UNC Greensboro’s Department of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies (CARS) continues to spearhead scholarship and research for future apparel designers, manufacturers, and retailers. Associate Professor Melanie Carrico will become the next president-elect of the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA), an organization that supports the faculty and students at UNCG’s Bryan School of Business and Economics, as well as similar academic programs worldwide.
Carrico’s term will be from 2024-26. She joined the UNCG faculty in 2006 and joined ITAA almost 30 years since while she was a graduate student.
“I would hope that our students are proud to be in a program with influential leaders and award-winning scholars,” she says. “One of the ways that it’s helped me is give me an opportunity to collaborate with other people at other institutions, to learn from them, to help me keep my creative juices flowing, and help to support me and my creative scholarship.”
Dr. Jin Su ’04, director of CARS graduate studies, was honored with ITAA’s 2023 Mid-Career Excellence Award. This goes to faculty – typically at the associate professor level – who have a record of productive, independent, and impactful peer-reviewed research and creative scholarship activities.
Su says, “I hope, through my involvement with ITAA, to strengthen the link between the academics – the professors and students – and the industry, so that our students can have broader career opportunities, to help them with their future career development.”
Dr. Elena Karpova, Putman and Hayes Distinguished Professor, nominated Su for the award, and Department Head Dr. Nancy Hodges wrote one of the letters of support. “We have a great teaching and researching environment here,” says Su, “It encourages faculty to effectively focus on teaching and scholarship. They’re very supportive, from the department head to our colleagues.”
ITAA advances academic research related to apparel from the design phase to the sale. It provides scholarships, publications, conferences, and exhibitions for faculty and students to build upon their knowledge, share findings, and build a network.
Many of UNCG’s faculty have been part of ITAA for years. Its Textile and Apparel Programs Accreditation Commission (TAPAC) is an accrediting body of CARS. Hodges is deputy editor of its journal Clothing and Textile Research Journal and a former vice president of planning. Karpova was previously vice president of scholarship.
Hodges says, “ITAA is the premier academic association for scholars in textile and apparel-related academic programs like the CARS program at UNCG. Such accolades attest to the visibility and reputation of the CARS program and faculty within the discipline and underscore the strong presence of UNCG at the annual ITAA conference, where it is typically among the top 2-3 universities presenting the largest number of peer-reviewed research papers and creative designs every year.”
Carrico says, “Even without the leadership role or award, just through the organization, we are able to learn new things to bring to the students, make connections that can help them further along, especially at the graduate level.”
Story by Janet Imrick, University Communications
Photography by Jiyoung Park, University Communications
