News and Features

Central Piedmont Community College has selected two local artists, Rosalia Torres-Weiner and Felicia Sky Sutton, to create a large-scale mural honoring the past history of the college, documenting the present, and reflecting the aspirations of Central Piedmont students for the future.

Torres-Weiner and Sutton, former Central Piedmont students, were chosen from a highly skilled pool of applicants to work collaboratively with students, faculty, and staff to create an interactive mural. The art work will be located in the dining area of the college’s new student union, a part of Central Piedmont’s new Parr Center complex, located on the Central Campus. The Parr Center will serve as the student services hub and include a new campus library, a 430-seat theater, a rooftop terrace, a 1,100- square-foot art gallery, and a maker’s space for students to explore careers and creativity. The Parr Center will open to students and the public later this year.

According to the project’s request for proposal, the mural’s graphic design will span an 8-foot by 90-foot wall on the first floor of the 184,000-square-foot building. Its placement will benefit from the nearby dining space, which is flooded with natural light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows that overlook the Charlotte city skyline. The mural will demonstrate the college’s commitment to the fine arts and its support for the creative culture of its surrounding community.

Rosalia Torres-Weiner is an artist, activist and community leader in Charlotte. Her art captures the themes, colors and rich symbolism of her native home of Mexico. She took her first steps toward a creative career by taking graphic design courses at Central Piedmont. After operating a successful interior arts business, Torres-Weiner shifted the focus of her work from commercial art to art activism in 2010, by using her art to document social conditions and to raise awareness about issues affecting immigrant communities such as family separation, access to public education, racism, and moving beyond common stereotypes. Her work is featured in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Anacostia Museum and has been exhibited in a variety of venues, including the McColl Center for Arts and Innovation, Levine Museum of the New South, the City of Raleigh Museum, the Latin American Center for Arts Gallery, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and the Mexican Cultural Institute at the Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C. Her story “The Magic Kite” was adapted by The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.

Felicia Sky Sutton is an educator, muralist, and multimedia artist who believes art creation and art education are an important pathway to self-empowerment. Working with paint, video, digital illustration, and most recently animation, She captures the essence of her subjects and tells stories through colorful portraiture, symbolism, and visual metaphors. Sutton is passionate about the use of public art to empower, build, and strengthen communities, and to bring new life to forgotten spaces. She attended Central Piedmont’s dual enrollment program before transferring to and graduating from Appalachian State University with a bachelor’s degree in art and visual culture. Her work has been in a number of group and solo exhibitions in Boone, N.C.; Charlotte and, most recently, in Philadelphia. In addition, she has been published in multiple publications and magazines.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Council at Central Piedmont Community College hosted a virtual panel discussion today featuring prominent leaders from some of its key partner organizations in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community. The panel was comprised of:

• Kieth Cockrell, president, Bank of America Charlotte
• Chiquitha Lloyd, director of diversity and inclusion, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
• Dr. Dana McDonald, vice president of talent development, Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont
• Fernando Little, vice president and chief diversity officer, Atrium Health

During the event, Central Piedmont employees and students had the opportunity to hear the group discuss their personal stories as they relate to equity, diversity, and inclusion; and most importantly, learn about each individual’s professional experiences with actively advocating for and promoting opportunity, access, and fairness within their organizations and in the community-at-large.

“I’d encourage all of you, no matter how you classify yourself or what you think about this campus, to speak up,” said Cockrell during the event. “We all have a voice and we all need to show a willingness to make things better.”

Over the last 18 months, Central Piedmont has hosted a number of EDI related events for both its employees and students to attend. Examples include: inclusive leadership trainings, inclusive teaching practice sessions, examining best EDI practices from other institutions, courageous conversations, and more.

Central Piedmont is offering the events to foster the growth of its employees and students, as well as the institution as a whole. The goal is to deliver a superior collegiate experience for students that supports their success both personally and professionally, while embedding an enhanced EDI philosophy and awareness in the college’s daily practices and processes.

More than 15,000 students from Mecklenburg County and beyond converged at Central Piedmont Community College on Monday, Jan. 10, as the college kicked off its 2022 spring semester.

Throughout the day, Student Engagement representatives and other staff members were stationed at information tables across all six Central Piedmont campuses to help ease students’ first day of class.

Representatives were on site to guide students to classes, answer their questions, and provide them with important college information, such as valuable campus resources, parking guidelines and available extracurricular activities.

The college offers nearly 300 programs to get students real-world ready, providing them with an affordable and hands-on education that can help them fast track into a career pathway or lay the foundation for a four-year degree.

Registration for the spring term remains open. Enroll today!

Despite a pandemic, this year’s class of nursing students persevered, earning their nursing pin during a special ceremony on Dec. 9, and a 94-percent job placement rate.

The pinning ceremony is a time-honored tradition in the nursing community, symbolizing the nursing student’s hard work and commitment to serving others as a healthcare professional.

This year marks the 54th anniversary of the pinning ceremony at Central Piedmont, an institution that is home to the oldest nursing program of its kind in the state of North Carolina and renowned for producing quality healthcare practitioners who are prepared to meet the healthcare needs of residents located in Mecklenburg County and beyond.

To learn more about nursing at Central Piedmont, visit cpcc.edu/programs/nursing.

Central Piedmont is excited to announce North Carolina’s Longleaf Commitment Grant, a program that was previously only available to 2021 North Carolina high school graduates who planned to attend one of state’s “Great 58” community colleges during the 2021-2022 academic year, is now open to eligible 2020 high school graduates.

Thanks to the addition of the Class of 2020, even more high school graduates now are eligible to receive grant funds – not a loan – to cover tuition and fees that may be applied toward a degree or to attain transfer credit.

Full-time eligible students are guaranteed to receive $700 to $2,800 per academic year, for a total of two years. Part-time students may receive a partial award. The Longleaf Commitment Grant ends at the conclusion of the 2023 spring semester.

“The Longleaf Grant helped me by saving me money,” said Leila Turner, a grant recipient and Central Piedmont student. “And the process [to apply] was easy!”

In addition, the Longleaf Commitment program will provide matching grants to affiliated colleges to help the institutions expand their student advising, success coaching, and related services to support student success after students have enrolled.

Learn more about the North Carolina Longleaf Commitment Grant, including its eligibility requirements, and get connected to helpful resources.

With the Longleaf Commitment Grant, other sources of state and federal financial aid, and Central Piedmont’s $3 million in scholarship assistance, attending college debt-free is a real possibility. Check out the Central Piedmont website for more details.

Contact the Financial Aid office.

Central Piedmont has issued a Request for Proposals from area artists for the design, fabrication, and installation of a sculpture that celebrates the arts and humanities at the college.

The work will be displayed outside the college’s new Student Success Center and Library, located on its Central Campus, at 1201 Elizabeth Ave. (See the Central Campus map.)

Learn more about the project or submit a proposal by Monday, Jan. 31, 2022.

Congratulations to Central Piedmont's Cyber Security Team and program area on its student's performance at the individual and team level during the National Cyber League Competition, which took place Oct. 8 - Nov. 7, 2021. The team placed 137 out of 927 teams that competed nationwide, beating several four-year universities. In the individual competition, Central Piedmont student Daniel Freeman placed 209th out of 3,667 competitors. This put him in the top 6% nationwide. The other team members placed 1,225, 1,826 and 1,870 respectively. 

Events like the National Cyber League Competition expose students to industry partners who may provide them with internships and full-time jobs - jobs are one of the best completion statuses our students can have. 

Learn more about the National Cyber League and its competitions.

Central Piedmont Community College recognized James “Jim” W. Allison, a long-time Central Piedmont benefactor and respected Charlotte lawyer, by naming Room 1221 of the Zeiss Building on the college’s Central Campus, the "James W. Allison Classroom” in honor of his 17-year relationship with the college.

The college will use Room 1221 for paralegal technology instruction beginning in 2022, when its paralegal program relocates from Cato Campus to Central Campus. The classroom naming aligns perfectly with Mr. Allison’s professional interests – he dedicated his career to working as a business lawyer, working primarily for Johnston, Allison & Hord PA. There, he helped counsel a number of clients representing the higher education, real estate, and healthcare fields – including Central Piedmont Community College.

Over the years, Mr. Allison has served as the college’s legal counsel, helping its leadership acquire facilities/property across the county to help expand its footprint to meet the needs of students and the community.

However, his contributions to the college’s growth extend beyond his legal work. He and his wife Judy – a Central Piedmont Board of Trustees member since 2010 – have generously donated their time and resources to Central Piedmont, establishing the Judith N. & James W. Allison Endowed Scholarship to support students in the paralegal program (with a veteran preference), and the Johnston, Allison & Hord Scholarship to support students in the college’s paralegal program.

“Jim and Judy have been generous supporters of the college, establishing endowed scholarship funds to extend opportunities to financially-needy students in our paralegal program,” said Kandi Deitemeyer, president of Central Piedmont. “This generosity has made it possible for numerous students to prepare for meaningful careers as paralegals. The gift to name this classroom will increase available scholarship resources and provide additional life-transforming financial assistance to students.”

Watch a recording of the dedication event.

The Central Piedmont Annual Report is ready to view online at cpccfoundation.org/annualreport.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic during 2020-2021, the college continued to serve as the community’s college, providing the support services, courses, and career training its students needed to stay on track, within an environment that fostered a culture of care.

We are grateful for the continued support of our donors, industry partners, and friends who believe in our vision of providing learning experiences that transform lives and strengthen the local community.

Please enjoy this interactive reading experience, while learning more about our 2020-2021 accomplishments and celebrating our many successes with us through videos, photos, and more.

On Oct. 27, approximately 50 Central Piedmont Opportunity Scholars gathered in the Worrell Gym, located on Central Piedmont’s Central Campus, to participate in a special “Spread the Love” event.

During their time together, the students:

• prepared 300 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be delivered to Central Piedmont’s local community neighbors Roof Above and Angels and Sparrows.
• assembled 60 hygiene kits. Thirty kits (each) were delivered to Project Outpour and Hoskins Park.

Each month, the college’s Office of Mentoring and Bridge hosts bi-weekly Pop Series workshops to help Opportunity Scholarship recipients bridge the transition between high school and college by informing students of campus resources in an attempt to sharpen their self-advocacy skills, learn the importance of professional communication, and maintain a healthy work/life balance. Workshop attendance is required for all first-year Opportunity Scholars, while second-year Opportunity Scholarship students have the choice to attend.

The Mentoring and Bridge team changes the workshop theme monthly to reflect an area that can best benefit students. Featured themes have included and / or will include study habits and learning (September), health and fitness (November), and stress management (December). The Spread the Love event held on Oct. 27 supported the team’s October theme – community and giving back.