UNC Charlotte is North Carolina’s urban research university. With an enrollment ranking it fourth among the 17 schools in the UNC system, it is the largest public university in the greater Charlotte metropolitan region, serving an area with a population that exceeds 2 million. UNC Charlotte offers comprehensive programs at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels through its seven colleges (Arts + Architecture, Business, Engineering, Education, Computing and Informatics, Health and Human Services and Liberal Arts & Sciences) along with the Graduate School. Fall 2009 enrollment is approximately 24,500, including 5,300 graduate students.

Located in the largest city in the Carolinas, UNC Charlotte is the region’s crown jewel. It serves as a driving force of intellectual discovery, economic development and engaged community service. The main campus, located in the University City neighborhood, is only eight miles from Charlotte’s Uptown business and financial center. To strengthen the University’s presence in Uptown Charlotte, the University has begun construction on its Center City Building, the first urban construction project of any UNC constituent institution. When completed, this iconic, 12-story structure will enable UNC Charlotte to better serve working professionals in the heart of the city, providing them with access to outstanding graduate education.

Points of pride include:

• The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC), in the final planning stages, will expand the University’s Charlotte Research Institute campus. This new center will address the severe shortage of trained engineers capable of servicing and replacing aging fossil fuel and nuclear facilities as well as conduct cutting-edge research to develop future infrastructures involving alternatives, such as wind, solar and biofuels.
• Completion of a $65 million, 196,000-square-foot Student Union signals a new era of campus life with increased space for student organizations, activities and governance as well as new dining venues and places to gather socially.
• UNC Charlotte’s new Bioinformatics Center will provide computational research and education programs to support the biotechnology efforts of the North Carolina Research Center in gene-related research.
• The Department of Software and Information Systems, in the College of Computing and Informatics, is a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education, designated by the National Security Agency of the United States.
• The National Science Foundation designated the UNC Charlotte Center for Precision Metrology, part of the Lee College of Engineering, as an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center. These centers are recognized for research excellence and are charged with breaking new scientific ground to help keep American industries competitive in the global economy.

The mission of the College of Education at UNC Charlotte is to prepare excellent professionals who are knowledgeable, effective, reflective, collaborative, and responsive practitioners who are leaders in their fields. This mission is accomplished by working in partnership with schools, communities, and university colleagues and in response to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s commitment to children, families, and schools.

Our values
We are a community of scholars who are committed individually and collectively to creating learning opportunities and environments where we enhance the capacity of our students to have a positive impact on children, youth, communities, families, and schools. We are committed to meeting the developmental and educational needs of our students and to maximize the growth, development, and learning of each individual.

In our programs of study, we are committed to high quality programs that are standards- based, to the ongoing assessment of candidates and programs for the purpose of continuous improvement, to collaboration and outreach, and to the highest standards of professional practice and scholarship.  We are committed to international understanding and involvement.

In fulfilling our professional roles, we are committed to the generation, dissemination, and application of knowledge.  We, therefore, expect that faculty will be teacher-scholars and that they will maintain a balanced commitment to teaching, research, and service.  We have a strong commitment to academic excellence and exceptional quality in all that we do.

In our dealings with each other, our students, and our professional colleagues in schools and communities, we are committed to valuing diversity and to speaking out against oppression. We are committed to thoughtfulness, reflection, flexibility, and the exploration of new ideas. We are committed to openness, honesty, forthrightness, and the highest standards of integrity and ethical behavior. We strive to be collegial, collaborative, humane, and respectful of others, even when we are not in total agreement with their views or with their work, and we are committed to being sensitive to and supportive of others, including students, staff, faculty, and our professional colleagues in the community.

The Knowledge Bases of Professional Education Programs at UNC Charlotte  
Excellent professionals possess a comprehensive knowledge base that is comprised of conceptual knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and reflective knowledge.  Conceptual knowledge relates to the individual’s broad knowledge base as well as a more specialized knowledge base in their content field and knowledge of how human beings learn and develop. Pedagogical knowledge entails the understanding of methods of effective teaching: knowledge of how to teach subject matter and knowledge of how to teach the subject matter to specific learners, attention to individual differences and how to create environments that support learning.  Reflective knowledge enables cogent evaluation of teaching practice, including self-appraisal.  Excellent professionals understand how to blend these types of knowledge in actuating teaching and learning in positive ways.  Excellent professionals make connections between the knowledge base and the uses of this knowledge.  Four particular uses of knowledge are emphasized within professional education programs at UNC Charlotte: 

• Excellent professionals use knowledge to provide effective instruction in order to have a positive impact on P-12 student learning
  
• Excellent professionals use knowledge to respond to the needs of P-12 learners and to provide developmentally appropriate, age appropriate, individually appropriate, and culturally responsive instruction
  
• Excellent professionals use knowledge to collaborate with families, communities, and colleagues to benefit children, youth, and young adults
  
• Excellent professionals use knowledge to provide effective leadership for the improvement of professional practice at a variety levels for the benefit of children, youth, and young adults.
  

In summary, UNC Charlotte prepares excellent professionals who are knowledgeable, effective, reflective, responsive to equity and diversity, collaborative, and who are leaders in their profession.

For more information about UNC Charlotte's School of Education, click here.  

Distance Education at UNC Charlotte is focused on the delivery of a select number of programs -- baccalaureate completion programs, master degrees, graduate certificates, and teacher licensure programs. Our Distance Education programs are taught by the same faculty who teach our on-campus programs. Program content, objectives, and outcomes are the same.

UNC Charlotte's online programs provide busy individuals - with work, family, and other responsibilities - the opportunity to continue their education without having to travel to campus. You will be able to connect via the Internet with UNC Charlotte instructors and with the other students enrolled in your classes. Some of our online programs require students to log in at appointed times to participate in live classroom sessions. Many of our programs are entirely asynchronous - with students and instructors communicating via e-mail and Course Discussion Boards at times that are convenient for them. A few programs specify a limited number of visits to the campus.

At UNC Charlotte, faculty and staff are committed to helping our students complete their programs and be successful online learners. Distance Education students are supported by a toll-free Technical Help Desk that offers evening and weekend as well as weekday hours; a librarian assigned specifically to work with Distance Education students; and Distance Education Program Managers who provide administrative and logistical support to the students enrolled in each program.

To explore Distance Education at UNC Charlotte, visit our website at www.DistanceEd.uncc.edu, and then contact one of our Program Managers for more information on the program in which you are interested.

We can be reached toll-free by phone at 1-877-583-2966, or by e-mail at Send email now.