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ACHIEVEMENTS
◊ The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences became a new college on July 1, 2020 — with nine departments and one school: Art & Design; English; Film, Theatre, and
Creative Writing; Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and
Cultures; Music; Philosophy & Religion; Political Science;
Sociology, Criminology, and Anthropology; and the School of
Communication.
◊ “United: The Acorn Project,” a ceramic ground mural produced by 600+ community members, was on view at Alumni Circle and the rotunda at the Arkansas State Capitol.
◊ The Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall continued service to students and the community during the pandemic. It also offered its first sensory-friendly performance to children with disabilities. ◊ Recognizing that this year’s freshmen are next year’s sophomores, and acknowledging that rising sophomores will need post-pandemic support in order to avoid the “sophomore slump,” Housing & Residence Life and Learning Communities partnered to create a new program: The Sophomore Year
Experience (SYE) Living & Learning Community (L&LC). Roughly 200 SYE L&LC students live in Bear Hall beginning fall 2021.
◊ Kristy Bentley, Stephanie Boger, Kimberly Burges, and Miranda
Kent, all graduate students in the Department of Teaching and Learning, co-authored a paper titled, “Mind Brain and
Education Dialogue: Elevating Practitioner Perspectives.”
Faculty member Jason Trumble led the work, which appeared in the ArATE Online Journal.
SERVICE AWARDS
The University of Central Arkansas honored several faculty members with Faculty Excellence Awards on August 19 at the 2020 Faculty Convocation. Due to COVID-19, the event took place via Zoom.
Public Service Mary Ruth Marotte Department of English Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Arijit Mukherjee Department of Biology Teaching Excellence Donna Bowman Schedler Honors College
Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Amy Hawkins Center for Teaching Excellence External Funding Impact Tansel Halic Department of Computer Science Nonclassified Employee of the Year Billie Hill Division of Outreach and Community Engagement Classified Employee of the Year Nancy Bond Department of Physical Therapy
BEAR C.L.A.W.S.
The University of Central Arkansas recognizes students who have outstanding academic records and civic and community engagement efforts. C.L.A.W.S. awards, which stands for Celebrating the Lofty Achievements of Our Wonderful Students, are given to one or more exceptional students or registered student organizations during regularly scheduled UCA Board of Trustees meetings.
C.L.A.W.S. recipients demonstrate a commitment to excellence inside and outside the classroom. They’re committed to enhancing the university experience for their peers and are often the recipients of other prestigious state and national awards, grants, internships or fellowships.
2020-21 BEAR C.L.A.W.S. HONOREES
Grace Zimmerman August 2020
UCA Ambassadors October 2020
Student Contact Tracers December 2020
Trevis Belle May 2021
School of Nursing Students May 2021 Uca Ambassadors Bear C.L.A.W.S. recipients
