM, Microsoft and Nuance, helping Jablokov build the company.
Knowing he would soon assume greater executive and leadership responsibilities, Jablokov enrolled in the Belk College of Business evening MBA program after completing his undergraduate degree to expand his business acumen.
AI SHOULD INCREASE WORKERS' EFFECTIVENESS — NOT REPLACE THEM
Jablokov prefers the term augmented intelligence to artificial intelligence with the goal of increasing productivity.
“I don’t envision AI displacing workers. When I think about innovation and creativity, humans are at the center. AI software has been characterized as consuming the world. AI is supposed to be the heart of technology, not the teeth. I’ve been working in AI for two decades and with practitioners who have 40 years in the field, and we are advancing AI primarily for three reasons: to enhance accessibility and opportunity, to try to save lives and to bridge cultural divides among people who don't speak the same language.”
Pryon’s one-of-a-kind knowledge operating system uses advanced AI including computer vision and large language models to read and understand organizations’ content to provide answers to customers’ or employees’ most pressing questions. Pryon’s system is operating in airports, hospitals and power plants, and it is the artificial intelligence behind Dell, Nvidia, Westinghouse and the World Economic Forum’s Strategic Intelligence unit.
“I want to see nurses, physicians, electricians, plumbers, sanitation workers, water treatment operators, pilots and truck drivers with access to this style of AI technology, because it will enable them to be more effective in their jobs. AI must be useful for everyone from all backgrounds, and it must be responsible in that you know how it works and what it does, and you must be able to trust who is behind it,” Jablokov said.
A SHARED VISION
Jablokov and the leaders of Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics believe technology, particularly AI, helps democratize access to information. CCI’s vision of “a world with equity in computing and humanity in technology” provides the fuel for the college’s significant enrollment growth among women and people of color in the last six years. And the college holds a strong, collaborative relationship with the greater Charlotte business community with employers providing scholarship and internship opportunities.
“Between thoughtful mentorship and encouraging all students and scholars to pursue their tech-oriented dreams both inside and outside the classroom, CCI has made it a priority to make the computing and technology industry more welcoming and accessible,” said Bojan Cukic, dean of the college.
CCI has a pivotal role in supplying tech talent, and for Jablokov, the key is practical experience for students.
“Internships, internships, internships, especially for undergraduates, aren’t optional,” said Jablokov. “There’s no substitute for real-world experience. It’s one thing to have theoretical training, but for computer science and engineering, internships enable you to see your work in action.”
FOSTERING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL MINDSET
From Charlotte to Raleigh, there exists a wealth of tech expertise, and Charlotte’s growth in business and industry is a fit for the native talent CCI produces. Jablokov supports efforts of the University and the Belk College of Business to expand programming that introduces students to the mindset and skills of entrepreneurship. He stresses one of the best ways to foster entrepreneurship is for students to cross paths with successful practitioners. While some entrepreneurs are creating something novel in the world, Jablokov recognizes entrepreneurs as problem solvers.
“We are direct descendants of people who have overcome challenges throughout history,” he said. “Being an entrepreneur isn’t limited to startups. You can be entrepreneurial in a large company, government agency, academic environment or a nonprofit organization. The setting is immaterial. It’s about having the mindset to apply your skills and talents in a unique way.”
Phillip Brown is assistant director of strategic content in the Office of University Communications and editor of UNC Charlotte Magazine.
Taking teaching and learning to the next level with AI
BY SUSAN MESSINA
Yash Tadimalla ’20 M.S., believes the United States is in the midst of an AI emergency. The growing demands for experts coupled with a limited supply of AI researchers and educators creates a serious concern for maintaining U.S. competitiveness in the field. Tadimalla is so committed to finding a solution to this problem that he shifted his academic focus from data science to study new ways to teach computer science so more people from a variety of backgrounds are prepared to enter careers in computing and artificial intelligence.
He notes that had similar steps been taken 30 years ago in computer science to be more intentional in mentoring young students to create an abundant, vibrant and diverse supply of computer scientists, this situation might be different.
“Maybe we’d have a different kind of computing now — and less of an urgent, national need for computer scientists and cybersecurity experts,” said Tadimalla. “AI is comparable; the time to prepare the field’s leaders is now.”
After earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering in his native India and completing a master’s degree in computer science with a data science concentration at UNC Charlotte, Tadimalla landed several corporate internships but struggled to find “purpose and meaning” in those environments.
At the same time, he identified in himself a passion for mentoring. “I considered a career in educational leadership, but whenever I mentioned my computer science background, people inevitably would point me toward UNC Charlotte’s Center for Education Innovation and Research.”
The center’s director at the time, Mary Lou Maher, convinced Tadimalla that whatever he wanted to accomplish through education and advocacy was possible through computer science. “I finally was able to see a pathway to doing education in computer science,” he said.
AHEAD OF THE CURVE
“In many ways, UNC Charlotte is ahead of the curve in AI literacy and accessibility,” explained Maher, a longtime professor of software and information systems in the College of Computing and Informatics, who recently joined the Washington D.C.based Computing Research Association as director of research community initiatives. “Contrary to the opinion of critics who fear that AI could be used to replace thinking, it has the ability, when used responsibly, to encourage critical thinking toward greater learning.”
Because critical thinking is a component of all disciplines, students in every major benefit from learning to use here-to-stay AI in a way that enhances their academic experience — similar to the way the internet provided access to new information when it first emerged.
In fall 2023 and spring 2024, Maher and Tadimalla developed and taught an AI literacy course that focuses on distinguishing differences between Gen AI, retrieval-augmented generation models and search engines, and when to use each; learning to interact with generative AI in an informed and responsible way; and AI’s societal implications, including the future of work and government policy.
They observed through the introductory course that students’
Adjunct lecturer Sidney Beeman, right, works with faculty colleagues to demonstrate how Adobe Premiere Pro offers creative ways to use AI to improve teaching and student outcomes at the 2024 AI Institute for Smarter Learning.
“In a world where everyone is running toward the greatest, best, fastest, Charlotte is not just running, but running with a purpose.”
Yash Tadimalla M.S. ’20 Ph.D. candidate
disciplines and the ways it can be used properly in the courses they teach. With established parameters, students are able to proceed with confidence knowing they can use AI for research and assignments in ways approved by their professors.
UNC Charlotte’s Center for Teaching and Learning within the School of Professional Studies offers a broad range of professional development opportunities and enterprise-level instructional technologies for faculty not only to bring them up to speed technologically but theoretically about AI’s purpose, value and potential.
In spring 2023, CTL staff members Kiran Budhrani ’22 Ed.D., director of teaching and learning innovation, and Jordan Register ’13, ’19 M.S., ’23 Ph.D., faculty development specialist, organized the University’s first AI Institute for Smarter Learning, a daylong series of presentations, workshops and hands-on learning opportunities led by Charlotte faculty guiding their colleagues interested in learning more about AI and incorporating it into their teaching.
understanding and skills surrounding AI broadened, which has led to advocating for opening the course to all students, plus faculty and staff. Additionally, they argue for removing barriers to versions of AI that require financial commitment to avoid creating a “digital divide” between those able and unable to pay for versions beyond those that are free.
“Used responsibly, AI serves as a constant personal tutor,” said Maher. “It is particularly helpful for students who might enter college less prepared than they would like, who need support during nontraditional hours or who are reticent about asking for help. It’s available 24-7, approachable and nonjudgmental. There is no fear that AI tools will say, ‘I can’t believe you don’t know that.’”
IT STARTS IN THE CLASSROOM
For students to become proficient and comfortable using artificial intelligence — and to mitigate fears among many of them about unwittingly crossing a line into cheating — faculty first must understand artificial intelligence within the context of their
Cori Faklaris, assistant professor of software and information systems, encourages students and others to view AI as a tool for mining complex information.
“AI was gaining momentum and people were a little anxious about it and what it meant for students, jobs, research,” said Budhrani. “Supporting faculty through new technologies is our strength. Over the previous year, we had watched registrations for CTL’s AI-related workshops grow, so we knew there was interest; we put our heads together and asked, ‘what can we do to help?’”
CTL’s Teaching and Innovation team designed the institute using faculty input, and more than 100 attended — a number that more than doubled for the second AI institute held this spring.
Cori Faklaris, assistant professor of software and information systems, delivered the plenary address at the inaugural institute. An explorer of emerging technologies and determined to understand AI as a “teammate” that offers a tool for mining complex information, she valued the opportunity to engage with colleagues whose backgrounds transcend her familiar computer science sphere.
“It’s important that we all become literate in regard to these tools,” Faklaris said. “We need them for every creative endeavor and to remain competitive. They are on the cutting edge of technology and we want to be part of the future, so that means we put ourselves where the future is going.”
PHOTO BY AMY HART
“Supporting faculty through new technologies is our strength. Over the previous year, we had watched registrations for CTL’s AI-related workshops grow, so we knew there was interest; we put our heads together and asked, ‘what can we do to help?’”
Kiran Budhrani
SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS
Kiran Budhrani and Jordan Register organized the 2023 and 2024 AI institutes for faculty.
From the institute’s initial success and outcomes, CTL’s Teaching and Innovation team refined existing workshops to integrate new knowledge that, ultimately, improves students’ experiences.
In addition, it collaborated with the School of Professional Studies to meet the demands of those outside the University, particularly, K-12 teachers and professionals from other fields. Together, they launched the Next-Generation Learning with Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools Professional Certificate.
UNC Charlotte’s leadership and CTL’s influence regarding AI literacy reverberates beyond the Queen City. Universities from around the UNC System and several from across the country have reached out for guidance to develop their own AI institutes.
“Charlotte is several steps ahead of many other universities when it comes to AI and using it for teaching and learning,” said Register. “Some are reluctant to jump in because policy around AI in this realm is not yet fully developed. We know that promoting responsible use of AI will inform policy. In the meantime, we’ve chosen not to wait; it’s imperative to provide faculty with the skills they need to support our students.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
While large language models such as ChatGPT offer unprecedented access to information, when it comes to research and higher education, responses to domain-specific, technical prompts some-
times can be ambiguous or incorrect due to the general-knowledge nature of their data sets. To provide consistently useful and accurate information for faculty and student inquiries, additional computational capacity is beneficial.
The College of Computing and Informatics is working to overcome such a potential obstacle through the creation of a customizable large language model that makes it possible for faculty members to add course-specific data to an existing database — and enter guardrails that prohibit the LLM from generating specific responses, such as the answers to final exams.
Chenglong Fu, assistant professor of software and information systems, and his team have launched a prototype LLM service, currently available within CCI, and are in the process of surveying college faculty to gauge their needs.
“To accommodate a broader range of applications and an increasing user base, there exists a need to expand our current computing infrastructure for fine-tuning and instructing LLMs and providing LLM customization university wide,” Fu said. “This way we can continue to meet the growing demands of UNC Charlotte’s academic community and facilitate cutting-edge research and educational activities.”
Susan Messina is director of strategic content in the Office of University Communications.
PHOTO BY KAT LAWRENCE
SPACES SPEAK
Genealogical research led by Alyssa Brady, the inaugural graduate in the Master of Science in Architecture Critical Heritage Studies program, deepens the significance of Historic Rosedale
BY MEG WHALEN
Charlotte is infamous for tearing down its past. Our vociferous “New South” city, eagerly focused on the future, has kept few buildings from yesteryear, and those that remain often have had their histories muted.
But graduate student Alyssa Brady ’24 MS is convinced that as the city moves forward, we must bring our stories with us — the easy stories and the hard ones, the loud and the quiet.
This May, Brady became the first student to earn a Master of Science in Architecture concentrating in critical heritage studies. Completing a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from UNC Charlotte in 2022, she entered the new master’s degree track, and in fall 2023, she began an internship at Historic Rosedale, a former plantation that sits peacefully among the commercial confusion of North Tryon Street.
While Rosedale was not a cash crop plantation, more than 40 enslaved African Americans labored there before the Civil War as well as free Black tenants and workers in the decades after, said John Cooper, coordinator of Rosedale’s African American Legacy project. That initiative began in earnest in April 2021 with the mission “to expand and promote the truthful, compassionate and equitable presentation of the African Americans — both enslaved and freed — who lived and worked at Historic Rosedale.”
At the core of the project is the development of a vibrant network of relationships with descendants of Rosedale’s African American forebears, people all across the United States who can help fill in erased histories and who, themselves, have life stories to celebrate.
“That’s something we pride ourselves on,” said Cooper.
WHO GETS TO TELL THE STORIES?
Bringing those voices forward is also key to the Critical Heritage Studies program, which asks the question, “Who gets to tell the stories?” of a particular place, said Brady. The interdisciplinary degree — the only of its kind in North Carolina — “has been an eye-opener,” she said, as she has plunged herself into the disciplines of public and digital history.
Brady’s primary task has been the construction of a digital family tree that she, Cooper and Historic Rosedale’s African American Legacy Committee hope one day will be as vast and intricate as the site’s magnificent chestnut oak, one of several “treasure” trees that tower over the Rosedale mansion. When Brady started
her internship, there existed only large handmade family trees on poster board. The web-based version, with descriptions and pictures, will be a “vital resource,” said Cooper, “making this information accessible so people know about Rosedale and our African American descendants — who they were and their accomplishments.”
At the crown of this ancestral oak are Nat and Agnes Caldwell, both born around 1804 and brought to Rosedale by Dr. David Caldwell when he moved onto the property in 1833. Nat was an accomplished blacksmith whose craftsmanship brought steady income to the household. He and Agnes had several children, five of whom have been positively identified. Their grandson George Washington Caldwell (1850-1932) studied at his grandfather’s anvil and eventually owned blacksmith shops on North Tryon Street and Providence Road.
GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH: THE WORK IS NEVER COMPLETE
Brady’s activity has extended beyond the design and development of the digital genealogy to include research into the family line.
“It’s like detective work,” she said, describing how she has scoured resources as wide-ranging as the oral history collection at J. Murrey Atkins Library and social media platforms like Facebook to find clues that will lead to new names and narratives. “We’re discovering people every day,” she said. “When it comes to research, the work is never done. There’s always more to learn.”
Although Brady’s internship officially ended in December, she remained committed to the project and continued to work through the spring semester. “Alyssa’s very inquisitive, meticulous and detailed,” Cooper said. “She wants to make sure the product is a good product.”
Last November, Brady met Tamia Allen Williams, a fifth-generation descendant of Nat and Agnes Caldwell. At a public program at Historic Rosedale, Williams spoke movingly about the value of knowing your ancestors — further confirmation, Brady said, that an understanding of the past is vital to the integrity of our future.
“Everyone deserves to know where they come from.”
Meg Whalen is director of communications for the College of Arts + Architecture.
Alyssa Brady is constructing a digital family tree about the descendants of Rosedale’s enslaved and free Black tenants.
PHOTOS BY RYAN HONEYMAN
Across four decades, CPM’s chief engineer, Jimmie Miller, has had a front-row seat for Charlotte’s rise to international metrology prominence
MEASURED SUCCESS
BY PHILLIP BROWN
A BRIEF HISTORY OF METROLOGY — GLOBALLY AND AT CHARLOTTE
Scattered across the deserts of ancient Egypt are monolithic pyramids, some having withstood the test of time for nearly 5,000 years. Much is unknown about how these engineering marvels were built, but most historians agree that the ancient Egyptian royal cubit, the earliest attested standard measure, played a significant role. A stone block, the royal cubit is purported to be the length of a pharaoh’s forearm from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger and the width of the palm.
Contrary to the comparatively imprecise span of a cubit depending on who occupied the throne, today’s approach to meticulous manufacturing measurement often operates on a scale of sub-micrometers smaller than 1/1000th the width of a strand of hair. Decisive accuracy — when minute deviations can result in disaster — is critical for much that touches modern life, including air travel safety, vehicle fuel efficiency and cell phone operability.
PHOTO BY AMY HART
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“We have facilities that other universities simply do not have. Some technical schools have metrology programs where they train students to use equipment — but the research component is missing. Charlotte offers hands-on experience both in the lab and with cutting-edge equipment that others cannot. Students learn best by doing, not by watching.”
Jimmie Miller, ’85, ’87 MSE
Jorian Khan, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, uses a Fizeau interferometer to measure the surface of a part.
CPM PARTNER: CUMMINS
“Quality is the cornerstone of manufacturing, and quality engineering has a place across the entire product life cycle. Cummins has hired more than a dozen graduates from Charlotte's Center for Precision Metrology, and the company has gained significant value from access to students and staff who have provided their technical expertise to help solve several complex measurement science problems,” said Steven Stahley, director of measurement excellence for Cummins, which specializes in diesel and alternative fuel engines and generators.
At the forefront of the role of metrology — the science of measurement — in advanced manufacturing is UNC Charlotte’s Center for Precision Metrology. Established in 1997, CPM focuses on developing and utilizing precise measurement systems to ensure manufactured components meet stringent specifications — and today stands alone as the field’s premier source of academic and research excellence in the Western Hemisphere. Instrumental to CPM’s prominence and global reputation as its chief engineer Jimmie Miller ’85, ’87 MSE, who at the center’s inception was a graduate student. And throughout the course of a nearly 40-year career at UNC Charlotte — and after completing a doctorate from the University of Warwick in England — has led hundreds of students to metrologic success.
DUAL ROLES: STUDENT AND STAFFER
Growing up in rural Rowan County, Miller tinkered with electronic and mechanical machines, such as the mowers used to cut grass on his family’s homestead. After completing an associate degree in electronics engineering technology and a stint in private industry, he transitioned to UNC Charlotte to earn bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and physics and then, through a fellowship from the Microelectronics Center of North Carolina, a Master of Science in Engineering.
At the time, Chancellor Jim Woodward was building Charlotte’s academic enterprise to become a doctoral degree-granting institution. Recruiting an internationally known researcher
PHOTO BY AMY HART
would aid this effort, and Miller recalls engineering faculty involved in the search.
Ultimately, world-renowned physicist Robert Hocken, division chief at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, joined Charlotte in 1988 as the Norvin Kennedy Dickerson Jr. Distinguished Professor of Precision Engineering.
Within the realm of metrology, Hocken, who retired in 2014 as professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, was known universally for his impact. Co-inventor of the original tracking interferometer system, commonly called a laser tracker, he was a leader in engineering metrology, nanotechnology, electro optical instrumentation, atomic force microscopy and optical stethoscopy, and dimensional metrology for computer-aided manufacturing concentrating on advanced probes, controllers and surface measurement systems.
Miller, working as a staff member setting up equipment in engineering research laboratories, credits the late Hocken with changing his academic and professional fortunes.
“Without Bob Hocken, I never would have pursued my Ph.D., and likely would have gravitated toward an industry job,” he said.
Hocken arranged for Miller to enroll at the University of Warwick to complete a doctorate while conducting dissertation research at Charlotte, and in 1994, he was hooded during commencement. Hocken had grant funding from the National Science Foundation to use a scanning tunneling microscope to study nanotechnology. It was the basis of Miller’s Ph.D. investi-
CPM DIRECTOR: ED MORSE
“UNC Charlotte is the only university in North and South America with a program dedicated to dimensional metrology. This is a complicated and rapidly changing field because new metrology needs arise every time a new manufacturing process develops.
“For instance, in the last decade, 3-D printing has become very popular. Now, in a single process, you can make objects that have internal features, which you couldn't manufacture by conventional methods. But you still must have measurement techniques for these internal features, which involves using X-rays.
“This is just one example of what the Center for Precision Metrology can do. Big aerospace companies are always looking for ways to speed up their measurement processes, because they are measuring huge components that need to fit together the first time. For them, a scrap part is very expensive — we help them avoid that extra expense,” said Morse, who chairs a national standards committee for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Several center faculty members serve in similar leadership roles that develop performance tests and standards to provide the manufacturing industry a shared model for requirements.
PHOTO BY AMY HART
CPM Director Ed Morse and senior mechanical engineering major Amanda Shaw use an articulated CMM arm to measure an automotive component.
CPM PARTNER: INTEL
“My team ensures incoming quality of piece parts from suppliers around the world. As our partner, the Center for Precision Metrology has the technical depth to support evaluation and qualification of new technologies and techniques. We have been able to evaluate and demonstrate new technologies in Charlotte's labs and corporate environments before proliferating them globally.
“Intel has hired many CPM graduates during my 20-plus years with the company. Undergraduate students who have precision engineering and metrology concentrations will be valuable to entering manufacturing spaces. Their understanding of dimensional tolerances and interaction with equipment performance can help to resolve exclusionary events quickly in a wellstructured and data-driven way,” said Osborne Martin ’99 MSE, ’03 Ph.D., who is a principal engineer and director with Intel.
CPM PARTNER: BOEING
“Boeing joined CPM’s Affiliates Program because of its commitment to excellence, cutting-edge research and the opportunity to work with bright young students.
“Boeing has found the center faculty and students far exceed expectations. They delve into problems and make amazing progress in a short time. Precision metrology will continue to grow as a needed skill as increasing numbers of manufacturing processes are using it to improve their capabilities.
“CPM graduates will find rewarding careers in manufacturing, allowing them to be involved from fabrication to assembly and onto sustainment, which means they will get to be part of the entire life cycle of products,” said Chris Greer, lead engineer and associate technical fellow for measurement and technology at Boeing.
Adeniyi Adeleke, a winner of a scholarship contest sponsored by Zeiss, uses a coordinate measuring machine to measure a part's features.
gation for which he built a scanning tunneling system to attach to an X-ray interferometer to examine tunneling currents, or how electrons move through a barrier.
“Additionally, we wanted to see if it was possible to create nano-memory as part of a strategic manufacturing initiative and to understand how dense to make memory bit structures,” Miller said. “We explored using voltage pulses at small levels to manipulate their nanometer features.”
BUILDING A WORLD-CLASS METROLOGY CENTER
Hocken’s reputation helped attract backing for the fledgling precision metrology program, including for it to become an NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. Additional funding allowed the University to add to its research equipment inventory. Early projects focused on enhancing coordinate measuring machines, which measure the geometry of physical objects; the mechanics of nano cutting, an ultraprecise machining method for accuracy at the nanometric scale; and developing components for extreme ultraviolet measurement for the semiconductor industry. Miller had a role in purchasing the equipment, which was housed primarily in the basements of Cameron and Smith buildings.
“In 1993, as I was completing my Ph.D., the program needed a staff engineer, so I approached Bob about the job. If I agreed to commit five years, the position was mine; I’m still with the center 30 years later.”
By 1997, the UNC System Board of Governors authorized the formal establishment of the Center for Precision Metrology at UNC Charlotte. Funding came from federal and state grants, institutional resources and industry partners.
“The success of our corporate affiliates program, with 11 partners today, dates to CPM’s establishment,” said Miller. “Bob’s experience drafting national metrology standards was the original magnet for companies interested in affiliating with the center.”
Now housed in Duke Centennial Hall, CPM’s state-of-theart facilities support a mission to break new ground in precision metrology by addressing real-world industrial concerns — and to recruit world-class faculty, industry affiliates and students.
THE CHARLOTTE DIFFERENCE
Miller outlines the factors that set Charlotte and the CPM apart — aside from an outstanding group of core faculty members who bring both industry and research expertise in manufacturing.
“We have facilities that other universities simply do not have,” he said. “Some technical schools have metrology programs where they train students to use equipment — but the research component is missing. And as one of a few universities that conducts scientific research in metrology, Charlotte offers hands-on experience both in the lab and with cutting-edge equipment that others cannot. Students learn best by doing, not by watching.”
CPM PARTNER: NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND
“Being a part of the Center for Precision Metrology was life-changing, having a positive impact on my career path and success. Metrology is important in all types of manufacturing. Specifically, it is critical to the development of military defense systems. As technology advances, measurement science must validate that new equipment and systems meet their performance standards throughout their life cycles.
“I started my career with the Navy as a civilian in NAVAIR's Metrology and Calibration Program. Now, 13 years later, I am the deputy chief engineer of that program, and I still love what I do. I know that my work matters, because it contributes to ensuring the safety of people,” said Tiffany Lemmons ’07, ’12 MSE, deputy chief engineer for the Metrology and Calibration Program at Naval Air Systems Command, which provides materiel support for aircraft and airborne weapon systems for the U.S. Navy.
The relationships Miller builds with students is among his strengths, according to Ed Morse, CPM director. “Jimmie provides mentoring that complements the work of students’ academic advisors and makes an impact on their careers,” said Morse. “He possesses a wealth of knowledge about machines, instruments and instrument design that not only supports our research activities and experiments but also provides useful insights that make the work of the center more effective. Jimmie truly represents the Center for Precision Metrology’s living history.”
Miller also cites the corporate affiliate program as a key differentiator for student experience and success. Through it, students have opportunities to help solve real problems that industry partners bring to the center. Their involvement is regarded by the companies as a value-added benefit.
Now a chief engineer, Miller wears many hats: mentor, facility supervisor, instructor and project coordinator. Every day presents new opportunities as the center continues to excel. Following the legacy of Hocken, who often used his endowment to fund seed projects for junior faculty, Miller aims to be a resource, willing to share his expertise
“Whether it's students, faculty or industry partners, I’m here to enable others to flourish and succeed,” said Miller.
Phillip Brown is assistant director of strategic content in the Office of University Communications and editor of UNC Charlotte Magazine.
BY WILLS CITTY
With a transformational $23 million investment from the Mebane Foundation headed its way, the Cato College of Education is addressing real challenges to ensure a literate future
“Details are like flowers to our tree,” explained UNC Charlotte student teacher Caitlin McGennis to a class of third graders.
Smiling students are sitting in front of McGennis at Berewick Elementary School, located in south Charlotte. Curiosity and enthusiasm, characteristic of great elementary school classrooms, simmer. But there is a hint of concern as serious business must be addressed.
These kids are trying to save Fun Friday.
According to a letter the class read with McGennis the day before, Principal Kim King has canceled the beloved Berewick Elementary School pastime. It’s now up to the class to develop the moving pleas and savvy arguments that will convince the administration to restore the students’ right to relax at the end of the week.
McGennis, a dual elementary and special education major who graduated in May, attended Charlotte on scholarship to teach reading. As a student teacher, she led her class in an interactive persuasive writing activity that will help them make their case. One that is an important part of the students’ journey to lifelong literacy and in their student teacher’s development of skills essential to success in the classroom.
In her final semesters at UNC Charlotte, McGennis applied what she's learned and practiced her craft through a curriculum that has been hands-on since she arrived at the Cato College of Education. An out-of-state student, McGennis arrived at the University from Pittsburgh for Charlotte’s elite dual-degree program in special education and elementary education.
Over the course of the writing lesson at Berewick Elementary, McGennis floated between groups to listen for student understanding and review their progress.
“T - A - P . . . topic, audience, parameters. We underline the topic, star the audience, and tap the parameters." She stops to repeat and invites the young readers to join in: “Topic, audience, parameters.”
By learning mnemonic devices to understand the elements of a persuasive piece of writing, students gathered the building blocks they need to become independent readers and critical thinkers.
PHOTO BY AMY HART
As a student teacher, Caitlin McGennis '24 applied her literacy instruction from the Cato College of Education with a class of third graders at Berewick Elementary School.
“The activity is an extension of self-regulated strategy development,” McGennis said. “It shows students’ deliberate skill practice that lifts writing quality. It also helps teachers see growth in literacy outcomes and student independence when completing work. Literacy is sometimes thought of as only reading instruction. Writing plays a big role, too.”
CLEAR GOALS, CHALLENGING REALITIES
The North Carolina Read to Achieve Program, codified by the North Carolina General Assembly, outlines the “goal of the state is to ensure that every student read at or above grade level by the end of third grade and continue to progress in reading proficiency so that he or she can read, comprehend, integrate and apply complex texts needed for secondary education and career success.”
It’s a standard that’s simple enough in theory but has proven challenging for the state and nation to meet. Across the country, only one in three fourth grade students is meeting expectations for reading proficiency, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly known as the “Nation’s Report Card.”
North Carolina students fall in line with national trends with 32% of fourth graders reading proficiently. The lagging numbers are particularly concerning because being able to read proficiently early in life is a strong predictor of student success down the road.
Starting with the fourth grade, students who aren’t reading on grade level fall further behind, eventually becoming six times more likely to drop out of high school than their proficient peers.
CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IS CRITICAL
Kristen Beach, an associate professor of special education at UNC Charlotte, has devoted her career to untangling the knots surrounding early literacy. Beyond the long-standing debate about the importance of phonics instruction versus that of language and content instruction — both critical to reading proficiency — she cites complex individual and societal factors also as contributors.
“Few kids intuit reading. Reading proficiently, with strong comprehension, is a learned skill. It is multifaceted and complex, and although there are some usual suspects that we can point to in identifying the source of reading difficulties, the reasons any child is not reading proficiently may be different from one child to the next,” said Beach. “When it comes to reading words, difficulties with phonemic awareness — or the ability to hear and manipulate the individual sounds in words — almost always leads to reading challenges.”
According to Beach, explicit instruction in foundational reading skills, such as phonemic awareness, phonics, word reading, fluency, aspects of vocabulary and comprehension, can make a dramatic difference for all kids and especially for children who are reading below grade level. “Exposing students to rich content
PHOTO BY RYAN HONEYMAN
Paola Pilonieta, associate professor and coordinator of the undergraduate reading program, works with students at Niner University Elementary.
“Expert literacy teachers know what a child needs to be a successful reader and writer, and they use their strong content knowledge along with data efficiently to adjust their teaching to elevate student strengths and support needs."
Erin Washburn associate professor of reading and elementary education
and teaching vocabulary explicitly in early childhood, even before they enter school, can make a big difference in the knowledge that a child brings to a text.”
BRINGING THE SCIENCE OF READING TO LIFE
“The Science of Reading” as defined by the National Center on Improving Literacy is a “collection of research, over time, from multiple fields of study using methods that confirm and disconfirm theories on how children learn to read.”
The idea, in part, is that by using scientifically validated approaches to reading instruction, teachers can prevent development of reading difficulties for many children and can effectively and efficiently provide support when they do arise early in a child's reading development.
McGennis will use concepts connected to the Science of Reading to help students acquire the vast array of new skills they will need to read with lessons like the persuasive writing assignment.
“At Berewick, collaboration was the focus of the lesson, so I was watching students to see how they talked with one another, who offered ideas and how they wrote their answers,” she said. “My students have done very well when they have an example of what they need to be doing before they do it.”
During her student teaching practicum, McGennis was mentored and evaluated by an experienced teacher at Berewick Elementary and a faculty supervisor at UNC Charlotte. They worked together as McGennis moved from basic knowledge to the mastery of teaching literacy she will pursue her entire career.
That’s an ethos that great educators bring to the profession, explains Erin Washburn, an associate professor in the UNC Charlotte Department of Reading and Elementary Education.
“Expert literacy teachers know what a child needs to be a successful reader and writer, and they use their strong content knowledge along with data efficiently to adjust their teaching to elevate student strengths and support needs,” she said. “But teachers do not become experts overnight or in one semester of student teaching. Research indicates that expertise develops over time and with opportunities to problem-solve in meaningful and relevant ways and to receive intentional support and timely feedback along the way.”
LEADING IN LITERACY EDUCATION
UNC Charlotte is the statewide leader in training teachers to teach children to read, according to a recent independent report requested by the UNC Board of Governors. In a review of the 15 state institutions that
PHOTO BY AMY HART
train teachers for the state’s schools, only one, UNC Charlotte, received the top rating of “strong.”
Teacher Prep Inspection-US led the review in accordance with the North Carolina Literacy Review Framework. In rating literacy instruction programs, TPI-US considered course syllabi and schedules, assignments, assessments, online modules, video observations of instruction and instructor interviews. The Cato College of Education offers seven undergraduate courses focusing on early literacy, significantly more than most other universities.
In addition to receiving the highest rating overall in literacy instruction, the Cato College of Education was the lone program in North Carolina to earn a rating of “strong” in training future educators to teach writing.
At UNC Charlotte, students in the general and adapted curriculum special education programs and those earning dual licensure in elementary and special education take a course based exclusively on evidence-based practices for writing instruction, and the college’s special education writing course was noted as “exemplary” in the TPI-US literacy report.
“The college has been teaching writing this way for years. We recognize the broader context of literacy beyond reading and the synergistic power of combining reading and writing instruction,” said Erin Fitzpatrick, an associate professor in the Department of Special Education and Child Development who researches and teaches the type of self-regulated strategy development McGennis used with her class.
ADDING STRUCTURE TO MOMENTUM: THE MEBANE EARLY LITERACY CENTER
When the Mebane Foundation, a North Carolina nonprofit and stalwart in early literacy, sought education leaders to continue its legacy, it mounted a statewide search. Foundation leaders believed in the direction of the Cato College of Education. The result is an investment from the Mebane Foundation of up to $23 million, one of the largest external awards in UNC Char-
Cato College of Education
Dean Malcolm Butler observes student and teacher interaction at Niner University Elementary.
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lotte’s history, to establish the Mebane Early Literacy Center, a hub for literacy education in North Carolina and beyond. A signature element of the center is its support for 20 Mebane Early Literacy Scholars annually. During the two-year program, each scholar is eligible for up to $16,000 in funding.
“Our intention to serve as a leader in early literacy was set years ago, and what we’re seeing is an expected progression of that intentionality, with a broadening and deepening of the work," said Malcolm Butler, dean of Cato College of Education. “With the recent creation of the Mebane Early Literacy Center and the transformational contributions of the Mebane Foundation, our ability to understand the Science of Reading, convene difference-makers and apply what we learn is only expanding. There are answers to today’s challenges in early literacy, and you can rest assured that the Cato College of Education will be a part of discovering and bringing those solutions to life.”
FROM STUDENT TEACHER TO CLASSROOM LEADER
McGennis is the third in her family to teach. She is driven to guide children to discover one of life’s greatest gifts: the ability to read.
After saving Fun Friday with her students at Berewick Elementary, she is eager to lead a class of her own in the fall.
“My mother was my first teacher — literally,” she recalled. “I would watch her in the classroom working with students and see the impact she had on them. She always encouraged me to help other students when they needed it and to recognize when it was best to sit back and watch the magic of learning occur in a young mind. I will never forget watching the faces of the children who grasped what they were learning and the pride found in that success. That look is priceless.”
Wills Citty is director of communications for the Cato College of Education.
PHOTO BY RYAN HONEYMAN
A record 5,100-plus students were recognized during 2024 Spring Commencement ceremonies held in Dale F. Halton Arena, May 10 and 11.
Graduates in the Class of 2024 represent 55 countries, 36 U.S. states and 89 North Carolina counties. The youngest graduate is 19, and the most seasoned graduate is 72.
Scan to see photos from all of the Spring 2024 Commencement ceremonies.
PHOTOS BY AMY HART, RYAN HONEYMAN AND KAT LAWRENCE
9201 University Blvd. Charlotte, NC 28223-0001
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UNC Charlotte recently honored Dontá L. Wilson ’97, second left, for his commitment to spreading “HOPE” to future generations of students with the naming of the Dontá L. Wilson Residence Hall. Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber, left, his wife Bonika and his children were among the many who gathered for the building’s dedication.