College of Social Sciences and Communication
Director of the University Writing Center and Senior Instructor of Rhetoric and Writing
Dr. Allison Holland is the Director of the University Writing Center (UWC) and senior instructor of Rhetoric and Writing. Dr. Holland is well known regionally and nationally for her work with university writing centers and has used her expertise to benefit UA Little Rock students and surrounding community.
Holland joined UA Little Rock in 1985 as an Instructor in the Department of English and became co-director of the University Writing Center five years later. She has served as the director of the University Writing Center since 1997. Through her work with the UWC, Holland is able to instill public service into the students she teaches. The UWC is one of about five writing centers in the country staffed by student interns who receive course credit for their work at the center. Holland interviews and recruits students who then enroll and pay for a college class to work in the UWC. Holland has fostered a sense of community at the center and many of Holland’s students return to volunteer at the UWC. Each year the the UWC extends over 7,000 hours of service by providing tutoring and writing assistance to students, faculty, staff, and community members. The UWC also plays an important role in the designing curriculum for the Donaldson Summer Bridge program, a three-week residential academy that prepares incoming freshman for college-level coursework. Holland has also used the UWC to serve our community.
Holland and the UWC have provided community service to several local organizations such as Wilson Elementary School, the Rotary Club of Little Rock, the Little Rock Police Department, the Little Rock Fire Department, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Veterans Oral History Project. Holland has also volunteered and given back to the community during her time at UA Little Rock. Holland is currently the state historian for the Grand Prairie chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She and her student interns helped to digitally index over 50 years worth of the chapter’s scrapbooks making them accessible to future generations. She also coordinated with the chapter and the UWC to collect 250,000 coupons for active military personnel overseas to help reduce their cost of living.
Holland received an Ed.D. from UA Little Rock, a master’s degree and M.Ed. from Louisiana State University, and a bachelor’s degree from Arkansas State University.