Dr. James L. Moore III of The Ohio State University will be the featured speaker at the Fifth Annual African American Male Initiative Consortium Conference to be held at UALR Thursday and Friday, Feb. 19 and 20.

The two-day conference will take place in various locations in the Donaghey Student Center.

Moore is the inaugural director of the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male and an associate provost in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at OSU.

His research on relationships between educational professionals and students from different socio-cultural, familial, school, and racial and ethnic backgrounds has been recognized nationally and internationally.

The featured speaker for the faculty track is Dr. Julien C. Mirivel, UALR associate professor in the Department of Speech Communication and author of The Art of Positive Communication: Theory and Practice.

Mirivel’s presentation is titled, “Making Contact with Students: Small Actions with Big Impact.”

His research has appeared in the leading national and international communication journals, and he is also a 2011 UALR Faculty Excellence Award winner in Teaching and is a Distinguished Teaching Fellow for the Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence.

The conference is made possible in part with funding from the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation and hosted by the Division of Student Affairs, which created the AAMI program at UALR five years ago to help provide mentoring and support aimed at increasing the retention and graduation rates of African American men.

The conference offers one track for students and tracks designed for administrators and faculty. Students will engage in interactive workshops that focus on leadership, healthy choices, and student development; while faculty and administrators will garner insight on how to lead their students to success.

Registration is free to UALR students and employees. Cost for non-UALR faculty and administrators is $75 and $25 for non-UALR students.

Individuals can register online at 2015 Conference. In order to register a group, send information and list of names to Cindy Lopez at cxlopez1@ualr.edu or pay online by credit card at ualr.at/aami.

For more information, go to ualr.edu/studentsuccess/2015/01/14/2015-aami-conference or contact Harvell Howard at 501.569.8713 or hlhoward@ualr.edu.