Round of Applause For Spartans’ Milestones

Posted on March 18, 2024

Statue of Minerva in springtime with dogwoods and azaleas blooming around it and campus buildings in background.

UNC Greensboro’s faculty and staff are always sharing their work, not just with students in classrooms, but with the rest of the world. This may be done through books, blogs, research accolades, film, and conferences. This week in Campus Weekly, we celebrate just some of the ways they’ve contributed to their fields:

The Department of Public Health Education and Eta Sigma Gamma partnered with the National Birth Coalition, Guilford County Department of Public Health, Every Baby Guilford, and the North Carolina Doula Organization to provide a free screening of the documentary “Bloom” at UNCG. This film takes the audience along the journeys of three sets of parents and their doulas on March 25 at the School of Education Building Auditorium. Anyone interested in attending can register here.

UNCG’s Network for the Cultural Study of Videogaming and Scholastic Esports Alliance will impart ways to transform K-12 classrooms during the “Esports and Education Conference.” Faculty, industry, and community experts will lead a day-long conference on March 23. Topics include K-12 Esports 101, Gaming & Career Ecosystem, and Gaming and Esports in Higher Ed. Register here.

Research into early Disney productions by Dr. Heather Holian, professor of art history and associate director of the School of Art, was featured on the international Fantasy Animation blog. The site is known for its large readership and recognition of new, impactful scholarship. Using unpublished documents, Holian proposes a new way of understanding a Walt Disney Studios production cel from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” given to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dr. Lisa Levenstein, professor of history, had her book “They Didn’t See Us Coming” translated into Italian and published by major Italian publisher Mondadori. An article was published in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

From the Department of Media Studies, Dr. Michael Frierson, co-produced the film “Up From the Streets: New Orleans, City of Music.” He joined Terence Blanchard, acclaimed as one of the foremost contemporary jazz trumpeters and composer of many of the films of Spike Lee, for a screening and discussion at the New Plaza Cinema in New York City on March 2. The film is available on Amazon.

Research by the lab of Dr. Shabnam Hematian, Bernard-Glickman Dean’s Professor and assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, made the 2023 Rising Stars of the American Chemical Society Organic and Inorganic Chemistry Au.

From the Department of Psychology, Professor Janet J. Boseovski and Senior Lecturer Ashleigh Gallagher talked about their upcoming book about how mothers’ dieting practices affect their daughters in The Conversation.

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New and Updated Policies Take Effect at UNCG

Posted on March 18, 2024

The UNCG clocktower surrounded by trees.

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Engaged UNCG Alumnus Excels in Economics

Posted on March 15, 2024

Richard Akashambatwa poses in front of UNCG building.

It’s no surprise that Richard “Aka” Akashambatwa’s ’16 advice for future Bryan School of Business and Economics students is to “be engaged” because knowing his story means knowing he lives by those words.

From being a young man in Zambia intrigued by the social sciences to answering questions as a business analytics consultant at Cone Health, Aka has been engaged in his education, his career, and his community.

From Zambia to North Carolina  

Aka seems to have known his direction since he attended high school in southern Africa.

“I was always intrigued by the art of the social sciences; I had a desire to solve complex social and economic issues that face communities at large,” says Aka. “Most young Zambians question why the country is so poor when it has many resources and why it is behind in terms of economic development.”

This early curiosity would ultimately lead to Aka’s future career.

After high school, Aka met and married his wife, and when pursuing education, they returned to her hometown of Lexington, North Carolina. He secured a “good foundation” at community college and then transferred to UNC Greensboro.

The Pursuit of Economics

Aka knew he wanted to do economics at UNCG yet admits he did not really know what it was about.

“I had a narrow understanding, but my courses at UNCG very much broadened my understanding of economics and also the use of data in supporting decision making and interpretating complex social issues—how they are connected and how they affect our day-to-day livelihoods.”

UNCG professors had vigorous expectations of the students, Aka shares, noting their instructional methods prepared students to tackle societal challenges and complex social issues. He adds every professor had a hand in some way in his student career.

“Every professor counseled me or provided support, and the support was holistic. Students were surrounded by a support system,” says Aka, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from UNCG in 2016.

Richard Aka poses with two professors in front of UNCG business building.

Data, Data, Data 

Aka feels strongly that UNCG instilled in him the skillset needed for the 21st century job market. “My experience at UNCG was very grounding. It was the building block of my career I am in right now,” says Aka.

As a business analytics consultant at Cone Health, Aka supports the population health and operations analytics team in the enterprise analytics department. His ultimate role is to provide decision support, provide data analytical support, and answer business questions for senior leadership, other business departments, and customers.

“My job involves mining data, using statistical models or exploratory analysis to gain insights, and creating reports for leadership to answer their specific questions,” says Aka.

For example, if Cone Health senior leadership wants to open an urgent care in a new location, Aka’s team would leverage internal and external databases to pull and analyze data to help the decisionmakers understand certain data points, like population characteristics, overall population census, the location’s disease mapping characteristics, and population projection.

“This data collection, the wrangling, the interpretation—it is all based on the economic studies I did at UNCG,” says Aka. “I learned how to design and use statistical mathematics in understanding relationship of a range of factors in the social sciences.”

“UNCG was the grounding for those unique set of skills.”

Education a ‘Gamechanger’

Richard Aka laughs with a past professor on UNCG campus.

Aka names education as a “gamechanger in my life,” so he invests his personal time in helping children’s educational endeavors. To engage in community, Aka mentors rising middle and high school students at Kidz Dreamz Klub in Lexington, where he worked while at UNCG and now serves on the board of directors. He also volunteers at Truth and Life Worship Center to help youth learn African drumming.

“If I can create a positive impact on the lives of young people, especially in minority communities, that is something that I love to do,” says Aka.

Engagement is Key

Aka encourages current UNCG students to “make sure you are participating in student life.”

“There’s more to university than just attending classes,” says Aka. “Participate in activities that enhance your ability to network—it helps jump start your career after college.”

In his third year as a Cone Health consultant, Aka is living proof of that advice.

Story by Amy Burtch, AMBCopy
Photography by David Lee Row, University Communications

Richard Aka walking on UNCG campus with a past professor.

Become a Problem Solver

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Deadline Nears For Staff Recognition Nominations

Posted on March 18, 2024

UNCG staff sit around tables for an appreciation luncheon near the fountain in Taylor Garden.

The UNCG community is invited to honor the people who make the campus run smoothly. The deadline to nominate colleagues for one of two Staff Recognition awards is March 24.

Ezekiel Robinson Emeritus Award

Conferral of Emeritus status is an honor that may be granted by the Staff Senate and the Department of Human Resources at the University of North Carolina Greensboro upon the retirement of staff members who have long, distinguished records of service, dedication, and leadership to the university. A staff member may be recommended for this honor by any current employee, faculty member, administrator, or student. Recommendations will be approved by the Chancellor, Unit Vice Chancellor, Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, and Staff Senate.

Members, or former members, of the University of North Carolina Greensboro staff may qualify for Emeritus Status upon meeting all of the following criteria:

  • Retirement from UNCG with a minimum of 10 years of full-time service at the university in either of the following classifications at the time of retirement: SHRA, EHRA Non-Faculty
  • Distinguished and meritorious service as documented on the nomination form, personnel file, and performance record.
  • No active disciplinary action or unacceptable personal conduct within the 5 years prior to retirement
  • Nomination by a current employee, faculty member, administrator, student, or member of the Board of Trustees.

Nominations may be sent here.

Staff Excellence Award

The University Staff Excellence Award recognizes staff members who have demonstrated excellence in their contributions to the University this year. Nominees will be recognized at the University-wide Staff Appreciation event in May.

The University Staff Excellence Award of $1,000 will be presented to deserving permanent SHRA or EHRA Non-faculty employees (up to two awards annually) who are in good standing and have been employed at UNCG for at least two years as of the nomination deadline.

Nominations may be sent here.

Read more about the ways that UNCG strives to celebrate its staff here. For more information, contact Nancy Brown at neknight@uncg.edu.

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Men’s Basketball To Honor Miller & Alonso With Jersey Retirement

Posted on March 14, 2024

Isaiah Miller and Francis Alonso

 The jerseys worn by UNC Greensboro men’s basketball alumni Isaiah Miller and Francis Alonso will be retired this summer. Both Miller and Alonso have their names etched in the UNCG men’s basketball record book in a multitude of single season and career top 10 categories. 

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Dixie Lee Bryant: Minerva’s First in Science

Posted on March 14, 2024

Sepia image of women in a science class in 1892 - working with microscopes.
Dixie Lee Bryant, fourth from the left, looks over students shoulders as they study plant samples in a science class in 1892.

Dixie Lee Bryant’s Impact

Sepia tone head shot photo of a woman from 1892.
Dixie Lee Bryant

When the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School (State Normal) opened its doors to female students in 1892, women could study domestic science, business, and “normal.” Normal studies included arts, humanities, and sciences that women would use to educate children in public and private schools of the time.

Dixie Lee Bryant [ACP1] led the science department for the first students to attend the school that would become UNC Greensboro. Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1862, her family moved to Columbia, Tennessee where she attended the Columbia Female Institute. Disappointed in the science studies available to women in southern schools, she applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston and graduated in 1891 with a bachelor of science.

At State Normal, Bryant taught physical geography, botany, chemistry, physics, zoology, and geology. She also tutored students, some of which had never studied sciences before.

She is credited with establishing the first scientific labs at State Normal, which included the first chemical laboratory for use by women in the state. These labs were in the “Main Building,” which is now the Foust Building, and most specimens studied were a part of Bryant’s personal research. Students were particularly enthusiastic about Bryant’s botany classes where they searched the surrounding areas for plant life to study, in what would become UNC Greensboro’s first field research projects.

In 1901, Bryant took a leave of absence from State Normal to study at the Bavarian University of Erlangen in Germany. There, she earned her PhD in geology and graduated magna cum laude in 1904. Upon her return to State Normal, she was the first faculty member – male or female – to hold a PhD. Unfortunately, she received no raise in her salary for this achievement, and in 1905, she left the school to teach in Chicago public schools. There, she worked until she retired to Asheville, NC in 1931.

Bryant’s scrapbooks provide insight into the early days at State Normal and the early days of women’s access to science education in North Carolina.

Dixie Lee Bryant’s Legacy

Bryant’s legacy lives on today in the strong emphasis on research and science studies that students find at UNCG. It is especially evident in the science leadership that Spartan women bring to the University.

Alyssa Young `14, `19 M.S. follows in Bryant’s botany footsteps as she completes her doctoral studies, which focus on the homegrown longleaf pine and saving its rich ecosystem from the effects of climate change. Just as Bryant shared her locally collected plant samples with those early State Normal students, Young’s experiments employ undergraduates, so that all students have an opportunity to participate in hands-on research.

Bryant’s first chemical labs were precursors to technology being developed in the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering labs, where Dr. Sheeba Dawood ’20 PhD and Dr. Hemali Rathnayak founded Minerva Lithium’s Nano Mosaic, a process that extracts lithium for batteries from brine.

Woman in lab coat works with technology in a Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology lab.
Dr. Shabnam Hematian works in a JSNN lab.

Dr. Shabnam Hematian, UNCG’s Bernard-Glickman Dean’s Professor, continues Bryant’s study of chemistry in the environment around us, but makes it relevant to the needs of society today as she works to design more efficient and environmentally friendly energy sources. “I’m very invested in passing knowledge to the next generation,” Hematian says about her research and teaching. “That’s my passion: to influence people and the future.”

Bryant would agree with Hematian. Her initiative to find science studies that weren’t readily available to women of her time and share her experience with young students is alive and well in UNCG science departments like chemistry and biochemistry, which was celebrated last year for its National Science Foundation fellows and for its diversity. Elevating women in science never gets old at UNCG.

Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications.
Historical photography courtesy of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives at the University Libraries. Recent photos by Sean Norona, University Communications.

Seven women pose together in t-shirts with UNCG letters that look like periodic table elements.

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Music Scholarship Honors Emma Gibbs Slater

Posted on March 13, 2024

Emma Gibbs Slater

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UNCG Makes Healthcare Careers Accessible to All

Posted on March 13, 2024

Young nurse stands in front of Moses Cone Hospital.
Diana Moreno `23 combined nursing shifts at Moses Cone Hospital with a biology major at UNCG to pursue her medical school dreams.

Think medical school is too competitive for you? Think being a dentist or doctor is the only way to make money in healthcare? Think a biology major is the only path to a career in patient care? UNC Greensboro says think again. 

At UNCG, health careers satisfying a range of student interests and skills are within reach. UNCG’s pre-medical track is turning out medical school acceptance rates higher than the national average thanks to faculty guidance and access to research. Students with specialized interests are finding allied health majors like kinesiology that match their passions, and exploratory majors like human health sciences demystify the healthcare industry and shape students into compassionate patient advocates.  

Changing Healthcare Needs 

According to North Carolina’s Office of State Budget and Management, 20% of North Carolinians will be 65 years and older by the end of 2024. As our population ages, North Carolina state leaders and higher education institutions must prepare for expanded healthcare. Furthermore, healthcare employers are reevaluating how they staff these expanded services, prioritizing candidates that can better connect with patients to encourage healthy living and help navigate the complicated healthcare system. 

Medical schools want more than just high GPAs. They want diverse students with hands-on experience that patients will trust. And beyond doctors, there are a range of positions that hospitals, communities, and senior living facilities must fill to serve our aging population.  

Launching Health Professionals 

UNCG is uniquely positioned to provide the skilled graduates that healthcare employers in our state seek. Its diverse student body and long-standing commitment to service careers like nursing make UNCG a perfect launch pad for healthcare careers. Furthermore, the University’s size gives students a leg up when it comes to research opportunities and meaningful mentorship with faculty. 

UNCG provides students with guidance for the complicated and competitive healthcare industry and options for career paths that suit individual talents and passions. Consider the following programs where students can find their fit at UNCG and prep for successful careers. 

Building MDs at the G: Preprofessional Health Science Tracks 

UNCG may not be the first school that pops to mind when considering preparation for medical school, but the track record of our graduates is undeniable. 

In 2023, medical school acceptance rates for UNCG graduates were higher than the national average.

Currently, UNCG has 3,097 students in health-related preprofessional programs. Half are on the pre-medical track, with rigorous academic coursework in biology and chemistry prerequisites. Last year, UNCG graduates’ acceptance rate for medical school was 53%, which was higher than the national average at 41%. Acceptance rates at physical therapy and physician assistant schools were also higher than the national average for UNCG graduates.  

What makes these acceptance rates particularly notable is that, unlike other schools of its size, UNCG doesn’t prescreen or require a GPA for acceptance in their preprofessional programs. “Our philosophy is everybody has a chance,” says Robin Maxwell, director of the post-baccalaureate pre-medical program. “If they make the decision to commit themselves to this goal, we’re going to help them reach it.”  

Advising is particularly important to keeping students on preprofessional tracks. Determining courses of study that align with interests for maximum academic performance, walking students through the application process, and giving them opportunities for research and hands-on experience is also key. Maxwell believes that support like this is difficult for students to find in larger universities. 

“Our size makes us different; our diversity makes us different; and because we care about the student, we’re in the trenches with them,” Maxwell explains. “That one-on-one relationship with someone who cares about you is so important, particularly if you’re a first-generation college student and no one in your family has been to college, much less medical school.” 

A Pipeline to the Front Lines: Nursing 

UNCG has long been known for its School of Nursing. Undergraduates studying for their bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) or RN (registered nurse) to BSN, as well as graduate students, benefit from expert faculty and state-of-the-art technology. Traditional and non-traditional students appreciate innovative programs like the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and the Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) concentrations, or the Veterans Access Program (VAP).  

Hands-on experience and community service, like volunteering in Minerva’s Mobile Health Unit, teaches nursing students to meet patients where they are.

“It’s important to get students out of their comfort zone,” says Audrey Snyder, associate dean for community engagement and academic partnerships at the School of Nursing. “They have to understand the contextual challenges where their patients live.” 

Can I Get a Referral: Specialized Health Programs 

Modern healthcare requires skilled hands other than those of doctors and nurses alone. Speech pathologists, psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers – these are all health-related occupations that UNCG prepares students for.  

Even in specialized programs, faculty encourage students to approach their fields in a holistic way so they can learn to work in teams to care for the whole patient, rather than treating a specific diagnosis. Students with specialized health degrees are ready for the workforce upon graduation, but many go on to graduate school or use their studies to apply to medical school. Kinesiology is one of many in-demand specialized health degrees offered at UNCG. 

“UNCG’s kinesiology program is ranked number one in North Carolina according to Universities.com.”

Adam Berg

“This is due to excellence in teaching and research,” says Adam Berg, director of kinesiology undergraduate studies. “Jackie Maher, our undergraduate research liaison, helps faculty researchers recruit solid undergraduate assistants and helps undergraduates identify labs that suit their interests and career goals.” 

With a mission to promote wellness through physical activity throughout the human lifespan, Berg says that kinesiology majors provide solutions for “aging in an ever more sedentary society” as physical therapists, recreational directors, sports coaches, or exercise physiologists. 

Nutrition is another health sciences major that is turning out caring professionals. Healthcare employers are also looking for majors like gerontology, genetic counseling, therapeutic recreation, speech pathology and audiology, human development and family studies, social work, and even peace and conflict studies. Professionals in these fields support systemic change in the healthcare industry. 

Exploring Holistic Care: Human Health Sciences 

For students who are interested in a broader understanding of the healthcare industry, the new human health sciences program is a perfect fit. It is the only major of its kind offered in the Piedmont Triad. While some combine this degree with the rigor of a preprofessional track, others use it to explore the healthcare system in general to prepare for administrative or support roles in medical facilities and businesses.  

A teacher advises two students in her office.
Dr. Jeannette Wade advises students in the human health sciences department.

“Our degree is interprofessional. Students take classes in the other health science areas, including nutrition, exercise science, social work, human development, and family studies, speech, peace and conflict studies,” explains Dr. Jeannette Wade, director of the human health science program. “We curate courses to give a little taste of what all the other health professionals do. It helps students learn to work as a team to treat patients.” 

“Interprofessional education and the holistic understanding of healthcare is the wave of the future.”

Dr. Jeannette Wade

In the “Careers in Human Health Sciences” course, the instructor brings in guest speakers like a massage therapist, pharmaceutical sales rep, psychologist and specialized doctors and nurses. “If we don’t learn about specialties like this, we don’t know about holistic care,” Wade explains. “This exposure helps our students make more informed career choices upon graduating and ultimately serve patients better.” 

Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications.
Photography by Sean Norona and David Lee Row, University Communications.

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UNCG Prepares for Reaccreditation On-Site Visit

Posted on March 12, 2024

Flowers bloom while the UNCG McIver statue stands in the background near the library.

UNC Greensboro will host an On-Site Reaffirmation Visiting Committee, representing its accrediting body SACSCOC (the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges) next week. Accreditation is important to all of us as it ensures the general public and prospective students that we have meet quality standards for our academic programs and is a requirement for access to federal and state funding.

From March 18-21, 2024, the Visiting Committee will tour our campus and off-campus sites where we also teach our programs, follow up on the results of the written report we submitted in September, and conduct an in-depth review of our Quality Enhancement Plan, called Spartans Thrive. They will also meet with many people – faculty, staff, students, and administrators – to discuss the topics in the report.

Any recommendations that they have for us will be shared at the end of that visit, and we’ll provide a response to those recommendations over the summer. In December 2024 the Board of Trustees of SACSCOC will decide on UNCG’s accreditation status.

If you have any questions about UNC Greensboro’s accreditation or the process, contact Jodi Pettazzoni, our liaison to SACSCOC, at jepettaz@uncg.edu.

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Spartan Dining Holds a Cartoon Food Showdown

Posted on March 11, 2024

Close-up on whipped cream dolloped on a stack of pancakes.

This matchup pits iconic foods from iconic shows against one another. Round 1 runs through the week. The two finalists will be featured in Fountain View Dining Hall on March 27.

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