Amy Kunst, an earth sciences education student, is the first recipient of a scholarship started by geology professor Steve Yurkovich for geology and earth sciences education students.
Cyndi Margiotta, who recently began her job as an eighth-grade mathematics teacher at Canton Middle School in Haywood County, had been waiting for the first day of school for a long time.
WCU is the new home to the offices of the Santa Aguila Charitable Trust, an international organization devoted to the protection and preservation of beaches around the world, and recent WCU graduate Adam Griffith has been hired as director of the trust’s Beachcare program.
Invoking the words of President John F. Kennedy, who urged Americans to ask what they could do to help their country, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler challenged Western Carolina University students to get involved in their campus and home communities, instead of simply sitting back and letting government do all the work.
Western Carolina University will offer “Using Outcome-Based Performance in Online Learning” as a part of the Digital Sharing Workshop Series, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, in Room 143 of the Cordelia Camp Building.
Amy Laughead-Riese, senior lighting designer for Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores, will make a presentation from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16, in Room 130 of the Fine and Performing Arts Center, on the campus of Western Carolina University.
Western Carolina University will offer “Learning for Fun: Stained Glass” from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays, Sept. 9 through Oct. 21, in the Cordelia Camp Building.
Western Carolina University will host “Creating Businesses that Rock,” as part of the Educational Outreach Business Lunch Series, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, in Room 143 of the Cordelia Camp Building.
Local residents are invited to enter their canned, dried or baked goods in “A Gathering In,” the traditional foods competition that is just one of the contests held in conjunction with Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University’s annual celebration of traditional mountain culture.
A new tailgating policy at Western Carolina University will be in effect beginning this fall football season, with designated tailgating areas for students, Catamount Club members, returning alumni and visiting fans.
Western Carolina University’s College of Education and Allied Professions has unveiled a new Web site designed to provide prospective teacher education students with the information they need to get them on the path to earning a degree in education.
Western Carolina University’s online master’s degree program in project management has been given a No. 1 national ranking in quality and affordability by the distance education information clearinghouse GetEducated.com.
With $825,000 in federal funding over the next three years, Western Carolina University is starting a new online master’s degree program to help nurses gain the necessary skills for management roles in health care facilities and to prepare them to work in today’s environment of increasing cultural diversity.
Ready….set….WHOOP! On the fourth Tuesday of every month at noon, beginning Aug. 26, police at Western Carolina University will be testing the university’s new siren system. During each test, people on and around the WCU campus should hear a high-pitched, repetitive whooping sound for about three minutes.
Western Carolina University student Stephen Page was chosen from among hundreds of volunteers across the country as the August “Volunteer of the Month” by American Whitewater, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Sylva.
Winford Gordon, assistant professor of psychology, delivered the keynote address at WCU's annual Freshman Convocation on Friday, Aug. 15, focusing on themes from the summer reading selection “Three Cups of Tea.”
P. Bradley Ulrich, professor of trumpet at Western Carolina University, will travel to Russia in October to teach a trumpet clinic and perform recitals.
A 5-kilometer foot race and 1-mile “Fun Run” will be held on the Western Carolina University campus Saturday, Sept. 27, as part of festivities at Western’s 34th annual Mountain Heritage Day.
Two free Kaya Kalpa Yoga workshops will be offered at Western Carolina University from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, and Thursday, Sept. 4, in the A.K. Hinds University Center Grandroom.
Western Carolina University’s grants office recently announced more than $1.6 million in new funding for faculty and staff initiatives.
Western Carolina University’s Lectures, Concerts and Exhibitions Series will show classic movies from around the world as part of a foreign film series that runs select Thursdays from September through April. Movies begin at 7 p.m. at the A.K. Hinds University Center
Tickets for an October concert at Western Carolina University’s Ramsey Regional Activity Center by Corey Smith, an independent musician whose popularity has soared with an online audience, go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2.
Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 2, for a bluegrass concert featuring Western North Carolina’s own Balsam Range on stage at Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center.
Japanese drumming, contemporary dance, politically charged spoken word and more are on tap for Western Carolina University’s 2008-09 Lectures, Concerts and Exhibitions Series.
A performance by Fushu Daiko, a Japanese drumming ensemble, will launch Western Carolina University’s 2008-09 Lectures, Concerts and Exhibitions Series. Fushu Daiko will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, at the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the WCU campus.
There’s a whole new breed of cat on the prowl at Western Carolina University these days after the university unveiled a fresh look for Catamount athletics Wednesday, Aug. 13, just in time for the 75th anniversary of the selection of the Catamount as the official mascot for Western’s intercollegiate sports teams.
Western Carolina University’s new $16.7 million Campus Recreation Center opened for the first time on Sunday, Aug. 17.
Walker and Scott residence halls will be the busiest places on Western Carolina University’s campus Friday, Aug. 15, as freshmen unpack their bags and prepare for their first year as Catamounts. Upperclassmen will begin arriving the morning of Saturday, Aug. 16, with fall semester classes beginning Monday, Aug. 18.
Former astronaut Dr. Bernard Harris Jr. told students in Western Carolina University’s College of Business on Aug. 21 that he believes entrepreneurs in the private sector will propel the space industry to achieve its fullest potential.
Eight students recently completed WCU's new Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, an eight-week total immersion research experience.
As Western Carolina University gets ready to welcome the best prepared freshman class in its history, the university must focus attention in the coming year on aligning four separate yet related strategic activities so that it can continue to improve academic quality and serve the needs of the people of North Carolina.
David A. Shapiro, professor of communication sciences and disorders at Western Carolina University and one of the nation’s top speech-language pathologists, is the first faculty member to hold the university’s newly created title of Madison Professor.
Thomas M. Salzman, past chair of the performing arts department at the College of Santa Fe, recently joined Western Carolina University as head of the stage and screen department.
High-energy a cappella group Chapter 6 will launch the 2008-09 Galaxy of Stars Series at Western Carolina University with its diverse repertoire of signature pieces and freshly arranged, comedy-infused jazz, pop, gospel and rock. Chapter 6 will play at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, in the performance hall of Western’s Fine and Performing Arts Center.
Brittany Haskett, daughter of Mark Haskett, university photographer, and Tammy Haskett, director of WCU orientation programs, won scholarships including three specifically for Western Carolina University students – the Staff Forum Scholarship, Deborah J. Bardo Employee Scholarship and a Kimmel Foundation Scholarship.
The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University will open its fall season with the first retrospective exhibition of work by Lewis Buck, a lifelong artist and longtime Asheville-area resident with what critics describe as unique artistic vision.
The College of Fine and Performing Arts at Western Carolina University presents the lineup for the 2008-09 Galaxy of Stars Series, eight shows of theater, music and dance from September to May in the performance hall of the Fine and Performing Arts Center on Western’s campus.
Western Carolina University’s Ramsey Regional Activity Center will host the first stop on a 20-city national tour featuring country musician Jason Aldean and sponsored by the music network CMT.
Western Carolina University’s department of modern foreign languages will present its second annual Spanish/Latin American Film Festival, which will run from Tuesday, Sept. 9, to Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Students and community members will have the opportunity to engage movie directors about their work as part of the 2008-09 Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers, the nation’s only regional tour of independent filmmakers and their films, running from September through April at Western Carolina University.
Western Carolina University’s Small Business and Technology Development Center helped local companies create 175 jobs and retain an additional 287 employees who would have been laid off in 2007.
Subscribers to the University Theatre’s 2008-09 Mainstage season at Western Carolina University have a full menu of laughs, love, tragedy, song and dance. This season’s productions include the comedy “Plaza Suite” by Neil Simon, Shakespeare’s “Othello,” the classic musical “Fiddler on the Roof” and contemporary vignettes on love with “Almost, Maine” by John Cariani.
Western Carolina University’s grants office recently announced more than $450,000 in new funding for faculty and staff initiatives.
Interested in a volunteer opportunity requiring a little time and a big love of the arts? The Fine and Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University seeks community members to donate time for everything from taking tickets to public outreach.
Western Carolina University graduate student Karen Dodson was just completing an ordinary assignment for an English class last spring when she transcribed and edited several Civil War-era letters, but her work soon will be published in a prestigious journal that focuses on the life and work of American literary icon Walt Whitman.
The strength of home and family ties were common themes heard Friday (Aug. 1) as Western Carolina University held summer commencement exercises for approximately 430 graduating students at Ramsey Regional Activity Center.
Robert J. Conley, the newly appointed Sequoyah Distinguished Professor of Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University, has been selected to receive the 2009 American Indian Festival of Words Author Award.
Award-winning novelist Rick Boyer of the English department faculty is author of the newly published “The Quintessential Sherlock Holmes,” a collection of five full-length stories based upon the legendary detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Cheryl Stacy, a Troutman resident enrolled in Western Carolina University’s family nurse practitioner program, is one of 22 graduate students from across the nation recently named recipients of academic scholarships by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Foundation.
A new agreement makes it easier for students in Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's new entrepreneurship program to transfer to Western Carolina University and earn a four-year business degree.
Christopher Pratt, former dean of career education at Columbia University, is the new associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Business at Western Carolina University.
The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University has announced winners in its exhibit “Fragile Earth: Reflections on the Environment.”
Students in programs within Western Carolina University’s department of stage and screen excelled in the Asheville leg of an international competition that gives participants two days to make a short film.
Food vendors are being sought to participate in Mountain Heritage Day, Western Carolina University’s daylong celebration of mountain culture that will be held on the WCU campus Saturday, Sept. 27.
A new book edited by two WCU political scientists examines the changing face of politics in North Carolina and revisits the state’s long-standing progressive reputation in light of transformations in Old North State politics over the past 50 years.
Western Carolina University is seeking official recognition of its emphasis on community engagement and its link to engaged teaching, research and service.
For the first time since its formation, there is a changing of the guard for Western Carolina University’s Public Policy Institute as founding director Gordon Mercer hands over the reins to fellow political science and public affairs faculty member Christopher Cooper.
Gas prices are soaring, and so is enrollment in academic programs offered online by Western Carolina University.
Elizabeth Gillespie McRae, associate professor of history, has been elected to membership in the Historical Society of North Carolina.
The Western Carolina University Trumpet Ensemble recently participated in an intensive, weeklong program in Italy in connection with Orvieto Musica, an international chamber music festival.
David Dorondo, associate professor of history, has been elected as an at-large member to the board of the North Carolina Association of Historians.
WCU employees, their children and spouses are getting a financial incentive to earn degrees from the university under a recently approved scholarship program.
Brill publishing house recently released the book “Monstrous Fishes and the Mead-Dark Sea: Whaling in the Medieval North Atlantic” by Vicki Szabo, associate professor of history.
Smoking is prohibited within 50 feet of buildings on Western Carolina University’s campus under a policy that took effect Tuesday, July 1.
Chancellor John W. Bardo presented the 2008 Judy H. Dowell Outstanding Support Staff Award to university photographer Mark Haskett at a service awards luncheon.
Two students in WCU’s athletic training program recently received scholarships from the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Trainers’ Association as part of the organization’s annual symposium.
Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center is among the first facilities in the nation chosen to receive the Connecting to Collections Bookshelf, a set of books relating to artifact conservation and proper museum practices.
Western Carolina University student William Styles will get a first-hand look at the political process above and beyond what he is learning in the classroom as a senior majoring in political science when he attends the Democratic National Convention in August.
WCU has just installed and tested a new, combination siren and public address system, which features a variety of alert tones, a library of prerecorded messages that can be used to respond to natural or manmade emergencies, and a manual override to enable spoken messages from campus police.
Chancellor John Bardo on Thursday, June 5, committed Western Carolina University to joining a community-university partnership focused on revitalizing the Cherokee language.
Twenty-one Western Carolina University students were recently inducted into Sigma Tau Delta, an international English honor society.
Noted Cherokee scholar Robert J. Conley, a prolific author with 80 books to his credit during a career spanning 40 years, is the new Sequoyah Distinguished Professor in Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University.
Western Carolina University’s new director of health services is alumna Pamela M. Buchanan, former director of planning and operations at WestCare Health System.
The history and culture of Western North Carolina are being presented to a worldwide audience through the Web site of the Digital Heritage Project at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.
Western Carolina University’s board of trustees welcomed its newest member and bid farewell to a longtime friend as part of its regular quarterly meeting Friday, June 6.
John Q. Hodges, associate professor of social work at the University of Missouri, is the new head of Western Carolina University’s social work department, effective June 15.
WCU’s grants office recently announced more than $660,000 in new funding for faculty and staff initiatives.
WCU’s Mountain Heritage Center has opened an exhibit focused on furniture handmade in Western North Carolina during the 1800s and early 1900s. The exhibit will be on display through December 15.
Pat Brown, dean of educational outreach at Western Carolina University and president of Alpha Sigma Lambda, the national honor society for nontraditional adult students, delivered the keynote address as the society’s chapter at Villanova University recently its celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Western Carolina University will offer the popular Tiny Tot Swim Program and the Youth Swim program throughout spring and summer.
Twelve middle school students from a Western Carolina University effort to broaden the pool of children who may pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics recently competed in a statewide solar vehicle race, with one of the teams winning first place for technical merit.
The Fine Art Museum on the campus of Western Carolina University will begin its summer series with an exhibit featuring the fine furniture of three regional artists. “Contemporary Furniture: Innovation in Wood from Appalachian Traditions” will run from Tuesday, June 3, to Saturday, June 28, at the museum, in WCU’s Fine and Performing Arts Center.
Ronald D. Hunter, professor of applied criminology at Western Carolina University, was recently honored by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences after completing a one-year term as president of the international organization.
More than 40 historically significant quilts from the collection of Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center are now on display for a worldwide audience following the launch of the Quilt Index, an online resource catalog.
A scholarship fund started from scratch slightly more than a decade ago to benefit students enrolled in Western Carolina University’s Honors College has been growing substantially, just like the college’s enrollment, and recently achieved a major point in its development – “endowed” status.
Jessica Funke, an athletic training and sports medicine student from Marion, said the $400 she won in a raffle designed to reward Western Carolina University students who complete online course evaluations was the easiest $400 she ever earned.
Students entering Haywood Community College's new entrepreneurship degree program this fall will be able to transfer seamlessly to Western Carolina University and complete a bachelor's degree in entrepreneurship two years later under an articulation agreement recently signed by leaders of the two institutions.
Western Carolina University’s School of Music recently initiated its own chapter of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national music honor fraternity, in a ceremony in the recital hall of the Coulter Building.
Kevin Schilbrack, professor and chair of the philosophy and religious studies department at Wesleyan College in Macon, Ga., will become head of Western Carolina University’s philosophy and religion department effective July 11.
WCU presented its top faculty and staff awards for teaching, research and service for the 2007-08 academic year Friday, April 25, at its annual spring General Faculty Meeting and Awards Convocation.
Three WCU interior design students recently took top honors at the annual National Kitchen and Bathroom Association’s Carolinas Chapter student design competition in Flat Rock.
A Western Carolina University faculty member who organized a trip to help the impoverished people of rural Honduras has been honored for her efforts by the WCU office that oversees service learning.
It was commencement-times-two on the campus of Western Carolina University on Saturday, May 10, as the university held two ceremonies to accommodate the largest graduating class in its history.
Western's Honors College presented the first-ever RODIN Awards this spring to three faculty members for their support of undergraduate researchers. RODIN stands for the Recognition of Distinguished Instruction and Nurturing.
Will Peebles, professor of music at Western Carolina University, has been named one of the best teachers in the University of North Carolina system, earning praise for helping students discover how to teach themselves.
Two Western Carolina University students recently received awards for their interior design entries in the first biennial Waters for Life student-design competition.
The Fine Art Museum at Western Carolina University seeks artist entries for a summer art exhibition titled “Fragile Earth: Reflections on the Environment.”
Elementary and middle school students from the Western North Carolina region are invited to attend the sixth annual Cullowhee Creativity Camp, to take place in the Killian Building on the campus of Western Carolina University from Monday, June 16, through Friday, June 20, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Madison County resident Carey Burda, a Western Carolina University senior majoring in natural resource conservation and management, recently presented a poster at the National Association of American Geographer’s meeting in Boston.
Western Carolina University’s grants office announced nearly $350,000 in funding was awarded to faculty and staff in March for projects ranging from mediation in agriculture disputes to developing a microbiology and molecular biology teaching laboratory.
Western Carolina University is among the recipients of the state’s first Energy Efficiency Reserve Fund grants designed to help state agencies, University of North Carolina system campuses and N.C. community colleges implement power-saving projects.
Kyle R. Carter, provost of Western Carolina University, was inducted as the first honorary member of the Mu Epsilon chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda national honor society during the annual ceremonies held recently at WCU’s A.K. Hinds University Center.
The North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center has tapped Western Carolina University-based disaster recovery counselor Adrianne Gordon to manage the state’s two disaster recovery loan programs.
Western Carolina University’s Last Minute Productions will host a series of free concerts Tuesdays and Thursdays this summer on the lawn of the A.K. Hinds University Center. All performances are at 7 p.m. The rain location is Club Illusions, on the third floor of the University Center.
Western Carolina University is inviting community members to join incoming freshmen this summer as they read New York Times bestseller “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time.”
Rob Young, director of WCU's Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines, was recently appointed to the advisory board of the Santa Aguila Charitable Trust, an international organization devoted to the protection and preservation of beaches around the world.
Eleven geology faculty members and students from Western Carolina University recently presented their research at the Geological Society of America’s southeastern section meeting in Charlotte.
The Catamount Academic Tutoring Center at Western Carolina University recently earned an international certification awarded to tutoring programs that meet or exceed the College Reading and Learning Association’s standards of quality.
A Western Carolina University student recently received one of 30 undergraduate scholarships from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association.
Dave Young, a senior majoring in philosophy, won the North Carolina Political Science Association’s award for best domestic politics and policy paper for his entry “Inevitable City, Inexorable Storm: How the Failure of Communication, Courage and Common Sense Doomed New Orleans.”
Stephen E. Brown, director of the honors-in-discipline program of the criminal justice and criminology department at East Tennessee State University, will become head of WCU's department of applied criminology, effective July 15.
Lynda Bates Elliott, an elementary education major from Franklin, has been named this year’s recipient of Western Carolina University’s Malcolm J. Loughlin Scholarship.
“A Quilter’s Garden,” an exhibit of traditional and non-traditional quilts, wall hangings and pillows created by Jackson County textile artist Laura Nelle Goebel, will be on display at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center through Friday, May 23.
A number of recent contests have engaged Western Carolina University’s entrepreneurial-minded students in “real world” experiences outside the classroom.
Robert F. Mulligan, associate professor of economics, received the Ludwig von Mises Institute’s O.P. Alford III Prize in Libertarian Scholarship for “Property Rights and Time Preference,” which was published in the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.
Thirty-six Western Carolina University students loaded up their research projects and headed to Maryland on Wednesday, April 9, to represent the university at the 22nd annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research.
Chilly April rain and wind didn’t dampen the enthusiasm Thursday (April 3) as Western Carolina University broke ground for a pair of residence halls – facilities described by WCU trustees vice chair Steve Warren as “a place where friendships are forged and the power of thought is tested.”
Jennifer Veilleux, an English graduate student at WCU, recently received a scholarship from an international English honor society.
The Western Carolina University chapter of First Book, a non-profit organization, has awarded $2,500 in Borders Books gift cards to a Jackson County school and an after-school program in Haywood County as part of a literacy promotion program.
Western Carolina University’s biology department recently awarded scholarships to six students at its awards banquet.
“Know Your Region,” an educational program developed by Western Carolina University’s Institute for the Economy and the Future, has been recognized as a national model by the U.S. Economic Development Administration and will be featured in the EDA’s 2007 annual report as one of its top investments from that year.
Notice has just gone out to 17 people who have been accepted into Western Carolina University’s new, accelerated nursing program for adults who already have degrees in other fields. They will have to be quick if they want any tips from the program’s first 10 students, because those students graduate in August – just a year and three months after they started.
Officers with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office have been returning to the classroom recently to learn basic “survival Spanish” taught by a group of students and their professor from Western Carolina University’s department of modern foreign languages.
Artwork by students in Western Carolina University’s art education program is on display through July on the main floor of Hunter Library on the WCU campus. The exhibit is free and open to the public.
Western Carolina University is accepting applications for its ninth annual Mountain Dulcimer Week, to be held June 22-27.
More than 350 high school students from across Western North Carolina, and from one school in northeastern Georgia, gathered at Western Carolina University on Tuesday, March 18, to test their knowledge of French and Spanish in the university’s 26th annual Foreign Language Contest.
Ron Rash, the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture at Western Carolina University, has been named one of four finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the largest peer-juried prize for fiction in the United States, for his compilation of short stories, “Chemistry and Other Stories.”
For the third year in a row, Western Carolina University students rank among the nation’s leaders in the number of their research projects that have been accepted for presentation at the country’s most-prestigious undergraduate research conference.
A Western Carolina University student will receive a national award for radio production work from the Broadcast Education Association Convention Festival of Media Arts to be held Las Vegas.
Western Carolina University’s grants office announced more than $490,000 in funding was awarded to faculty and staff in January and February.
Western Carolina University’s communication and media relations efforts recently received four awards of recognition from a national higher education organization.
New York sculptor Emily Thompson will show images of her work in a presentation in Room 130 of Western Carolina University’s Fine and Performing Arts Center at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18.
A photo exhibit on display at Western Carolina University introduces viewers to the story of the Appalachian craft revival, a movement to produce and sell handcrafted items during the early part of the 20th century.
Jack Sholder, director of the program in motion picture and television production, will serve on the international jury for the film competition at the Fantasporto Oporto International Film Festival.
A study by WCU counseling faculty suggests health care providers could help parents who are hiding symptoms of postpartum mood disorders by talking with all obstetric patients about the disorders, assessment, support groups and treatments, even if a patient does not disclose symptoms.
As part of an international service-learning initiative, Western Carolina University students will be traveling to Costa Rica and Panama during spring break to volunteer their time while exploring the Central American landscapes and cultures.
Rather than spending spring break at parties or on the beach, 35 students from Western Carolina University will travel to Chicago to help children and the homeless. From Saturday, March 1, to Friday, March 7, the group will volunteer with community service projects.
Beginning Tuesday, April 1, all credit card payments on Western Carolina University student accounts will be made through a new option called PayPath Tuition Service, the WCU controller’s office has announced.
The 2007-08 old-time and bluegrass music jam session series at Western Carolina University will continue Thursday, March 6, with a performance by Charles Shuler and Friends, followed by a jam session in which local musicians are invited to participate.
A series of 10 vitreographic prints by artist Erwin Eisch depicting scenes from a Nazi attack on Germany’s Jewish population will show from Thursday, March 27, through Thursday, May 1, at the Fine Art Museum on the campus of Western Carolina University.
Students from several Western North Carolina school systems recently took top honors at WCU's annual Regional Science Fair and Festival and are on their way to the state competition in March.
Western Carolina University’s “Wired Wednesdays Series” will feature a class in Advanced Microsoft Excel from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 5, in Room 137 of the Cordelia Camp Building.
The N.C. Agriculture Mediation Program at Western Carolina University has been recertified by Gov. Mike Easley as the agricultural mediation service provider for the state of North Carolina and has received a grant in the amount of $144,066 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue operation.
Western Carolina University will host one of America’s premier memory trainers during “What Was Your Name Again” from 1 to 5 p.m. Friday, March 14, in the Hospitality Room of the Ramsey Regional Activity Center.
As spring and summer quickly approach the mountains of Western North Carolina, Western Carolina University is offering an array of travel courses where the world will be the classroom. Students may pick from an extensive variety of classes and destinations, including business survival skills in China, art classes in Europe, and the biological and political sciences of the Great Smoky Mountains and Yellowstone national parks.
Sarah Nunez is Western Carolina University’s new assistant director of admission housed in the Transfer Advising Center at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.
What does it mean to be an American? The production “Inspired by America,” coming at 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 29, to Western Carolina University, explores that complicated question with a combination of history-driven documentary film, spoken word and live music.
Dana M. Sally, who had served as dean of university libraries at the University of West Florida in Pensacola since 2005, joined Western Carolina University on Feb. 11 as the university's first dean of library services.
The January issue of Public Purpose magazine, published by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, features an article on “Regional Development, Regional Leadership.” In that article, Western Carolina University, Northern Kentucky University, the University of Northern Iowa and California State University are cited for taking regional economic development to an exciting new level.
Bonnie Singer, who co-developed the EmPOWER step-by-step method for helping school-age children understand, plan and successfully complete writing assignments, will be the featured speaker at WCU’s 15th annual Cullowhee Conference on Communicative Disorders.
Letters are going out to 555 graduates of WCU’s College of Business to inform them that personal information stored on a server used by the College of Business may have been compromised. There is no reason to believe the information has been used for unauthorized or illegal purposes.
Western Carolina University will host a literary panel discussion on Monday, Feb. 25, examining Willa Cather’s classic novel, “My Antonia,” and the works of other writers in cooperation with “Together We Read,” Western North Carolina’s regionwide reading and discussion program, and “The Big Read,” a reading revitalization program of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Western Carolina University is the only North Carolina institution among the 91 colleges and universities selected for a pilot study of the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System recently developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Nine student teams participating in Western Carolina University’s WISE Challenge have progressed to the final round of the competition and are busy re-imagining everyday products, developing services and inventing technologies in the name of entrepreneurship.
The Corporation for National and Community Service named Western Carolina University to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service-learning efforts and leadership in building a “culture of civic engagement.”
WCU recently hosted a campus forum and launched a Web site as part of an effort to respond to the needs identified in the University of North Carolina Tomorrow Commission's report.
WCU has received notice of reaffirmation of accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the recognized regional accrediting body for institutions of higher education in 11 states in the Southeast.
Thomas C. Johnson, chief of WCU’s police department, recently joined a small group of police executives who hold doctoral degrees when he was awarded a doctorate in instructional systems and work force development from Mississippi State University.
Professors and students from Western Carolina University’s forensic anthropology program assisted law enforcement agencies in their search for clues in a remote area of national forestland where the body of a hiker missing since October was discovered on Saturday, Feb 2.
Tickets are still available for the University Players production of the Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls,” showing at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-23, and 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, in the performance hall of the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.
Students in Eric Hendrix’s English composition classes at WCU fine-tune their writing and research skills through assignments designed to give them a closer look at global issues. They recently went beyond the books and helped a children’s advocacy center in Franklin.
Cathryn Griffin, professor of photography, will judge a photography contest themed "A Sense of Place" and sponsored by the WCU Baptist Student Union.
The “Living with the Land” folk life series will continue at Western Carolina University on Tuesday, Feb. 12, with a presentation on the Center for Cherokee Plants by Sarah McClellan and Kevin Welch.
Students from 16 Western North Carolina counties will come together at Western Carolina University on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 13 and 14, to showcase science projects and compete for the opportunity to exhibit at the North Carolina State Science Fair in Raleigh.
Paul Heckert, professor of physics at Western Carolina University, and his astronomy class will host an eclipse-watching party at the Jackson County Airport on the night of Wednesday, Feb. 20.
Western Carolina University recently honored several WNC school system representatives for their help in preparing university students for careers in the classroom.
“Chemistry and Other Stories,” a compilation of 15 short stories by Ron Rash, the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Culture at Western Carolina University, has been named one of 15 “notable books” of 2007 by The Story Prize committee.
Cynthia Cooper, the whistleblowing accountant responsible for exposing one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history, will visit Western Carolina University in March as part of the Chancellor’s Speaker Series for a conversation with Western students and an evening presentation open to the general public.
A Western Carolina University faculty member’s research into “outlaw” motorcycle clubs recently led to an opportunity for a group of WCU broadcasting students to gain valuable experience working behind the scenes on documentaries being filmed for The History Channel and Arts & Entertainment Network.
Stephanie Harwood, a survivor of lymphoma and freshman from Franklin, will share her story at the campus Relay For Life kickoff on Wednesday, Feb. 13, and Newton Smith, associate chief information officer and honorary event chair, will speak April 11 at the all-night American Cancer Society event.
Robert K. McMahan Jr., the North Carolina governor’s senior adviser for science and technology, and executive director of the North Carolina Board of Science and Technology, will be leaving those posts to become dean of Western Carolina University’s Kimmel School of Construction Management and Technology.
Stage and screen actor and director Terrence Mann will direct the University Players in a production of the Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls” from Feb. 21-24 in the performance hall of the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.
The internationally recognized All-American Boys Chorus will perform “A Salute to America and Her Music” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 14, in the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.
An all-campus forum to discuss the University of North Carolina Tomorrow Commission Final Report was held in the A.K. Hinds University Center Grandroom from 2 until 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31.
Free French films will show at 7 p.m. Wednesdays through April in Room 121 of the McKee Building on the campus of Western Carolina University. Students and the public are welcome.
A former executive at one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies is now using his expertise to help Western Carolina University energize new ideas for business ventures in Western North Carolina.
The 2007-08 old-time and bluegrass music jam session series at Western Carolina University will continue Thursday, Feb. 7, with a performance by Chuck Norris and Daybreak, followed by a jam session in which local musicians are invited to participate.
Accounting profession leader Barry Melancon will speak at the Western Carolina University Graduate Center in Asheville during “Students’ Night” on Monday, Feb. 11, at 4 p.m.
Author Casey Clabough will be featured on Wednesday, Feb. 6, at 12:20 p.m. during the first of three literary presentations that will be held as part of the 2007-08 Appalachian Cultural Lunchtime Series at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.
You can’t blame the admission counselors and application processors at Western Carolina University if they appear a bit bleary-eyed these days. After all, they’ve been working extra hours trying to keep up with a 62.6 percent increase in the number of applications for undergraduate admission.
Western Carolina University’s School of Music will host the 2008 Western Regional All-District Band festival on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8-9.
Patrick Gardner, a former U.S. Air Force engineer, has joined Western Carolina University’s Center for Rapid Product Realization as principal scientist.
Faculty and students from Western Carolina University are part of an effort to restore the historic Monteith Farmstead in Dillsboro.
WCU and the Women’s Center will present Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” at the Fine and Performing Arts Center as part of a global movement to stop violece against women and girls.
WCU will present a variety show and choir performance on Friday, Feb. 1, at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall of Coulter Building as a benefit event for a group of 30 students, alumni and sponsors who will travel to Europe this spring on a 10-day concert tour.
Longtime FBI special agent Mark R. Wilson, one of the nation’s foremost experts in the use of DNA evidence in criminal investigations, has joined Western Carolina University to lead its academic program in forensic science.
Western Carolina University’s 2008 Lectures, Concerts and Exhibitions Series has been forced to cancel Henry Rollins’ “Provoked – An Evening of Quintessentially American Opinionated Editorializing and Storytelling” scheduled for March 27.
Western Carolina University will offer “Wired Wednesdays,” a series of computer software classes, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the spring semester in Room 137 of the Cordelia Camp Building.
The illusionist duo The Spencers will present their “Theatre of Illusion” on Friday, Feb. 1, at the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University as part of the center’s third annual Galaxy of Stars Series.
The workshop “Hi-Definition Workflow – From Stage to Screen” will be held Saturday, Feb. 16, in the sound and television studios of the Center for Applied Technology at WCU.
Quilts donated by Western North Carolina families to Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center will be on display at the museum through March in the biennial exhibit “Airing of the Quilts.”
WCU will host round-table discussions, movies, live music and other activities designed to spark dialogue about global warming as part of the Focus the Nation initiative on Thursday, Jan. 31.
Ken Sedberry, a potter from Loafers Glory, will hold demonstrations and speak about his art during a daylong workshop Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University.
WCU will host the third annual Community Service-Learning Fair on Tuesday, Jan. 29, to make students, faculty and staff more aware of community service opportunities in Western North Carolina.
The creative work of faculty members at Western Carolina University’s School of Art and Design is the focus of a show from Jan. 23 through March 15 at the Fine Art Museum on the WCU campus.
Mathematical ecologist Louis J. Gross, director of The Institute for Environmental Modeling at the University of Tennessee, will deliver two lectures at Western Carolina University on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
The Western Carolina University School of Music will be presenting a “Faculty Showcase” concert with its first-ever sponsor, Heinzelmannchen Brewery of Sylva, on Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 8 p.m. in the recital hall of the Coulter Building.
Thirty-three Western Carolina University students were recently inducted into the Mu Eta chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education.
Benjamin Chavis, president and chief executive officer of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, will deliver the keynote address Tuesday, Jan. 22, for Western Carolina University’s celebration of the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Bob Buckner, director of athletic bands at Western Carolina University, won the 2007 Music Education Advocate Award from the North Carolina Music Educators Association.
A Web site for a WCU organization developed by student Kyle Perkins, a junior from Raleigh majoring in entrepreneurship, won a 2007 Web site design award in a regional Association of College Unions International graphics competition.
James Contratto, assistant director for programs at Western Carolina University’s A.K. Hinds University Center, has won a regional New Professional Award for 2007 from the Association of College Unions International.
Western Carolina Director of Athletics Chip Smith today (Dec. 31) announced the hiring of Dennis Wagner, former offensive line coach at the University of Nebraska and head coach at Wayne State, as the twelfth head coach of the Catamount Football program.
The Talent Search Program at Western Carolina University has scheduled a series of free workshops to provide information to local students and their parents about applying for federal financial aid for college with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.
Western Carolina University bestowed a posthumous honorary doctorate upon a former chairman of the University of North Carolina Board of Governors at fall commencement exercises, which honored more than 500 candidates for graduation.
Research conducted by a doctoral student at Western Carolina University may help train future human rights investigators and is already drawing the attention of international organizations.
Students in two Western Carolina University political science classes in “Active Citizenship” took the title of their courses to heart this semester as they participated in a series of fundraising activities to benefit a pair of local charitable organizations.
Legendary trumpet virtuoso Allen Vizzutti will be the featured performer at the sixth annual Western Carolina University Trumpet Festival, the largest event of its kind in the United States, taking place on the WCU campus during the Jan. 18-20 Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
Western Carolina University will offer “Aqua Fitness” in the Reid Gymnasium pool on campus Jan. 22 through May 1.
The “Living with the Land” folk life series will continue at Western Carolina University on Tuesday, Jan. 15, with a presentation on “Sustainable Approaches to Forest Management” by forester and WCU faculty member Peter Bates.
Auditions are under way as Western Carolina University offers an opportunity for young artists to experience the art and craft of musical theatre performance with Broadway stars Terrence Mann and Charlotte D’Amboise this summer during the Triple Arts Broadway Series.
Winter weather conditions have resulted in a change to the normal WCU schedule today (Thursday, Jan. 17). Students, faculty and staff will find updated university schedule information at this site:
Weather-Related Schedule Changes at WCU.
The enslaved cooks who prepared food at Monticello, the Virginia home of President Thomas Jefferson, will be the focus of a presentation at Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center on Tuesday, Jan. 15.
Western Carolina University will offer an asthma management workshop for nurses and other interested health care professionals from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17, in Room 143 of the Cordelia Camp Building.
Western Carolina University will offer “Time on Your Side,” a time management workshop, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday, Jan. 18, in the Cordelia Camp Building.
A former WCU administrator who served as chairman of Mountain Heritage Day for 18 years and his wife have established a $10,000 endowed fund that will help the annual event continue to thrive as one of the premier folk festivals in the Southeast.
Prospective students can learn about the 100 spring semester courses Western Carolina University will offer in Asheville during an information and registration session set for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10.
Western Carolina University will offer “Learning for Fun: Stained Glass” from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, through Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the Cordelia Camp Building.
The biggest challenge facing Western North Carolina emergency responders during times of crisis is inadequate communication among agencies at the local, state and federal levels, a problem often exacerbated by antiquated equipment and a lack of communication interoperability.
Western Carolina University will offer the third annual Mountain Dulcimer Winter Weekend, Thursday, Jan. 17, through Sunday, Jan. 20, at the Lambuth Inn in Lake Junaluska.
Three Western Carolina University students recently received citations for their internship work with the U.S. Public Health Service during the summer.
The Institute for the Economy and the Future, the regional think tank and economic development unit of Western Carolina University, has a new home and a new leader, Daniel Ostergaard, former executive director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council.
Western Carolina University’s board of trustees unanimously approved proposed tuition and fees for the 2008-09 academic year, including increases to support operational costs for a new indoor recreation center currently under construction and to begin meeting student requests for enhanced campus health services.
A Western Carolina University faculty member was honored Tuesday (Dec. 4) for assistance he has provided to Western North Carolina municipal leaders as they deliberated the long-term management of their towns’ watersheds.
Anna Fariello, curator of the craft revival digital collection and visiting associate professor at WCU, recently was named museology specialist peer reviewer for the United States Fulbright Commission.
The 2007-08 old-time and bluegrass music jam session series at Western Carolina University will continue Thursday, Jan. 3, with a performance by the McDowell Family, followed by a jam session in which local musicians are invited to participate.
The North Carolina Literary and Historical Association awarded the 2007 Roanoke-Chowan Prize for Poetry to Catherine Carter, director of WCU's English education program, for “The Memory of Gills,” her first published book of poetry.
Western Carolina University Chancellor John W. Bardo extends season's greetings to the Western community.
Western Carolina University, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Jackson County Department of Public Health are partners in the first project in the nation funded through a $417 million federal effort to expand health care access to rural America through the creation of broadband “telehealth” networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories.
