Several College of Education faculty and alumni will be honored at the annual Arkansas Association of Instructional Media (AAIM) Conference Awards Luncheon on Monday, March 31, at the Fort Smith Convention Center. AAIM is a group of professional educators dedicated to the improvement of education through the use of technology and media. The group hosts a professional development conference each spring providing educators with workshops specific to instructional technology, media usage, and current innovations in library media. Each year AAIM recognizes the efforts of educators across the state for outstanding achievements in several categories. These recipients are nominated by their peers and chosen by the AAIM Awards committee. Five out of six award recipients this year have strong UCA College of Education ties as faculty or alumni, and the sixth is a UCA graduate who trained in the College of Education leadership program.
Dr. Michael Mills, assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning, College of Education, is to be named 
Technology Leader of the Year. This award is given to an Arkansas educator or technology coordinator who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in the field of technology through service to students, teachers, and the community in an Arkansas school, a regional service cooperative, an institute of higher learning, or at the state level. Dr. Michael S. Mills holds a BA in English, an MEd in English Education, and an EdD in Educational Leadership. Dr. Mills has presented extensively on multiple literacy enrichment and the practical integration of educational technology with focus on using collaborative tools to better engage students and designing strategies for effectively integrating mobile devices in the classroom.
Dr. Wendy Rickman, assistant professor in the Department of Leadership Studies for both the Library Media & Information
Technologies and the Instructional Technologies graduate programs, has been chosen to receive the Pat McDonald Outstanding Individual Achievement Award. This honor is awarded to an AAIM member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in promoting media programs and practices that have resulted in an improvement of media usage in instruction. Dr. Wendy Rickman has over 19 years of teaching experience in P-12 and higher education. Rickman’s work includes collection development practices of school librarians, resource development for diverse populations, and school library programming.
Tracy McAllister, adjunct professor in the Department of Leadership Studies and Library Media Specialist at Bob Courtway
Middle School, who received her MS in Library Media and Information Technologies from UCA, is to be given the Herb Lawrence Leadership Service Award. Mrs. McAllister is a National Board Certified Teacher in School Library Media and presents annually at state, regional, and national conferences. This award is given to honor an AAIM member who has made significant contribution to AAIM and its progress through outstanding service to the Association. Mrs. McAllister is currently working on her doctorate at the University of Memphis.
Erin Shaw, adjunct faculty in the Department of Teaching and Learning and Library Media Specialist at Greenbrier Middle 
School, who received her MS in Library Media and Information Technologies from UCA, will be the recipient of the School Library Media Specialist of the Year Award, given for individual excellence in the library/media field through service to students, teachers, and community at the K-12 levels. Mrs. Shaw holds National Board Certification in School Library Media and presents annually at state, regional and national conferences. Mrs. Shaw is currently working on her doctorate at the University of Memphis.
Karen Wells, library media specialist at Midland High School in Pleasant Plains who attained an MS in Library Media and 
Information Technologies from the UCA College of Education, has been chosen to receive the Outstanding Media Program Award for Midland High School. This honor is given to a member or members of AAIM who have initiated and/or promoted an outstanding media usage program in a school, a district, an academic institution, public library, or community. Mrs. Wells is National Board Certified Teacher in School Library Media.
Scott Jennings, Beebe High School 11-12 principal, was named Administrator of the Year. Jennings received his Bachelor of Science degree at UCA and completed 12 hours in the College of Education graduate level school leadership program.
The College of Education is proud of these achievements by faculty and alumni of our programs, and we congratulate the AAIM Award Winners for 2014. This recognition reinforces the College’s commitment to effective use of technology to enhance teaching and learning processes.