Education students who have questions now have a place to go to find answers. The College of Education has developed a program called the “Lighthouse Beacon Initiative,” which is a student support service for education students.
Nancy P. Gallavan, professor of teacher education; Patty Kohler-Evans, associate professor of teacher education; and Angela Webster-Smith, assistant professor of leadership studies, are the founders of this project. It was developed about two years ago to reach students who had questions about the education program.
“We made a lot of progress last year, but this year we’ve really hit the ground running,” Kohler-Evans said.
The participants in the Lighthouse Beacon Initiative have a sign outside their office doors with a lighthouse sign that says “Welcome,” letting individuals know that the people in these offices are there to help. Currently, there are 13 individuals involved in the initiative.
“We don’t see ourselves as necessarily having the answers, but we see ourselves more as truly the lighthouse, we want to point the way to finding the people who can find the answers,” Gallavan said.
These professors want to stress the fact that students can come to them with any type of problem they have.
“Just the fact that it says ‘Welcome’ outside my door, lets students know that it’s a safe place to go,” Webster-Smith said.
The professors in the education department said that they are excited about this new chapter in their department. The education department is working with student support services at UCA to develop this project.
“It’s an attitude of servitude, rather than weeding students out, we are there to serve them,” Kohler-Evans said. – Lisa Burnett
UCA Homecoming 2011 is just around the corner! This is the 100-year anniversary of the UCA Alumni Association so we are pulling out all of the stops. Get out your favorite party or cocktail attire and Bear gear for a weekend of wining, dining. dancing and fun! 
UCA’s Staff Senate named Amy Whitehead as the Employee of the Quarter for the first quarter of the 2011-2012 academic year. Amy is the CCED Coordinator and CDI Assistant Director for Outreach and Community Engagement. She has worked at the University of Central Arkansas for four years. Her service and dedication during Quarter I (July-September) is greatly appreciated.
In August 2011, Dr. Angela Webster-Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Leadership Studies, presented “Building a Nation through Purposeful Partnership” to the administrators and faculty of Cayo Christian Academy, a village school in the Cayo District of Belize, Central America. Approximately 20 educators attended this two-hour session that highlighted the case for hope-based schooling that offers instruction to help children identify and develop their personal intelligences and gifts that increase student achievement, involve hard-to-reach parents, and build a nation of contributing citizens.
In partnership with the National Writing Project, Dr. Donna Wake, associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, presented two seminars at two of the Arkansas Writing project sites. Educators at each of the sites were guided through day-long sessions on digital writing. Participants were trained in personal and classroom uses of digital storytelling. Digital storytelling builds on narrative and oral storytelling traditions using computer-based tools to re-vision and shape those stories. The digital storytelling process combines images, text, audio narration and/or music. Most digital stories focus on a specific topic and contain a particular point of view ranging from sharing personal narratives to recounting historical events to exploring community issues. For more information about digital storytelling, contact Dr. Donna Wake at 
Conway teachers at Carl Stuart Middle School and Simon Intermediate School were offered professional development sessions by Gary Bunn, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education at the University of Central Arkansas during the semester months. In May, he conducted the district-wide parental involvement presentation for more than 600 teachers, discussing strategies for involving parents and techniques for improving communication between home and school. In June, he presented the day-long workshop “Honing Your Craft” to teachers at Carl Stuart Middle School. This workshop considered the importance of effective teaching strategies and offers teachers an opportunity to develop new strategies to engage students in learning. In August, Bunn worked with teachers from Simon Intermediate School and Carl Stuart Middle School to strengthen questioning skills. During the seminars, teachers gained new techniques for engaging all students through questioning and learned more about the value of questioning in developing problem-solving skills and higher-level thinking.
Technology was the main topic of the Gamma Tau Chapter of Delta Pi Epsilon Conference held this summer. This year’s conference, titled “Technology Reboot,” was hosted by the College of Education. The conference broke attendance records, build partnerships and established integrated learning communities beyond business education majors. Technology sessions included Digital Sandbox, Vilonia School District Bill Beavers, NBC Learn/E-missions by College of Education Instructors Marilyn Friga NBCT and Brenda Linn; I-Pad/Flip Camera by Hector School District Shelly Frew and Nooks & Kindles by the Best Buy Geek Squad.
Dr. Tammy Benson, associate professor and chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning, conducted professional development through the Arkansas Department of Human Services for Early Childhood Preschool Educators in July and August. Approximately 25 educators from Conway, Greenbrier and Heber Springs attended the four-day series of courses offered by the Department of Human Services Early Childhood Division. The Pre-K Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) provides teachers of three to five-year-olds the knowledge and skills to build war relationships with children, parents and co-workers.
Mark Spitzer, Associate Professor of Writing, recently had his memoir Sick in the Head accepted by S A M Publishing in Akron, OH. Sick in the Head is the sequel to Writer in Residence (UNO Press, 2010). Spitzer also had an article published in the Heber-Spring Sun-Times entitled “Water Panther Stories Sought.”
David Bailin, part-time instructor, served as a panelist for “Using Creativity to Build a Competitive Economy”, Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Legacy Weekend, Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Petit Jean Mountain held April 29. His essay, Art, Economic Development and Legacy”, was published in the 2011 Legacy Art Exhibition catalogue, Winthrop Rockefeller Institute, Petit Jean Mountain. Bailin’s other professional activities include:
Jeffrey Joe Pe-Aguirre, assistant professor in the Department of Communication, presented a paper he co-authored at the Top Papers Session of the Mass Communication and Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). The national conference was held Aug. 10-13 in St. Louis, Missouri.
Chris Fritzges, associate professor theatre at the University of Central Arkansas, has won a prestigious Award of Merit from The Indie Fest for his performance in the feature film, Table at Luigi’s. Fritzges portrayed Stephen in the 2009 film, the first feature-length narrative film by the UCA Digital Filmmaking program.
Dr. Brian Campbell, assistant professor of anthropology, will serve a three-year term as a commissioner on the Ozark Folk Cultural Center Commission. The commission is a liaison between the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department and the city of Mountain View which owns the Ozark Folk Center. Dr. Campbell was nominated because of his expertise on the Ozarks and agricultural biodiversity. Additionally, Dr. Campbell received a $5,000 Arkansas Humanities Council grant for the production of a documentary film about the recent mass death of birds and fish in Arkansas.
Cliff Beacham, an instructor in the Department of Sociology, and Emileigh Selman, senior Honors College scholar, received a $3,000 grant from the UCA Foundation to support the Faulkner County Urban Farming Project. The project created and maintains a garden that allows students and community members to demonstrate sustainable collective home food production. Workers share produce and give any extra vegetables to local food banks. The project, located behind the Faulkner County Library in Conway, includes a 3500 square foot garden bed, strawberry beds, fruit trees, a greenhouse, and a compost system. Both UCA and Hendrix students participate in the project.
Dr. Douglas George received tenure and promotion to the rank of Associate Professor of Sociology. Dr. George joined the UCA faculty in August 2005. A native of Colby, KS, he completed his Ph.D. at the University of North Texas, his M.S. at the University of Central Arkansas, and his B.S. at Kansas State University. His specialty fields include race and ethnic-ity, sociology of sport, and sociology of work.