Meet our Staff
The Office of Admissions and Financial Aid staff is here to help you! We have several different positions within our office that provide a variety of services for you, the student. Please get acquainted with our staff and the things that they do to serve you.
Tammy Harrison – Director of Admissions and Financial Aid
Tammy manages the office with a focus on providing access to higher education for our students with quality customer service.
Karen Hulsey – Associate Director of Financial Aid
Karen manages all financial aid processes in addition to supervising the training program for staff members in Admissions and Financial Aid. She is also the liaison with the Clinton School of Public Service. Karen also serves on the Admissions and Financial Aid management team.
Gail Siddell Johnson – Assistant Director of Financial Aid
Gail supervises the Financial Aid staff and oversees various aspects of the financial aid process such as scholarships (State, private, and institutional). Admissions and Financial Aid appeal committee in addition to her role as financial aid liaison to the Bowen School of Law. Gail also serves on the Admissions and Financial Aid management team.
Chelsea Bishop-Ward – Associate Director of Admissions
Chelsea oversees and manages all aspects of the Admission process. In her role as Associate Director she supervises all staff in the admissions area. She serves as the chair for the scholarship committee. She processes appeals for Arkansas Residency. She also serves as a liaison to the recruitment and retention committee. Chelsea also serves on the Admissions and Financial Aid management team
Nick Steele – Assistant Director of Admissions
Nick enforces our new admission standards and communicates with students who do not meet that criteria. He will also assist with live chat to provide better customer service for UALR’s students. He is the admissions liason to the athletic department. Nick also serves on the Admissions and Financial Aid management team.
John Barthol – Financial Aid Systems Manager
JB is the primary technical support person for Financial Aid. He oversees the Financial Aid systems. In addition to assisting Karen Hulsey in managing all financial aid processes he serves as the primary technician for loan processing. JB (along with Linda Czirr) manages all Admissions and Financial Aid web sites. JB also serves on the Admissions and Financial Aid management team
Linda Czirr – Admissions Systems Manager
Linda is the primary technical support person for Admissions. She oversees the Admissions systems and coordinates the running of all Admission processes and correspondence. Linda (along with John Barthol) manages all Admissions and Financial Aid web sites. Linda also serves on the Admissions and Financial Aid management team.
Cynthia Dedner – Administrative Coordinator
Cynthia oversees all administrative functions in Admissions and Financial Aid. S/he works with Tammy to manage the daily operations. She is also in charge of several special projects.
Curlee Robinson - Veterans’ Administration Coordinator
Curlee serves as UALR’s primary Veterans’ Administration coordinator. He oversees all aspects of a veterans entry into higher education and helps these men and women determine and manage their VA benefits as eligible veterans. He coordinates all aspects of managing and reporting of the VA programs.
Aid Advisors
…serve in various roles in the Admissions and Financial Aid office. These professional staff members serve as the chief processors for all Financial Aid functions. All Financial Aid Advisors are trained in many aspects of the financial aid process including, but not limited to, loan processing, aid awarding and aid verification
Students with questions or concerns that they are unable to resolve by looking on BOSS (http://boss.ualr.edu ) may meet with a financial aid advisor. It is not necessary to make an appointment in advance.
Students are not able to meet with an advisor to have verification completed. Financial aid advisors complete verification files in date-order. The exception will be students who have been asked to submit additional information after their file has been reviewed. These students will receive a letter that instructs them to make an appointment with their financial aid advisor.
Advisors :
Stephanie Conrad
Roderick Dunn
Mandy Morgan 
Steven Ward 
Melody Muldrow
Camille Guess-Mitchell
Tammy Varnell
Mechell Watson
Admissions Service Staff
Anita Berry – Customer Service Specialist
Anita serves as our front desk contact. She is here to provide excellent customer service to the UALR students. Whether your questions are regarding Admissions or Financial Aid, she will be able to direct you to the appropriate people.
Dustin Thomas – Customer Service Specialist
provides friendly customer service through technology. will be assisting with our new live chat as well as responding to emails from UALR students. also is our backup phone guy during busy times and assists with data entry.
Marlana Phillips-Lewis – Admissions Counselor
Marlana coordinates the admission application process and the record creation process. Marlana works with departments and students to troubleshoot any admission issues.
Margaret Pierson-Bates Admissions Counselor
Margaret works with all incoming academic credentials. She also processes and prepares student transfer records. She works with departments and students to troubleshoot any admission issues.
Jon Hamilton - Admissions Counselor
Jon works with all incoming academic credentials. Jon also processes and prepares student transfer records. He works with departments and students to troubleshoot any admission issues.
Jerry Rice – Administrative Specialist
Jerry coordinates all aspects of the Admissions correspondence system.
Robert Czirr – Document Imaging Specialist
Robert oversees all aspects of the document imaging system in Admissions and Financial Aid.
Telephone Operators
Answer all incoming calls for Admissions and Financial Aid. Maintains the telephone database for storing all telephone messages and problem resolutions.
Ronnie Kroepfl
Elizabeth Tatum