The Student Emergency Grant Fund started at Central Piedmont Community College in 2018. The grant provides short-term financial support to students experiencing an enrollment-threatening financial emergency. It is a one-time grant used by students to cover expenses that require immediate attention. Examples include temporary loss of income or child care, temporary housing needs due to homelessness or sudden loss of housing, replacement of essential items due to theft, fire or other disaster, essential safety needs, medical or dental emergencies, and transportation emergencies. 

The Student Emergency Fund benefited 34 students during the 2018-2019 academic year, with an average grant of $230. 

Tameka Hill, a mom of four boys and a first-year adult student, received the Student Emergency Grant in the fall of 2018. The grant helped Tameka "not to have to stress about my hardship and lose focus on class and or homework." The grant emphasizes to hard-working students like Tameka that Central Piedmont "truly cares about the students and community." 

For more information on the Student Emergency Grant, including how to apply, visit Central Piedmont's website. 




 

Beginning this fall, the Levine Campus will offer expanded course offerings of some of its most in-demand classes on weekday evenings, Fridays, and Saturdays to give students more options to complete a two-year, college transfer degree more quickly.

The new course offerings are comprised of more than 40, high-demand courses. The classes will be offered in sequential order and focus on a variety of general education subjects, ranging from biology and public speaking, to psychology and business. 

Offering more courses in the evenings, and on Fridays and Saturdays, will allow the college to better accommodate students' busy schedules, setting them up for success both inside and outside of the classroom.

To learn more, please call Edith McElroy, dean of the Levine Campus, at 704.330.4386.

The Summer Bridge program at Central Piedmont Community College helps recent high school graduates adjust to college life and network with other students and faculty. They are able to jumpstart their academic career and avoid "summer melt," the phenomenon in which high school graduates are excited and plan to attend college but never enroll. According to a June 2018 blog post from the U.S. Department of Education, nearly one-third of high school graduates planning to attend college never make it, and summer melt impacts low-income and first-generation students the hardest.

During the six-week program, students can earn up to six college credits. They participate in activities designed to build college-level academic skills and a sense of community. Associate Dean of Mentoring and Bridge Programs Willie Williams says that students learn the differences between high school and college during the first week at Summer Bridge. The small, structured environment helps students with this transition.

Aslhy Isaias is a first-time college student enrolled in the Associate in Arts degree program for fall 2019. She met Mr. Williams while attending the Summer Bridge orientation with a friend. Mr. Williams explained that going from high school to college was a huge step and not always easy, and he convinced Aslhy to join the program According to Aslhy, Summer Bridge has helped her to "transition easier, learn the way around campus and classrooms, and...make connections."

To learn more about the Summer Bridge program, visit Central Piedmont's website. 

A generous gift from The Gambrell Foundation provided laptops to 700 first-time, full-time students showing the highest level of need who are enrolled at Central Piedmont for the 2019-20 academic year. This summer, student recipients are participating in orientation sessions to get acquainted with their new computers. 
   

      

Central Piedmont is excited to announce that both construction projects at its Levine Campus the new Levine III classroom building and the Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology expansion are complete.  

Levine III

The new 88,000 square-foot facility includes the Georgia Tucker Fine Arts Hall, a new campus library, a new campus bookstore, health and science labs, and classrooms.

Levine III includes:

• Georgia Tucker Fine Arts Hall
• Library
• Science Labs
• Health Simulation Labs
• Math Emporium
• Academic Learning Center
• Classrooms
• Faculty/Staff Offices

The facility's 2,300 square-foot fine arts hall is named in memory of Georgia Tucker, an accomplished ballerina and choreographer who performed throughout the U.S. prior to coming home to Charlotte. She attended Central Piedmont and taught at the college as a dance instructor.

The Georgia Tucker Fine Arts Hall is a two-story facility with views of the campus lake. The arts space includes:

• A performance space to accommodate up to 200
• A large instructional classroom, with a seating capacity of nearly 100
• Reception space for functions with a capacity of 160 attendees
• A box office and dressing rooms

Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology

The Joe Hendrick Center for Automotive Technology expansion took a little over a year to complete. The 10,330-square-foot expansion helped the college add the following amenities to its campus:

• a new alignment and suspension shop with seven vehicle bays
• a four-vehicle bay training lab with classroom
• a two-vehicle bay training lab with classroom
• additional faculty offices and storage rooms

"Levine's new facilities will significantly enhance Central Piedmont's ability to put students on a pathway to meaningful lives and family-supporting careers and will help prepare the talented workforce needed to support the economic growth of our community," said Central Piedmont President Dr. Kandi Deitemeyer. "They will help to advance the mission of the college by offering access to education and career development for additional students. These new buildings will transform lives and transform this community."

Learn more about the Central Piedmont Levine Campus.

The newest building on Central Piedmont's Harper Campus will serve as home to the latest Bill and Patty Gorelick Gallery at the college. Faculty and staff are busy moving into the new building which opens to students and visitors in August. The building which serves as the new entry for Harper Campus includes a bookstore, library, registration, financial aid, counseling and advising services, student life, center for military families and veterans, and technology labs for electrical systems, architecture, welding and construction management among other spaces. The college's fourth Gorelick Gallery, located on the lower level, offers large arched windows, casual seating, collaboration and study spaces, and 18-foot high ceilings. The gallery will feature works from the collection of Bill and the late Patty Gorelick and paintings by Tom Stanley for its first installation on exhibit from August 2019 until July 2020. By 2021, each of the college's six campuses will feature a Bill and Patty Gorelick Gallery.


For more information about the Bill and Patty Gorelick Galleries at Central Piedmont, or to schedule a visit, please call Robin Glenn at 704.330.6869, or visit blogs.cpcc.edu/cpccartgalleries/pattyandbillgorelickgalleries.

















 

Central Piedmont Community College announces a recent appointment and two re-appointments to its Board of Trustees.

Michael D. Evans of Charlotte has been appointed to the Central Piedmont board by the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners to a four-year term that began July 1. Evans is a retired university business professor and department chair, serving both Winthrop and Johnson C. Smith. He also taught at UNC Charlotte. In addition, he was a founding director and board member of Park Sterling Bank.

Evans earned bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration at Bradley University. He is also a certified financial planner. He currently serves as a board member and treasurer of the Charlotte Regional Visitor's Authority. He is a former president of the Financial Planning Association of Charlotte and Leadership Charlotte.

"We are pleased to have Michael Evans join Central Piedmont's Board of Trustees," said Dr. Kandi Deitemeyer, college president. "He brings a unique blend of higher education, business and community service experience to the board. His insights will be welcomed as the college moves forward with its new strategic plan."

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper re-appointed Edwin A. Dalrymple to another four-year term as a college trustee. He first joined the Central Piedmont board in 2008. He has chaired the board since 2014. He also has assumed national-level community college leadership. In 2018, he became a member of the Association of Community College Trustees Board of Directors, based in Washington, D.C. Professionally, Dalrymple is a managing director-investments of Wells Fargo Advisors. He has worked in the investment and financial services industry for more than three decades.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education re-appointed Cecilia A. Ramirez to a second four-year term on the college board. She first became a Central Piedmont trustee in 2015. Ramirez is retired from Nova Digital Systems Inc., where she served as vice president of administration. From 1980 to 1996, she taught Spanish and led ESL programs at a number of CMS elementary and high schools. She previously chaired the N.C. Governor's Advisory Council on Hispanic/Latino Affairs and served on the Governor's Hispanic Advisory Council Education Committee.

"The college is grateful for the re-appointments of Ed Dalrymple and Cecilia Ramirez," Deitemeyer said. "They have served with great distinction and engagement. Their continued counsel will be appreciated as the college works to create pathways to economic mobility all of our students can navigate with greater equity and success."

Central Piedmont is excited to announce that its new Harper IV building, located on its Harper Campus, located at 315 W. Hebron St., is open and ready to welcome students in time for the fall semester.

The new 84,357 square-foot facility features:

• A new campus library with computer classroom
• A Student Commons with lounge areas, bookstore, food service, and student government spaces
• Construction trades classrooms and labs for architectural technology, electrical, plumbing, and welding
• General and computer classrooms
• Science labs
• Developmental reading and math labs
• Student services suite
• Student study areas
• Faculty offices

The new structure expands Central Piedmont's footprint in southwest Charlotte, helping the college better respond to the educational and workforce training needs of Mecklenburg County's residents and business community.

As a result of its construction, Harper Campus is now better equipped to help students interested in the following programs, housed on the campus:

• Advertising + Graphic Design
• Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration
• Construction Management
• Electrical Systems Technology
• Graphic Arts and Imaging Technology
• Non-Destructive Examination Technology
• Welding Technology

To learn more about all our Harper Campus has to offer, visit https://www.cpcc.edu/locations/harper-campus.

A new scholarship will foster the development of aspiring culinary arts professionals enrolled at Central Piedmont Community College. The Tyler H. Hamm Culinary Scholarship, established to honor the memory of a former Central Piedmont student who died in a snowboarding accident, will be funded with an initial five-year commitment from Wray Ward, a marketing communications firm based in Charlotte. Tyler was the elder son of public relations lead and longtime Wray Ward employee Tracy Hamm.

"On behalf of our culinary arts program and our culinary students, the college thanks Wray Ward for this generous and thoughtful gift," said Dr. Kandi Deitemeyer, Central Piedmont president. "This scholarship will honor Tyler's memory and celebrate his passion for life, joy of cooking and career path in the culinary arts. We are grateful for and humbled by the Hamm family's decision to have Tyler honored in this way."

Beginning with the 2019-20 academic year in August, one Central Piedmont culinary student will receive the Tyler H. Hamm Culinary Scholarship. Recipients must have the following qualifications:

• Recent (within five years) high school graduate
• North Carolina resident
• Enrolled in the Central Piedmont Culinary Arts program
• At least a half-time student

Tyler, a 2016 Ardrey Kell High School graduate, discovered his love for culinary arts as a Central Piedmont student. Following his spirit of adventure, Tyler began his culinary career at Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge in Talkeetna, Alaska. Other positions in Alaska and Aspen, Colorado, followed over the next two years. In fall 2018, Tyler joined the staff of Lynn Britt Cabin in Aspen's Snowmass Village. On February 10, 2019, the aspiring chef, whose love for gourmet cooking and snowboarding led him to call Aspen home, died in a snowboarding accident on the town's slopes.

"Tyler shared his father's kind heart and zest for life," said Jennifer Appleby, president and chief creative officer of Wray Ward. "His fearlessness on and off the slopes will serve as an inspiration to each of us to think bigger and more boldly, and Wray Ward is proud to be a small part of that legacy by helping other aspiring chefs follow their passion and chase their dream."

The Hamms will assist with the award selection process by interviewing candidates identified by the Central Piedmont Foundation's scholarship committee.

"Tyler lived life to the fullest and only knew one direction -- forward," Tracy Hamm said. "By supporting young culinary talent, this scholarship will celebrate our son's chosen career path, his love for cooking and his passion for life."

Wray Ward's commitment will help establish a scholarship endowment and provide expendable annual scholarship funds to be held and administered by the Central Piedmont Foundation. Donations from other individuals and entities will support the scholarship program on a continuing basis.

For more information about the Tyler H. Hamm Culinary Scholarship, contact the Central Piedmont Foundation at 704.330.6869 or visit cpccfoundation.org/donation. Learn more about culinary and hospitality programs on the college website or by calling 704.330.6723.