ASUMH Keystone January 2022 by Wheelhouse Publishing

SPRING 2022

VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 2

A PUBLICATION OF ASUMH

BEST OF THE BEST »Invest in the Future

SUPPORTING THE NEXT GENERATION

»A Degree In Funeral Science

UNDERTAKING A NEW CAREER PATH

ASUMH HONORS THOSE WHO EXCEL

CONTENTS 2 From the Chancellor A warm welcome from Robin Myers, Ed.D.

6 Campus Happenings Includes a campus virtual tour, Celebration of Lights, the Performing Arts Series, The Apex Project, an outdoor amphitheater and new walking and biking trails.

12 Expanding Resources Strengthening Institutions Program Grant helps increase academic accessibility for all.

15 Best of the Best

Meet this year’s four honorees who go above and beyond.

26 Get involved with New Hope

30 Giving Back

This campus community service club supports those in need.

28 Alumni Highlight Tom Kiley Funeral Science program graduate talks about following his calling.

Donors Jim and Jackie Neff and Steve Blumreich invest in the future.

32 Student Center Refresh Revitalization efforts help students feel more at home.

On the cover: From left to right, Jeremy Oakes, Melanie Hodges, Katherine Newman and Mark Bertel. Photography by Jason Masters.

A PUBLICATION OF

PUBLISHER OF BAXTER REGIONAL PULSE MAGAZINE, MOUNTAIN HOME PUBLIC SCHOOL WINGS MAGAZINE AND MOUNTAIN HOME CHAMBER OF COMMERCE VACATION RELOCATION MAGAZINE. Publisher Sarah Knight Publication Designer Saige Roberts Custom Publication Writers Amy Gordy, Dwain Hebda and Deborah Stanuch Custom Publication Copy Editor Melinda Lanigan Contributing Photographers Jason Masters and James Moore All effort has been made to make this publication as complete as possible. The publishers cannot and do not guarantee the correctness of all that is available to them, and errors will be corrected in subsequent issues if reported by letter to the company. 30,000 copies of The Keystone magazine are distributed bi-annually. Over 28,000 copies are mailed to residents in Baxter and Marion county with the remaining copies distributed to locations within the two counties, including high schools, chambers/visitor centers, doctor offices, hospitals and financial institutions. Copyright January 2022 Wheelhouse Publishing. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited. Wheelhouse Publishing | (501) 766-0859 | WheelhousePublishing.com

SPRING 2022 | THE KEYSTONE |

| FROM THE CHANCELLOR

Greetings, Welcome to the latest edition of the Keystone! We are delighted to bring you this update of the people and events of Arkansas State University — Mountain Home (ASUMH). There are incredible things happening every day at ASUMH and I hope you enjoy learning about a few of them depicted in this issue. This past fall has been very successful and eventful as we have returned to near-normal operations following nearly two years of Covid 19 restrictions and modifications. This issue will introduce you to a new campus virtual tour that will make everyone proud of the beautiful ASUMH campus. The Coulter Celebration of Lights, which is a unique partnership between the City of Mountain Home, ASUMH, and the Mountain Home Chamber of Commerce will be depicted. This annual celebration will bring a wonderful holiday light display to the city, hosted on the ASUMH campus each year. It will also create the Coulter Celebration of Lights Scholarship which will provide financial assistance to our students each year. The ASUMH Performing Arts Series tenth season is presented after a nearly two-year sabbatical, and it is great to see the stage active again. This issue will update you on the construction of the recreational trail on campus as well as the redesign of the disc golf course. The amphitheater planned for the campus is also discussed. Our student completing the capstone research project (APEX) is highlighted and her outstanding scholarship is celebrated in this issue. You will get to know more about our outstanding faculty member, staff member and alumni of the year. The Academic All-Star student, selected by the ASUMH faculty, is also presented in this issue. I am certain you will be impressed and amazed by the talent and commitment of each of these individuals. A new grant funded by the Federal Title III Program will be introduced. This grant will fund enhancements to our virtual learning capacities as well as address student success over the next five years. We will also introduce you to some our very supportive donors, one of our many student organizations, and highlight one of our alumni. I continue to be inspired by the great work of all of the individuals associated with ASUMH and I trust you will share these feelings after reading this publication. I hope you enjoy this edition of the Keystone, and share in the success that comes when education opens the door to opportunity. With warmest regards,

ROBIN MYERS, Ed.D.

Chancellor Arkansas State University Mountain Home

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

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. Lifelong Learning Enhanced Quality of Life Academic Accessibility Diverse Experiences

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

SPRING 2022

VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 2

ARKANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND PRESIDENT Price Gardner, Chair Christy Clark, Vice Chair Niel Crowson, Member Jerry Morgan, 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

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| CAMPUS HAPPENINGS by DEBORAH STANUCH COMING UP NOW AVAILABLE

The Performing Arts Series returns with the 10th anniversary season

Virtual tour of ASUMH Prospective and incoming Arkansas State University-Mountain Home students, their families or anyone interested in learning more about the university can take the new virtual tour of the campus available at the ASUMH website asumh.edu. Christy Keirn, Associate Vice Chancellor/ Marketing and Community Relations, said the need for the virtual tour arose during the COVID pandemic. “When we were no longer able to give in-person tours of the campus, we contacted James Moore of Moore Visuals, Inc., to develop an in-depth look at ASUMH.” The 10-minute narrated tour provides a comprehensive description of buildings and public spaces on the campus and technical center, classrooms and instructional technology used in the programs offered at ASUMH. The tour includes ASUMH

After a nearly two-year delay due to the COVID pandemic, the 2021–22 Performing Arts Series of Arkansas State UniversityMountain Home began its 10th

history, special exhibits and brief biographies honoring donors. “The virtual tour is more popular than we expected. Incoming students can familiarize themselves with the campus before classes begin, and prospective students from out of state and the region can see what ASUMH has to offer. This is especially popular with students interested in specialty studies like our Funeral Science program. “Residents and newcomers to the Twin Lakes area will learn about the growth of the college, learn what we have to offer and understand how ASUMH is truly a part of the community.”

anniversary season with the Ed and Lucretia Coulter Holiday Show starring Debby Boone on Dec. 2, the first of five programs in the subscription series. The subscription series continues with Wynonna Judd and The Big Noise on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.; Shaun Johnson and Big Band Experience on Feb. 27, at a time to be determined; and The Choir of Man on March 9 at 7 p.m. The Haley Cultural Arts Endowment ends the series with An Evening with Cole Porter on April 24 at 2 p.m. Tickets for Wynonna Judd, Shaun Johnson and The Choir of Man are $35 each for adults and $17.50 for students. An

2021 HIGHLIGHT

Coulter Celebration of Lights-MH This holiday season, the ASU-Mountain Home campus was a winter wonderland of lights — a gift from Dr. Ed Coulter, Chancellor Emeritus of ASUMH and his wife, Lucretia Norris Coulter. The $200,000 donation for the Coulter Celebration of Lights-MH was presented by the Coulters in memory of the late

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

Fran Dryer Coulter, Dr. Coulter’s first wife, who was a professor at the college. The holiday light show is planned as an annual event in cooperation with the City of Mountain Home and the Mountain Home Area Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Coulter believes the partnership of the city, chamber and ASUMH exemplifies what teamwork and cooperation can make possible. “Everything here just inspires me of what a community can do together. We started the Christmas celebrations to say thanks to the community for supporting the university, and it has been a wonderful journey together.” Volunteers from ASUMH and the community spent an estimated six weeks setting up the tens of thousands of lights, including displays along the drive-through tour of the campus. This year’s planned route began at the entrance on College Street, past the Vada Sheid Community Development Center, exiting on Highway 62. Future plans will expand the route to include King Circle, campus parking lots with concession areas, and host activities and entertainment.

Evening with Cole Porter ticket price is $25 for adults and $12.50 for students. The “no tickets required” programs of the series began with the Terre Ware Book Author Lecture Series featuring Rex Nelson, Senior Editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, on Oct. 26. The remaining programs include The Arvest Concert Series with The Swon Brothers and the Gaston Lecture Series with Shawn Askinosie, owner of Askinosie Chocolates and co-writer of “MEANINGFUL WORK A Quest to Do Great Business, Find Your Calling and Feed Your Soul.” Dates and times will be announced. All programs are held in the Ed Coulter Performing Arts Center at the Vada Sheid Community Development Center on the ASUMH campus.

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ASUMH walking and biking trail The 1.6-mile paved pedestrian and bicycle trail, which winds through over 120 acres of the Arkansas State University-Mountain Home campus, is now open to the public, students and faculty of the college. The nearly $700,000 for construction and maintenance of the trail came primarily from a from James and Sally Moore.. The remainder was provided by a grant from the Arkansas Department of Transportation, according to Dr. Robin Myers, ASUMH Chancellor. The 10-foot-wide asphalt and concrete trail, with marked bike lanes, is maintained by ASUMH. It features three resting areas with benches made from Arkansas natural stone and 50 newly planted trees. Future landscaping plans include the planting of an additional 200 trees. Now that the walking trail is completed, the disk golf course is being restored and will reopen soon. Dr. Myers said 40 acres, a third of the campus, is actively used primarily by the student body. The addition of the walking/biking trail, disk golf course and planned permanent amphitheater will bring more of the campus into active use and add a new dimension to ASUMH.

EXPANDED INTERESTS

Apex 2021: Hypnagogia ASUMH takes great pride in student learning and faculty involvement, so in 2015, the Apex Project was created. The APEX Project is designed to inspire ASUMH students to expand interest in a subject of inquiry beyond traditional classroom exposure. Over the course of the Apex Project, the student explores a topic, collaborates with a faculty mentor, conducts scholarly research and creates a product to showcase the learning experience. This year, Cassie Jankowski, pre-nursing major, mentored by Dr. Cynthia Crisel, Assistant Professor of Psychology, presented her Apex Project titled “Hypnagogia: From Disorder to Discovery, an Exploration of Altered Consciousness.” Reflecting on the experience Cassie stated, “The Apex Project truly has been the apex of my education so far. I am grateful to the faculty and staff who supported me in my research. If you are passionate and you have a message to share — do it. Research is intimidating and hard work. Doing the Apex Project meant I had to face some of my biggest fears of failure and public speaking, but it also has been one of the best growth experiences I’ve had.”

NEW VENUE

ASUMH adding outdoor amphitheater to campus An outdoor amphitheater suitable for large outdoor events is being built on the campus of Arkansas State University in the area bordered by the Sheid Bypass and College Street. Donations from Bob and Mary Walker and Kenny and Laura Newth are providing funds for the amphitheater, which includes a permanent stage and lawn seating. The permanent stage, designed by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects with Arup, a multinational engineering and design firm, will include lighting and video technology. Dr. Robin Myers, Chancellor of ASUMH said the facility is expected to be completed in time for Mountain Home’s annual Red White & Blue Festival. It will also be available for other annual events including Bridge Bash, the fundraising event of the Food Bank of North Central Arkansas, the Veterans Appreciation Picnic, other community events, concerts and plays. “We’re excited to see these facilities like the amphitheater, walking/ biking trail and disc golf course added to the campus. We welcome the community to share them with the college.”

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A $2.28 million U.S. Department a transfer to another institution of of Education grant received by higher learning. ASU-Mountain Home is being “COVID added a new dimension used to increase academic acces- to teaching, requiring flexibility sibility, one of the four tenets of and innovation on the part of facthe ASUMH Mission Statement, ulty to keep students engaged and according to Dr. Tamara Daniel, able to continue their education. Provost/Vice Chancellor for The instructional designer works Academic Affairs. with faculty members to add or “We are using the grant to add increase virtual learning content to two full-time and three part-time their curriculum.” positions aimed at encouraging To ensure new students achieve student success and increasing the success at ASUMH, the onboarding university’s virtual learning capa- specialist assists prospective stubilities,” said Daniel. “Our goal is dents from initial application to the to provide whatever is necessary to time they begin attending classes. enable students to attend ASUMH A portion of the funds is being and eliminate obstacles to their used to purchase “Starfish,” a stuacademic success.” dent success platform used by colA student success coach and a leges and universities to provide virtual learning director are the programs and services to assist two full-time positions. students in achieving their acaThe success coach is a “wrap- demic and career goals. around support” position workFunds from the grant are also ing with students. This position being used for faculty and staff also serves as director for the development, according to Daniel. U.S. Department of Education’s The grant from the U.S. DepartStrengthening Institutions Program ment of Education’s Strengthen(SIP) grant funds received by ing Institutions Program (SIP) is ASUMH, overseeing activities, aimed at helping institutions, pridocumenting progress, ensuring marily small community colleges, requirements and compliance with improve and strengthen academic the terms of the grant are met. quality, institutional management The virtual learning director and fiscal stability. Under the works with the faculty to pro- terms of the grant, ASUMH will vide online offerings that com- receive about $455,000 a year for bine in-class instruction and the next five years and may reapremote learning and other digital ply for additional grant funds. ■ materials. Three part-time positions from the grant include a career/transfer The mission of ASU-Mountain advisor, an instructional Home is to L.E.A.D. through designer and an onboardeducational opportunities: ing specialist. L ifelong Learning The career/transfer advisor assists students in the E nhanced Quality of Life development of an acaA cademic Accessibility demic plan to achieve their D iverse Experiences career goals. They also assist those students considering

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THE BEST From faculty and staff to a vast network of students and alumni, it takes commitment and skill to help make this institution what it is. Every year, ASUMH salutes those who’ve gone above and beyond to keep the campus running, the quality of instruction high and to use what they have learned to benefit the community. We are pleased to introduce and congratulate this year’s honorees.

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The first thing Melanie Hodges will tell you about herself is that she is one of the most attention-shy and “least interesting” people you will ever meet. But that would be news to her students, who know her as an engaged and dynamic educator who is there to help them learn by almost any means necessary. “I will do the most ridiculous things to get it across to them, and I don’t even kind of care. I have no shame whatsoever,” she said with a laugh. “I tell my students all the time, ‘If you need me to rap about how to solve an equation, I will. It doesn’t matter to me, let’s do some fraction rap.’” Hodges, a MHHS graduate, comes by her creative communication and lack of self-consciousness in the classroom naturally. Not only has she wanted to be a teacher since fourth grade, she’s also the mother of seven, so modesty and shyness of expression went out the window long ago. “I’m just here for them,” she said. “I just feel so good whenever they realize they can do it and then they do it.” Hodges, who was named ASUMountain Home’s Faculty of the Year, finds inspiration in the types of students she sees in the developmental education program where she helps students catch up in subject matter to the collegiate level. “I get the people who’ve been told their entire lives they can’t do it, they can’t make it, they’re not smart enough, they just

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

better go straight to the workforce and forget about their dreams,” she said. “It’s a lot of encouragement and trying to teach to their learning styles. One of my main goals is to figure out how their brains tick, so I can deliver information to them in the way that their brain inputs it. That way, I’m not just spewing stuff at them that they have no idea what I’m talking about.” Her tactics work wonders for students who are committed to meeting her halfway, and Hodges has many satisfying success stories to prove it. “I had a former student who saw me in Walmart over the summer and said, ‘Hey, guess what? I got through your writing class and with all the things you taught me, I went on to get my bachelor’s in technical writing. Now I do some technical writing for lawyers. I get it now! This is what I do, and I found out that I just love it!’” Born in California and raised in Arizona, Hodges graduated from ASU-Mountain Home and earned her graduate degree through ASU in Jonesboro in 2008. She’s spent her whole career at ASUMH where in addition to the remedial classes, she’s also in charge of freshman orientation, first-year experience and student success. She said enthusiasm is one secret ingredient to her teaching across all of these student groups — the kind of energy that comes from someone doing exactly what they were meant to do in life.

“I’m a people person, I relate to people and figure out what makes them tick in order to help them. I’ve always just wanted to help,” she said. “I was one of those students who never changed her major, never changed her mind. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and that is all I’ve ever really wanted to do.” Of course, teaching can take many forms, and Hodges has at times thought about other opportunities and other classrooms. But something about seeing the light come on for adults over a given subject keeps her engaged and fulfilled at the collegiate level. “Math is my favorite thing to teach, absolutely my favorite thing to teach,” she said. “I have a lot of math students who will tell me, ‘I have struggled with math my entire life, never understood it, I never got it.’ Then they’ll email me while they’re in college algebra, ‘Guess what?! I just aced a test!’ or ‘I just finished college algebra with an A or a B!’ and I just get so excited for them. “Not every student goes through and graduates, but that’s true for students who come in college-ready too. The ones who are really here to try and work really hard, they just amaze me. And it keeps me here. Every year, every semester, I’ve thought maybe I want to go back to kids. Then I’m like no, this is incredible. It’s an incredible place to work.”

PHOTO BY JAMES MOORE

B E S T O F THE B ES T

M EL AN IE H O DG ES F A C U L TY OF T HE YEAR

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

PHOTO BY JASON MASTERS

B ES T O F THE B E S T

J EREMY OAK ES STAFF MEMB E R OF THE YEAR

the

Jeremy Oakes has one of those behind-the-scenes jobs that you don’t really value until you can’t log onto the internet, or the email doesn’t work or your printer starts spewing gibberish. Then, when any or all of these happen, he’s the first number you call and the most important person on the ASU-Mountain Home campus. And now, he’s got the title to prove it as the university recently named him Staff Member of the Year. “Computers don’t seem consistent in the way they work a lot of times,” said the computer support technician who has worked for ASUMH full time for two years. “It’s like they work fine one day, and then you go to do something, and it’s not working. It was working a second ago, why isn’t it working now? “Diagnosing a lot of those problems is just a lot of figuring things out. The printer doesn’t work, got to figure it out. Computer’s not working, figure it out. It’s almost kind of like detective work.” Oakes’ job is the perfect metaphor for his life — figuring things out. Raised by an abusive mother, he was emotionally battered and dropped out of high school. “I wasn’t really taught any kind of selfcare or to better myself through education or anything like that,” he said. “It was just kind of normal to me, and I didn’t get away from that until about five years ago. I was 39, and I’m 43 now.”

Along the way, Oakes discovered computers, something he immediately related to and understood in a way that eluded him around other people. “I’m autistic, and all the time growing up, it was so much easier for me to talk to computers than it was for me to talk to people,” he said. “I just kind of always innately understood computers — how they worked kind of made sense to me on a functional level.” When Oakes left his abusive environment in 2017, he connected with Arkansas Workforce, which provided assistance for him to return to school. His case manager noticed his aptitude with computers and suggested he get into a temporary employment program offered through the university. To say it was a big step is an understatement of mammoth proportions. “Before I started here, I was nothing on paper,” he said. “The first time I ever stepped foot on campus and my case manager was showing me around, I felt like I was trespassing. Like any second, somebody was going to tell me, ‘Hey, you’re not good enough to be here. Leave.’” Since that day, however, progress has been made steadily. The temporary job turned into a part-time gig and that into a full-time position. At the same time, he enrolled in classes and recently earned a degree in programming and mobile development with a 4.0 grade

point average. He was also awarded an Academic Achievement Award for his degree plan to boot. Still, the scar tissue of his past is often a hard thing to overcome. “It’s been a challenge for me personally just because of the way I was brought up. I’m still trying to convince myself that I am skilled sometimes,” he said. “I’m still trying to get past my own imposter syndrome, you know? “It’s like, when every day ends where I’ve shown up, I’ve worked the day, problems have come up and I’ve handled the problems, but I’ve still got to remind myself at the end of every day: ‘If you weren’t capable of this, you wouldn’t be ending a day with all these things done.’” Even as that self-work continues, Oakes allows himself to feel the pride that comes with his recent accolades — not just for who is today, but who he continues to march toward becoming. “This staff award is validation. That’s one of the important things to me, because I never got it growing up,” he said. “I feel like I chase validation as a lifelong thing, and that was probably the biggest moment of validation of my life, to know that the things I do mean something to other people. “Just to have that — that’s not necessarily the reason for my work, but it really makes me feel good. I was really happy about it. It meant a lot to me.” SPRING 2022 | THE KEYSTONE |

SECOND ACT

To see Mark Bertel now is to see a successful entrepreneur with multiple businesses and real estate developments under his belt. But to have known ASU-Mountain Home’s Alumni of the Year right after high school was to know someone completely different, someone he himself scarcely recognizes. “To be totally honest with you, my first couple years of college I goofed off,” he said. “I was quite the ruffian, man, I’m not going to lie. I liked to have a good time too much.” After two years of looking for one party after another — usually finding it — Bertel awoke to a cold, hard fact of life. His father had committed to paying for school for 24 months, and beyond that, he was on his own. Things had suddenly become a lot more interesting. “When I went back to finish my degree, I had to work to pay my tuition and all that,” he said. “I’m going to be totally blunt with you: It taught me how to be poor, man. It really did. It taught me how to see things from a standpoint where I wasn’t so entitled and where it became my choice to drive myself to be better. “I was working at Home Depot through a program for handyman services where I would get dispatched to odd jobs each day. In the evening, I played music in a band and worked at a few food places.” In the middle of all of that, Bertel

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

launched his first business, Mark Bertel Jr. Construction, where he took vintage trailers and transformed them into mobile bars, coffee shops and other rolling retail establishments. It was an idea just crazy enough to work, although no one could have predicted how well or how fast. “We did one, and we posted pictures of it on Pinterest,” he said. “The next day, my business pretty much went from one trailer to doing 10 or 12 a year. We’d build them here and sell them to customers in California, Florida, Michigan, New York, all over the place.” From there, Bertel got into real estate development. He bought and converted an old motel in Mountain Home into studio apartments called The Dels and followed that with a restaurant, Rio Burrito. His latest project is buying another motel in West Plains, Missouri, and converting it to studio apartments. Along the way, he earned his long-awaited associate’s degree in business administration from ASU-Mountain Home in 2017. “I was going to school, really, to prove to myself that I could do it,” he said. “I love my grandpa and dad, but I’d be the first guy in our immediate bloodline to get a college degree, and that was really important to my family. I did it for myself. “I think college is great because there are some things you learn that you never use in

life, but you prove to yourself that you can learn and you can push your mind to its boundaries and overcome anything. That’s what it was for me. It humbled me. It made me realize to never take an opportunity for granted, because my dad and mom had set me up to really succeed, and I screwed it up. Second time around, I had to buckle my bootstraps and go after it myself.” During the course of his education, Bertel developed an empathy for people who came from difficult circumstances and were finding ways to improve their lot in life. It focused his business perspective to create as many opportunities for people as possible, and from his core team of Carly Estrada, operations manager; Gage McIntosh, chief development officer; and Kelsey Bertel, his wife, he’s created 23 jobs and counting. “I’m very pro-employee, so everybody who works for me is a big part of my company. Without them, I couldn’t do what I do, and I know better than to think that I could,” he said. “Every night when I’m lying in bed going through my day, what I’ve got to do the next day, I’m constantly blown away. I can’t even believe a hillbilly like me has an opportunity to help people out. “My whole philosophy is I am a product of a second chance. That is who I am, 100 percent, and if I can help people achieve their second chance, that’s where I’ll die happy.”

B E S T O F THE B ES T

PHOTO BY JASON MASTERS

MARK B ERT EL A L U MN I O F T HE YEAR

SPRING 2022 | THE KEYSTONE |

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

PHOTO BY JAMES MOORE

B ES T O F THE B E S T

KATHE RI NE N E W MAN ACAD E MIC ALL- S TA R

Katherine Newman has always loved learning, so much so that she’s excelled in many different academic settings. Home-schooled since she was a youngster, she also attended public and private high school. And now in college, she’s ASU-Mountain Home’s 2021 Academic All-Star. All of which the second-semester student from Salem, Arkansas, takes in stride. “I felt uniquely prepared for college,” she said. “As a home-school student, my parents had always, once I got out of elementary school and went into high school, started to allow me to teach myself. I was given my curriculum, and I did the work. If I had questions, I would ask. “I feel like that was a lot like the setting I’m in now, the same type of things where we have this lecture, but then you go home and do the work on your own. I think being home-schooled prepared me more for college than if I would have been in public school my entire life.” The strategy has proven apt for Newman who, in her third semester of the associate of arts program, has attained a 4.0 grade point average. She also listed the university’s location and cost structure as elements that fit what she was looking for. “The first thing is, ASU-Mountain Home is a fraction of the cost, and it’s also close to home,” she said. “Since I had been home-schooled my entire life, I wanted

something that was an easy and comfortable transition, and Mountain Home is only 45 minutes from home. It’s an easy drive, and I can stay close with my family and my parents if I need anything. “Plus, I’ve known some other students who went here, and they loved it. The campus is beautiful, it’s comfortable and that’s why I decided to start here.” After earning her associate degree, Newman plans to attend the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where she will complete work on a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. “What actually got me started wanting to be an engineer is my brother is a mechanic. I spent a lot of time with him, and we built lots of things,” she said. “We made a bass boat, we built different addons for our ATVs, just all kinds of stuff. I have been doing that since I was 11, and since I have a love for math, it just really got me hooked on the idea of engineering.” For someone with such a clear picture of her future direction, Newman also holds a surprisingly diverse set of interests. She’s involved with her 4-H horse club and also served as a volunteer choreographer for musicals put on by the Mountain Home Christian Academy and the Homestyle Christian Educators. “I’ve always been a creative person,” she said. “I grew up taking dance lessons, so I was always around that, and I grew up in church, so I have been drawn to music.

When I exercise all these things, they all present me with learning opportunities.” Newman has served in a variety of community service roles, something she’s continued on campus through New Hope. She said being well-rounded is practically as important as the academic side of any field of study. “Anything that’s going to help expand my knowledge, I’m going to take it. Community service does that for you,” she said. “Community service can expand your knowledge because you can meet all different types of people with all different backgrounds who tell you what their life is like. That is expanding knowledge.” Moving forward, Newman said she wants to be a student of the world and not just tops in her class. She said traveling and experiencing people from other cultures is essential to understanding the human condition and, therefore, improving it. “A lot of people say engineers don’t have common sense; they just know all the mathematical parts. I don’t want to be that engineer,” she said. “I want to be the engineer who can do the mathematical side but also have common sense to see, OK, this will work because of my experience. I learn more going out into the community and seeing all of these different aspects of life rather reading about it in a book. That, I feel, is more educational than having to hear it from somebody else.” ■ SPRING 2022 | THE KEYSTONE |

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| CAMPUS CLUBS

NEW HOPE supports community on-campus and off

Top: Students of New Hope, a campus community service club, with their advisor Sheila Priest. Above: Members of the campus community service club New Hope setting up for a bake sale in the Gaston’s Lobby. All donations went to help buy Thanksgiving meals for local children.

As an advisor to New Hope, a campus community service club, Sheila Priest wants students to understand the needs that exist in the community, especially when those in need are seated right next to you in class. Food insecurity among college students is often a hard target to ascertain, but given the heavy nontraditional populations at most two-year schools, general population statistics are a good place to start. So when Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families reports 1 in 5 Arkansans don’t know where their next meal is coming from, it gives a hint as to how many ASU-Mountain Home students go hungry regularly. Recognizing this, New Hope addressed the issue on campus to go along with its other community service work. “We see students on campus who need food,” said Priest, a sociology professor. “We decided to start our own food pantry on campus, and now the university has taken that over to help students get the food that they need and be discreet about it. They don’t have to alert anybody; they

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

can just go and get what they need.” New Hope members also tackle hunger issues in the wider local population by raising money to buy turkeys and other holiday meal staples at Thanksgiving. Last year, that amounted to around 30 dinners, distributed through a local middle school. Cassie Jankowski, a pre-nursing student from Flippin, said helping people directly is one thing that attracted her to join the group in 2020. “I really like our mission of giving hope to those in need because there are so many in need now with the aftermath of COVID,” she said. “In the honors group on campus, we’re always learning about leadership and how to use our leadership to better help the community. New Hope gives us a tangible way that we can make a community better and a way that we can help other students. “I think it’s been a really good example for all of us on what our community needs and how we can actually use the skills that

we’ve been learning in class to reach out to other people.” Priest said club members share the same general community mindedness and a desire to help others. “The core group of students who participate are civic-minded,” she said. “They want help those in need. Some may have about as much as the people we’re helping, so for them to help others when they themselves are in need is a blessing.” For many club members, volunteering with New Hope is an eye-opener to what issues exist both on campus and off. “Joining New Hope is one of the most educational things I have done since I have been on campus,” said Katherine Newman, a second-year student from Salem. “I have been able to meet some of the families that we have helped firsthand and see what it’s like in their life and what it’s like in the community. I got to learn about things that I didn’t know about and the people that need help. That was really neat for me.” ■

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES MOORE

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| ALUMNI HIGHLIGHT

A compassionate

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ASUMH offers an Associate of Applied Science in Funeral Science degree that gives students realworld experience in the profession and innovative learning tools to help them succeed. by AMY GORDY through the program, Kiley started to feel the vet path wasn’t a good fit for him. He shifted to a business major and took an aptitude test, which gave him some surprising results. “My top result was funeral director and embalmer. I was not expecting that. I was blown away. It was not even on my radar — never even something I had thought much about,” he said.

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You enjoy helping others Anatomy and related sciences interest you Community involvement is appealing You want to work in a business environment Makeup and other restorative work interest you

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You can handle flexible work hours Guiding families on the worst days of their lives sounds like an honorable calling You can show discretion Compassion comes naturally to you You are organized and attentive to details

Hands-on Experience:

Candidates are required to have 20 hours of job shadowing in the funeral service industry before starting the program. Arkansas requires you to assist with 50 funerals and 50 embalmings in fulfilling apprenticeship requirements.

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A funeral director oversees and coordinates all aspects of funeral services, including body preparation, visitation, services, burials and cremations, while providing compassionate support to family and friends of the deceased.

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Kiley kept an open mind and decided to drop into a funeral home nearby in Branson to ask the director a few questions. “I got up to thank him afterward and leave, and he said, ‘Do you want to start tomorrow? You need to work here a little before you decide if that’s what you want to do.’” Kiley accepted the job and worked part time for two years while finishing his business degree. Kiley said soon into the experience, he

The ASUMH funeral science program is currently a candidate for American Board of Funeral Service Education accreditation. For more information, visit funeralscience.com.

Innovation in the Program:

In 2015, the department added two synthetic cadavers, or SynDavers, to its program funded by a U.S. Department of Labor grant, Path to Accelerated Completion and Employment. A SynDaver is a synthetic replica of a human body that includes the bones, skin, muscles and circulatory system with all major arteries and veins. ASUMH was the first funeral science program in the country to use SynDavers as an educational tool. The idea came to funeral science program director Matt Buel while watching the television program “MythBusters.” He saw the synthetic cadavers on the show and wrote up a proposal which was eventually approved for the grant. “We also bought a funeral coach to transport our SynDavers. Previously, SynDavers were only used for medical schools. They have skin, bones, muscles and a circulatory system. We can actually embalm them. We go through all the motions with the students on them. We were the first mortuary school to have a SynDaver. It’s super innovative,” he said. CAUTION: Students applying for admission to the funeral service program Arkansas State University Mountain Home should contact their respective state licensing agency regarding that state agency’s approval of this particular program of instruction.

PHOTO BY JAMES MOORE

Tom Kiley, manager of Kirby and Family Funeral and Cremation Services in Mountain Home, earned his associate degree in funeral science at Arkansas State University Mountain Home in 2010. The Wisconsin native began his career path by earning prerequisites at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri, where he intended to pursue a degree in animal science to become a veterinarian. Halfway

felt this new career path was his calling. “It just felt right. In my heart, I felt like this is a place I can be. I can do this. I can see myself helping people when they need it the most. I really feel like that’s the side of what I do that keeps me going every day. Knowing you are helping someone get through the most terrible time of their lives and helping them heal and start grieving in a healthy way.” With two years of hands-on experience under his belt, Kiley excelled in his courses at ASUMH. He did an apprenticeship at Kirby and Family Funeral and Cremation Services concurrently while taking courses for the funeral science degree. “For me, it worked out really well because what I was learning at school and what I was doing (at Kirby and Family) went hand in hand. I’ve had friends go through the (funeral science) program and say, ‘I didn’t know that’s what it was going to be like.’ It wasn’t like that for me. I had a leg-up when it came to sitting in a classroom. I knew what they were talking about when they talked about how to line up a funeral procession or completing legal documents you’ve never heard of before — I knew because I was already working with those documents.” After graduation, Kiley passed his board exam and became a licensed funeral director and embalmer. He has stayed on at Kirby and Family where he’s worked his way up to manager. He still works closely with the faculty and students in the funeral science department at ASUMH. He describes a great partnership between the school and local funeral homes that take on apprentices from the program and travel to campus to participate in a week-long “boot camp” to give students practice at real-life scenarios. “The (ASUMH) program is smaller when you compare it to programs in Cincinnati, Chicago or Dallas, but I think that’s a good thing. Your advisor and instructors are more available. It also creates a bond with other students. When I was a student, there were 12 in my class — only 30 are accepted each year — and I still call on those people I was in school with. We came from all over the country, and I can call those students and ask for a favor or advice. I would say the small-town atmosphere created a bond that’s lasted, and that’s a huge benefit I feel.” ■

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| GIVING BACK

WHERE THERE’S A WILL,

THERE’S A WAY

To discuss ways to give to ASU-Mountain Home, or to get more information on how to include the university in your estate planning, contact Mollie Morgan, ASUMH Development Officer at mmorgan@asumh.edu.

Chancellor: Philanthropy takes many forms by DWAIN HEBDA

Arkansas State University-Mountain Home Chancellor Robin Myers smiles when discussing the school’s many generous donors. After all, when it comes to providing a world-class education at a small-town price, donors are as critical as tenured faculty or skilled staff. “What I see with every single donor is a willingness to share the great gifts that they’ve been given with others,” he said. “Every donor is vital to us. We always have needs in every area, and we try to focus gifts in a direction that provides the donor with some fulfillment to know their money is being used to support the things that they want supported.” Myers said for as diverse as the school’s needs are, the methods for giving to the university are equally varied. Especially when it comes to estate planning, many people are often not aware of the many ways to remember the school after they are gone, such as through a charitable trust, charitable gift annuity, life insurance beneficiary designation and more. “All of those avenues are out there and regularly used,” he said. “We can even assist people with getting the proper legal and accounting direction they need to pursue those avenues. “For our part, we work with each donor individually to help determine what direction they desire the funds to be directed. There are so many different avenues — some want to support students with scholarships and book money, others want to support facilities and programs or to make endowments or onetime gifts. Or perhaps they want to support the campus infrastructure or campus beautification, all of which are vital to us.” Myers said few communities understand the challenges of creating an outstanding two-year school as well as Mountain Home, as evidenced by the robust and far-reaching support of the university and its mission. And, he said, there’s always room for more. “Mountain Home stands out as a very generous, very caring and loving community,” he said. “Not just the community, but this whole region, in fact. People here have a willingness and desire to see everyone have a better life and enjoy the fruits and bounty that’s out there. In order to do that, they’re willing to share what they have and provide for greater resources.

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

“

We are very appreciative of the support we’ve received in the past and look forward to continuing to receive that kind of support for our institution and our students as we move forward. — Chancellor Robin Myers

Left to right: Steve Blumreich, Jim and Jackie Neff and Chancellor Robin Myers.

» JIM & JACKIE NEFF

Asked why he and his wife decided to support Arkansas State University-Mountain Home about four years ago, Jim Neff chuckled. “I remember apologizing to Dr. (Robin) Myers that I’d sat on my duff so long and didn’t support the university sooner,” he said with a laugh. “Both my wife and I retired here around 25 years ago, so we’re not newcomers. We saw that university go up. ASU-Mountain Home is one of the crown jewels of our community, along with the hospital and the library.” The Neffs arrived at Mountain Home from Texas, where Jim had a long career with Mobil Oil. Jim said the couple was particularly impressed with the school’s tech center and its efforts to produce the skilled workers of tomorrow. But they’ve been equally generous to the Coulter Performing Arts Center at The Sheid as well as helping to bolster scholarship monies. “I’ve always told Dr. Myers and Mollie Morgan now that I’d hate to see a student not be able to go to school or finish school because

» STEVE BLUMREICH

Steve Blumreich spent the majority of his CPA career in mergers and acquisitions, so he knows how to assess value. And on that measurement, he considers contributing to ASU-Mountain Home to be one of the soundest investments a person can make in people and the community. “I believe in paying it forward,” he said. “I think for everyone who can to pay it forward in some way, shape or form, they have a responsibility to do so. The only reason I was able to accomplish what I did in life was through education and the help of many other people. That same education and opportunity exists today, and helping others to attain it benefits us all.” Blumreich has invested in the university’s business department, both financially to provide scholarship money and through his time and expertise. But he’s equally interested in the school’s technical programs, which are training the skilled labor that is so vital to any community. “Classes like the sciences and teaching and

of lack of money,” he said. “Something that really sticks in my mind that goes back 30 years, maybe longer, the United Negro College Fund used to have an ad campaign and the theme was ‘A mind is a terrible thing to waste.’ That statement, I think about that all the time. “I just think the best investment someone can make in themselves is education, and the best investment that somebody in our community can make is in the furthering of education of our young people.” Jim said ASU-Mountain Home’s development office is extremely helpful in identifying needs and helping donors do the most good with their money. He considers this philanthropy as a way to improve not only individual students, but society as a whole. “I believe very strongly in education, but I don’t necessarily think every student has to go to a four-year college to make their mark in life,” he said. “I think ASU-Mountain Home has outstanding programs that support this belief, and I feel like I have an obligation to support that. Plus, it’s also kind of fun.”

the nursing program are certainly important, but so are the trade programs,” he said. “Welding, electrical, plumbing are the kinds of expertise that we need to have more of. Those individuals really contribute to the community while providing themselves with a wonderful livelihood opportunity.” For people considering philanthropy to the school, Blumreich recommends gaining an up-close appreciation for the work of the university by volunteering their time and expertise. Once someone sees firsthand the good their contribution can do, they’ll find myriad ways to invest back into the program. “I agree with the endowment focus and estate planning focus for contributing,” he said. “One of the avenues that has been put in place maybe in the last 10 years or so is direct giving through IRAs when individuals like myself reach 72 ½ and have to take required minimum distributions. Some of that money, or all of it, can be given directly to 501(c)(3) organizations. That’s a wonderful vehicle for some people to use.” ■ SPRING 2022 | THE KEYSTONE |

Seated at the table are Kinsey Taylor and Noah Daughtery, with Elsie Clark (left) and Shayna Andrews (right) reading on the couches.

| COMMUNITY RENEWAL

Student Center

improvements enhance experience When Elsie Clark of Mountain Home began her general studies at ASUMountain Home, there were places she scoped out on campus to meet with classmates for study or discussion. But the Hurd Student Center wasn’t one of them. “When I started at ASUMH, it looked like a cafeteria, and no one really hung out in there,” she said. “It wasn’t the cool study center to hang out in.” Many of Clark’s peers felt the same way about the 21-year-old structure, which meant the space was sorely underutilized. Administrators recently set out to do something about that, and with COVID shutting down the campus, they saw a prime opportunity to make some overdue changes. “Our students didn’t really have anywhere comfortable to hang out with friends or play games or work on their homework,” said Stephanie Beaver, admissions coordinator and Student Government Association sponsor. “There’s obviously the library, which is a great resource, but if the study rooms there were taken, students didn’t really have anywhere they could go.

| THE KEYSTONE | SPRING 2022

“We really needed a comfortable space that could be utilized for a multitude of things. Chancellor (Robin) Myers approached me and asked me to put together a committee to redesign the student center space into something students would want to utilize.” The committee represented a cross-section of student life, including Beaver, Mollie Morgan, Jennifer Harris, Jeremy Oakes, Theressa Walker and Zoë Dunn. Their work yielded $25,000 in improvements to the 2,250-square-foot Hurd Student Center, including new furniture, redesigned tables, games, flooring updates and new equipment. The food service area was also given a facelift, as well as a new name, the OwlCove. Beaver said in addition to enhanced, comfortable gathering spaces for current students, the new Hurd Student Center is also a magnet for prospective students looking for a quality collegiate experience. “We have done a great job in the last few years of renovating several spaces on campus to make them more inviting,” she said. “But this space, in particular, is at

by DWAIN HEBDA

the focal point of our campus. It has really brought more student life back to campus. For instance, the Student Government Association is putting on a pingpong tournament in our guest and lobby area right outside the student center, and that’s not something that could have been done previously. So not only is it a great place to hang out, but it’s really spawning student life from the space.” Clark, who is Vice President of the Student Government Association, is impressed with the improvements and complimented the committee for its hard work and vision. “I think it definitely is a better surrounding with the couches in there and all those things just making it more comfortable and homey,” she said. “Sometimes, if the core buildings or environment have more of an older feeling to them, students just aren’t going to connect with it as well. They’re not going to want to be around it. “I think the work that’s been done to try to make the Hurd Student Center more modern and cozier helps the students feel more at home.” ■

1600 South College St. Mountain Home, AR 72653

A CAREER THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE…

What If Your Was ASUMH EMTCollege AND PARAMEDIC CLASSES

PAID FOR?

PUT YOU IN A CAREER THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE RIGHT AWAY! “I chose ASUMH because I wanted to move to Arkansas and live in Mountain Home. ASUMH had an EMT program where I could quickly get my foot in the door at Baxter Regional. I began the EMT program in August of 2020. With the encouragement of my instructor, Doug Wintle and staff at the hospital I went ahead and continued into the paramedic program. I’m learning that as a paramedic you can work in the ER, have a career in the fire department, or work for a clinic. I didn’t realize that paramedics could be so diverse or

“ASUMH was my first choice for college because every

that you could do so many things.”

- Allyson Meadows, Paramedic student

staff member was excited to get me signed up and ready. They were dedicated to finding any available

“I chose ASUMH because I have never heard anything but good things

scholarships to save me as much as possible.

about the college. I had been a welder, fabricator and pipe fitter for

They make it feel like a second home. It was super

15 years and I wanted a change. I wanted to do something that I could

easy to get signed up and ready! I can’t wait to start

make a difference with, go farther with, and start a whole new career. I went

my quality education at ASUMH! #AweSUMH”

through the summer EMT program, got hired at BRMC and I’m already looking

- LAUREN GOEKE

at starting pre-requisites as early as spring for Paramedic. I want to continue working at the hospital, gain experience and move further in my education.”

- Jesse Graves, EMT graduate Pictured at left are recent graduates Lauren Goeke and Hailey Cordell

from Cotter High School. They will be starting classes at ASUMH this fall and their

college is paid for! ICONS

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1600 South College Street | Mountain Home, AR 72653