The University of Central Arkansas podcast, U@UCA, has been nominated for the Catalyst Awards, sponsored by First-Gen Nation, Transfer Nation, the Empowering First Generation, and ADEii Health. This is the fifth annual year for the awards.
The Catalyst Awards recognize first-generation voices and their lasting impact on future generations and aim to be a space where everyone can be represented. A national panel of judges will make final decisions, which will be announced in mid-February 2025.
Hosted by Assistant Director of Student Affairs Alexandria Smith-Todd, the U@UCA podcast serves as a guide to help future college students and their parents navigate college life at UCA. Emily Greer, a marketing student from Sheridan, serves as co-host.
The podcast has featured guests from different departments on campus, such as Advising, First-Year Experience, and the Office of Student Advocacy and Community. Two featured guests sharing their college journeys have been UCA President Houston Davis and Vice President of Student Affairs Robin Williamson.
“We wanted to make information about the UCA student experience accessible for incoming students and their parents, especially for first-time, first-generation students.” said Smith-Todd, “It is such an honor. We did not set out on this endeavor with the expectation of receiving any national recognition—or any recognition at all. Our hope was to equip students, particularly first-generation students and their families, with as much information as we could to help them prepare for the transition.
“We are so grateful for the support we received from President Davis, Vice President Robin, and the many meetings we had with Dr. Fredricka Sharkey who helped us figure out how to be good and engaging interviewers. Without them, and our amazing guests, this dream would not have come true.”
While planning for another season, Smith-Todd has revealed they hope to incorporate more voices of student leaders, first-generation students, and staff on how they have navigated their college experience.
The Catalyst Awards are hosted by My Tribe Media (formerly First Gen Nation), Transfer Nation, LLC, and ADEii Health and honor books (fiction and non-fiction), films, television shows, podcasts and other media that feature first-generation characters and storylines in a given year.
By Dr. Fredricka Sharkey