New students are not the only fresh faces on campus at UALR this fall.

Several faculty are also among the many new faces across campus, and they were welcomed during a recent Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence luncheon held Sept. 3 designed especially for them.

Using the topic “Seeing UALR through New Eyes: A Conversation with New Faculty,” ATLE co-director Joe Williams provided faculty several prompts to guide the discussion on issues, challenges, and highlights of the teaching profession.

Williams said he and the other co-directors chose the topic because it was important for new and veteran faculty to have a chance to hear one another’s perspectives on teaching and learning.

“It also seemed like a great way to support new faculty at the beginning of their time at UALR,” he said.

Assistant Professor Gregory Shufeldt, a new faculty member in the UALR Political Science Department, was among several participants who joined in the ATLE discussion on the heels of new faculty orientation.

He is teaching American National Government and Introduction to State and Local Government this fall.

“After being here for just a few weeks, it is clear (UALR) is committed to encouraging and fostering good teaching,” he said.

“I’m really looking forward to getting more involved on campus and in the community,” Shufeldt continued.

“There appears to be so many opportunities for students that they might not even know about them, so I’m hoping I can do my small part to get students more involved.”

UALR welcomes the following new faculty appointments for the 2014-15 academic year:

College of Arts, Letters, Sciences
Shearle Furnish, dean
Joli Livaudais, assistant professor, Department of Art
Ronia Kattoum, instructor, Department of Chemistry
Theresa Warner, assistant professor, Division of International and Second Language Studies (DISLS)
Edna Delgado Solorzano, visiting assistant professor, DISLS
Heather Sharfeddin, visiting assistant professor, Department of English
Frank Thurmond, visiting instructor, Department of English
Jeremy Lane, chair, Department of Music
Kyung-Eun Na, assistant professor, Department of Music
Annie Childers, instructor, Department of Mathematics
Miles Blanton, instructor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Allan Thomas, assistant professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Lawrence Smith, assistant professor, Department of Theatre Arts

College of Education and Health Professions
Naveen Nagaraz, assistant professor, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology
Mary Nevins, professor, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology
Kimberlee Crass, clinical assistant professor, Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology
Abigail Akande, assistant professor, Counseling, Adult, and Rehabilitation Education (CARE)
Jessica Hurley, assistant professor, CARE
Euchay Horsman, assistant professor, CARE
Christopher Mong, assistant professor, Department of Educational Leadership
Kendra Lowery, assistant professor, Department of Educational Leadership
Lori Lednick, assistant professor, Department of Nursing
Leigh Snead, assistant professor, Department of Nursing
Debbie Oltmans, assistant professor, Department of Nursing
Leslie Chesshir, visiting assistant professor, Department of Social Work
Nancy Streit, visiting assistant professor, Department of Social Work

Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology
LaShun Thomas, assistant professor, Department of Construction Management
Hollis (Hank) Bray, associate professor, Department of Construction Management
Dirk Reiners, associate professor, Department of Information Science
Carolina Cruz-Neira, professor, Department of Information Science, director, Emerging Analytics Center

College of Business
Joshua Kerr, instructor, Department of Accounting
Zi Jia, assistant professor, Department of Economics and Finance
Sarah Clements, instructor, Department of Business Information Systems

College of Social Sciences and Communication
Lisa Bond-Maupin, dean
Gregory Shufeldt, assistant professor, Department of Political Science
Rachel Tennial, assistant professor, Department of Psychology
Londie Martin, assistant professor, Department of Rhetoric and Writing
Heather Hummel Ecke, visiting instructor, Department of Rhetoric and Writing
Jim Hurst, instructor, Department of Criminal Justice

Library
Emily Ray, assistant professor

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