ASUMH Keystone August 2022

CT Technologists

LPNs

CONTENTS

2 From the Chancellor

A warm welcome from Robin Myers, Ed.D.

6 Campus Happenings

Includes a donated ambulance, three top 25 GED students, Aspen Prize, Crystal Bridges cultural experience, Criminal Justice scholarship donation, Nursing Educator Awards and Academic Achiever Awards announced.

8 Expanding Resources

Accreditation achieved; Funeral Science Department looks to grow.

11 LPN Partnership

Community stakeholders partner to educate, retain nurses.

17 A Rising Tide

New boat manufacturing program is big news on workforce front.

22 Student Profiles

ASUMH Students Bring Diversity of Thought, Experience to Campus.

24 Campus Clubs

Fran Coulter Honors Students

Participate in Arkansas College Hunger Summit.

26 Alumni Highlight

For ASUMH grad, business is always looking UPS.

28 Alumni Updates

News and highlights from seven former students.

30 Giving Back

Donor honors family with latest gift endowments.

32 Community Renewal

ASUMH TrailBlazers to debut three sports in fall.

The ASUMH Funeral Science program is one of only two in Arkansas.

On the cover: ASUMH nursing students in SIM Lab. Photography by Jason Masters.

Greetings,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the latest edition of the Keystone. I hope you enjoy the reading about the many great things that are occurring at Arkansas State University-Mountain Home (ASUMH).

This issue will introduce you to an incredible partnership developed between ASUMH, Mountain Home Public Schools, and Baxter Regional Medical Center (BRMC). This partnership will enable high school seniors to complete the first semes ter of the Practical Nursing Program in their last semes ter of high school. Not only will the education be free to the student, they will also be paid $500 per month by BRMC while they are enrolled in the program.

You will also learn about our new Boat Manufacturing Program that will be delivered at the ASUMH Technical Center. This program has been developed with the assis tance of our area boat manufacturers with the intent of assisting them in expanding the boat manufacturing workforce. This is a critical part of our local economy, and keeping this industry strong and growing in our region is important to us all.

You will be introduced to a number of our students and learn about their efforts to continue their education here at ASUMH. You will also read about a group of our students who have distinguished themselves working on a statewide hunger relief initiative.

This issue will highlight a great supporter of ASUMH and our students, Warren Haley. Mr. Haley has made a number of gifts to the University over its history. I know you will find his family’s deep connection to our region and his lasting legacy at ASUMH inspiring.

Athletic opportunities at ASUMH have begun and the first members of our softball team are presented to kick off this new era in your College’s history. We are excited to launch Baseball, Softball, and Cross-Country sports this fall!

There are many other fantastic articles in this edition which highlight the wonderful opportunities for students here at ASUMH. We are blessed to have the support of the wonderful people of this region who continue to assist us in delivering access to higher education to our students. I hope you will enjoy the Keystone and share in the success that comes when education opens the door to opportunity!

THE KEYSTONE

A PUBLICATION OF ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY MOUNTAIN HOME

key·stone noun \’kē-,stōn\

: a large stone at the top of an arch that locks the other stones in place : something on which other things depend for support

VISION

Creating Opportunities~Changing Lives

ASUMH will provide expertise and resources to create opportunities and change lives.

MISSION OF ASUMH

The mission of ASUMH is to LEAD through educational opportunities.

L ifelong Learning E nhanced Quality of Life A cademic Accessibility D iverse Experiences

1600 S. College St., Mountain Home, AR 72653 870-508-6100 | ASUMH.edu

FALL 2022

VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 1

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND PRESIDENT

Price Gardner, Chair

Christy Clark, Vice Chair

Dr. Tim Langford, Secretary Niel Crowson, Member Steve Eddington, Member

Bishop Robert G. Rudolph Jr., Member Paul Rowton, Member

Dr. Charles L. Welch, President

ASUMH CABINET

Dr. Robin Myers

Chancellor Dr. Tamara Daniel Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Laura Yarbrough Vice Chancellor for Operations Waynna Dockins Chief Financial Officer

Christy Keirn

Vice Chancellor for Marketing and Community Relations

Kimbriel

Vice Chancellor for Student Services

CONTACT

Admissions/Registrar (870) 508-6104

Bookstore (870) 508-6114

Cashier (870) 508-6125

Center for Workforce Education (870) 508-6106 Development (870) 508-6191

Financial Aid & Scholarships (870) 508-6195

Norma Wood Library (870) 508-6112

Security (870) 508-6300

Testing (870) 508-6209

2022-2023

ASUMH BOARD OF VISITORS

Ron Peterson, Chair Dr. Jake Long, Vice Chair Stewart Brunner Dr. Ray Stahl Renata Byler Cheryl Davenport Sonny Elliott Jackson Rhoades Sara Zimmerman

ASUMH FOUNDATION BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Joe Miles, Chair Susan Stockton, Vice-Chair Sandy Irby, Secretary Mel Coleman Jerry Don Cunningham Tom Czanstkowski Eddie Dry Rob Finley Shaunda Goodwin Greg Hunter Heather Knight Loftis Dr. Kathy Loyd Shawna McClain Laura Newth Katie King Risk Geoffrey Smith Jodi Strother Mary Walker

Great

who

who

who

by DEBORAH STANUCH

ACCOLADES

Three ASUMH Students Rank in the Top 25 GED Certificates Awarded in 2021

The ASUMH Adult Education Program has been recognized again for the highest perform ing scores of GED graduates in Arkansas. Jenna Robbins, Director of Adult Education at ASUMH, says three of the program’s students placed in the Top 25 of the 2,257 GED certificates awarded in the state in 2021. The top 25 ranked students include Kelly Baker in third place, Ashton Sust in sixth place and Paul Mazych in 22nd place.

The ASUMH Adult Education Program is free and open to adults over 18 years of age. Those 16 and 17 years of age with accredited home school papers or a high school release are also accepted into the program. Classes are offered on the ASUMH campus or in Yellville, Monday through Friday or online with one-on-one tutoring avail able. For information, call the Adult Education Center at (870) 508-6304.

ASUMH Nationally Recognized

DONATION BRMC Donates Ambulance to ASUMH EMT/Paramedic Program

The EMT/Paramedic Program at ASUMH recently received the donation of an ambulance from Baxter Regional Medical Center. The ambulance, which was retired from the hospital’s fleet, was named the “Pambulance” after Pam Fairlamb, who with her late husband Rick, has been generous donors to the hospital’s paramedic and ambulance services.

Tony Hartman, EMS Program Director and Paramedic Instructor at ASUMH said, “We want to thank BRMC, Gerald Cantrell and Pam Fairlamb for the donation of this important teaching tool. The Fairlamb name is synony mous with BRMC, so we named our ambulance the Pambulance in her honor.”

Gerald Cantrell, retired RN/Paramedic and Director of Ambulance Services at BRMC said the ambulance will allow students training outside the classroom in a more realistic environment. “It’s important for these stu dents to become familiar and comfortable driving an ambulance and per forming life-saving techniques in a moving vehicle,” Cantrell said.

Hartman agrees with Cantrell: “An important part of a student’s training is for them to experience the reality of performing patient care in an actual ambulance under realistic conditions.”

“I’m delighted to know the Pambulance will continue to serve the commu nity by training future EMTs and paramedics at ASUMH who will someday be treating BRMC patients,” said Fairlamb.

ARTS & CULTLURE

Pattee Grant Provides ASUMH Students, Faculty and Staff with Cultural Experience at Crystal Bridges

A group of 24 students, faculty and staff from ASUMH traveled to Crystal Bridges art museum in early April for a day long cul tural experience. English faculty member Kellie Thomas and her husband Michael, who is also an English faculty member at ASUMH, received a Pattee Grant to provide transportation and expenses for the group.

Ms. Thomas said for some members of the group, this was their first visit to the Bentonville Art Museum and for some, this was their first exposure to art in a museum setting.

The day long visit included touring architecture on the grounds, galleries of Crystal Bridges’ permanent collection of American Art and the current exhibition, “Dirty South Exhibit.”

ASUMH Alum and son donate Criminal Justice Scholarship

Jenny Storey, who received her associate’s degree in criminal justice from ASUMH, and her son, Jacob Waugh, have donated $1,000 to the Oasis Live Music & Nightclub Scholarship to her alma mater. The scholarship, named for their live music venue in Mountain Home, is to be awarded to a criminal justice student in $500 increments for the fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters.

Storey, who is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in criminology from ASU-Jonesboro, said she and her son hope to continue to provide scholarships to Criminal Justice students at ASUMH.

Haun and Malloy Nominated for 2022 Outstanding Nurse Educator Award

Two ASUMH nursing instructors, Lucy Haun and Denise Marie Malloy, have been nominated for the 2022 Outstanding Nurse Educator Award by Publishing Concepts, publisher of over 25 nursing publications. The nominees were rec ognized in the May edition of ASBN Update Magazine, the ThinkNurse website and ThinkNurse Facebook page.

The nominees, called “Arkansas’ Finest,” were recognized for being committed and a driving force in development and support of the nursing profession.

ACHIEVER AWARD WINNERS 2021-22 Arkansas State University — Mountain Home Academic Achiever Awards

» Agriculture: Jacy Riddle

» Automotive Technology: Aaron Anderson

» Biological Health Care Science: Ron Pacheco

» Biological Sciences: Anette Juarez

» Business Administration: Tasia Charles

» Composition: Lexi Rauls

» Computer Technology and Networking: Dustin Niswonger

» Criminal Justice: John Colbert

» Cybersecurity: Jamie Lanham

» Digital Design: Hunter Travis

» Funeral Science: Shelby Beck

» History: Sydnee Holcer

» K-6 Education: Stephanie Kanatzar

» Literature: Libby Lapio

» Mathematics: Nicholas “Cole” Taylor

» Mechatronics: Jasmine Greetham

» Mid-level Education: Dedrick Green

» Oral Communication: Sam Adams

» Physical Education: Daniel Matusiak

» Physics/Physical Science: Mary Kathryn Cheek

» Programming/Mobile Development: Jared Dillon

» Psychology: Luke Proctor

» Sociology: Justien Dieckhoff

» Welding: Pamela Pendergrass

» Overall Academic Achiever Award: Sam Adams

Fran Coulter Honors Program Graduates and ASUMH Academic Achiever Awards Announced

The invitation only luncheon honoring 2021-22 honor students wh o excelled in the classroom was held Friday, April 15th in the Mc Clure Convention Center on the college campus.

Five Fran Coulter Honors graduates, including Joseph Dillon, Jude Dillon, Bryson Hicks, Cassie Jankowski and Katherine Newma n were recognized.

The twenty-five students received Arkansas State UniversityMountain Home Academic Achievement Awards listed above, including the Overall Academic Achiever chosen by the faculty.

SCHOLARSHIP

ACHIEVER AWARDS

NURSE EDUCATOR AWARD

HONOR AND DIGNITY

Accreditation achieved; Funeral Science Department looks to grow

Officials with ASU-Mountain Home’s Funeral Science program say there are bright days ahead for the program. The department recently re-accredited with the American Board of Funeral Service Education, which program director Matt Buel considers the icing on the cake for the innovative department going forward.

“We’re one of the more forward-think ing programs, especially when it comes to new technology,” he said. “We were the first school of any kind in the state of Arkansas to have a synthetic cadaver, and now we have two of them. We use these to teach our students embalming skills, anatomy, physiology, all the scientific things that they need on the embalming side of things.

“We have also changed in order to make a more solid program, specifically, we have started putting our students into a fixed cohort system. Everyone starts at the same time, and everyone finishes at the same time,” said Buel.

These elements and more are attracting students from a wide cross-section of the region, including the northern two-thirds of Arkansas and the southern one-third of Missouri. Students not only learn job-spe cific skills, but also soft skills to help them succeed in the business world.

“Students need all kinds of soft-skill training,” Buell said. “The first year I took over, we implemented what we call training camp, which is four days where we work on things like how to get a deceased person out of an undignified situation as efficiently as possible. How to get them in a vehicle. How to handle families, how to compassion ately arrange a funeral with a family and be empathetic and still get the job done.”

All of which have added up to high demand for the 20 seats in the ASUMH program, said Theressa Walker, funeral science program coordinator.

“We can recruit from wherever, but I’ll be honest, students come to us,” she said. “We are one of only two schools in the state. Ours is a seated program, and we have locations in Jonesboro and Beebe,” Walker added.

The flood of new funeral science stu dents looks very different than just a few years ago. Buel said unlike past eras, most students are not following in their parent’s

footsteps to one day run the family busi ness. And there’s another important change in the student body as well.

“In the old days, if 10% of your student population was female that was mirac ulous,” he said. “Last year, when I filed my annual reports on people that are new admits into my program and people that graduated, it included zero males. Industry-wide, graduates are running 75% female, ours is closer to 80%.”

“The students we have are such a unique blend,” Walker added. “We have those stu dents who are coming straight out of high school, and we have those students who are switching careers. We have those students who have been out of the workplace for 20 years, and they’ve decided this is something they want to do, whether they’ve had a death in the family or something else that’s given them a cause in this. It’s just remark able how many students get into this pro gram as a way to serve others.” ■

Students in the ASUMH funeral science program receive hands-on learning.

“ It’s just remarkable how many students get into this program as a way to serve others.

— Theressa Walker, funeral science program coordinator

Jason & Jessica Kirby

PARTNERSHIPS PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES

Community stakeholders partner to educate, retain nurses

by DWAIN HEBDA

As Dean of Health Sciences for ASU-Mountain Home, Dr. Julia Gist is constantly looking for ways to make educational programs more accessible and more relevant to the needs of today’s stu dents and the local workplace. She, along with her departmental faculty, had been very successful in this mission, introduc ing creative educational programs that have set ASUMH’s curriculum apart in the educational landscape.

So, when Dr. Robin Myers, Chancellor, directed her to create a mechanism for attracting and retaining more nurses, Gist knew she was up for a challenge. What she

didn’t know at the outset was the result would be something unlike anything higher education in Arkansas had ever seen.

“The Arkansas Department of Education had come out earlier this year with a pilot project to include high school students in LPN education,” Gist said. “I was leery of what that program was proposing to do. But it made me start thinking, ‘How would I do it differently?’ ”

Gist’s grand vision — a seamless pathway from high school to college to the work place, wasn’t particularly original. In the ory, it was what every community of any size in the U.S. would like to see exist, in

fact. But what was wholly original was the way community stakeholders from the local high school and hospital joined the univer sity’s efforts, coming together to make the LPN fast-track program a reality.

“As we looked at our prerequisites for coming into the LPN program, we realized Mountain Home High School students cur rently have the opportunity to get all of that done before the second semester of their senior year,” Gist said. “That was a very good starting point, and once we started having those conversations, we found that the three partners had a lot more to gain working together than working separately.”

From left to right: Stacy Bryant, Sacha McGee (behind the bed), Jessica Williams, Logann Merriman, and Brianna Rodriguez.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing is one of the top fields for job growth through 2029. Demand for nurses is expected to grow 7% in that time, thanks to a combination of increased demands by the substantial Baby Boomer population growing older and institutional nursing losing numbers due to pandemic burnout, more lucrative home-health or travel nurse jobs and retirees. In fact, retir ing nurses alone account for more than 175,000 new job vacancies per year.

While all health systems are feeling that pinch, smaller communities like Mountain Home are particularly at risk of having to limit access and services to patients due to understaffing. When that message reached Chancellor Myers, he knew ASUMH had a role to play in being part of the solution.

“There have been concerns expressed to me for some time about the local nursing pipeline and the number of vacant nurs ing positions we have here locally,” Myers said. “As we worked through those conver sations, we talked about the various things we could possibly do, including greasing the pipeline in our existing programs. But we also saw a real opportunity to create this new pipeline that encouraged high school students to pursue nursing as a vocation.”

MHHS seniors who have taken the appropriate prerequisite courses and met all admission requirements can now apply for acceptance into the LPN program, with coursework beginning in the spring of their senior year. Program participants will com plete roughly half of their college coursework during that spring semester, then complete

“

… We realized Mountain Home High School students currently have the opportunity to get all of that done before the second semester of their senior year.

—Julia Gist, Dean of Health Sciences for ASU-Mountain Home

“

There have been concerns expressed to me for some time about the local nursing pipeline and the number of vacant nursing positions we have here locally.

—Dr. Robin Myers, Chancellor

Students in the white coat program through ASUMH. Opposite, from left: Stacey Bryant, Jennifer Dedek, and Sacha McGee

the remaining college coursework through the summer and fall, sitting for their licen sure tests at semester break.

What’s more, students incur no col lege expenses or debt, thanks to scholar ships funded through the Baxter Regional Health Foundation. Those awards cover tuition, books and fees not already cov ered by other scholarships the student may have earned. In addition, each stu dent receives a laptop and $500 monthly stipend while completing their studies. In return, program graduates agree to work for the hospital for one year.

“I think this opportunity shows how dedicated we are to providing incredible opportunities for student success while also supporting the workforce needs in our community,” said Dr. Jake Long, Superintendent of Mountain Home Public Schools. “This gives students a chance to start their careers without student debt, making great money and making a dif ference right here in the place where they were raised. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Denise Malloy, a faculty member in ASUMH’s nursing department, said the program can also serve as a model for other communities.

“We are definitely going to be looked at throughout the state to see how suc cessful this type of program can be, that is for sure,” she said. “What we are about to embark on is truly going to be a pilot that most community colleges, hospitals, and high schools are going to be looking at. What made it successful? How did we choose the students that needed to be in this program? Did we change the curriculum to fit the high school folks as opposed to the traditional folks? What is that key?

“I feel blessed to be part of it, to be at the frontlines. Is it challenging, is it over whelming? Yes. But I’m up for it, I’m excited about it and I really want to make a difference in Mountain Home in terms of how health care is done,” said Malloy.

As details of the program began to be communicated to guidance counselors and teachers alike, student reaction has been overwhelmingly positive, said Tenille Rauls, an MHHS teacher.

“We were getting toward the end of the semester in my anatomy and physiology class, and I have a sophomore there who was not motivated. She was basically checked out, and her grades were falling,” Rauls said. “Once details of this program were released, it was literally like a light bulb went off.

“She came to me and said, ‘How can I get my grade up? I need to get my grade up because I want to be an LPN now that I know that I can do this.’ She was empow ered; she realized she had resources that were going to allow her to get an educa tion, whereas before she couldn’t see out side her world and what opportunities were available,” said Rauls.

Such stories are music to the ears of program architects like Julia Gist. She said the various partners share the vision of making such scenarios the norm for countless students in the future.

“The partners behind this are leaders who want the best for the community, not just for themselves,” she said. “We’re more altruistic than what you might see in other places. None of us are for-profit businesses; we’re not out to make a million dollars off this program. We are all service-oriented organizations, and I think we all believe that we only win if everyone wins.”

“ I think this opportunity shows how dedicated we are to providing incredible opportunities for student success while also supporting the workforce needs in our community.

— Dr. Jake Long, Superintendent of Mountain Home Public Schools

From left: Dr. Jake Long, Tenille Rauls, Barney Larry, Shannon Nachtigal, Ron Peterson, Dr. Robin Myers and Dr. Julia Gist.

“ What we are about to embark on is truly going to be a pilot that most community colleges, hospitals, high schools are going to be looking at.

— Denise Malloy, ASUMH’s nursing department faculty member

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New boat manufacturing program is big news on workforce front

by DWAIN HEBDA

» Spend a little time in Mountain Home, and you’ll quickly see how important the wilds are to our quality of life. From the emerald mountains to the crystal-clear waters, outdoor enthusiasts from across the country and around the world come for the fresh air, breathtaking scenery and unmatched fishing.

With all of that, it's no real surprise that some of the nation’s top sporting boat builders also call the area home.

Boatbuilding is a huge part of the local economy here; in fact, according to an industry snapshot prepared by Emsi, the national average in an area this size is 184 employees.

Baxter County companies boast 2,200.

So, it’s little wonder that an innovative new curriculum, recently unveiled at ASU-Mountain Home, has local boat manufacturers looking to the future of the area’s workforce with optimism.

“I thought it was a pretty good idea, and it definitely might get some of those younger kids interested in this line of work,” said Chris Miller, plant manager for Shawnee/Supreme Boats in Midway. “Right now, every thing has been running fairly well, but we’re in the mid dle of some construction work. Once that gets set up, we could be looking to hire more individuals and see where it goes from there.”

Victor Beck, ASUMH director of workforce develop ment, is the propulsion for the creation and launch of the program. He said it all came together thanks to many dif ferent partners.

“The chamber, the city, they’re all on board with what ever we need,” Beck said. “We’re trying to establish even more community buy-in from this, but so far there’s been very positive feedback.

Ranger: Flippin Plant, Gel coating process

“We worked very closely in a short amount of time with the boat manufacturers. I told them, ‘You guys are the experts. We can’t just develop something and say, “Here you go,” and make it successful.’”

“I really appreciated how the college reached out and asked us what we thought,” said Fred Dwyer, production manager with Triton Boats in Midway. “We were happy to tell them what we thought and what we needed. We’re pleased to see this program get off the ground.”

The marine manufacturing program, for which Beck landed a $1.2 million grant, will teach several steps in the boatmaking pro cess through the school’s Office of Workforce Development.

“With this grant, we’ll focus on welding for the aluminum boats and also gel coating. That’s our initial focus, and we’ll expand from there,” he said. “The gel coating training in particular was something manufacturers said they wanted.

“All the boat manufacturers told us a production gel coater, one who they can trust with a $2,000 or $3,000 hull, is someone who can take years to develop. There’s not a lot of them around, so they really wanted us to focus on that to start,” Beck said.

Learning about gel coats and riding herd over grants were just part of the baptism by fire Beck experienced since joining the ASU-Mountain Home staff in January.

“Karen Heslep, who is my boss and the Dean, had a meeting

with Ranger Boats in Texas before I got here. They told her what was needed locally,” he said. “When I got here a month or so later, she handed it to me and said, ‘Go do good things.’

“My background is mostly in command control-related stuff, from ships and satellites. Before this, I only owned boats, and I didn’t have a clue how these guys built them. It’s been a very big learning curve. I’m getting better.”

Beck set out to create a program the only way that made sense to him, to ask the marine manufacturers in the area to give their input, which they were all too happy to do.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with ASU-Mountain Home to attract, train and retain the next gen eration of boat manufacturers,” said Craig Bach, vice president of operations with White River Marine Group which owns Ranger Boats, made in Flippin.

“This is an extremely valuable resource to us, as the boat ing industry across our nation faces the challenges of product demands and talent retention in a growing market.”

One by one, the hurdles to making the program a reality were cleared, the most substantial one being the hiring of Brian Bigelow, an experienced marine manufacturer who will be the instructor. Next, the department turned its attention to equip ping the appropriate workspace on campus.

“We’re adding onto the technical center because we don’t

Victor Beck and Brian Bigelow standing in front of the welding booths at the ASUMH tech center.

Currently, there are 23 booths total in the tech center, and they’re in the process of adding 13 more.

“ The chamber, the city, they’re all on board with whatever we need. We’re trying to establish even more community buy-in from this, but so far there’s been very positive feedback.

— Victor Beck, director of workforce development

From

BOAT MANUFACTURERS

ASUMH TECHNICAL CENTER

have enough space to put in the gel coat booth we are going to purchase under the grant,” Beck said. “We have to build a large add-on to our existing facility that will contain a classroom and the gel coat booth.

“For the welding side of it, we’re going to add additional weld ers and welding booths. We have 23 in the tech center already, and we’re going to add 13 more booths to that. We’ll have to do some remodeling but won’t need to add-on to the property, which is good.”

The gel coating curriculum is joined by a new welding apprenticeship program, also targeting the local marine manu facturing industry.

“That’s brand new; it’s not part of the grant,” he said. “We worked with the state of Arkansas to get it approved by the Department of Labor. It’s a 2,000-hour course consisting of on-the-job training and 144 hours of classroom instruction related to welding.

“After their 2,000 hours, students will get a certificate saying they have completed that apprenticeship. They would be able to take that and go work anywhere they want in the world, although we don’t want them to leave the area.”

All of this is music to the ears of boat manufacturers, given the labor crunch of the past few years. Heather Curtis, human resources manager with Bass Cat in Midway, said the company employs 200 and she’d add 30 more tomorrow if she could. And that’s just to get up to current needs and doesn’t take into account the potential for growth.

“We build a boat by hand,” she said. “We have no robotics, no assembly lines, no machinery. The employees are our machines. They are the ones that hand-grind, hand-lay, hand-assemble; they do everything. This means, to do more boats, it’s not as simple as going out and buying a piece of machinery. To increase production, we have to hire additional bodies and then train those bodies.

“I think the program is going to be very good for our local area and our industry — not only us but all of the other boat manufac turers here, because we do have a very low labor pool.”

Lance Newton, vice president of operations for Vexus Boats in Flippin, Arkansas, said he liked how ASUMH’s program was cus tomizable to their unique manufacturing processes.

“We build all of our fiberglass parts under a vacuum, so there’s zero emissions, zero VOCs emitted into the atmosphere,” he said. “Our processes are a scientific approach to boat building and dif ferent from most other manufacturers. We had to develop that process ourselves to achieve what we are trying to accomplish. The college is helping us in that by incorporating some of that technology into their curriculum going forward.

“I appreciate their willingness to work with us. North Central Arkansas is full of talented individuals who know how to work hard, and it’s full of manufacturers who provide a good product. However, there’s a growing need for people with certain skill sets here. This is a nice place to live and we’re excited to partner with ASUMH to help cultivate the next generation of boat builders and young manufacturing minds,” said Newton. ■

BY

BOATS

MARION COUNTY

BAXTER COUNTY

ADOBE STOCK

Clockwise from left: Vexus, Ranger, Triton and BassCat.

ASUMH Students Bring Diversity of Thought, Experience to Campus

by DWAIN HEBDA

First-gen student Juarez excels

Ever since Anette Juarez came to the United States at the age of four, attending college has been seen as a landmark moment in the family’s history, a goal she attained in 2021. She credited ASU-Mountain Home’s attention to the challenges facing firstgeneration college students for creating an environment in which she can excel.

“ASUMH was more flexible, and as a first-generation student, I received more help from professors and a lot of other people here as well because it’s a very small community,” said Juarez, who’s studying biochemistry. “People here are very nice and willing to help me. Financially, it’s a better option, and it’s allowed me to get to know people more easily and get involved.”

Juarez has taken advantage of her opportunities on campus. In addition to her studies through the prestigious Fran Coulter Honors Program, she’s also a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the campus Gay/Straight Alliance club. She sees her involvement in such organizations as important parts of her over all education and growth as a person.

“I took advantage of those clubs and organizations to improve our campus and to improve myself as a future leader,” she said. “I want to be involved as much as I can and learn as I go. Meeting new people, learning about their past experiences, backgrounds and where they come from helps me apply my leadership skills to make the campus a better place for all students.

“That was important to me as a first-generation college stu dent, and I want that to be the experience of all students. I just want our campus to say, ‘We welcome everyone.’”

Massachusetts transplant finds a home

One look at his long list of campus leadership posi tions tells you how completely Arkansas transplant Matthew Reposa feels at home at ASUMH.

Reposa has been a part of the Fran Coulter Honors Program, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, served as Phi Beta Lambda vice president, was elected Student Government Association president and currently works in the campus admissions department.

“I just think if you’re going to do something, then you should do it,” he said. “All the different experiences have been helpful — learning how to work with people in different team settings. There are a lot of soft skills I built here that will trans late into any career. They were all good learning experiences.

“One thing that helped me be so active was faculty encouragement. They made it easy to participate in activities.

Anette Juarez

Mathis personifies informed advocacy

Many students pass through ASU-Mountain Home studying in fields to bring hope and healing to people. Few feel this vocation as personally as Ashton Mathis.

Mathis, who is studying to earn her associate of arts en route to becoming a psychologist, has already been through situations in her life that give her a perspective on abuse, addiction and mental illness most of her classmates don’t have.

“I came to ASU-Mountain Home from Care Center Ministries, a faith-based rehabilitation center,” she said. “I went to them for help, and I came out on the other side successful. And that’s where I found my passion for psychology, when I was broken with those other women wanting to be restored to myself and to society.

“Therefore, I can relate to what patients are going through. I grew up in a family where mental health issues and substance abuse were prevalent. Now that I myself have recovered, I believe anybody can do that. It’s not impossible. And so, I have a passion to push people to believe inside of themselves.”

These life experiences, which Mathis sees as so valuable in cre ating bonds of trust with her future patients, open the door for the skills and knowledge she’s gaining in the ASUMH program.

“A lot of people I trust spoke very highly of this university,” she said. “Now that I’m here, I love the school. It’s a great school; it’s local, it was convenient. It’s a smaller school, so the teachers are able to help you with a lot more things. They address the stuff that needs to be addressed while also ensuring no one is overlooked.”

They made it easy for me to find the different organizations that I could participate in.”

Reposa came to Arkansas after having already attended two-year schools back east. He said ASU-Mountain Home stacks up favorably to those institutions, and then some.

“The national recognition awards ASU-Mountain Home has won for quality at the community college level definitely stood out. I wasn’t apprehensive about going to school here at all,” he said. “Having the ability to transfer to bigger state schools from here was definitely another plus.”

Asked what advice he’d have for someone considering the school, Reposa doesn’t hesitate.

“As long as you’re willing to work hard, ASU-Mountain Home definitely has the academic resources, the groups, the faculty to help make a college degree something that’s a lot more feasible than people initially think,” he said.

Ashton Mathis

Matthew Reposa

CAMPUS CLUBS

Fran Coulter Honors Students Presenters at Arkansas College HUNGER SUMMIT

by DEBORAH STANUCH

Food insecurity, described as a condition of having inadequate food due to a lack of resources, affects Americans of all ages, including college students. At ASUMH, the struggles of students who face food insecurity are familiar, according to Cassie Jankowski, a Fran Coulter Honors student. She says faculty and staff do outreach to help students in need and support the efforts of programs addressing food insecurity on the campus, including a student-operated food pantry and providing baskets of free food in campus buildings frequented by students.

Last August, the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance and Honors Arkansas extended an invitation to Arkansas colleges, including ASUMH, to participate in a student-led and focused statewide Arkansas College Hunger Summit. Jankowski and Arkansas Honors students and brothers Jude and Joseph Dillon accepted the invitation and began a study on food insecurity among college students through a collaboration of Honors Arkansas and the Fran Coulter Honors Program, directed by Dr. Rebecca Baird.

Over 30 colleges and universities in Arkansas were represented at the summit

held in April at Heifer International Pavilion in Little Rock with officials and representatives from the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, Arkansas legislators and AR Food Bank in attendance.

— Jeff Quick, CEO of the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas

Jankowski and both Jude and Joseph Dillon were selected to be part of a panel of nine students who presented their find ings to those in attendance. The panel shared the results of their research includ ing a survey of 4,000 students where 40 percent said they cannot afford balanced daily meals and have difficulty focusing on their studies due to lack of food. Thirtyfive percent of those surveyed reported physical weakness due to lack of food and 33 percent said they have skipped meals due to a lack of financial resources.

Jeff Quick, CEO of the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas said, “I’m impressed with the level of professional ism our ASUMH students showed at the College Hunger Summit. The depth of understanding these students have about food insecurity is outstanding. I look for ward to working with them and continue to identify ways to end hunger on our college campuses and through the food bank’s nine-county service area.”

ASUMH was one of the 24 schools pres ent that received a $1,000 grant check for their food pantry and a one-year member ship in the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance.

The Garcia Family Arkansas Fund, a com ponent fund of the Arkansas Community Foundation, sponsored the event. ■

From left: Jude Dillon, Cassie Jankowski, and Joseph Dillon.

“ I’m impressed with the level of professionalism our ASUMH students showed at the College Hunger Summit.

For ASUMH grad, business is always looking UPS

BY DWAIN HEBDA

Garth Deems couldn’t have imagined that his career would have led him into busi ness ownership when he reported for his first day of class at ASU-Mountain Home. Now looking back, he couldn’t imagine having a better business education experi ence anywhere else.

“When I graduated from Mountain Home High School, I came out with basi cally 3½ years worth of scholarships under my belt,” he said. “I went to school initially for computer networking because I was a really big computer whiz. I graduated with a computer networking degree with half a dozen certificates of proficiency. Then, I still had scholarship funding available, so I earned a graphic design degree.”

At the start of this four-year journey, one of Deems’ professors connected him with The UPS Store in Mountain Home, which was looking for help. What started as a part-time college gig became an important part of his education.

“During that whole four-year time frame, I was working here at The UPS

Store,” Deems said. “When I needed an internship, I had the opportunity to use this workplace because I pretty much did all the graphic design here.

“When I was graduating (college) the second time, I just decided to just go ahead and make this a full-time endeavor, get to know the business and just go from there.”

Eight years after his first day on the job, Deems bought the franchise rights to the store and today employs other ASUMH students, providing the same job opportu nity that was afforded him. He said his col lege coursework, combined with on-thejob experience, has been invaluable in his success as an entrepreneur.

“It was a huge risk at the time because here I am looking to buy a business in the midst of COVID lockdown with no tell ing what the future would hold,” he said. “But at the same time, the government was introducing programs for new business owners, so I was able to take advantage of some of those opportunities for financing and things like that. That was a learning

experience in itself because I’ve never dealt with anything of that complexity before.

“I found that my business courses at ASUMH proved to be very helpful. I was able to go back and look at some of my previous work in some of my business classes where we had to do business plans. We also did practice interviews, so that’s helped me when it comes to interviewing prospective employees.”

Today, Deems is proud to promote his alma mater by participating in job fairs and supporting other events hosted by the school. He said he recommends ASUMH for its personal attention to students.

“The staff was super friendly and very open to help you with any of your needs at any point in time,” he said. “I would defi nitely say class size was one of my biggest likes about the college. I didn’t have to go to a class of 60 or 70 people in a lecture hall; classes were smaller and more man ageable. It was a challenging environment, academically speaking, but a very reward ing experience overall.” ■

CLASS OF 2005

Geoff Smith and family recently travelled to Niagara Falls. Geoff completed his Bachelors degree in Management via the University of Phoenix and became a financial advisor with Edward Jones in Mountain Home. He is married (Tami), and enjoys two small children (Jude and Quinn).

CLASS OF 2011

Katie (Strain) Laney is serving as the Director of Patient Financial Services at Baxter Regional Medical Center. In 2016, Katie was honored to be the ASUMH Outstanding Alumni of the Year. She is also the lead singer in The Katie Laney Project.

asumh.edu/alumni.

CLASS OF 2005

William Moore married Lauren Moore in 2008 and welcomed their daughter, Hannah, into the world in 2018. In 2007, William obtained his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in accounting at University of Arkansas. He completed Paul W. Barret Graduate School of Banking in 2012. He is now Senior Vice President at First Security Bank, Mountain Home, Arkansas.

CLASS OF 2014

Bryan Foster finished an internship with LC (Linda Clark) Creative Productions out of Mountain Home. After graduating, Bryan and his wife, Stacey, created Dominator Websites. With the help of his son, Christian Foster, they run Top Quality Home Services. Top Quality now offers many services including decorating businesses with Christmas light displays. Several businesses along Highway 62 used Top Quality for their light displays during the 2021 holiday season.

CLASS OF 2021 Amanda (Hudgens) Rychtarik is continuing classes at Murray State University.

CLASS OF 2015

Emily (Davidson) Torres

married and had two children, Caroline and Hadlee, after graduation. She is continuing her education in Graphic Design at SNHU.

CLASS OF 2022

Cassie Jankowski served as an Arkansas Girls State Counselor this summer, leading girls in civic engagement activities at Harding University. The group toured the Arkansas State Capitol, met with Arkansas senators, and toured Camp Robinson. The photo is of Cassie with her city (Elliott City) of girls. Elliott City is named after Senator Joyce Elliott.

Jason P. McConnell MD Don B. Franklin MD Thomas E. Knox MD Russ B. Rauls MD

OR

Legacy of Learning

Donor honors family with latest gift endowment

by DWAIN HEBDA

Warren Haley loves his hometown of Mountain Home, Arkansas. Born and raised here, he’s seen the best the community has to offer, even during the worst of times.

So, whenever the former director of Adult and Continuing Education for Harris County Department of Education saw a need in the community where he could help, particularly when it came to higher educa tion, Haley was all in.

“I was raised rather poor, but my folks were very strong on education and there wasn’t any doubt that my sister and I both were going to college,” he said. “It was just expected of us because our par ents were uneducated but hard working, and they wanted to make sure that both of us got a good education. The Lord has blessed so much in my life that I cannot not give back.”

Haley’s latest gift will help ensure the family name will live on in perpetuity, committing $25,000 to endow the Warren Haley Scholarship Fund. The award will assist qualified non-traditional students attending ASU-Mountain Home, further ing their education as the first step to real izing their dreams.

“There’s a lot of people who have gone through marriage and had a fam ily thinking they would never be able to go back to school, who could be enticed with a scholarship to continue their edu cation,” Haley said.

“I wanted to make sure we had something set aside for the non-traditional student, and the university has really sponsored that and worked at it in a wonderful way.”

This isn’t the first time the school has ben efited from Haley’s generosity. He’s donated $1,000 annually for years to support the gen eral scholarship fund and made a $50,000 gift to the performing arts programs at the school. Warren has also donated more than $500,000 of Asian Art to the school. Every gift he’s made has brought him joy, but his latest takes that to the next level, establish ing a lasting tribute to his family.

The Haley roots in Mountain Home are deep, even if today many are unaware of the family’s contributions. Haley’s grandfather, James Alexander Haley, built Haley Hotel in town, which burned down in 1939. Brian and Ruby Haley, Warren’s parents, ran the

Warren Haley in front of pieces he has donated to the ASUMH foundation, in The Warren Haley Family Conference Room.

“ I wanted to make sure we had something set aside for the non-traditional student, and the university has really sponsored that and worked at it in a wonderful way.

hotel for a short time, and they also owned a dry-cleaning business. After that, Ruby, who managed the men’s clothing store in Mountain Home and did alterations, known as one of the most skilled seam stresses in the region.

“A lot of the ladies in Mountain Home would go to Little Rock and Springfield and buy clothes, but they wouldn’t have it done there. They would bring it back to Ruby to do the alterations,” Warren said. “They were very disappointed when she retired.”

Brian, who served on the Mountain Home City Council, was later one of the founders and an employee of the Baxter Bulletin, a job he held practically until his death. But for all of this, finances were always tight in the Haley household.

“My father said, ‘Warren, I cannot give you a lot of money or leave you a lot of land. But if I can help you get a good edu cation, that’s something that no one can ever take away from you,’” Haley said. “I’ve lived by that.”

Haley did get his education, graduating from the University of Arkansas for his undergraduate and graduate degrees. His sister, the late Joan Carder, also graduated the U of A as well as completed her mas ter’s degree at the University of Chicago before embarking on a career in higher education and social work.

Now at last, Haley said, there will be a liv ing memorial to the dreams and grit of one family as it helps enrich the lives of others.

“The thing that’s most important to me is that ASUMH provides a local education past high school for so many kids. They can stay right here,” he said. “And this is what I told them from the very beginning: I want to make sure we can have an educa tional program that provides them with an employable degree, where they can go right out from this university and get a job. That idea just blossomed into something fantas tic — a legacy of the Haley family.” ■

Chafin, Agent

Drive

It’s why I’m here.

are

the

GO, TEAM!

ASUMH TrailBlazers to debut three sports in fall

by DWAIN HEBDA

ASU-Mountain Home will enter an excit ing new chapter in its history next semes ter when it debuts three new sports teams in baseball, softball and cross country.

The decision to add the sports was made official at the university’s Board of Trustees meeting June 2. But as Chancellor Dr. Robin Myers noted, the impetus for adding the squads has been a long time coming.

“We’re in the fifth year now of our fiveyear plan,” Myers said. “Athletics is one of the things that was identified both by our students and by our constituency as something we needed to have. These teams were born out of a desire to have more activities for students and more rec reational things on campus.

“There’s another purpose, to provide more students the opportunity to play ath letics as they move into college while pro viding them the opportunity to complete a college education. Athletes tend to grad uate at a much higher rate than non-ath letes in college and that’s because they are

sort of locked together as a unit, as a group, and they tend to hang on and stay with it. Giving the student-athlete something they enjoy and participate in also helps hold them in their pathway toward a degree.”

The TrailBlazers will compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Under league rules, they are prohibited from joining a con ference until their second year and will thus be ineligible for conference cham pionships in 2022–2023. Myers said the plan is to join Region 2 Conference of the NJCAA, comprised of schools in Arkansas and Oklahoma, in 2023–2024.

Leadership of the school’s athletic programs is quickly taking shape. Matt Klinger, ASUMH PE instructor, has been named athletic director. While there are no plans to offer athletic scholarships, recruiting has already been going at a full clip, as has the search for facilities.

“Believe it or not, we’ve got 11 or 12 softball players already committed. We’re

moving pretty quickly,” Myers said. “We’ve talked both with the public schools and the City of Mountain Home about a number of options available to us for baseball and soft ball fields. We already have a cross country track laid out on our campus for the high school to use, so we’ll have that available here on campus for our teams as well.”

The three new sports join the fouryear-old competitive fishing team and the new eSports team on ASUMH’s roster of activities. Myers said the latter activity is particularly exciting, given the explosive growth of the sport worldwide.

“We built an eSports center; it’s brand new this year,” he said. “It’s a really cool sport that is a growing phenomenon across college campuses all over the nation. The students who participate in that are highly sought-after by companies because they have exceptional skills utilizing comput ers. It also develops credible problem solv ing — a skillset that’s very sought-after by businesses today.” ■

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