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UCA Psych Student Awarded For Research

1University of Central Arkansas counseling psychology doctoral student Kendra Anderson has been awarded the Diversity Research Award from the American Psychological Association Division 41 (Psychology and Law) for her dissertation research, “African American Male Inmates and Racial and Ethic Identity: Risk and Protective Factors.”

This is a nationally competitive award and includes $1,000 to fund her study.

Dr. Femina Varghese is her Dissertation Chairperson.

Congratulations to Anderson and Dr. Varghese!

UCA Occupational Therapy Faculty Presented At American Occupational Therapy Association’s 2015 Educational Summit

Dr. Paschal presented Building Capacity of Occupational Therapy Educators in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Dr. Paschal serves as a leader of the American Occupational Therapy Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Program. The paper presented included outcomes of the national OT Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Initiative.

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Dr. Paschal also presented an overview of interprofessional education program at the University of Central Arkansas. Additionally, she provided an overview of programmatic outcomes for colleagues Melinda Rybiski (Ohio State) and Sandra Dunbar (Nova Southeastern University) who were unable to travel to the conference.

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Dr. Letha Mosley presented Evaluation of Progressive Problem-Based Learning (Pro-PBL): Evidence and Lessons Learned to Enhance Student Learning Outcomes. Her presentation included suggestions for implementation of Pro-PBL and outcomes related to facilitating students’ knowledge, skill development, and interprofessional collaboration.

Upward Bound Program Proves To Be A Success At UCA

Each year, the Upward Bound program at University of Central Arkansas is required to submit an Annual Performance Report (APR) to the U.S. Department of Education to determine how it is performing against its objectives.

For those who are unfamiliar with the program or its purpose, here are some highlights to briefly share some of what is being accomplished. The following program stats are based off the 2014-2015 APR which was recently submitted.

1.     In Fall 2014, the Arkansas college-going rate for first-time entering students was 50.1%. However, 73% of our program’s 2015 graduates enrolled in post-secondary education this fall. That’s even higher than the national rate of 65.9% in 2013 (with only 45.5% for low-income students).

2.     Arkansas’ graduation rate for 2013-2014 was 86.9%, and the dropout rate was 2.10%. However, 100% of our students continued in school for the next academic year (at the next grade level) or graduated with a regular diploma.

3.     In 2013-2014, the percentages of proficient and advanced scores on state exams in Arkansas were 75% for Algebra, 74% for Geometry, and 72% for Literacy. However, 93% of our 2015 graduates achieved at the proficient or advanced level in literacy AND (at least) one math.

Upward Bound, one of more than 2800 federal TRiO programs in the nation, serves students in grades 9 through 12 from Bigelow, Nemo Vista, Perryville, Mayflower, and Morrilton who are low-income, first generation, and/or students at high-risk for academic failure. Our goal is college access and post-secondary success for these students.

We currently have 46 prior participants (cohort year of 2007 and later) who are in college right now; 43% of whom are enrolled at UCA.

If you would like to know more about federal TRiO programs or our program in particular, call or email the Director of Upward Bound, Michelle Hardin, at 501-450-5858 or mhardin@ uca.edu.

Visit the website for the Council for Opportunity in Education at for a more detailed overview.

UCA Professors Work Published In International Journal of Health Sciences

12Dr. Duston Morris and Dr. Denise Demers from the Department of Health Sciences, along with their colleague Dr. Alex Marshall from UAMS recently had some of their work on exercise and sexuality accepted for publication in The International Journal of Health Sciences.

Previous work was published in the Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality.

Their work addresses the relationship between exercise and how it influences sexuality among healthy adults.

Future research plans include trying to determine if different exercise models using constructs of the exercise FITT principle can predict sexual satisfaction and sexual performance indicators.

Gamma Iota Sigma Insurance Program Won Two Awards

The UCA​ ​​​Gamma Iota Sigma chapter insurance program was awarded the​ ​International Chapter Award​ ​in two categories:​ ​Membership Development and Chapter Management.

Congratulations!