Department News
Teaching Excellence Award Winner 2024
Dr. Jimmy Fetterly won the 2024 Teaching Excellence Award! We are very proud of Dr. Fetterly’s accomplishments.
Dr. Fetterly is a UCA alum. He later received his Ph.D. from Florida State University. He has been teaching at UCA for 9 years and is currently the Graduate Program Coordinator for the Master of Arts program in Mathematics Education.
Congratulations!
Data Analytics R Programming Workshop
In May of 2022 the department hosted the Data Analytics and R Programming Workshop. The workshop was designed to serve the needs of UCA staff, faculty and the community.
Faculty Corner – Whitney Worley
1. Please tell us a little about yourself.
I am originally from Arkansas. I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from Arkansas Tech University and my Master’s Degree in Mathematics Education from UCA. I then moved to Waco, TX to pursue my Ph. D. in Statistics at Baylor University. During that time, I met my wonderful husband and we moved back to Conway together in 2018. I enjoy cycling and playing racquetball with my husband, spending time with my family, participating in activities with our church, and watching movies.
2. Tell us about the courses that you would like to teach at UCA.
Statistics is my passion, and I love sharing that knowledge with our students. I enjoy teaching Statistical Methods, where students are taught probability and statistical inference using the R programming language. I am also looking forward to teaching Multivariate Analysis next fall as this relates to my research interests.
3. Tell us a little about your research.
I have conducted research in the field of Multivariate Analysis. Specifically, I have worked with data of high-dimension, in which the number of variables exceeds the sample size. A problem of interest is detecting differences in mean vectors from two high-dimensional samples, indicating that a difference exists between the two populations from which the samples were taken.
4. Can you give us an example of an application of this research?
High-dimensional analysis is commonly used in genetics research. When working with microarray data, we tend to have more gene expressions than patients. High-dimensional analysis can be used to detect differences in gene expressions of patients from differing populations. For example, breast cancer patients who have been in remission for at least 5 years tend to display different gene expressions as compared to patients whose remission lasted less than 5 years.
5. What is your favorite part of your transition to UCA?
As a former UCA student, transitioning to UCA felt like a homecoming. I immediately felt the support of my fellow faculty members, both inside and outside of the mathematics department. UCA feels like a family and it was wonderful to have been met with such open arms.
6. What is the most challenging part of your transition to UCA?
As a young faculty member working in my first full-time position, I have to be conscious that I am no longer a graduate student. My opinions and views are valued by my colleagues, and I have to be willing to share them.
Teaching Excellence Award Winner 2019
Danny Arrigo earned his PhD from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1991. He has been on staff in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas since 1999 and is currently Professor of Mathematics. He has published over 30 journal articles and three books. His research interests include the construction of exact solutions of PDEs and symmetry analysis of nonlinear PDEs. His research is also active regarding solutions to physically important equations, such as nonlinear heat equations, governing equations modeling granular materials, and nonlinear elasticity. Dr. Arrigo received the Oklahoma-Arkansas Section of the Mathematical Association of America’s Award for Distinguished Teaching of College or University Mathematics in 2008. In that same year, he was awarded UCA’s award for excellence in Research, Scholarship, and Creativity. In 2011 he was a finalist for UCA’s Teaching Excellence Award and won that award in 2019.
Dr. Arrigo integrates his research into his teaching and vice versa. He has worked with many students while at UCA; more than 30 of his undergraduate students have presented their work at regional and national conferences, where several have been recognized with awards. In addition, Dr. Arrigo has mentored 10 graduate student theses with two currently underway.
Faculty Corner – Mrs. Haley Hurley
1. Please tell us a little about yourself?
I am a product of UCA! I was an undergraduate student here from 2009-2013, and then a graduate teaching assistant from 2014-2016. I have been teaching at the high school level for 3 years, but I have been teaching for 6 years total. I got married in November 2017 and we currently live in Maumelle, Arkansas. I am addicted to traveling – 12 countries and counting! I bake – get ready for a bunch of cakes and stuff in the break room. I love Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, so I’m up for a discussion on that any time. And I love board games, especially Settlers of Catan!
- Tell us about the courses that you would like to teach at UCA?
I would like to teach calculus-focused courses, but I also enjoy teaching courses such as College Algebra, Quantitative Literacy, and Trigonometry.
- What are your teaching philosophies?
My teaching philosophy is that anyone can learn math, even if they are not very passionate about the subject. My job as an educator is to help students realize their potential and give them the proper tools and support to reach their goals. If students have a hard time understanding a problem, I try to think of 3 or 4 new ways to explain or approach the problem. It’s all about meeting students where they are at, and bringing them up to the level where they need to be.
- What is your favorite part of your transition to UCA?
My favorite part of transitioning back to UCA is being able to see all my old professors and be in my old classrooms again. UCA feels like home to me, so it was really easy to come back and be part of it all again!
- What is the most challenging part of your transition to UCA?
The most challenging part is remembering that I am a faculty member now, and that I am not a student (or grad student). Mostly I have to remember to call my fellow colleagues by their first names, because it seems strange to be so informal!
- What are your future goals or plans?
I hope to pursue a PhD at some point. I don’t have those plans figured out yet, but I can foresee that I will pursue something like that in the future.
Richard and Teri Jackson Scholarship in Mathematics
The Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce the new Richard and Teri Jackson Scholarship for students majoring in mathematics, particularly the first-generation college students. Preference will be given to women. The scholarship was funded by a UCA Math alumnus Ms. Tara Burton, currently COO of FedEx Employees Credit Association in Memphis. The recipient of the scholarship should be an Arkansas resident with preference given to a graduate of Wynne High School. The scholarship will be awarded in two equal installment on the dates of registration for the first and second semesters of the academic year. For more information about the scholarship, please contact the Chair of the Department of Mathematics at 501-450-3614 or the UCA Foundation at 501-450-5288.
Mathematics Students Presented Project at the MAKO Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference
Two mathematics majors Monica Davanzo, Jonathan Zluticky, and a graduate math student Demitrius Moore presented research projects at the 2018 MAKO Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference in Spring Field, MO on November 10th. MAKO is a regional mathematical conference representing universities from Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Monica’s presentation was entitled “The Buffered Fourier Spectral Method.” She was mentored by Dr. Yinlin Dong. Jonathan, mentored by Dr. James Fetterly, presented on “Problem Posing Project: A Serious Fibonacci Fiasco.” Demitrius’s presentation was titled “Divergent Thinking or Problem Posing: Creativity at its Best” and he was mentored by Dr. Fetterly. Travel funds for the students were provided by the Mathematics Department.
State Math Contest Held on UCA Campus
On Saturday, April 28, 2018, the UCA Department of Mathematics hosted the annual State Mathematics Contest. It 
was sponsored by the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ACTM). There were 235 students from high schools across Arkansas competed in one of six exam categories -Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trig/Pre-Calculus, Calculus and Statistics. Dr. Charles Watson, Associate Professor of Mathematics, served as the director of the state contest and was assisted by mathematics faculty members,Dr. Garth Johnson, Dr. Carolyn Pinchback, and Ms. Loi Booher, and graduate student Kayla Waters. Exams were proctored by the UCA math graduate teaching assistants.
All students participated in the state contest were top ten finishers in one of the 11 regional contests that were held in colleges and universities across the state on March 5, 2018. All students who placed in top three at the state level were awarded trophies. Algebra I and Geometry winners received TI-84 calculators and the other contest winners received scholarship awards to a future college of their choice. Awards were presented by Dr. Watson and Ms. Kim Hughes, president of ACTM.
Math Modeling Competition at UCA
2018 Student Competition Using Differential Equation Modeling SCUDEM 2018) took place at the UCA Math Department on April 21, 2018. UCA is the host campus in central Arkansas for SCUDEM 2018. . Three student teams from UCA and UALR participated in the competition. Students built a mathematical modeling using differential equations and shared with others. Dr. Yinlin Dong organized this event and facilitated a faculty development workshop consisting of five faculty members from UCA, UALR, and University of Tulsa. Dr. Matthew Donahue , a math faculty member at the University of Tulsa gave a talk on teaching and learning differential equations through modeling. The student competition culminated with an award ceremony. The team from UALR came in first place.
