This Week in LANG 1/12/2026

January 12, 2026
Categories: General Events, General News Tags: 2026, arabic, chinese, german, heritage, italian, japanese, spanish

In this Edition: “Chair Regular Office Hours T 11-1 (f2f & virtual), W 11-12:30 (f2f & virtual) and R 3-5 (virtual), Aetna ID Card, Syllabus Regulation, Committee Work Descriptions”

Dear colleagues, 

Happy New Year and welcome to the Spring 2026 semester. I hope you all had a wonderful break.  

Welcome to the first week of classes. I hope you have a successful beginning of the semester. Please remember to submit your syllabi before January 15, when the new syllabus regulation goes into effect. If you have any questions, please let me know.

My regular chair office hours will be Tuesdays 11-1 (in person and virtual), Wednesdays 11-12:30 (in person and virtual) and Thursdays 3-5 (virtual). Changes to this regular schedule are noted in my google calendar and you can also always find them below my email signature. This week, the Thursday office hours will be earlier, since I will be giving a presentation at Aldersgate on B. Traven that evening. 

I look forward to seeing you all in the coming days. 

Dates and Events this Week

Chair Office Hours this week: 

T 1-3 (f2f & virtual), W 11-12:30 (f2f & virtual) and R 11-1 (virtual)

Monday, January 12

  • First Day of Classes

Looking Ahead: Dates and Events Spring 2026

January 19

  • Submission Deadline for 2025 Annual Evaluation Materials

January 20

  • Last Day to Drop Add

January 23

  • Department Meeting, Mebane 010, 2:30-4:00

January 26

  • Census Date

February 19-20

  • Heritage Language Symposium 

February 27

  • Department Meeting, Mebane 434, 2:30-4:00

March 20

  • Department Meeting, Mebane 434, 2:30-4:00

March 27-28

  • SEACS Conference

April 24

  • Department Meeting, Mebane 434, 2:30-4:00, end of year party 4:00-6:00

Congratulations

Congratulations to Dr. Noha Ghali on her presentation at the International Conference on Innovation and the Evolving Landscape of Arabic Learning: K–16 and Beyond, held at the American University in Cairo. On December 18, 2025, Dr. Ghali delivered a presentation titled Beyond the Arabic Classroom: Virtual Exchange Exploring Minorities in the Arab World.

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Congratulations to Angela Jakway for supporting one of our High Flier students. Nate Wilson has taken two courses with Professor Jakeway while still in High School through the High Flier program. Now Nate was admitted to Chapel Hill in December. His father writes “but the real news is that he was one of only 300 students in North Carolina that were directly admitted to the Kenan-Flagler undergraduate business program (Top 10 in the US).  There is no doubt that achievement was in part due to having access to your German Business I and German Business II courses.  Thank you so much for allowing Nate to have access to those opportunities.” 

Thank you to all colleagues who attended Commencement in December.

Susana Cisneros, Chikako Mori, Enika Banerjee, Daniela Dal Pra, Michele Bissiere, Mary La Marca. (Not pictured Jose Manuel Batista, Don Cross and Phil Kaffen.)image.jpeg

Information for Faculty and Staff

Service Roles Available this Spring

This Spring the Dean’s Office will request nominations for service positions at the college and university level. I will ask for colleagues who are interested to volunteer to nominate them. Please see a list below and read descriptions of the mission and work involved for each position/committee in this document: CommitteeWorkDescriptions.

  • FACULTY ASSEMBLY
  • UNIVERSITY FACULTY COUNCIL
  • FACULTY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
  • COMPETITIVE GRANTS COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY ACADEMIC PLANNING AND BUDGET COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY ACADEMIC POLICY AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY ADVISORY LIBRARY COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY ADVISORY SUMMER SESSIONS COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY EMPLOYMENT STATUS COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES ADVISORY COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE
  • FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
  • FACULTY WELFARE COMMITTEE
  • GRADUATE COUNCIL
  • HEARING COMMITTEE
  • HONORS COUNCIL
  • NOMINATIONS, HONORS, AND AWARDS COMMITTEE
  • PART-TIME FACULTY COMMITTEE
  • TEACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD COMMITTEE
  • UNDERGRADUATE COURSE AND CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
  • UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FACULTY COUNCIL
  • CHESS FACULTY COUNCIL
  • CHESS COLLEGE REVIEW COMMITTEE
  • CHESS COURSE AND CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
  • CHESS FACULTY DEVELOPMENT AWARD COMMITTEE
  • CHESS FACULTY RESEARCH GRANT COMMITTEE
  • CHESS NON-TENURE TRACK FACULTY PROMOTION REVIEW COMMITTEE

Please note that in January faculty nominations for the committees in bold above will be solicited. 

2026 Aetna ID Card Error

Some Aetna State Health Plan ID Cards for 2026 display an incorrect effective date of Jan. 1, 2025. Aetna is aware of the issue, and advises users to use the card as usual. There should not be a disruption in service due to this error.

Upcoming Events

2026 Heritage Language Learning Symposium 

The 2026 Heritage Language Learning Symposium will occur on Thursday, February 19, and Friday, February 20, 2026 (10:00 am – 6:00 pm US EST each day). For 2026, the symposium will feature five prominent scholars engaged in Heritage Language Education. The presenters will share their research and practical experience with UNC Charlotte faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, as well as K-12 educators and attendees from other institutions. 

The Symposium will promote a broad understanding of literacy practices and training for heritage speakers by bringing together experts in bilingual education in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

Please visit the website to find the program, abstracts for the research presentations, and workshops, as well as the registration form.

Wishing you a good first week of classes. 

All the best, 

Anabel