Wesley Alford
Wesley, originally from Jonesboro, AR, moved to the central region of the state in 2000 to attend Hendrix College where he earned a degree in Psychology. After graduating, he spent 5 years working at the Laman Library creating educational programs for children and families before deciding to pursue a Master’s degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Louisiana Tech University. Wesley is a member of the Arkansas Foodbank’s Harvesters Young Professionals group, a volunteer group who plan and execute the Foodbank’s two annual fundraising events. When not pursuing academic interests or volunteering, he can be found riding his bike on Little Rock’s River Trail or watching soccer with his wife, Leighanne, and their dog, Artie.
Michael Blanchett
Michael is the Professional Adult College Education (PACE) Department Chair and Director of Central Baptist College's Online Studies in Conway, AR. He has been employed by CBC for over ten years. In this role, he leads and directs the strategic planning, vision and academic growth of the accelerated PACE Department at the school. Michael is CBC's point of contact for the Service Member's Opportunity College (SOC) Program, and he is also an adjunct instructor at CBC in such subjects as Marketing, Management and Economics. He would like to encourage everyone to visit his office in Room PB102 of the Cooper Building, Central Baptist College, to talk about any subject or just to say "Hello."
In his spare time, Michael enjoys walking, bicycle riding, and playing chess. On Tuesdays and Fridays of each week, he likes to practice being an active vegan. Michael is also an active member of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock, AR. He plans on completing his first 1/2 marathon this year.
Christian Carichner
Christian is currently Assistant Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at The University of Central Arkansas. Holding degrees from Ithaca College and Arizona State University, Christian is an accomplished performer, educator, and artist.
Christian has performed or taught in 47 different states and 12 countries across the globe. Recently, he was a featured performer at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference and has presented clinics at several regional workshops across the country. Christian has also performed with the Arizona Musicfest Orchestra, the Tampa Tradewinds, the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes, Pinnacle Brass, Rhythm and Brass, Proteus 7, Salt River Brass, and has performed with the national tour of the hit Broadway musical Chicago.
Christian is also very active in the marching music world. Currently he serves as Brass Caption Head for the Phantom Regiment, a Drum Corps International World Champion organization. He also composes, designs, and arranges marching band shows for several organizations, most recently for UCA and Conway High School.
Christian is currently an advocate for the incorporation of arts entrepreneurship in collegiate arts curriculum, where he believes that in today’s increasingly competitive arts field, an artist must possess the skills necessary to design and implement their own career.
Kristy Carter
Kristy is the Director of Marketing and Assessment for the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement at the University of Central Arkansas. Her career in higher education began at UCA as Coordinator of the Professional Development and Center for Training and Consulting Services programs in Outreach.
Kristy began her education at Quapaw Technical College in Hot Springs where she received a certificate in business office technology and accounting. She would then go on to receive an associate of arts degree at National Park Community College. She earned a bachelor of arts in business education from Henderson State University and a master’s of arts degree in higher education administration and student affairs from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
She currently serves on the executive board of the Arkansas Distance Learning Association (ARDLA), and has accepted leadership roles as vice president and president of the Arkansas Council for Women in Higher Education (A.C.W.H.E.). She is currently Arkansas’ state coordinator for the American Council on Education’s Office of Women in Higher Education. Her interests include continuing education leadership, engagement marketing, assessment, constituent relationship management, policy and procedures, operations management and organizational behavior.
Mara Cawein
Mara Jane currently works at the University of Central Arkansas as a Level II Clinical Instructor. She is very excited about starting the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies program at UCA since both of her previous degrees were awarded through UCA: a Bachelor of Science in 1978 and Masters of Science in Education in 1995.
Mara Jane, who began her career as a computer programmer at Acxiom, found that her true passion was in education and decided to switch careers in 1992. She taught secondary mathematics in the South Conway County School District for 13 years before moving to UCA’s College of Education. She currently teaches undergraduate courses for education majors and national board classes for the Advanced Studies in Teacher Leadership master’s program. Mara Jane is a national board certified teacher in mathematics and enjoys helping other classroom teachers navigate through the national board process.
Mara Jane currently lives in Morrilton with her husband, David, who is the general manager of Pinecrest Sawmill and Fiber Resource Divisions of Green Bay Packaging, Inc. They have three children and nine grandchildren, with two more grandchildren on the way. Her hobbies include church work, DAR, and active vacations. This summer, Mara Jane and her husband rode bicycles across Missouri on the KATY trail.
Hope Coleman
Hope is currently serving as the Academic and Spiritual Counselor for Baptist Health Schools Little Rock. Her background is in ministry and includes 26 years working with students on college campuses, Chaplaincy in hospital and hospice settings and pastoral education. Hope and her husband, Greg, live in Benton, AR. She is originally from Texas, and most of her family and extended family still live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. She is extremely fulfilled in her current job which affords her the opportunity to both serve and lead people. She tries to make the most of her discretionary time in the outdoors playing golf, riding bikes, hiking, walking or working in her yard. Hope is looking forward to this new phase of her life as she enters the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies program at UCA, which has been a personal goal and life-long dream of hers since she began college.
Malcolm Glover
Malcolm is a journalist, motivational speaker, and certified conflict mediator who loves to travel and help people solve problems. Weekday mornings, his voice can be heard on the radio as the local news host for NPR’s Morning Edition on central Arkansas station KUAR FM 89. Malcolm also produces the award-winning Impact of War series that highlights the struggles and triumphs of military veterans. His reporting has been lauded by several media organizations including the Associated Press and the Alliance for Women in Media. Malcolm was an MTV News correspondent for the Emmy award-winning "Street Team '08" coverage of the 2008 presidential election and he served as a production assistant and intern for the MSNBC Hardball with Chris Matthews program.
Malcolm has worked on community development, humanitarian, and advocacy projects with nonprofit organizations in Sudan, Egypt, Kenya, Israel, China, Belize, and Brazil. He has toured war zones; lived in a refugee camp; walked on the Great Wall of China; sailed on the Sea of Galilee; and trekked through ancient Mayan ruins. Malcolm grew up in Maryland and is a graduate of Florida A&M University, the Clinton School of Public Service, and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Hunter Phillips Goodman
Hunter combines her interest in higher education and nonprofit leadership through doctoral studies at the University of Central Arkansas. She is interested in connecting the synergy between education and nonprofit development and harnessing the collective power of nonprofits. For six years, Hunter served as Executive Director of Arkansas Coalition for Excellence (ACE), Arkansas’ association for nonprofit professionals, businesses, individuals, and foundations invested in Arkansas’s nonprofit sector. Hunter served on the National Council of Nonprofits board and Arkansas Discovery Network Advisory Board. She remains active in the national student service movement as an advisory board member of the IMPACT National Student Conference on Service, Action, and Advocacy. Hunter has taught nonprofit management and leadership courses through the University of Central Arkansas' College of Business, Louisiana State University Shreveport’s nonprofit management certification program and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Nonprofit Leadership Alliance.
Hunter is excited and proud to be a part of the inaugural class of the University of Central Arkansas’ doctoral program in Leadership Studies. Hunter is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi Master of Education program and Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee and alumni of the Bonner Scholars Program.
Damond Jackson
Damond often tells people that he developed largely out of four pivotal environments: the Country, the Church, the Projects, and the Academy. His education includes: Post-Graduate Clinical Pastoral Education at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, a Master of Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary, and General Studies at University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is a Board Certified Clinically Trained Minister, Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor.
Damond’s employment history includes: Conway Regional Hospital, Faith United Church of Christ, Trinity Outreach Center, Youth Care and Beyond, TD Ameritrade, The Salvation Army, AFLAC, Christ Urban Ministry Center and Christian Open Door Church. Among his community service involvements are: Conway Cradle Care, The Living Affected Corp., Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House, Nebraska AIDS Project, and His Way Homes.
Some of his professional leadership initiatives include: starting a tutoring service for children in Jackson, MS; founding a mentoring program for children and youth in Crystal Springs, MS; implementing an intercultural outreach program for inner city youth and co-coordinating an outreach program for Sudanese refugees in Omaha, NE; starting a Hip-Hop Church/Ministry in East Saint Louis, IL and forging an opening and affirming spiritual community for LGBT and HIV positive citizens in Little Rock, AR.
Craig Lindholm
While trained in counseling, Craig's professional experience includes grant development and administrative roles in rehabilitation services, community corrections, and community and economic development. Craig currently serves as the Executive Director of Community Redevelopment and Grants for the City of Texarkana, Texas. He also serves in the capacity of Health Director for Bowie County, Texas. His duties include oversight of Housing and Community Development, Grant Development, Environmental Services, and Public Health Departments. He also maintains a private consulting practice assisting cities, non-profits, and businesses with grant development, community and economic development. Craig’s passions include leadership, planning, and problem solving. Craig’s research interests include leadership for sustainable communities, political partisanism as a threat to societal progress, and leadership and disparities in twin cities.
Barrett Petty
Barrett, who is originally from West Helena, Arkansas, graduated Magna cum laude from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Management in 2003. He then received his Masters of Science in School Counseling from John Brown University in 2008. In 2009, Barrett received his Educational Specialist in Counseling degree from Harding University. He is currently a middle school math teacher. In his spare time, Barrett likes to work out, play tennis, and read. His professional interests are teacher mentoring, increasing students’ performance on standardized test, and school counseling.
Lyle Rupert
Lyle was born in Kansas, moved to Arkansas when he was 13, and graduated from Fayetteville High School. He graduated from Hendrix College with a major in Accounting. Lyle received an MBA from the University of Chicago with specializations in Accounting and Statistics and passed the CPA exam. For the past 24 years, Lyle has been a professor at Hendrix College in the Economics and Business Department and has taught every financial and managerial accounting course, finance, statistics, intro to business, and several interdisciplinary courses. For the past 20 years, he has been the choir director and organist at First Presbyterian Church in Conway. For the past five years, Lyle has been Director of Arkansas Governor's School. Lyle and his wife, Sheila, have three children: a son who will graduate from UofA this year, a son entering the MBA program at Baylor University, and a daughter who works in the medical field.
Craig Seager
Craig was born and raised on the tiny island of Bahrain in the Middle East, but is a citizen of India. He has called Arkansas home for 15 years now. Craig received his Bachelor’s degree in Airway Science Management at Henderson State University; he earned his Master’s degree in Administration soon after. Currently, he works at the University of Central Arkansas as an Area Coordinator with the Department of Housing and Residence Life. In this role, Craig oversees a cluster of Residence Halls and Residence Life programs.
Aside from the enjoyment he gets from his job at UCA, Craig also loves music and plays the drums in two bands – a funk band and a folk rock band. He has had the privilege of playing music all over Arkansas and some parts of Texas. Craig also enjoys the outdoors and will go fishing every chance he gets.
Craig’s passion for working with students is one of the main reasons he picked the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies program. He has always enjoyed working in Student Affairs and would love to stay in the field for the rest of his professional career.
Patricia Searight
Patricia was born in Ventura, California and raised in Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Her husband, Randy, is also an educator. The couple have four children (three girls and one boy), and six grandchildren. Patricia's areas of certification are in Elementary Education, Math, Music, Curriculum Administration, and both Building and District Administration. She has taught in New Mexico and Arkansas for a combined 15 years of experience. Presently, she is Curriculum Coordinator, and she has just become Marshall Elementary Principal in Marshall, AR. Earning a Ph.D. has always been a goal of Patricia's and she is very excited about the coming year.
Marshall Sladyen
Marshall is the Site Coordinator for a Smaller Learning Communities (SLC) Grant and Site Coordinator for High Schools That Work (HSTW) at Hall High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Marshall received his BS in Zoology from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with a minor in French and 30 graduate hours in Anthropology. He received an MS in Educational Media/Library Science from the University of Central Arkansas. He holds an Arkansas Teacher’s License for Biology, Earth Science, Life Science, Physical Science, Chemistry, Astronomy, French, and Library Science. From 1987 until 1993 he taught French, Biology, Earth Science, Life Science and Human Physiology at England High School. From 1993 until 1997 he taught French, Earth Science, and Advanced Biology at Mayflower High School. In 1997, he began teaching with the Little Rock School District at Hall High School in the subjects of French, Cisco Networking, EAST Lab, and Research for the 21st Century. Marshall began work as the Site Coordinator for HSTW and the SLC grant in 2002. He also serves as ACSIP chair, a member of the Principal’s Leadership Committee, Coordinator for the 21st Century Community Learning Center, and Technology Coordinator.
Chad Tappe
After growing up in Dallas, Texas, and then in Hutchinson, Kansas, Chad came to Arkansas to attend Harding University in 1997. He graduated from Harding in 2001 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Professional Sales and Marketing. Chad served as the Assistant Director of Admissions at Harding for five years, while also completing his Masters of Business Administration. In 2006, he was hired as the Assistant to the President at Central Arkansas Christian Schools in Little Rock, AR. In this current position, Chad works with admissions, development and marketing, and he serves as a member of the administrative team.
Chad and his wife of nine years, Andrea, have two children: Ella, five, and Livia, one. For the past three years, he has served as the Worship Minister at the Central Church of Christ in downtown Little Rock. Chad also enjoys playing basketball, being a movie trivia grandmaster, and consistently beating his five year old in “Go Fish” half of the time.
Hang Yang
Having graduated from Qingdao University in China with a Master Degree of Law in International Relations and a Bachelor Degree of Law in International Politics, Hang has a general view about world issues. Being a former junior coordinator in the International Programs of Qingdao University for about three years, he easily understands the challenges and the opportunities that the university would face in international cooperation with different schools from North America, Europe and Asia. Hang has participated in the international education cooperation held by Qingdao University. Having enjoyed his experiences there, Hang is eager to study more about and gain more experience in leadership in international education cooperation between universities. As a former exchange student to the University of Central Arkansas in fall 2010, he worked in the Division of International Engagement as a volunteer. Hang believes that his experiences in both the United States and China, combined with his former major training, qualify him to be a student in the Ph.D. in Leadership Studies program.