Welcome Message

Hello to the Western Carolina Community!

Western Carolina University annually acknowledges and celebrates our faculty’s collective and individual scholarly and creative achievements. In 2026, we are proud to mark the 37th year of this institutional celebration. This year also is the 39th year of the Hunter Scholar Award, which recognizes and rewards faculty who make extensive use of library resources in their research.

Our goal is to inspire our academic community by highlighting and affirming the many ways in which WCU faculty express their creativity and contribute to the advancement of human knowledge and culture. You can browse scholarly contributions from departments across campus on the RASC website.

Sponsors of the 2026 Faculty Scholarship Celebration event are the Graduate School and Research, the Hunter Library, the Office of the Provost, the Office of Undergraduate Studies, the Brinson Honors College, and the Office of the Chancellor. Many thanks go to the Faculty Scholarship Celebration planning committee: Roxane Stiles, Joshua Everhart, and Suzanne Melton.

Thanks also are due to the Hunter Scholar Award Selection Committee:

• Kloo Hansen, Office of Research Administration
• Emily Naser-Hall, Department of English Studies
• Chelsea Weddle, School of Health Sciences
• Yiqing Yang, Department of Anthropology and Sociology (2025-26 Hunter Scholar)

Sincerely,

Heidi Buchanan

Interim Dean of Library Services