The University of Central Arkansas held its 53rd annual Service Awards presentation recently with faculty excellence winners, top staff members, retirees and employees with lengthy tenure cited by President Lu Hardin.The 2006 Faculty Excellence Awards were presented in three categories. First was the Research, Scholarship and Creative Award that was presented to Danny Arrigo of the Department of Mathematics.
Arrigo’s area of research focuses on the construction of exact solutions of partial differential equations. He has 25 peer reviewed publications in a field in which publication of more than one paper per year is rare. Professor Arrigo received $4000 for Research/Scholarship/Creative Activity.
Other finalists in the category were Kurt Boniecki, Department of Psychology and Counseling; Ken Burchett, Department of Art; and Bryan Massey, Department of Art.
The Public Service Award winner was Stephanie Vanderslice. In her capacity as the director of the Central Arkansas Writing Project, Vanderslice provides professional development for teachers in hopes that teachers become increasingly confident and competent in writing.
An associate wrote, ?Every teacher who crosses Stephanie?s path is invited to learn more about themselves as writer and teacher. In schools too numerous to count, her effervescent enthusiasm for teachers and writing is positively affecting work in classrooms and the lives of the children who learn in the classroom.? She received a $4,000 award for winning the category.
Other finalists were Mary Mosley, Department of Early Childhood and Special Education and Kevin Rowell, Department of Psychology and Counseling.
Teaching Excellence Award winner was Lori Isom, Department of Chemistry. Her students emphasize that her assignments are engaging, inspired, crafted to their educational needs, and are an embodiment of her teaching philosophy.
They also describe Dr. Isom?s lectures as ?mesmerizing and filled with an appreciation for the beauty of biochemistry. Her exams challenge the students to think critically and to develop intellectual maturity. She often calls out in class, “I love this.” She received a check for $6,000 for winning the teaching excellence award.
Other finalists in the category were Dan Barrington, Department of Early Childhood and Special Education; Nelle Bedner, Department of Speech, Theatre, and Mass Communication; Pam Bennett,
Department of Family and Consumer Sciences; and Dawn Jakubowski, Department of Philosophy and Religion
President Hardin also presented the following staff awards: Kim Bradford, Administrative Staff Award; Lt. John Merguie, Service Staff Award; and Jan Strange, Administrative Support Staff Award.
Bradford is Dean of Academic Outreach and Extended Programs; Merguie is a lieutenant for the University Police; and Strange is an administrative assistant in the Department of Sociology.
Staff Senate President Kevin Hamilton announced before the presentation that the Employee of the Year Award as of this year encompasses the three awards above to ensure “fairness and consistency based on the staff person’s classification status”. Each winner received a plaque and a $500 check from President Hardin. Previously one staff Employee of the Year had been selected.
Hardin also recognized retirees Eugene Corcoran, Dave Parker, Carolyn Sanson, Jim Swain, Larry Titlow and Glenda Thurman.
Employees with 10, 15 and 20 years or more of service were also announced to the gathering of faculty and staff members.
