General News

Campus Compact is pleased to announce that Kimberly Buch, professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte has been awarded Campus Compact’s Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award. The award, presented in partnership with Brown University’s Swearer Center, recognizes senior faculty who practice exemplary engaged scholarship through teaching and research. Recipients are […]

As a member of Niner Nation and the greater Charlotte community, you are invited to participate in the Annual McCrorey YMCA MLK Holiday Virtual Celebration scheduled for 9:00 am on Monday, January 17th. This event will honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy and celebrate the impact of the McCrorey YMCA. Showcased events will include […]

By Mae Israel After decades of being shunned by traditional corporate grocers rushing to expand elsewhere in the city, leaders in predominantly Black neighborhoods along West Boulevard have a new hope: that they finally will get a full-service, community-owned grocery store only minutes from their homes. The optimism comes after failed promises and rising prosperity […]

As we chart a new path for Charlotte, how do we continue to form reciprocal teaching and research community partnerships to co-produce transformative solutions to the region’s challenges? Join the Office of Urban Research and Community Engagement to address this question on November 11th at the virtual UNC Charlotte Engaged Scholarship Symposium. [Register to attend] […]

By Mae Israel The Community Innovation Incubator represents a new partnership between university researchers and Charlotte neighborhood residents to study a local issue and develop recommendations with an action plan. In this approach, residents are equals and full participants, not research subjects. Process Mecklenburg County officials, who have designated dealing with food insecurity as a […]

Bringing the vision into focus: Study groups zero in on West Charlotte food retail innovation By Mae Israel After weeks of research, a market study and discussions, a group of researchers from UNC Charlotte and Johnson C. Smith University, along with West Charlotte community experts who have been working on ways to increase food access […]

Empowering and engaging with the community in West Charlotte By Mae Israel Before joining the University of North Carolina at Charlotte as an associate professor of architecture and urban design, Nadia Anderson worked with a university design lab in Iowa that collaborated with community groups across the state to create new food systems — including […]

‘Fresh food access is a human right’ — Meet some of the people seeking change in West Charlotte By Mae Israel After years of pushing for better food access in West Charlotte neighborhoods, J’Tanya Adams and Rickey Hall have grown weary of broken promises and the failure of most traditional grocers to invest in their […]

Designing a new solution for food insecurity in West Charlotte By Mae Israel A large black-and-white sign on the front of the Stop N Shop convenience store on West Boulevard, the commercial center of several historic West Charlotte neighborhoods, invites customers inside with a promise: “We Sell Groceries.” Behind several rows of candy, chips and […]

Lori Thomas, Director of Research and Faculty Engagement at the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, will assume the role of Interim Director of the institute effective May 1. Thomas will replace Jeff Michael, the Institute’s long-time director, who is leaving the position April 30 after serving 18 years to become North Carolina’s Deputy Secretary for Natural […]