University of Central Arkansas
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The University of Central Arkansas Police Department has received a number of inquiries regarding enrollment in UCAAlert, UCA’s mass notification system.
To make sure you receive the latest information about campus closures or emergencies affecting the campus, login to myUCA, click on the Resources tab and follow the instructions in the UCA Police channel to update your crisis notification numbers.
Contact the UCA Police Department at (501) 450-3111 or ucapd@ucapd.com if you need assistance.
The time has come to once again conduct the annual CORE Alcohol and Drug Survey. The CORE Survey was developed to measure usage rates and behaviors as they relate to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs among college students at two- and four-year institutions.
The survey includes items about drugs and alcohol that deal with students’ attitudes, perceptions, and opinions about these substances, as well as items addressing actual substance use and consequences of use. Development of this survey was funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
It provides invaluable annual data which helps the UCA Health and Wellness Center determine where programming efforts should be concentrated. Also, compiling annual data allows us to follow trends and develop prevention programs for drug and alcohol use.
The 23-question survey should take approximately 15 minutes of class time to administer. All of the necessary items and instructions will be delivered directly to your department.
To show our appreciation, your name will be entered in a drawing to win one of the following items: $50 VISA gift card; $50 Wal-Mart gift card; or a $25 Starbucks gift card. One entry per class surveyed.
For more information, contact Kristy Jamerson, coordinator of Alcohol Programs (501) 450-3397 or kristyj@uca.edu.
Dr. Michael Moore, professor of accounting, has been selected as the recipient of the Arkansas Society of CPAs 2010 Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award. The Arkansas Society of CPAs will formally recognize Moore at its Awards Banquet, to be held during the ASCPA Annual Convention, June 3-5, 2010 at the DeGray Lake Resort State Park Lodge near Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Moore will become the Arkansas nominee for the National AICPA Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award. Last year, Moore was appointed by Arkansas Governor Beebe to serve a five-year term as a member on the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy.
Patricia Mounce, associate professor in the Department of Accounting and Ken Griffin, associate professor in the Department of Management Information Systems, recently published an article entitled, “A Case Study of Paper Mill Emissions: Controlling Pollution While Adding Additional Resources,” in Oil, Gas & Energy Quarterly.
Roy Whitehead, professor of business law, and Patricia Mounce, associate professor of accounting, recently hosted a four-hour continuing professional education seminar entitled “Ethics: Rules, Responsibilities and Realities” to a group of accounting alumni. They also conducted the seminar for a group of CPAs in Little Rock.
Jim Downey, assistant professor of Management Information Systems, and L. Smith recently had their article “The Role of Computer Attitudes in Enhancing Computer Competence in Training” accepted in the Journal of Organizational and End User Computing.
Doug Voss, assistant professor of marketing and supply chain management and director of Center for Cooperative Logistics Education, Advancement, and Research, along with David Closs and Gilbert Nyaga, recently published a manuscript entitled “The Differential Impact of Product Complexity, Inventory Level, and Configuration Capacity on Unit and Order Fill Rate Performance,” in the Journal of Operations Management, Vol. 28, issue 1, p. 47-57. The Journal of Operations Management is a top journal in the fields of Operations and Supply Chain Management.
Dr. Mark E. McMurtrey, assistant professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) in the College of Business, will be participating at the annual meeting of the Southwest Decision Sciences Institute to be held at the Dallas Sheraton Hotel on March 2 – 6. McMurtrey is serving as Track Chair for Decision Support Systems/Expert Systems/Knowledge Management (DSS/ES/KM), as well as chairing a session on that topic. His research paper, “Seniors and Information Technology: Much Ado About Something?”, will be presented at a session on MIS as well. His coauthors are Drs. Ronald E. McGaughey, James P. Downey, and Steven M. Zeltmann, all of the MIS Department in the College of Business. The paper investigates the use of computers and information technology by senior citizens. Last spring, McMurtrey, McGaughey, and Downey published another article in this general area, entitled “Seniors and Information Technology: A Potential Goldmine of Opportunity?” in the International Journal of Intercultural Information Management, Volume 1, Number 3, May 2009 , pp. 300-316. IJIIM is an international journal that only publishes 20% of the articles submitted for review.
Dr. Susan Myers, assistant professor of marketing, was recently awarded a grant from the American Academy of Advertising. The $1,500 grant will fund a research study titled, “Finding the Consumer in Direct- to-Consumer Advertising.”
UCA’s College of Education is holding its inaugural meeting of the Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting on Mon., March 1. The Advisory Council includes local and state-wide K-12 school superintendents who have agreed to advise and support UCA’s College of Education to effectively prepare educators for Arkansas schools. The initial meeting will familiarize the Superintendents with the College of Education undergraduate programs, graduate programs, and outreach endeavors. Additionally, Superintendents will offer information on the schools’ personnel needs and provide feedback about changing expectations and demands of educators to meet current school priorities. UCA President Allen Meadors, Dean Diana Pounder, and other members of UCA’s College of Education faculty will be in attendance. The following Superintendents will serve on the council: Richard Abernathy, Bryant School District; Doug Adams, South Conway County School District; Laura Bednar, Stuttgart School District; Merle Dickerson, Van Buren School District; John Gray, Mayflower School District; Frank Mitchell, Vilonia School District; Kenneth Muldrew, Hope School District; Greg Murray, Conway School District; Tony Prothro, Benton School District; Kenneth Ramey, Siloam Springs School District; Belinda Shook, Beebe School District; Larry Smith, White Hall School District; Scott Spainhour, Greenbrier School District; Tony Thurman, Cabot School District; Andrew Tolbert, Warren School District; Bob Watson, El Dorado School District; Tony Wood, Searcy School District; and Ron Wright, Farmington School District.
The College of Education will sponsor its annual Leadership Institute on June 11 on UCA’s Campus in Brewer-Hageman Hall. The program will include a morning keynote address on Leadership for Learning: Assessing Behaviors that Count by Dr. Ellen Goldring of Vanderbilt University. Small group break-out sessions will be led by state educational leaders. A small registration fee will be charged and lunch will be served. Participants will include K-12 school and district administrators, educational leadership professors, aspiring leaders, and school board members. For registration information, please check our College of Education website www.uca.edu/education/.
One hundred percent of all College of Education students passed the Praxis III Classroom Performance assessment, with each area scoring above the state average. The PRAXIS III is an assessment of classroom performance created by Educational Testing Service (ETS) to assess the skills of beginning teachers in classroom settings, using direct observation of classroom practice, review of documentation prepared by the teacher and semi-structured interviews. These assessments are administered to all graduates of teacher education programs in the state of Arkansas.
The new Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program’s first graduates completed their program of study in 2008. These MAT graduates performed, on average, above the state mean on the PRAXIS III assessment. Thus, these graduates are achieving outstanding classroom performance results, demonstrating that this program not only attracts high numbers of students, but also yields high quality novice teachers to the profession. UCA’s MAT program has been nominated for the Outstanding Teacher Education Award with the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE).
Paige Rose, assistant professor of music education, and Ryan Fisher, assistant professor of choral music education, recently presented a session entitled, “Enhancing Instruction Through SMART Technology” at the College Music Society Southern Division Conference at Loyola University in New Orleans, LA. They also presented the same session to the music education faculty and graduate students at Louisiana State University.
David Bailin’s, art instructor, solo exhibition entitled “Paper Trails 2” will be on display at the Arkansas Studies Institute Galleries-Little Rock from March 12 to May 29.
The UCA Concert Choir, under the direction of Professor John Erwin, is preparing to present a feature concert at the annual Arkansas All-State Conference in Hot Springs on Feb. 19. The UCA Concert Choir is the Music Department’s top vocal ensemble and the state’s foremost choral group. Having performed nationally and internationally, including invited performances at the prestigious National Conference of the American Choral Director’s Association, this year’s ensemble of UCA students continues its tradition of superb performances of the best in choral literature.
UCA Music Department faculty joined colleagues from Hendrix College and selected UCA students for a unique performance of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 at Reynolds Performance Hall on Feb. 8. In the latest installment of its “Babii Bruckner” series, music faculty participate in a chamber ensemble presentation of large 19th century orchestral works. These performances bring the intensity and intimacy of chamber music to music normally performed by large symphony orchestras. Carolyn Brown, Lorraine Duso, Kelly Johnson, Brent Shires, Larry Jones, Stefanie Dickinson, Carl Anthony, Paul Dickinson, Linda Hsu, Israel Getzov, Katherine Reynolds, Stephen Feldman, and James Hatch represented the UCA Music faculty.
Matt Chiorini, assistant professor of theatre, has been recognized for his work with the production of Machinal. The UCA production of the play by Sophie Treadwell has been chosen as one of only six plays to be invited to perform at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region VI, to be held in Feb. 23-27 at Amarillo College in Amarillo, Texas. Chiorini’s production was chosen as the Director’s Choice at the state festival held recently at Arkansas State University – Beebe. It was then viewed by members of the Region VI committee, along with nineteen other entries from the Region VI area, and chosen to attend the regional festival. Chiorini serves as director. Chiorini is the Founding Artistic Director of the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre. He received his MFA from A.R.T. Institute at Harvard University (where he was the winner of an Independent Reviewers of New England Award) and the Moscow Art Theater, where he lived in the spring of 2002.
Tim Thornes, assistant professor of linguistics in the Department of Writing, received assistance from a CFAC Research Award and support from the University Research Council toward bringing a body of Northern Paiute oral narratives to print. Northern Paiute is a highly endangered Native American language spoken by just a few hundred people living mainly in northern Nevada and eastern Oregon. These narratives represent different genres of natural speech from recordings of some of the eldest fluent speakers-meticulously transcribed in the language and translated in collaboration with community members involved in its preservation. The final product will include the accompanying audio recordings, a grammatical sketch, and a glossary of Northern Paiute terms. Thornes has worked with speakers from various communities for the past 15 years in an effort to document and preserve the language.
Dr. Adam Frank, assistant professor in the Honors College gave two talks at the University of Oxford on Jan. 28. He was one of eight panelists invited to participate in the medical anthropology workshop “The Viewpoint of the Technique: Managing Time and Crisis Resolution in Eastern Religions and Medicines.” A cultural anthropologist, Dr. Frank’s paper is entitled “Yong yi, bu yong li: Attaining gongfu among Wu style taijiquan practitioners in Shanghai.” Oxford’s Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology also invited him to speak as part of its Seminar series. He delivered a lecture entitled “Re-tooling a Body with the Body:Three Ways of Teaching Taijiquan to the White Guy.”
Dr. Rick Scott, dean of the Honors College, was named by Mayor Mike Watson of Maumelle as chair of a steering committee to develop a wetlands management program for the White Oak Bayou. The three-year effort has the steering committee working with a technical advisory committee of experts in wetlands management and an intergovernmental team from Maumelle, North Little Rock, Pulaski County, the State of Arkansas, and the Corps of Engineers. Dr. Scott currently holds an elected position on the Board of Directors of the National Collegiate Honors Council and is Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Southern Regional Honors Council. He and his wife, Brenda, have been Maumelle residents since 1988.
One hundred Honors College sophomores presented lectures on Saturday, Feb. 13, that were evaluated by instructors and alumni, as part of a matriculation process that orients students preparing for the minor in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. Students and their lecture titles are listed next:
Imran Adamu Diaster Aid
Emanuel Albeik The Prestige of Powerball
Wilson Alobuia The Role of Minorities in State Development
Derek Anderson The Genius of Kurt Gödel
Dulce Armas A Sociological Look at Suicide in the Armed Forces
Brett Bailey Bioinformatics: How Society Has Used Computers in the Field of Biology
Zach Barber Suicide and Murder in the Gay Community
Lennon Bates Shoes in Society: The Fetish
Sara Bayles The Friends of Susan B. Anthony: The Women of the Suffrage Movement
Who Are Left Out of the History Books
Justin Bird Wendell Berry and the New Agrarianism
Ty Bittle Extraterrestrial Life: Likelihood of Encountering Comparable
Intelligences
Kimberly Cannon Carnival Time in the Virgin Islands
Mani Chander Progeria
Tsungyen Chen Matter’s Rebel Brother: Antimatter
Sarah Clarke Balancing Humanity with Technology: Today’s Science Fiction Compared
with Tomorrow’s Reality
Ayvee Cruz The Drawbacks of Sending Your Family Member to a Nursing Home
Destiny Davis Growing Up Outside: The Influence of Nature on Who We Are
Steven DeLoach The Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Slaying Holofernes
Catherine Demailly Meet Your Meat: A Brief Explaination of PETA
Brittany Edwardes The Ancient Other: Androgyny in Early Greek and Native American
Literature
Jenny England Local Food Possibilities for the City of Conway
Katie England The Shepherd Conservation Society
Kelsey English The Rise of Human Trafficking
David Friesen Technology and Charitable Giving
Jessica Gambill Heeling Soles: TOMS Shoes
Patty Graves Trajan’s Column and Ways to Read It
Austin Hall The Fabulousness of the Kennedy Camelot
Leanne Hampton Classical Crisis: The American Orchestra
Amber Haydar Star Formation and the Process of Stellar Evolution
Bryan Head Alzheimers
Kathy Hill Karate-Do: A Way of Life
Mary Beth Hill The Art of Cake Decorating
Andy Hoelscher Nonviolence as Tactic: A New Approach to Conflict Resolution
Devin Holt Jack Johnson: A Look at How an American Boxer Challenged His
Country
Anna Horton The Spirit That Transcends: An Introduction to Transcendental Meditation
Erin Howland Sentencing Juveniles as Adults
Cody Hudson A Brief History on Programming Languages
Justin Hughes Graduated Controls: How China Controls Its Artificial Civil Society
Jenn Hynum How Technology Will Affect the Film Industry of Tomorrow
Katie Jones Antibiotics: Do Bugs Really Need Drugs?
Due to space limitations, the remaining list of presentations will be in the next Bear Ledger.
Veronica T. Rowe, a clinical instructor with the Department of Occupational Therapy, was recently certified as a brain injury specialist trainer by the Academy of Certified Brain Injury Specialists (ACBIS). The ACBIS offers a nationally recognized credential for experienced professionals working in brain injury services, through a training program, followed by a national certification examination. Rowe’s new certification qualifies her to provide training courses for individuals who are preparing for the brain injury specialist examination. To achieve certification as a trainer, she demonstrated skills in the areas of training, supervision, and teaching within the brain injury field.
Dr. Jacquie Rainey, a professor in the Department of Health Sciences and associate dean of the College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, recently presented a lecture entitled “What can you do about low health literacy as a health professional”. The lecture was part of the video-teleconference series sponsored by the Arkansas Geriatric Education Center, the GRECC at the Arkansas VA hospital, and the Reynolds Institute on Aging at UAMS. The lecture was intended to teach strategies for improving health communication with low literate populations. There were over 30 sites within the state and region signed up to receive the telecast. The University of Central Arkansas is a partner in the Arkansas Geriatric Education Center.
Nina Roofe, a clinical instructor in the Department of Family and Consumer Services, made a presentation entitled “Early Intervention: Overcoming Developmental Delays of Prematurity” at the 61st annual Southern Early Childhood Association meeting in Little Rock on Jan. 22.
Dr. John Murphy, professor of psychology was an invited speaker by the U.S. Department of Defense/Adolescent Substance Abuse Counseling Services (ASACS) at a an event where he provided training to psychotherapists and counselors in the ASACS program in Bad Kreuznach, Germany. The title of his presentation was “Brief Intervention in Schools: Addressing Risk and Protective Factors in Substance Abuse Counseling.”
Paul Nail, assistant professor of Psychology , had the following articles published in 2009:
Nail, P. R., & McGregor, I. (2009). Conservative shift among liberals and conservatives following 9/11/01. Social Justice Research, 22, 231-240
Nail, P. R., McGregor, I., Drinkwater, A. E., Steele, G. M., & Thompson, T. W. (2009). Threat causes liberals to think like conservatives. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 901-907.
Nail, P. R. (2009). Anticonformity. In John M. Levine & Michael A. Hogg (Eds.), Encyclopedia of group processes and intergroup relations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
And the following papers or posters:
Nail, P. R. (2009, October). Influencing difficult people: The strategic self-anticonformity technique. Invited address, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Portland, Maine.
Son Hing, L., Zanna, M. P., & Nail, P. R. (2009, October). Using implicit attitudes to disambiguate prejudice on the right and on the left. Invited address, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, Portland, Maine.
Nail, P. R., Broussard, B. G., & Edgin, G. (2009, April). Mortality salience causes anti-gay sentiment among psychological liberals. Poster presented at the meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, Texas.
Zunick, P., & Nail, P. R. (2009, April). Effects of modern racism and political orientation on voting intentions in 2008. Poster presented at the meeting of the Southwestern Psychological Association, San Antonio, Texas.
Shane Irgens, Department of Physical Therapy Class of 2010, was recently elected to the 2009-2010 American Physical Therapy Association’s Student Assembly Board of Directors. Irgens attended APTA National Student Conclave held in Miami on Oct. 30- Nov. 1, 2009 during which he campaigned for the national office. The Student Assembly is a component of the American Physical Therapy Association comprised of all student members currently at 15,775 members.
Several first, second, and third year students attended APTA National Student Conclave held in Miami on Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2009. This national conference is held annually specifically for students of physical therapy for programming, workshops and social events as well as Student Assembly elections. Upon return, students reported that it was amazing to meet so many PT students, attend workshops that they actually understood and meet APTA leaders.
Dr. Donald Perry, associate professor of chemistry, recently published an article entitled “Study of Adsorption of Aminobenzoic Acid Isomers on Silver Nanostructures by Surface-Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy,” in the Journal of Physical Chemistry, 2009, 113 (42), pp 18304–18311. Co-authors are James S. Cordova, Lauren G. Smith, Hye-Jin Son and Elizabeth M. Schiefer, Enkeleda Dervishi, Fumiya Watanabe and Alexandru S. Biris. Also published was the article, “Adsorption analysis of nitrophenol isomers on silver nanostructures by surface-enhanced spectroscopy,” in the Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 342, (Feb. 15, 2010), 311–319, with co-authors Hye Jin Son, James S. Cordova, Lauren G. Smith, and Alexandru S. Biris.
Dr. Debra L. Burris, assistant profressor of physics, and Jeremy Lusk, made the presentation “Abundance Calculations and Error Analysis for Lighter Neutron- Capture Elements with Improved Spectra” at the 215th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington DC on Jan. 5, 2010.
Five UCA students were the recipients of the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). They are:
Justin Allen, of Mt. Vernon, whose project, “Cloning by Yeast Gap Repair to Determine the Different Functions of the Homologous Proteins Mdv1 and Caf4” focuses on the analysis of chimera proteins. Justin has taken different parts or domains of two proteins Mdv1 and Caf4 and mixed them together to create chimera proteins. Justin will work with his mentor Dr. Kari Naylor, assistant professor of biology.
Skipper Thurman, of Mountain View. His project is titled, “The Design and Testing of a Novel Method tovMeasure Pain Withdrawal Threshold in Physiological Studies”. Skipper’s research seeks to improve established methods of pain measurement as well as contribute to the body of data involving diabetic neuropathy. Skipper will work with his mentor, Dr. Azida Walker, assistant professor of physics and astronomy.
Danielle Tippit Allen, of Russellville. The project is titled, “The application of whole mount in situ hybridization as a new method to analyze gene expression in developing epidermal tissues in plants”. The project investigates the way in which plant “skin” cells communicate with each other to form various structures including prickles and trichomes. Danielle will work with her mentor Dr. J. D. Swanson, assistant professor of biology.
Autumn Bewley, of Jonesboro. The project is titled, “Immune Responses to a Nickel-based Anti-Tumor Compound in Both Mercury Susceptible and Mercury Resistant Mice”. This project is designed to assess immune responses to a Nickel-based compound to determine if this compound might be safely used as an anti-tumor drug in humans. Autumn will work with her mentor Dr. Ben Rowley, assistant professor of biology.
Heather J. Clarke, of North Little Rock. The project is titled, “Analysis of B-cell Antibody Gene Segment Use in Response to Mercury Treatment”. Previous studies suggest a connection between mercury exposure and instances of autoimmunity—diseases in which our antibodies attack our own healthy cells. The specific aim of this project is to compare antibody gene segments used in mercury-treated (autoimmune) mice versus control mice. Heather will work with her mentor Dr. Ben Rowley, assistant professor of biology.
Dr. Kim Hoffman, associate professor in the Department of Political Science, recently co-authored “The Revenue Impact of State Legislative Supermajority Voting Requirements” in The Midsouth Political Science Review.
Dr. Gizachew Tiruneh, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, recently published “Determinants of Adult HIV/AIDS Prevalence in Africa: Do Cultural Variations Matter?” in The Midsouth Political Science Review.
Dr. Tom McInnis, professor in the Department of Political Science, recently published “Nix v. Williams and the Inevitable Discovery Exception: Creation of a Legal Safety Net” in the Saint Louis University Public Law Review.
Dr. Jacob M. Held’s, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion,”Gay Marriage, Liberalism, and Recognition: The Case for Equal Treatment” (originally published in Public Affairs Quarterly vol. 21, no. 3) has been included in the Marriage and Sexual Morality section of the 7th edition of William H. Shaw’s ethics textbook, Social and Personal Ethics (Wadsworth, Cengage Learning).
Dr. Clayton Crockett, associate professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, has an article co-written with the French philosopher Catherine Malabou appearing in the latest issue of the journal Political Theology, issue 11.1, 2010. The article in entitled “Plasticity and the Future of Philosophy and Theology.”
Phillip Spivey, lecturer of Philosophy and Religion, taught four classes on ethics and community at the First Annual Peace By Piece Conference in Searcy held Feb. 5-7. The student conference was sponsored by The Khora Project, a non-profit Christian student organization promoting peace and community building.
Dr. Gordon Shepherd, professor of sociology, recently published the “Prophecy Channels and Prophetic Modalities.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Vol. 48, No. 4 (2009): 734-755 and “Religion and Community.” Nova Religio, Vol. 13, No. 3 (2010):5-13.
Source: The Centennial History of the University of Central Arkansas by Jimmy Bryant.
University officials have identified the areas impacted by the most recent rounds of state budget cuts.
Gov. Mike Beebe announced Jan. 11 another reduction in the state budget. UCA will lose an additional $1,230,639 in state funds for the 2010 fiscal year.
Academics will be reduced 1% of its budget and all non-academic areas will be reduced 2% of its budgets. All cuts are coming from Maintenance and Operations, according to university officials.
There are no plans for furloughs, layoffs, or a hiring freeze. UCA’s Budget Advisory Committee will be exploring other cost saving methods.
“Because UCA has been in the mode of rebuilding reserves and we had planned for the possibility of an additional reduction, we have minimized the reduction in the delivery of teaching and services to students,” said Vice President of Finance and Administration Diane Newton. “The cut will impact our ability to rebuild our reserves.”
The recent cuts could mean the delay of purchases for products or equipment, delay in maintenance, and a reduction in travel. UCA President Allen Meadors is allowing each department the flexibility to manage their cuts.
The cuts are:
The Bear Ledger is a publication of the Division of University and Government Relations.
News can be submitted to Fredricka Sharkey at fsharkey@uca.edu.
The deadline for submissions is the 10th of each month.
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