News and Features

A message to all Central Piedmont students and employees from Dr. Deitemeyer:

Since early March, our college, city, state, and nation have been focused on the unanticipated effects of COVID-19. Our primary objective has been to keep our students, faculty, and staff safe and to determine the best path forward as we return to campus. That work continues, and we remain steadfast in ensuring our college and campuses can provide educational, social, and emotional support for our community. What our college means to so many is vital, and we must be more vibrant and ready to serve with new exceptional standards of excellence.

These months have been unprecedented in so many ways. I never imagined as we wrapped up the academic year our college, community, state, and nation would be immersed in more devastating circumstances that give us great pause about the care, safety, treatment, and concern for our fellow man: George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. In the last few weeks COVID-19 has been in the forefront of our minds, but in the last few days, we have been reminded that there is more than a healthcare pandemic impacting our nation, our state, our community.

Central Piedmont is troubled and saddened by the events in Minneapolis and other cities around our nation, including here in Charlotte. The college acknowledges the pain, anger, fear, and other emotions felt deeply by those involved and even those watching from afar. The college knows these events affect many of our students and employees. It is our hope and prayer that everyone stays safe, that wise and peaceful actions win out over violence, and justice prevails for all involved.

This college has always condemned racism and bigotry and the unfair treatment of minorities, and will continue to do so. You will recall Central Piedmont champions equity as an institutional value and an institutional goal, and we do not take that lightly. Our college is committed to breaking down barriers to student access and achievement and providing pathways to family-sustaining careers or to further education. We embrace diversity and respect all individuals and the journeys they make to reach our college. Our work on equity is so important, and the courage we are showing as an institution will be even more important as our community heals and moves forward.

As leaders in our community, we must demonstrate our willingness to discuss our differences, share our perspectives, grieve together, and question how such events continue to occur. While we do, I ask that we continue to champion our mission and be a catalyst for opportunity in our community and move forward with intentionality to identify and address the inequities and systemic racism we see in our community. As an institution of higher learning, we must be a safe haven for our students, faculty, and staff. As one college, we need to acknowledge members of our college community are hurting, and they need us more than ever.

If you are feeling concern, stress, or anxiety, the college reminds you counseling services are available to students and employees. Students simply need to complete the online Counseling Services form, and a college counselor will respond.

Our Central Piedmont Cares team members are here to assist students and employees. Visit the Central Piedmont Cares website for more information.

The National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Program has awarded the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership, located at North Carolina State University, in collaboration with community college partners the North Carolina Community College System, Central Piedmont Community College, Wake Technical College and Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, a $443,619 grant to establish a Robotics/Automation and Cybersecurity Knowledge Sharing Coordination Network (TRACKS-CN).

The TRACKS-CN project is anticipated to take three years to complete, with a projected timeline of July 1, 2020–June 30, 2023.

TRACKS-CN will focus on workforce development efforts at the intersection of robotics/automation and cybersecurity, bringing together organizations and expertise with a focus on workforce development and improving manufacturing in the United States, including community colleges, Manufacturing Extension Partnerships and Manufacturing USA Institutes.

Thanks to Central Piedmont’s past work on a U.S. Department of Transportation’s TAACCT-funded project, which focused on mechatronics (Mechatronics Re-Envisioned), the college was identified as having the subject matter expertise and capacity to serve as a community college partner on this project.

As a result, Central Piedmont’s Jami Dale, chair of the Mechatronics Engineering Technology Program, has been identified as the subject matter expert and will serve as co-Principal Investigator (co-PI) on the three-year project. A portion of the grant fuds will support Dale’s role, which includes participating on quarterly partnership calls with TRACKS-CN participants, attending two annual workshop meetings and working on Advanced Technological Education projects that focus on robotics/automation to ensure they align with the work and goals of the TRACKS-CN.

“The network this grant establishes couldn't be more timely,” said Dale. “As learning environments transition to needing an increased catalog of online technical engineering training materials for college instructors, it’s important our partners in education and industry work together to encourage and facilitate the creation and distribution of educational materials for use in North Carolina and beyond.”

Dale was a natural choice to fill the project’s co-PI role. Central Piedmont has operated a mechatronics engineering technology program since 2005. Robust automation content is woven throughout the college’s curriculum and aligns with the goals of the TRACKS-CN. In addition, the college has a strong cybersecurity education program and is exploring the links between these two technology areas as a contributor to the TRACKS-CN.

For more information about STEM programs of study at Central Piedmont and STEM career fields, contact Chris Paynter, Central Piedmont dean of STEM, at 704-330-6531.

Central Piedmont Health Professions and Human Services donated more than 30,000 pairs of gloves, 670 N95 masks, 350 isolation gowns, 250 level 3 masks, and 400 bouffant caps to Atrium Health and Novant Health.

All of our health programs and Environmental Health and Safety offered their supplies to meet the community's needs. Faculty from all of the college's Health Careers areas wanted to come in and help pack but we wanted to limit the number of faculty involved to just a few. They were:

• Karen Summers, Interim Dean ,Health Professions and Human Services
• Eileen Clark, Dental Hygiene
• Cathy Flores, Medical Assisting
• Mel Angelisanti, Surgical Technology​

Learn more about Central Piedmont's Healthcare programs.

Central Piedmont’s Dr. Adam Harris, chair of the computer engineering technology, electrical engineering technology and electronics engineering technology programs, and Dr. Jacob Garbini, chair of the engineering program, are partnering with Charlotte Latin to produce the parts needed for CharlotteMEDI to make face shields for area hospital personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As instructors, Dr. Harris and Dr. Garbini regularly work in the college’s FabLab, home to 10 3D printers, which the duo has been visiting tirelessly, sometimes twice a day, to manufacture the headbands and bottom clips needed to complete the assembly of CharlotteMEDI’s face shields.

To date, the Central Piedmont team has made approximately 300 3D printed parts, such as bottom clips and headbands.

But, according to Dr. Garbini, that’s only the beginning.

Once the team receives more filament — the material used to produce the parts — and services a couple of the machines to get them all working at 100 percent capacity, Dr. Garbini anticipates being able to print approximately 160 clips a day going forward.

However, productivity isn’t his only concern, so is safety. “I’ve sectioned off the lab in the building to prohibit the parts from being exposed to any external germs or elements before they are shipped,” adds Dr. Garbini. “At the end of the day, Adam and I are grateful to be given the opportunity to use our college’s equipment to contribute to a community need. Any support we can offer to our healthcare providers during this critical time is extremely important — both for their safety and the well-being of the greater Charlotte community.”

Dr. Garbini delivered the face shield parts he and Dr. Harris produced to an approved CharlotteMEDI drop-off location on April 8. The parts will immediately be assembled into face shields, to later be shared with healthcare personnel working at area hospitals throughout Charlotte.

Central Piedmont Community College’s hospitality education program partnered with Sysco Charlotte LLC and the Piedmont Culinary Guild on March 25 to package and deliver 500 boxes of food to local restaurant employees who have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Sysco Charlotte LLC donated 250 cases of food to the community outreach project. The cases consisted of frozen chicken, produce, fresh fruits and vegetables, and dairy products, such as milk and butter.

Representatives from Central Piedmont, Sysco Charlotte LLC, and the Piedmont Culinary Guild were on site at Central Piedmont’s Culinary Arts Center to receive the cases of food, sort and package the individual boxes, and deliver them to 25–30 restaurants located in Mecklenburg County and beyond.

Each box included three to four major food group items, providing local restaurant workers with a nutritious meal for their family during this unprecedented time. Restaurants needing employee assistance signed up to participate in the community outreach project online through the Piedmont Culinary Guild’s website.

Thanks are extended to Central Piedmont's Richard Kugelmann, division director of the college's hospitality education division; Ross Howard, director of business resources and marketing for Sysco Charlotte LLC; and Kris Reid, co-founder of the Piedmont Culinary Guild for spearheading the initiative.

View WSOC-TV's coverage of the community outreach project.

When Chef Robert Marilla’s students look back on their culinary arts education at Central Piedmont, they can say they learned their craft from an Olympic champion.

Chef Marilla recently returned from the IKA 2020 International Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart, Germany, and brought home gold (team), silver (individual), and overall bronze (team) medals at the event.

On the first day of competition, Chef Marilla, who is captain of the Regional Team for Team USA, was awarded the gold medal for his “Cold Food Table” display. Two short days later, he was recognized with a silver medal in the individual program for his “Five-Course Menu for One Person and Finger Foods for Six People” submission, a display that also featured the talents of Central Piedmont culinary arts student and Regional Team apprentice Liam McCall, who assisted him in the kitchen.

The icing on the cake came at the closing ceremonies when Chef Marilla, together with his Regional Team teammates, learned they had been awarded the overall team bronze medal, finishing third in the world.

The overall team bronze medal not only set Team USA apart from the 29 other teams who competed, but also marked the first time since 1976 that an American Regional Team finished on the podium at the Culinary Olympics.

Congratulations, Team USA and Chefs Marilla and McCall on your many accomplishments.

Service-Learning organized the 16th annual MLK Challenge on Jan. 20, 2020, the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. One hundred and eleven Central Piedmont students, faculty, and staff chose to celebrate the holiday by providing more than 700 hours of service at eight community agencies, and one group performed “random acts of kindness” around uptown Charlotte.

Teams embraced unique and diverse challenges at Ada Jenkins Center, Carolina Raptor Center, KIPP Charlotte, Leah’s House of Refuge Community Center, Matthews HELP Center, Promising Pages, Renaissance West Community Initiative, Samaritan House, and throughout the city.

Members of the Central Piedmont community arrived early on campus to enjoy breakfast together, while Dr. Tracy Moore presented about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and led a discussion about civil rights, social justice, poverty, and civic engagement. Afterward, groups were formed, presented a challenge, and were given $100 to complete their projects.

Those challenges included repairing and replacing perching on the Raptor Trail, creating banners with quotes about historical African Americans, beautification and organizing of facilities that are frequently used, and sorting books for children to encourage reading. The group providing random acts of kindness made care packages of toiletries and food, and they passed them out on the city bus and the streets of uptown.

Afterward, groups gathered back at Central Piedmont, to share their experiences with the larger group.

Learn more about Service-Learning at Central Piedmont.

Students from Mecklenburg County and beyond are converging at Central Piedmont Community College this week, as the college kicks off its 2020 spring semester.

Student Life representatives and other staff members are busy working multiple information tables across all six Central Piedmont campuses to help ease students’ first day of class.

Representatives are guiding students to classes, answering their questions, and providing them with important college information, such as valuable campus resources, parking guidelines, and available extracurricular activities.

Also welcoming students this week is Central Campus’s new 154,100-square-foot North Classroom Building. The largest facility ever built by Central Piedmont, it opened its doors just in time for the start of the semester.

Learn how you, too, can earn a real-world, affordable, hands-on education that will transform your life at Central Piedmont. Visit cpcc.edu/admissions/enroll.

The Dental Assisting and Dental Hygiene programs at Central Piedmont Community College will undergo a comprehensive evaluation visit from Tuesday, April 7 through Thursday, April 9 2020, by a team representing the American Dental Association's Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA).

CODA is nationally recognized by the U.S Department of Education as the sole agency to accredit dental and dental–related education programs conducted at the post-secondary level.

Submit Comments by Feb. 9

Third parties, including faculty, students, program administrators, specialty and dental-related organizations, patients, and consumers are invited to submit comments. Signed or unsigned comments will be accepted. Names and/or signatures will be removed from comments prior to forwarding them to the program. All comments must pertain only to the standards relative to the particular program(s) being reviewed, or policies and procedures used in the accreditation process. A copy of the accreditation standards and/or the commission’s policy on third party comments may be obtained by contacting the commission at ada.org/en/coda.

Public comments must be received by Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 and submitted to:

Commission on Dental Accreditation
211 East Chicago Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

The Fifth Third Bank Foundation has announced its 2019 Strengthening Our Communities Fund grants for North Carolina. The awards benefit local nonprofit programs that support small business development. The Fifth Third Foundation awarded Central Piedmont Community College a $50,000 grant to support entrepreneurship through a pitch competition.

Central Piedmont designed the “53 Ideas Pitch Competition” to help address income inequality and equity through entrepreneurship. The competition will provide underserved individuals who participate with access to the capital, training resources, and social connections needed to remove barriers, and allow individuals to take an idea and turn it into a viable business. The top prize winner of the competition will receive $10,000 in seed money for a start-up business.

“Fifth Third Bank is committed to strengthening our communities, and we cannot do it alone: it takes strong and engaged partners like Central Piedmont to truly make a difference,” said Lee Fite, regional president for Fifth Third Bank in the Mid-Atlantic. “The ‘53 Ideas Pitch Competition’ addresses an essential link between economic mobility and entrepreneurship. The work our partners like Central Piedmont are doing to increase access to capital for entrepreneurs will directly benefit our community.”

“Studies show that four out of five entrepreneurs do not access bank loans or venture capital. Rather, their sources of funding are personal net worth, family wealth, or connections to networks,” said Renee Hode, executive director of Central Piedmont’s Small Business Center. “Unfortunately, this leads to inequality in entrepreneurship. The ‘53 Ideas Pitch Competition’ seeks to expand opportunity for everyone in the greater Charlotte region, especially those populations who may experience barriers or have limited access to resources to start a business.”

The “53 Ideas Pitch Competition” is an open call for business ideas from residents across the region. Individuals will have 53 seconds to pitch their idea in the form of a video submission uploaded to 53ideas.com. The submission deadline is Feb. 20, 2020. For open, inclusive access to the needed technology, Central Piedmont’s Small Business Center will be hosting pop-up recording events throughout the community. Visit 53ideas.com for pop-up dates and times.

Judges will review the submissions and select the top 53 pitches. Top entrants will advance in the competition and receive a $50 award. Over the following 53 days, the participants will work to refine their ideas and master their pitch before another selection process.

Training and coaching on pitching, marketing, financing, forecasting, and business law will be available to participants, regardless of whether they advance in the competition. Free resources will be offered by Small Business Centers located at community colleges throughout the region, including Central Piedmont, Cleveland, Gaston, Mitchell, Rowan-Cabarrus, South Piedmont, and Stanly.

After the 53-day training period, the top 53 entrants will participate in a closed pitch event where the judges will narrow the field down to 15. The top 15 will receive $200 each and go on to compete on stage for the top awards: first place receives $10,000; second place earns $5,000; and third place receives $2,500 in seed funding to help turn their ideas into a viable business.

The 38 participants who did not advance can still showcase their ideas at an expo before the final pitch event. This gives these participants visibility with event attendees, as well as an opportunity to share their ideas and increase their social networks.

“53 Ideas Pitch Competition” is made possible by the support from the Fifth Third Bank Foundation and the Central Piedmont Foundation, and also the City of Charlotte’s Economic Development Office.

Learn more about the “53 Ideas Pitch Competition” at 53ideas.com or upload a video submission by the Feb. 20 deadline.