The Bear Ledger

During this season of gratitude, the Instructional Development Center is pleased to provide a service to students — Thank-A-Teacher. Students may submit online a brief note of appreciation to UCA faculty. The IDC will then send this acknowledgment to the faculty member at the start of the next semester.

Students are encouraged to use this service. Thank-A-Teacher does not take the place of university student evaluations. Access to Thank-A-Teacher can be found at https://uca.edu/go/thanks. Instructional Development Center, 501-450-5240; idc@uca.edu; uca.edu/idc.

UCA’s Center for Community and Economic Development  partnered with Talk Business to provide data collection and analysis for 12 Arkansas cities. The November/December issue of the magazine was released last week, and the article was published on pages 14-15. As part of this partnership, UCA also received a 1/2 page ad space for the Center (p. 15). Data collection and analysis was conducted by: Amy Whitehead, director, and Brett Roberts, project coordinator.

Here is the online version of the magazine: http://issuu.com/talk_business/docs/novdec13-tba-digital?e=7049807/5611367.

Has someone you work with done something outstanding this quarter (October – December)?

Employee of the Quarter is given to a staff member who has done something exceptional during a specific time period. UCA has many outstanding staff members that deserve recognition. This award was developed to recognize a specific “Above and Beyond” action that happened during the current quarter.

Nominations are being accepted for the Employee of the Quarter (II) Award. One full-time staff member will be recognized each quarter for outstanding job performance, going above and beyond, during that quarter. Any staff member with at least one year of service as of September 1, 2013 is eligible to be nominated. Any faculty, staff, student, or alumni can submit a nomination. Staff Senate sponsors this award and its aim is to recognize staff for their contributions to UCA.

This nomination form must be submitted by December 31, 2013.

Nomination Form

Nominate someone today that deserves recognition. The winner will receive some great prizes including $150 BearBucks, two tickets to UCA’s future Night of Distinction, and a reserved parking spot for the following quarter.

For more information on the process, please contact Stephanie McBrayer at smcbrayer@uca.edu.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) student chapter has been selected to receive an Outstanding award for activities conducted during the 2012-2103 academic year. The award will be presented at the 247th ACS National Meeting in Dallas, Texas in March 2014.

Professors Faith Yarberry and Karen Steelman are faculty advisors for the chapter. “Professor Yarberry and Professor Steelman’s efforts certainly represent the best in undergraduate science education and mentoring around the country. We extend our warmest congratulations to the students and Professors Yarberry and Steelman for setting such a fine example for other chapters and being exemplary chemistry ambassadors!” said Marinda Wu, president of the ACS in a letter to the university.

A full list of award-winning chapters will be published in Chemical & Engineering News and in the November/December issue of inChemistry, the student magazine.

Hunter Phillips Goodman, student in the Interdisciplinary PhD in Leadership within the College of Education, has been accepted to the 2014 Alice Manicur Leadership Symposium for Women Aspiring to be Chief Student Affairs Officers.

The Alice Manicur Symposium for Women is a program of NASPA, the national association for student affairs administrators in higher education. The competitive application process and program is held once every two years for mid-level student affairs professionals. Goodman brings direct experience in student affairs including leadership of service-learning and civic engagement at colleges and universities.

Goodman will join fellow experienced student affairs professionals from community colleges, two-year institutions, and four-year public and private universities for workshops and sessions focusing on strategic thinking, leading change, planning for career advancement, as well as personal and professional life balance. The Symposium will be held in Florida January 12-15, 2014.

International Education Week, coordinated by UCA’s International Engagement, is a national event established to increase awareness about international cultures and encourage students to study and travel abroad. These events were organized with the help of EDGE Residential College, the Intensive English Program, and several international RSOs. The full schedule for the week can be found at  https://uca.edu/international/news-2/.

Kati Baldwin, middle level education major, being interviewed by Jennie Webb, retired teacher.

The University of Central Arkansas (UCA) College of Education and the Faulkner County Retired Teachers Association (FCRTA) recently collaborated to provide mock interviews for its fall 2013 Internship II students. The students are spending the last semester of their undergraduate college careers student teaching in the public schools and are ready to begin searching for teaching jobs.

To help these students prepare for job interviews, the students spent 10-15 minutes one-on-one with retired teachers in a simulated interview. After the interview, the interviewer gave pointers and immediate written feedback to each student. Students were encouraged by the comments and felt better prepared for an actual interview. One of the UCA students, Barrett Parten, remarked, “I thought the mock interviews were so very beneficial for my growth as a future teacher. It was great hearing an experienced individual give me advice on how to word my answers and to pay closer attention to detail. I feel like because of these interviews, and the advice of my interviewer, I am better prepared for future job interviews!”

Because of this ongoing collaborative partnership with UCA, the FCRTA has been honored on a state level with the “2011 Outstanding Youth Service Project” award by the Arkansas Retired Teachers Association. This project serves as a model for other chapters throughout the state. According to Sharon Rapp, FCRTA member, “It is both rewarding and enjoyable for members of our unit of retired teachers to conduct the mock interviews. This partnership with the College of Education allows each of us to play a small mentoring role in the preparation of the next generation of young teachers.”

Dr. Diana Pounder, Dean of the College of Education, said, “The College of Education is extremely proud to have such an active, committed group of former teachers as advocates for its students and programs with this win-win collaboration which began in 2011.”

Members of the Faulkner County Retired Teachers Association who participated in the recent mock interview project with the UCA College of Education include:
(Front row, left to right) Jennie Webb, Mary Pat Cullum, Laura Clark, Sharon Rapp
(Back row, left to right) Steve Clark, Doretta Bright, Kathryn Starr, Becky Vint, Julia Fraser, Mary Kay Joslin, Carolyn Lewis, Hervey Galloway

The following list is a sampling of recent media coverage and media mentions of UCA:

UCA professor helps create mobile app for ADHD symptoms
http://www.katv.com/story/23822608/new-mobile-app-to-help-with-adhd-symptoms

Professor’s research helps in creating award-winning mobile app
http://www.thv11.com/news/article/285533/2/Professors-research-helps-in-creating-award-winning-mobile-app

UCA professor teams up for all that wins ADHD national award and $100,000
http://innovation.arkansasbusiness.com/blog/2013/10/28/uca-professor-teams-up-for-app-that-wins-adhd-national-award-and-100000/

Professor’s research helps in creating award-winning mobile app
http://thecabin.net/news/local/2013-10-28/professors-research-helps-creating-award-winning-mobile-app#.Une85tzna70

Car Mart executive to speak at UCA
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2013/oct/22/car-mart-executive-speak-uca-20131022/?f=news-arkansas

Kinesiology students presented research projects at the Central States American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting hosted by Central Missouri University in Warrensburg, Mo. on Oct 17. Caroline Proctor and Steven Wilson, presented the results of a study that evaluated body composition, strength, and vertical jump ability in collegiate cheerleaders at the beginning and end of a competitive season. Terra Emerson, Hailey Frerichs and Ajah Dansby presented the results of their study which evaluated the forces experienced by females performing assisted pull-ups. Both abstracts will be published in the International Journal of Sports Science. Dr. Adam Bruenger was the faculty mentor for these research projects. This is the second consecutive year that undergraduate students from the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education presented research projects at the annual meeting.