UNC-system happenings Aug. 26, 2016

UNC-Pembroke provost to retire in 2017

Zoe Woodell Locklear, UNC-Pembroke provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs, has announced her retirement, effective June 30, 2017. 

Locklear previously served as interim provost before assuming her role as provost in Sept. 2015. She has also served as the founding dean of the UNC-P School of Education, associate superintendent at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and chairperson of the State Advisory Council on Indian Education.

Locklear was the first female American Indian appointed to the N.C. State Board of Education.

“We are fortunate she chose to serve the institution where her journey of higher education began,” UNC-P Chancellor Robin Gary Cummings said in a public letter. “Her impact on our campus will continue for years to come through the academic leadership team she cultivated, faculty she led and students she inspired.” 

UNC-Charlotte implementing Women in Computing Initiative

The College of Computing and Informatics at UNC-Charlotte is implementing a Women in Computing Initiative to address the lack of diversity in computer science majors.

Currently, women comprise only about 26 percent of the workforce in IT positions. At UNC-C, women make up only 16 percent of majors in the College of Computing and Informatics.

William Tolone, interim dean of UNC-C’s College of Computing and Informatics said through this initiative, the school would aim to increase the number of women declared as computing and informatics majors to 25 or 30 percent.

“We’ve been transforming both our teaching methods and classroom environments,” Tolone said.

He said the school is working to increase awareness and develop a more inclusive environment.

Tolone said the college has also established the Future of Computing Scholarship to help achieve their diversity goals. Additionally, a $25,000 endowed scholarship has been granted by The Charlotte Chapter of the Society of Information Management.

UNC-Greensboro implementing flipped hybrid classrooms

UNC-Greensboro is taking steps to use classroom time more efficiently for both faculty and students.

Their solution — flipped hybrid classrooms — is already in practice on a small scale at the university.

Wade Maki, a lecturer in philosophy at UNC-G and leader of the project, said universities teach based on techniques that worked 100 years ago, but these techniques do not match what works best today.

He said flipped hybrid classrooms can consist of lectures that students can access online, and fewer in-class meetings allow students to put what they learn into practice.

Maki said the result is the ability to teach more students, while also decreasing student time on campus and freeing up resources that are already in short supply.

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