University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Two members of the Speech Communication faculty recently earned ATLE Teaching Fellows Medallions. Dr. Gerald Driskill, an Associate Professor in Speech Comm, and Ms. Cheryl Johnston, an instructor in Speech Comm, were each awarded the medallions for their commitment to growth in teaching.

The Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence (ATLE) is an organization designed to mentor faculty and to promote the restructuring of teaching models from teacher-centered to student-centered.  Teachers help fellow teachers to become more proficient in the classroom by sharing with one another on a variety of topics., eg., student learning, giving engaging presentations, and learning new tech tools to assist them in the classroom.

ATLE works on a points system.  Eligibility to earn the Distinguished Teaching Fellows Award Medallion requires each faculty member to accrue at least 100 points per year.  Opportunities to earn points consist of attending events, publishing articles in their newsletter, and presenting at a workshop, among other activities.

Dr. Driskill and Ms. Johnston attended several workshops offered over the Fall and Spring semesters.  In addition, Dr. Driskill wrote an article regarding student survival tips, presented at a workshop, and also participated in the Shadow and Share program, the ATLE faculty mentoring program.

The Teaching Academy, the ATLE newsletter, published Dr. Johnston’s teaching tip and one of her classroom activities as “Success Shorts.”  She particularly enjoyed hearing from other UALR faculty about their methods of classroom enhancments and also from the speakers brought in from outside the university.

Dr. Johnston summed it up this way: “It was such a rewarding opportunity and I would encourage anyone and everyone to join us next year.  I enjoyed meeting many people who I might not have had the chance to meet otherwise.”  

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In early November, members of the CPS School of Social Work Phi Alpha chapter attended the Council on Social Work Education annual conference, and walked away with a prize of $250.00.  The chapter took first place in the national competitive poster competition with an entry called “Giving our Best”, focused on striving for excellence in service and academia.

Dr. Miller and MSW student Sam Adkins receive the check

Second year MSW student Sam Adkins gave a 5 minute presentation to accompany the poster, and students highlighted the many service activities their chapter had been involved in over the past year, including Race for the Cure, Holiday Toy Drive at Boone Park Elementary, Lobby Day at the State Capital, and Homeless Outreach.

Dr. Miller and Sam Adkins with the winning poster

Impressively, this is the second time in only two months that Nu Delta have been honored by Phi Alpha – in October they received the Phi Alpha annual service award, accompanied by a check for $500.

The College of Professional Studies is excited to announce the publication of a new piece of research by one of our Mass Communications faculty.

Dr. Kwasi Boateng’s article, Radio in Accra: Communicating among Linguistically and Ethnically Diverse Audiences has been published in Intercultural Communication Studies, the journal of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS).

Dr. Boateng’s article examines a paradigm shift in local radio programming in Accra, Ghana. Private radio in Accra has been evolving, and stations have been using the Akan language to reach a wider population that includes Akans and non-Akans.

Dr Boateng argues that what has been happening in Accra has set a precedent, and local language use is spreading on private radio.  Consequently, a wide-reaching communication network has been created that has had a transformative, democratizing effect on Ghanaian communities, and has used the sharing of information to help empower local people.

Dr Boateng’s article appears in Vol. XXII, Issue no. 1 (2009) of Intercultural Communication Studies.

Mass Communication sophomore Kirsten Johnston is the sole recipient of an Arkansas Public Relations Society of America grant to attend the professional organization’s international conference next month in San Diego.

The annual conference attracts more than 2,000 public relations professionals from across the globe and another 1,000 students and advisors. The Arkansas chapter guides student PRSSA chapters (Public Relations Student Society of America) on five different campuses — UCA, ASU, Hardin, Arkansas Tech University and UALR and students from those universities compete annually for grants traditionally awarded to two students.

“The Arkansas PRSA Chapter is thrilled to award UALR student Kirsten Johnston with a scholarship to the upcoming International Conference in San Diego,” said Natalie Ghidotti, APR, president of the chapter. “In her essay, Kirsten outlined how she will use what she learns at the conference to help continue to grow the UALR PRSSA chapter after its recent ‘rebirth.’ We felt she was the clear choice to win the scholarship based on her obvious passion for public relations and dedication to helping her fellow PRSSA members continue to stay involved in the profession. We look forward to Kirsten’s continued leadership next year and encourage other students to become involved with their PRSSA chapters!”

Johnston is pursuing the Strategic Communications emphasis of the Mass Communications major and is the president-elect of the UALR PRSSA chapter.

The School of Social Work is delighted to announce that Iraq veteran George “Cliff” Hudson has joined the MSW program as a part-time student this fall.

Cliff was an Infantry Squad Leader in the United States Marine Corps in Ramadi, Iraq and since returning home has begun working with the Veteran’s Administration as a Research Assistant studying the physiological effects of time in combat. He wants to work with returning veterans and their families to assist in their transition home and in dealing with the issues that arise from time spent in combat and the effects of the adjustment of coming back to civilian life.

Cliff is also a successful singer / songwriter who has used his experiences in Iraq to reach out to other soldiers and their families with his music.  He has played venues and military bases throughout the east coast and all over the southeast.  Recently he played at Boot Fest, a benefit for the Arkansas Firefighters Memorial, a bronze sculpture destined for the state Capital grounds and at a concert for returning veterans at War Memorial Stadium.  You can find out more about Cliff and his music at his myspace page.
We are very proud of his dedication to the returning veterans and his pursuit of a MSW to help him be better prepared to assist them.

This week Phi Alpha, the national Social Work Honor Society, announced the recipient of its annual service award.  The college is proud to announce that the award was given to the CPS School of Social Work’s Nu Delta chapter.

Phi Alpha Service Program Coordinator Jane Maas-Brady commended the Nu Delta Chapter for its “outstanding leadership”, and its efforts to strengthen the bond between chapter members and the community.  Maas-Brady also praised the Chapter’s commitment to the academic success of social work students.  She summed up her comments by saying “you do a great job in promoting the profession of social work”.

The Service Award includes a check for $500, as well as national recognition in “The New Social Worker” magazine’s fall edition.  Professor John Miller, the chapter’s faculty sponsor, has also been offered the opportunity to discuss the development and success of the Nu Delta chapter at this year’s Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting.

Members of the CPS’ Master of Social Work Student Group will serve as volunteers at this year’s Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event on October 17th.  Participating students will brave an early morning start, beginning at 5:00 am and working until 11:00 am.  The student volunteers will spread out among the crowd, sharing information about breast cancer awareness and the importance of early detection.

Last year 20 students from the MSW program took part, but this year the figure has more than doubled, with a total of 50 community-minded students donating their time to assist in the fight against breast cancer.

Through a partnership with other public radio stations in Arkansas and border cities, KUAR is now offering listeners statewide news coverage. Previously, news coverage focused mainly on the central portion of the state due to staff limitations.

Contributors to this partnership include KUAR in Little Rock, KUAF in Fayetteville, KASU in Jonesboro, WKNO in Memphis, and KTXK in Texarkana, Texas. The stations are in contact daily and share their feature reports with one another.

“It’s a great way for KUAR listeners in central Arkansas to hear stories produced out of cities like Fayetteville or Jonesboro. And our news features are airing on their stations as well,” says KUAR General Manager Ben Fry.

“An excellent example of a time when our listeners were able to really benefit from this partnership was the day of the Tony Alamo verdict,” says KUAR Assignment Editor Kelly MacNeil. “We contacted KTXK in Texarkana and asked if they would be sending someone from their staff down to the courthouse. They ended up doing so, and KUAR listeners were able to hear the voices of the victims and attorneys that day. It really connected our listeners to the event.”

Some members of the news team had already witnessed the success that news collaborations can bring. News Director Ron Breeding worked at KARN, which partners with other stations to form the Arkansas Radio Network. Also, reporter Michael Hibblen recently came to KUAR after working at the National Public Radio affiliate WLRN in Miami, which was part of the Florida Radio Network.

Dr. Robert Ulmer, associate professor and chair of the UALR Department of Speech Communication presented a program on crisis communication at the July meeting of the Public Relations Society of America’s Arkansas chapter.

Ulmer spoke on July 17, 2009 PRSA meeting at the Little Rock Club. His talk will help participants re-conceptualize how they view crisis, address misconceptions about crisis communication and provide a framework for communicating more effectively.

A native of Canada who received his Ph.D in communication from Wayne State University in Detroit. Ulmer is co-author of four books on risk management adn crisis communication.

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