News and Features

North Carolina education leaders signed an agreement on Aug. 23, to address the critical teacher shortage in the state. President Thomas Stith of the North Carolina Community College System and President Peter Hans of the University of North Carolina System made a joint announcement of their new Comprehensive Articulation Agreement that will increase opportunities for community college students to transfer to teacher education programs within the UNC System. It is effective beginning fall 2021…

The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program today announced that Dr. Tracie Clark, vice president of strategy and organization excellence, at Central Piedmont Community College, is one of 40 leaders selected for the 2021-22 class of the Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship, a highly selective leadership program preparing the next generation of community college presidents to transform institutions to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success…

A donor who wishes to remain anonymous has made a $10-million gift commitment to Central Piedmont Community College. The gift is the single-largest individual donation in Central Piedmont’s 58-year history and among the largest gifts ever made to a community college nationwide.

Central Piedmont will use the gift to transform its role as a community resource for arts and humanities programming and learning. Plans for the gift include:…

In recognition of a $2.5-million grant from The Leon Levine Foundation to support health sciences education and health careers preparation at Central Piedmont Community College, the college is naming its new health programs facility on its Central Campus the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center.

Located at the corner of Charlottetowne Avenue and Elizabeth Avenue, the Leon Levine Health Sciences Center opened in August 2020. While many Central Piedmont students still were taking classes remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in a number of health careers programs that…

For the third-consecutive year, Central Piedmont Community College was selected to participate in the Metallica Scholars Initiative and receive $25,000 in funding to support its career and technical education programs.

Funded by Metallica’s All Within My Hands (AWMH) and led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the Metallica Scholars Initiative was created in 2018 to fundamentally improve the earning potential for students who become Metallica Scholars…

Linda Lockman-Brooks has been elected to chair the Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees by her fellow board members. Lockman-Brooks, a college trustee since 2016, is the first female and the first Black person to chair the board in Central Piedmont’s 58-year history.

Lockman-Brooks is a Charlotte business executive with extensive leadership experience at large public companies, as well as expertise as a small business owner and entrepreneur. She is founder and president of Lockman-Brooks Marketing Services, which provides strategic marketing and…

Central Piedmont alumnus Zach Lokken ’21 will represent Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics, July 23 – August 8. The Associate in Arts graduate will compete in the MC-1 Canoe Slalom event during his first Olympics appearance.

Born in Durango, Colo., Zach has won several awards in the sport of American Canoe, including third place in C1 and C2 during the 2015 U.S. National Team Trials…

Janet LaBar, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, has been appointed to the Central Piedmont Community College Board of Trustees by N.C. Governor Roy Cooper. LaBar’s four-year term begins July 1.

Charlotte attorney Michael Hawley has been reappointed to the Central Piedmont board by Gov. Cooper for another four-year term. Hawley has been a college trustee since 2017…

The UNC School of Government’s ncIMPACT Initiative announced recently the selection of 15 community collaboratives to an inaugural cohort working to better align their education systems with the needs of their regional economy. This intensive two-year project will position the cohort to significantly increase the number of individuals with postsecondary degrees, credentials, or certificates of value in the workforce. It aligns with the state’s legislative goal of 2 million individuals between the ages of 25-44 who possess a high-quality credential or postsecondary degree by 2030…

This fall, Central Piedmont Community College plans to offer close to 40-percent more compressed classes – this includes four- and eight-week classes – than it did in fall 2020.

The college’s decision to transition from the traditional, 16-week course schedule is based on national data from peer institutions, such as Odessa College, Ivy Tech Community College, Trident Tech and others, that shows students in compressed courses:…