Community Events

Conway Symphony Orchestra Celebrates Opening Night

For the Opening Night concert of its 32nd season, the Conway Symphony Orchestra welcomed back fan-favorite UCA artist-in-residence Neil Rutman, matched with another fan-favorite, Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin.

Combined with the William Tell Overture and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8, the Oct. 29 performance featured the music that audiences know and love, as they’ve come to expect from the Conway Symphony.

The 7:30 concert was held at Reynolds Performance Hall.

Subscriptions are still available, with a four-concert package for $64-$116, with discounts for all students, children, and UCA faculty/staff. Contact the box office at (501) 450-3265, Mon-Fri, 10-4, or www.uca.edu/tickets.

The award-winning Rutman has performed in over thirty countries in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He has appeared in Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, and the Schola Cantorum in Paris, with recent concert tours in the last five years of the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, Japan, and the Persian Gulf. Rhapsody in Blue combines classical music with jazz-influenced effects, premiering in New York in 1924 with Gershwin himself on piano. It has since become one of the most popular of all American concert works.

Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 continued the popular theme, with cheerful and optimistic music. “It’s filled with Bohemian life,” conductor and music director Israel Getzov said, “folksy and enchanting with haunting melodies.”

The Conway Symphony Orchestra brings professional concerts, exciting guest artists and high-quality music to the Central Arkansas community. For more information on concerts and other programs, visit ConwaySymphony.org or call (501) 269-1066.

UCA Hosts Arkansas Life Summit

Entrepreneurs, investors, research scientists, service providers and the public interested in technology companies that develop products to improve people’s lives and health gathered at the Arkansas Life Sciences Summit on October 19, 2016 in Conway.The event showcased presentations from 14 of the fastest-growing technology companies with research and innovation in the life sciences conducted at Arkansas universities and private companies. These companies include medical devices, drug discovery, diagnostics, biotechnology, natural products and agriculture sciences. There were also breakout sessions focused on specific challenges faced by life sciences companies.

The summit was organized and hosted by UAMS BioVentures of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and was held at the University of Central Arkansas.

Among the presenting companies were Nushores Biosciences, BiologicsMD, Infinite Enzymes LLC, EZRA Innovations, Stage I Diagnostics, Burke Therapeutics LLC, Invotek, BioBotic Solutions, Now Diagnostics, Phyzit, and TiFiber.

The keynote speaker was Patrick Plues, vice president of state government affairs for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). At BIO, he is responsible for executing a comprehensive state government relations strategy in all 50 states to create a positive business environment for the biopharmaceutical industry. He also gave a presentation on the outlook for biotechnology and life sciences regionally, nationally and globally.

Summit sponsors were Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield, Arkansas Capital Corp., Conway Chamber of Commerce, Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas State University, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and Arkansas Children’s Research Institute.

UCAPD Trains Virgin Islands School Districts In Safety Skills

Two members of the University of Central Arkansas Police Department traveled to the U.S. Virgin Islands to conduct training on safety and security skills for the St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John School Districts. Capt. Justin Tapley and Lt. Jamie Booth trained school security known as school monitors on defensive tactics, use of force, responding to an active-shooter, proper baton use and handcuffing during the two weeks of training.

“The training went great! Their school security personnel were eager to learn and very appreciative of the training,” said Tapley.

Tapley is a 22-year veteran of the UCAPD and currently serves as the standards and training commander. Booth has worked for UCAPD for more than 10 years and is the patrol services division commander for UCAPD. The two officers were invited to conduct the training by former UCA professor and retired police officer, Dr. Johnny Purvis, who is a consultant to the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Education.

“I approached Capt. Tapley because I really needed someone who is an instructor in self-defense and baton training,” said Purvis. “We hope to build on the relationships made. We’ve been invited back to assist the [U.S. Virgin Islands] Department of Education. The monitors are requesting that we come back.”

Tapley asked that a second officer, Boothe, assist in the training because of the number of school monitors the district wanted to train. Of the approximate 100 school monitors in all three school districts, 81 participated in the professional development training with Tapley and Booth that was held in August. Some monitors were either still on vacation or in hazardous materials training in Alabama. The two may conduct additional training in 2017, but no plans have been finalized.

Donaghey Hall Welcomes Otis the Bear

Otis, a 15 feet long, eight-feet-wide bear made of stainless steel and weighing approximately 3,000 pounds, went up on Donaghey Hall on the morning of October 21, 2016.
Otis was created by UCA professor and sculptor Brian Massey.

“The commissioned art piece for Donaghey Hall is something we hope the public will enjoy. Hopefully, ‘Otis’ is the first of many installations throughout the Donaghey District,” said TJ Johnston, director of special university projects.

AVP of Student Services Becomes President of ArSAA

Assistant Vice President for Student Services John Fincher was elected as the 55th President of the Arkansas Student Affairs Association (ArSAA), during the annual Partners for Student Success Conference held in Hot Springs, Arkansas from October 5 through October 7, 2016.

Fincher has represented the institution on ArSAA since 2013.

Founded in 1962 as the Arkansas Personnel and Guidance Association, ArSAA is an independent non-profit organization supported by institutional memberships from the 42 Arkansas Colleges and Universities.

The organization exists to provide professional development opportunities, promote best practices and professional standards among institutions, and serve as the statewide voice for student affairs personnel and administration.

More information on ArSAA is available online.

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