Achievements

Arkansas TRiO Program Selects Student Trey White in Hall of Fame From Upward Bound At UCA

Every year, each Arkansas TRiO program has the opportunity to select one student for inclusion in the Arkansas TRiO Hall of Fame. TRiO programs provide educational opportunities for first-generation, low-income or students with disabilities.

Although individual programs may establish their own criteria to determine their program’s selection, students chosen each embody the spirit of TRiO!

This year, we want to congratulate the 2017 Arkansas TRiO Hall of Fame student selected from Upward Bound at the University of Central Arkansas, Trey White.

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Trey was honored, along with the Hall of Fame students from other TRiO programs across the state, at National TRiO Day held Saturday, March 11, 2017 on the University of Arkansas Community College – Batesville campus.

Trey will be graduating this year from Mayflower High School and plans to attend college at UCA. He wants to pursue a degree in Communications or Political Science.

In Trey’s own words, he writes:

“My name is Trey White. I grew up in Mayflower, Arkansas, and have gone to school there my entire life. I am President of Student Council and Book Club, Vice President of the Senior Class and NHS, and Treasurer of Beta Club. Additionally, I have the special honor of being President of UCA’s Upward Bound.

Upward Bound has meant so much to me. As a ninth grader, I didn’t know what to expect. I did not even understand the intricacies of what choosing a college would be like. Upward Bound has helped me grow and understand what a good college should have and what college matches my interests. I honestly can say Upward Bound has shaped me into the person I am. I feel so prepared for college and do not feel as overwhelmed as some other people I know. Upward Bound has made preparing for college easy.

I have been in Upward Bound for four years and have only missed one Saturday Academy. I genuinely enjoy what the UB experience entails. I have met so many great people and experienced so many great things that without UB, I would not have experienced. I am proud to say that UB has given me such great success in high school and for me, someone who comes from a low-income family where no one has ever gone to college, UB helped me realize a generations-long dream. The Bridge program I will attend this summer is the next step in that dream and the beginning of a new and exciting chapter.”

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Congratulations Trey!

For more information about UCA’s Upward Bound program, visit the Upward Bound website here!

UCA History Professor Makes Appearance In Historical Documentary Series

Roger Pauly, associate professor of history at the University of Central Arkansas, recently participated in a historical documentary called “American Guns: A History of US Firearms” that has just become available on Amazon Prime.

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The documentary was produced in 2016 and currently has one season available to stream on Amazon Prime. It is based on the book “Firearms: The Lifestyle of a Technology” (John Hopkins University Press, 2010) by Professor Pauly.

The 13-part documentary series is summed up on Amazon: “It is not known when the first gunpowder charge exploded. But since that moment, firearm designers and manufacturers have been driven to make guns more accurate, improve reliability, ease of operation, portability, and finally, make guns more beautiful. No country has contributed more to the advancement of firearms than the United States.”

UCA is the only academic institution credited in the program and Pauly appears in 12 of the 13 episodes.

UCA Senior Psychology Student Accepts Position At Harvard Medical School

Emily Hahn, a senior psychology major graduating this spring, has accepted a position as a Clinical/Computational Research Coordinator in the Division of Neurotherapeutics at the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.

Responsibilities for this position include: collecting and analyzing data for fMRI component of closed-loop Deep Brain Stimulation study (funded by Department of Defense) designed to treat a broad range of treatment resistant psychiatric populations.

Congratulations Emily! Go Bears!

UCA Professer Gary Bunn Receives Award For Service to Sigma Phi Epsilon

Congratulations to Dr. Gary Bunn, director of Candidate Services in the College of Education, for receiving the Exemplary Service Award from Sigma Phi Epsilon.

Dr. Bunn was one of five recipients of the award during the fraternity’s Carlson Leadership Academy awards dinner this month.

The Exemplary Service Award is one of the highest honors that can be given by Sigma Phi Epsilon, with only five recipients annually.

“I can think of so many other volunteers across the nation who inspire me and whose work might better qualify for ‘exemplary service,’ and I struggle to put myself among their ranks,” Bunn said. “I was truly humbled by this recognition and very grateful for those who deemed that I am worthy of such an honor. I will certainly strive to live up to this recognition.”

The Exemplary Service Award recognizes devoted and productive service at the chapter, district, regional and/or national level for a minimum of 20 years. Recipients will have made significant and lasting impact for the betterment of the fraternity.

The announcement of Dr. Bunn’s award was made public to SigEp members in January describing him in these words, “He has impacted SigEp far beyond his chapter as a lieutenant district governor, Carlson Leadership Academy facilitator and active member of the national leadership committee, which for many years guided our award-winning leadership programs. This award comes after Gary was honored with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2008.”

Bunn was a founding member of the Arkansas Zeta Chapter of SigEp at UCA and entered the fraternity in 1988. He currently serves as adviser to the chapter.

UCA Student Eryka Williams Earns Title Of National Intern of the Year

University of Central Arkansas student Eryka Williams has been named National Intern of the Year through the Cooperative Education and Internship Association.

Earning the award was the icing on the cake for Williams.

“It was on my birthday when I found out I won nationals,” said Williams. “It was great. It was fabulous. I felt like I was on fire, to be honest.”

Interning with Hewlett Packard Enterprise since Jan. 11, 2016, Williams accomplished multiple goals and delivered a high level of quality in all of her projects. Being accountable, communicative and achieving 100 percent on-time delivery on every project assigned afforded her the opportunity to be named UCA’s Intern of the Year, prompting her to apply for CEIA Intern of the Year.

Dr. Jim Downey, chair of the Department of Management Information Systems, nominated Williams for the UCA Intern of the Year designation.

“Eryka is a student in one of the most technical majors on campus and one of the most difficult ones. She has excelled. She is resolute in her pursuit of learning the material, and in my class, she was not satisfied with just learning,” he said.

After completing her internship, Williams now serves as the support cutover lead for the Americas region for 54 human resources and payroll applications and is now employed at HPE where she continues to model excellence and make an impact in the workplace making herself and UCA proud.

“Not only does Eryka deliver results, but she does it with a smile on her face. She comes in every day with a positive attitude and motivates others around her,” said Hannah Osborne, William’s supervisor at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Williams is a management information systems major from Cabot and graduates in May 2017.

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