News & Updates

Dean Emerita Mary Lynne Calhoun passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 21, 2023. Calhoun retired from UNC Charlotte in 2013 after 31 years of service as a member of the faculty and a leader in the Cato College of Education. She arrived at UNC Charlotte in 1982 as an assistant professor of special education before […]

Education alumna Fatima Sail has been named New Hanover County Schools Teacher of the Year. Hear her story as told by her school district. Fatima Sail is effervescent, but don’t let the ear-to-ear grin, encouraging words, and springing thumbs up fool you: She’s a fighter. Growing up with four older brothers in a little village […]

By: Sonja Barisic Photos by: Ryan Honeyman & Kat Lawrence Straun Alexander was in a classroom chatting with other aspiring principals when he received a tap on the shoulder. A parent needed to see him right away, he was told. Waiting for Alexander in another room was a parent, angry because her son was suspended […]

Dear Niner Nation, I am pleased to share the exciting news that UNC Charlotte has received one of the largest gifts in our history, up to $23 million from the North Carolina-based Mebane Foundation. You can read more about the gift and its impact in this news article. Over the next five years, the transformative investment […]

The UNC Charlotte Cato College of Education, a leader in literacy instruction and research, has been selected by the Mebane Foundation to help continue its legacy of supporting innovation in literacy education in North Carolina and beyond through a five-year grant and potential endowment of up to $23 million. The decision follows a competitive statewide […]

The Office of Academic Affairs recognized faculty and an academic unit for exemplary work in the areas of teaching, advising and civic engagement at the annual Provost’s Awards Reception. Winners of this year’s Provost’s Awards are Carlos Cruz, associate professor of theater and program director of the Master of Fine Arts in community-centered practice; Ryan […]

North Carolina’s community college board has elevated UNC Charlotte Cato College of Education alumnus and Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox to be the next top executive over its 58 colleges, amid staffing vacancies and legislative efforts to overhaul the governance of one of the country’s largest such systems. Read more

The UNC Charlotte Phi Kappa Phi (PKP) Honor Society and Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) Honor Society partner each year to share their love of reading with Niner University Elementary (NUE). Through a national PKP-funded grant, the Love of Reading project includes three components: a book and supply drive, a read-in, and community book boxes. “The […]

by: Mebane Rash, founding CEO and editor-in-chief, EducationNC Darrin Hartness has always been an educator. He has served as a vocational teacher, principal, chief technology officer, assistant superintendent, superintendent, and is now president of Davidson-Davie Community College. Regardless of his role, he told us, “It’s really all about relationships.” Read more

Professor Mark D’Amico offered perspective on the community college transfer process for EdNC. I started my career in the mid-1990s as an admissions staff member and met with many individual students (walk-ins, as we called them) about how to gain admission. The university was focused on transfer with a high proportion of first-generation college students, […]

by: EdNC Staff The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) was recently awarded roughly $17 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to help meet the mental health needs of students in the state’s public schools. UNC Charlotte is leading the way. Read more

Alumna Dr. Pamela Mims is joining a team of researchers expanding access and interest in biomanufacturing careers nationwide. The Greenville Sun Government, business and education leaders across the United States are working collaboratively to make clear to high school students and others that bio industrial manufacturing is a career path open to all. Dr. Pamela […]

Ra’Quan Leary’s Niner Nation story is one that many students share across the country: he went to the school that made the most sense for him financially. “Once I came here, I realized I love it here, and that I want to stay,” said Leary, a third-year middle grade education major in the Cato College […]

Professor Adriana Medina has won the Bank of America Award for Teaching Excellence. Medina is an associate professor of reading and elementary education in the Cato College of Education. She is a global educator — using study abroad opportunities to expand her students’ perspectives of education beyond the United States, while enhancing their understanding of […]

The Cato College of Education, in partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the Office of International Programs has been awarded a multi-million dollar Teacher Quality Partnership Grant. Led by Scott Kissau, Teresa Petty, Lan Kolano, Joan Lachance, and Michelle Stephan, Project TLC: Preparing Teachers of Language and Content […]

We’re so proud of alumna Natalia Mejia on her selection as the 2022-23 Cabarrus County Schools Beginning Teacher of the Year. https://wbtv.com/2022/09/07/cabarrus-county-schools-names-beginning-teacher-year/

In 2016, John Cato and the Cato Corporation made a $5 million gift to establish the Cato Scholarship for Education and the Cato Award for Faculty Excellence at UNC Charlotte to help prepare a new generation of teachers. In June, Cato was awarded the UNC Charlotte Distinguished Service Award. Amiya Ingram, a recipient of the […]

Mebane Foundation Founder, Allen Mebane, believed that to achieve our nation’s greatest potential, we must ensure its young people receive a top-tier education. Knowing that teacher quality is one of the most important school-related factors influencing student achievement, the Foundation cultivates partnerships with leading colleges of education to fund transformative training opportunities for both in-service […]