New faculty welcomed to campus

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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