UCA honors faculty, staff during 2024 Fall Convocation

The University of Central Arkansas honored exceptional faculty and staff during 2024 Fall Convocation.

Faculty excellence awards were presented in the following areas:

Riva Brown, School of Communication, received the Public Service Award. The Public Service Award recognizes individuals whose service contributions to the UCA community, professional community and other communities outside the university have been outstanding. It is expected that individuals will have contributed both within and outside the university. Through service work such as volunteering for charitable organizations, serving on advisory boards, donating professional expertise, serving on committees and conducting outreach programs, these individuals have improved conditions within the community and enhanced the quality of life for all citizens.

Ashley Phillips was a finalist for this award.

Reid Adams, Department of Biology, received the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award. The Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award recognizes individuals whose contributions to their disciplines have been exemplary. Through original work in research, scholarship or creative activities - such as performances and artistic productions - they have expanded human knowledge, interpreted the human experience or enhanced the quality of our lives.

The finalists for the Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award were Alicia Landry and Stephanie Vanderslice.

James Fetterly, Department of Mathematics, received the Teaching Excellence Award. Faculty who have consistently demonstrated exceptional performance in teaching are eligible for the Teaching Excellence Award. Recipients of this award strive to enhance student learning as they continually seek ways to improve their teaching.

The finalists for the Teaching Excellence Award were Anna Park and Mike Rosenow.

Other awards to outstanding faculty and staff were presented to the following individuals:

Zach Smith, Department of History, received the Diversity, Belonging, Inclusion and Equity Award. This award recognizes individuals whose commitment to diversity and inclusive excellence on and/or off campus has made a significant impact on various ethnic groups and diverse populations in a positive way. These individuals have improved conditions at UCA and within the community.

Gayle Seymour, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences,received the External Funding Impact Award recognizes a faculty or staff member for excellence in obtaining external funding. The award promotes a culture of grant writing among faculty and staff and encourages grant recipients to track the impact of their grant work on individuals, the university, the community and their disciplines or fields of study.

Lesley Graybeal, Stephanie Rose, Femina Varghese and collaborative applicants Charlotte Yates and Leah Lowe were finalists for this award.

Lynne Rich, Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology, was honored with the Shumaker-Wright Undergraduate Mentorship Award. The University Honors Council created the award in 2022 in recognition of the importance of supporting undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity. Supporting student participation in mentored research is an important component of the university's mission. Furthermore, the undergraduate award is named in honor of Conrad Shumaker and Terry Wright, who had each mentored more than 20 undergraduate student capstone/thesis projects at the time of their retirements. The implementation of this mentorship award conveys the campus's high regard for outstanding contributions made to the academic and research community.

Marsha Massey was a finalist for this award.

Other presentations included the recipient of the Employee of the Year for 2023-24. The Employee of the Year is Kimberly Stubbs, Office of Financial Aid director.

Deanna Abrego and Veneta Fricks were finalists for the Employee of the Year award.

The Employee of the Year is presented to a full-time staff member who has shown extraordinary performance to the university community over the past year. This person is a well-rounded employee who goes above and beyond and truly cares about students, colleagues and UCA. Any full-time staff member with two or more years of continuous service to the university prior to January 1 of the award year is eligible for this award.

Here are images from the ceremony:

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