Faculty, staff honored with service awards

On Tuesday faculty and staff service and achievements were recognized at the 52nd annual Service Awards in the Student Center Ballroom.

Service awards were presented to employees who had completed 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years service to the university. UCA President Lu Hardin presided over the event.Awards for Staff Employee of the Year, Teaching Excellence, Scholarship and Creative Activity and Public Service were also awarded.

2005 Staff Employee of the Year
Lanny Noggle
UCA Copy Center

Lanny Noggle has worked as Copy Center manager for the last 25 years. Everyday Noggle strives to complete all of the university copying requirements in a timely manner while still maintaining high-quality work.
Noggle?s work philosophy is: ?I am here to serve the campus community and to provide the best customer service possible.?
Noggle says that he loves his job and working at the university. ?It is an honor and a privilege to just be nominated for the UCA Staff Employee of the Year.?

2005 Teaching Excellence Award
James Fletcher
Physical Therapy

James Fletcher has been a valued member of the faculty in the Department of Physical Therapy since 1996. Fletcher demonstrates many exemplary strengths in the area of teaching, especially in the creative use of technology. Further, he is always willing to go the extra mile to help students and colleagues with any technology issues.

In addition, a genuine caring for student learning permeates Fletcher?s interactions with the students both in the classroom and in the laboratory. His student evaluations and comments clearly support his teaching and the effectiveness of his methodology. His students respect and value him as an instructor and mentor.

Fletcher is meticulous in preparation and delivery of his course content providing the students with the tools to be successful in the courses in which he teaches. He is recognized by the departmental faculty as ?the best? and a wonderful example of a dedicated educator. He sets the teaching bar high for himself and for the rest of those privileged to teach with him.

2005 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Award
Nancy Berryman Reese
Physical Therapy Department

Nancy Reese has been successful in pursuing two different lines of research. She has been a member of a multidisciplinary team of investigators from the Center for Translational Neuroscience at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences that researches the methods of ameloriating spasticity and restoring motor function following spinal cord injury. In addition, Nancy has pursued research on the reliability of physical therapy examination tools.

Numerous peer reviewed journal articles, presentations and even a patented bicycle exercise trainer have resulted from Reese?s research. She has authored three books which have been translated into various languages and are presently used in physical therapy programs around the world. Reese also has been successful in securing external grant funding for her research from the National Institutes of Health.

As a neuroscientist and a clinician, Reese has been successful in bridging the research-practice gap as she works toward improving the quality of life for patients receiving physical therapy.

2005 Public Service Award
Jeff Allender
Geography Department

Jeff Allender?s service has been evident throughout his career. Serving UCA, he has been a key player in designing the interdisciplinary Environmental Science Program. He also helped create, and continues to coordinate, the Latin American Studies minor in his department.

Since its inception, Allender has directed the New Faculty Orientation Program at UCA. Also, the UCA Geography Club, which he helped organize and serves as its faculty representative, has been very active in the Conway community.

Allender has given a great many hours of service to our city as a Conway Planning Commission member where he has been both its chair and vice-chair. He has connected his human geography students with international students as conversation partners and has himself, with his family, served as host for a Russian student during the academic year.

Allender is currently assisting the city of Mayflower in its long-range development plans. He works with the Arkansas State Historic Preservation Board to document houses built by Silas Owens in central Arkansas for inclusion on the State list of historic places.

Allender?s service to professional organizations includes the Arkansas Geographical Society and the Mid-South Leadership Alliance dedicated to development, education and gender empowerment issues in the Delta region of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.