This Week in LANG 5/18/2025

August 19, 2025
Categories: Awards, Cultural Events, General Events, General News, Information Session, Workshop

Dear colleagues, 

Today is the first day of classes of the new Academic Year. Thank you for participating in the department retreat. I hope I was able to convey how impressive your achievements were in 2024-25 and that I am looking forward to working with all of you in 2025-26. I am optimistic about the health of our department and am confident that we have the flexibility and resilience to address the challenges that might come our way.

As you start the new Semester and Academic Year, take a look at last year in This Year in LANG 2024-25. 

Thank you for everything you did last year and welcome to Fall 2025.

Note: If you see a link at the bottom of this email which says “Read Full Message” please click that to view all content. Or view the content online here.

Dates and Events this Week

Monday, August 18

  • First Day of Classes

Looking Ahead Dates and Events Fall 2025

August 25

  • Last day to add, drop a course with no grade @ 11:59pm

August 27

  • 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM, Code of Academic Integrity Workshop via Zoom* (Register)

August 29

  • Census date for Fall Enrollment 

September 1

  • No classes, Labor Day

September 5

September, 12

September 15

  • Fulbright Applications due
  • Kick off for German Week: “Black Germans – Afro-GermanExperience in Past and Present.”

September 18

  • Deadline to apply for December Graduation 

September 25

  • Title XI Training due

October 3

October 9-10

Student Recess, No Classes 

October 16

  • Last day to withdraw from course(s)

November 11

  • Veteran’s Day, no classes 

November 26-29

  • Thanksgiving Break

December 2

  • Last Day of Classes 

December 3

  • Reading Day

December 4-10

  • Exam Period

December 12-13

  • Commencement

December 15 

  • Grades due 

Congratulations

Congratulations to all our faculty who were promoted! 

Congratulations to Dr. David Dalton, Dr. Chris Mellinger, Dr. Anton Pujol, and Dr. Mónica Rodríguez who were all promoted to Full Professor this year. 

In addition, congratulations to Dr. Javier García León for being promoted and receiving tenure. 

And congratulations to Dr. Noha Ghali, who was promoted to Full Teaching Professor this year. 

We are proud of all our promoted faculty and are excited about your careers. You make the department look wonderful and we all appreciate it. 

Congratulations to Grant Recipients

Congratulations to Javier García León and Mónica Rodríguez for obtaining an Insight Development Grant funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada entitled Mental Health Representations: A Corpus-Based Discourse Analysis of Latin American and Spanish Media Outlets.

Important Information for Faculty and Staff

This Week in LANG

I will continue to send a weekly newsletter. Please find important information in these newsletters. They will also be available on your departmental Canvas page and our Website. 

Please provide information about what is happening in terms of teaching, service, scholarly activity, as well as information about alumni, events you would like to share with the department. This Week in LANG

Mandatory Research Training
Attention all researchers with active federal funding and those planning future proposal submissions to federal agencies. The Division of Research has posted updates for Mandatory Research Security Training. Read the Policy and Procedure Updates for details on how to take action.

Mandatory Title IX Training
You have been assigned UNC Charlotte Employees: Niners Know – Title IX Training. Please visit the Learning & Development Portal to complete your assignment by 9/25/2025.All university employees are required to complete the assigned training which can be finished in approximately 15 minutes.

Building Access Changes
Effective today, Monday, Aug. 11, University building access schedules and procedures have changed. You may need your 49er ID card to access buildings. Review this webpage for building schedules and more information.

German Week
German Week is coming back this fall. The topic is “Black Germans – Afro-GermanExperience in Past and Present”. The events will take place between Monday, September 15 and Thursday, September 18. We will have a  Kick-off event with a pop-up book exhibit, a film screening, two documentary screenings, a lecture and a public talk. Details to follow. 

Teaching Awards Renamed
UNC Charlotte’s two University-wide teaching awards now share a single name: the UNC Charlotte Awards for Teaching Excellence. One award will continue to recognize tenured faculty, while the other will continue to honor non-tenure-track faculty. While the name has changed, the commitment to excellence in teaching remains the same. An announcement about this year’s finalists is forthcoming with the award ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 11.

OUR Spring Faculty Applications
Are you looking to engage undergraduates on a research, scholarly, or creative project? Have you thought about how an undergraduate student can help your scholarly research program? Have you had students asking you questions that would be interesting to further investigate? Are you looking to test a new question or try something new? Do you have a need for a student, but not the means? Yes? Yes. or Yes! The Office of Undergraduate Research can help! The OUR Scholars program can help you find and employ students in collaborative learning through undergraduate research, scholarly and creative activities. OUR is pleased to announce that the Office of Undergraduate Research is now accepting submissions for faculty project descriptions for the Spring of 2026 OUR Academic Year Research Program. Learn more.If you have questions about the expectations, the application, the process, or how to attract students, reach out to OUR’s Director or Associate Director. If you are ready to prepare a proposal, then view our template and visit the competitions portal to apply. The deadline for submission is September 15. This is step 1, so please encourage your students to apply for the program starting September 18. The program is FWS eligible, but not required.

Code of Student Academic Integrity
The Code of Student Academic Integrity has been recently revised to make the language more understandable and the processes easier to follow for both students and faculty members. Changes include:

  • adding provisions about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI); 
  • adding a new category of prohibited behavior, “Failure to Comply” with faculty instructions related to academic integrity; 
  • adding an “Outcome-Only Hearing” option for cases where a student takes responsibility for their behavior, but disagrees with the outcomes proposed through a Facilitated Resolution; 
  • adding a new “Graduate Students” chapter to highlight the heightened academic integrity responsibilities and expectations of those engaging in graduate coursework; and
  • changing the Informal Resolution form from paper to electronic routing through DocuSign. 

Join the presenters as they explain some of those changes and highlight how faculty can apply the new policy provisions as they embark on the Fall 2025 semester. Presenters: Kaela Lindquist, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Accountability & Conflict Resolution; Terry Shirley, Chair, Academic Integrity Board; Amy Kelso, Senior Associate General Counsel

  • Wednesday, August 27, 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM, via Zoom* (Register)

*Registrants will receive the Zoom link prior to the presentation.

Carnegie Fellowship

UNC Charlotte can nominate one senior and one junior faculty member for the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program. CHESS has been asked to provide names of faculty members who would be competitive for the award and are willing to spend the time to put together a complete application. We are accepting nominations (including self-nominations) through this form until Friday, August 29, at 12:00 noon. Please note that candidates who have been nominated in the past two years are not eligible for candidacy. Academic Affairs will select the UNC Charlotte nominees.

Fulbright
Faculty are invited to apply for the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, offering a wide range of international opportunities for scholars at all career stages. Award categories include:

  • Scholar Awards – The core of the program, with placements in over 130 countries.
  • Global Scholar Award, Arctic Initiative, and Amazonia – Specialized awards for global collaboration.
  • Distinguished Scholar Awards – Prestigious appointments for those with 7+ years of experience.
  • Postdoctoral Awards – Research and training abroad for recent doctoral graduates.

Fulbright Scholars engage deeply with host institutions, promoting mutual understanding and sharing knowledge across borders. Each award has unique eligibility criteria, so be sure to review the descriptions carefully.Please contact Joel Gallegos, Associate Provost for International Programs, for further questions. Learn more and apply by September 15.

Register for Faculty Development Workshops
The Center for Teaching and Learning is excited to host a range of workshops and professional development opportunities starting on August 11, 2025 on Artificial Intelligence Pedagogy, Canvas Foundations, Analytics, and Tools, Student Engagement and Success, and Teaching Essentials. Visit our *NEW* Events and Workshops webpage to browse and register for: 

Work Towards a *NEW* Microcredential on Essentials of Learning Technologies

Apply for a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant on AI
The Faculty Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grants Committee is requesting proposals for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Grants on impacts of AI in Teaching and Learning! Use this as an opportunity to jumpstart your research into the effects of AI in your classroom and/or your teaching practice! Want to learn more? Join our SoTL Orientation Workshop (one hour via Zoom) on August 18 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. to hear from SoTL Program facilitators about the goals of the program and support structures for SoTL work on campus. Need writing support? Enroll in the SoTL Writing Course (five days facilitated asynchronous/self-paced) from August 25-29. 

Wishing you all a wonderful first day and first week of the semester. Thank you for all you do. 

All the best,

Anabel