Memorial Garden dedication April 17A dedication ceremony for a garden in memory of the late Jay Adcox and Leonard Biddle at the Southern Arkansas University Aquatic Center is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Thursday, April 17, 2014. The SAU Aquatic Center will also host an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. The garden was made possible thanks to several donations and the work and expertise of SAU Senior Gardener Marty Davis, as well as sup-port by HKR students.

Dr. Lammers takes students to sociology and anthropology symposiumDr. Matt Lammers of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences took a small group of students on March 14 to Henderson State University for the 35th Annual Arkansas Sociology and Anthropology Association student symposium. The students were able to see the research being conducted by undergraduates from schools around the state as well as interact with students and professors of sociology from other sociology programs in Arkansas. Dr. Lammers presided over a

session on Culture, Meaning, and Identity.

Dr. Schroeder to present paper in ChicagoDr. Shannin Schroeder will present a paper called “Old Glory and New Duds: How Film Cloaks Superheroes in the American Flag” at the national co-conference of the Popular Culture and American Cultural associations in Chicago later in April. The article is a culmination of several years of flag research based on an SAU research grant.

Guiltner leads reading workshop in L.A. with Hollywood and Broadway actors Clayton Guiltner, director of theatre and assistant professor of theatre in acting and direct-ing, traveled to Los Angeles the last week of March to direct and lead a workshop reading of the new play, “Not Since Adam” by Robert Woods. The reading took place at the Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood. Guiltner cast and directed several Hollywood actors, including ac-tors from television, films, and commercials, as well as a seasoned Broadway actress from New

York. The project centers around research Guiltner is doing to discover the delicacies of the director/play-wright working relationship, and how these theatre practitioners can collaborate effectively. This workshop is part of the production process which will culminate in a fully mounted production of the play in New York City this summer, which will be directed by Guiltner. This project is made possible, in-part, by an SAU Faculty Research Grant. Guiltner’s findings will be used to shape curriculum in SAU theatre courses and will be presented at state and national theatre conferences next year.

April 2014

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Dr. Ulmer story a finalist in Rosebud Magazine competitionDr. James Ulmer was a finalist for the biannual Mary Shelley Award sponsored by Rosebud Magazine. His story, “Camden on the River,” will be published in the June edition of Rosebud.

Pam de Gravelles defends dissertation and becomes Dr. On April 1, 2014, Pam de Gravelles, assistant professor of nursing, defended her dissertation, “The Tobacco Use of Third Year BSN Nursing Students in Arkansas Using the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS),” at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock. She gave an excellent presentation to members of her dissertation committee and family and friends, according to Brenda Trigg. Upon completion of the presentation, the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Nursing (Ph.D.) was awarded. The honor will be conferred on

April 17, 2014, at the UAMS Commencement Ceremony.

Business professors complete four-day SAP workshopDr. Vikram Bhadauria, ronnie Watson, and Sheila Pearson attended a winter 2014 workshop, “Introduc-tion to SAP ERP using GBI,” at Sam Houston State University in Hunts-ville, Texas, on January 6-9, 2014. The workshop was sponsored by SAP University Alliances. Four full days of instructional workshop sessions were provided. The sessions were designed for schools new to the SAP Univer-sity Alliances program and provided participants with a SAP curriculum for use in classes. SAU’s College of Business recently acquired membership into the SAP University Alliances program with the objective to integrate SAP in the business curriculum. Pictured, from left, are Dr. Bhadau-ria, Pearson, Dr. Tom Wilder, workshop instructor from California State University-Chico, and Watson.

Dr. Ahmed participates in two successful research projectsDr. Mahbub Ahmed, assistant professor of engineering, submitted two conference papers in collaboration with other researchers, and both were accepted to be published. The works were related to engineering education for the 2014 American Society of Engineering Educa-tion (ASEE) Southeast Section Conference. The conference was held at Mercer University at Macon, Ga., on March 30 - April 1, 2014. The title of one of the presented research papers was “The Transition of Mechanical Engineering Technology Students to the Mechanical Engineer-

ing Program through the Leveling Courses at Georgia Southern University.” The authors of this paper were Aniruddha Mitra, Mahbub Ahmed, and Brian VlCek. The research focused on how successful the transition of engineering technology students is to a newly developed engineering program through the use of leveling courses. The title of the other paper that was presented was “Mid Semester Survey: An Alternate for the End of Semester Evaluation for Engineering Courses,” and the authors of this paper were Md. M. Rashid, Mah-bub Ahmed, and Aniruddha Mitra. This research suggests that a mid-term survey can be an alternate means of measuring faculty performances. A statistical analysis was performed to conduct the research.

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Honors student presents research on student stressSAU Honors College student rachel Wetherington traveled on March 27-29 to Savannah, Ga. to attend and present at the Southern Regional Honors Council conference, thanks to funding from the SAU Foundation, Dr. Trey Berry, and the Honors College. The title of her research was “Sources and correlations of stress in undergraduate students.” It was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Chrisanne Christensen. The original purpose for the research was to examine the impact of the recession on undergraduate students close to graduation, but a literature review showed other possible sources for stress in this population. Therefore, a questionnaire was created using a modi-fied version of the Inventory of College Students’ Recent Life Experiences along with three original items. Results showed that having too much to do as well as concerns about the future were top sources of stress. Additionally, some demographic characteristics, such as parental educational attainment and ethnicity, were significantly correlated with higher levels of stress.

Brummett presents on e-communication and iPad use in science classroomsChrista Brummett, assistant professor of biology, presented at the TICAL Conference (Tech-nology Information Center for Administrative Leadership) in Little Rock on February 19. The presentation was “Communicating with Parents in a Digital Age.” In this presentation, she talked about easy, digital ways to communicate with parents. Some of the tools we discussed were Class Dojo, Facebook, Remind 101 and Class Messenger. Brummett said she was thrilled to see the room run out of sitting room as it got so packed. She was also recently notification

that her presentation entitled “Using the iPad in a Science Classroom” was accepted for the STEM Forum Expo in New Orleans, La. this coming May. The forum is hosted by the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association). In this presentation, she will show teachers how they can use their iPad in the Science Class-room from grades K-12.

Kandidatov recruits eSL and SAu students during trip to MoscowPetr Kandidatov, of the SAU English as a Second Language pro-gram, went to Moscow February 10-16, 2014, to participate in the 25th International Education Fair held at Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel. Although his primary interest was in recruiting ESL students for his program, he represented SAU as a comprehensive Universi-ty by also spreading the word, distributing materials and answering queries pertaining to SAU’s undergraduate and graduate programs and international admissions. He was assisted by a former SAU ex-change student from Moscow Pedagogical State University, Tatiana

Chasnyk. While in Moscow, Kandidatov also attended two high schools where he made presentations about SAU. He also established relations with the Moscow branch of Education USA network as well as some in-ternational education consulting agencies. While the results of this trip might not be seen in the immediate future, he hopes to have planted a seed that will bring some Russian students to SAU in the future, especially when more trips are taken over the next years.

Dr. Young’s Korean War POW book to be released May 1A book by Dr. Charles young, assistant professor of history, will be officially released on May 1, 2014, by Oxford University Press. The 256- page book, name, rank, and serial number: exploiting korean War poWs at home and abroad can be pre-ordered online. Young’s book explores the circumstances faced by Korean War POWs, and has already been praised in editorial reviews.

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Dr. Miller selected as uA Advanced Graduate of DistinctionDr. Jeffry Miller, chair of the Department of Agriculture, has been selected as an Advanced Graduate of Distinction from the University of Arkansas Department of Animal Science. He is being presented this honor for his outstanding contributions and achievements as a graduate of the UA Department of Animal Science. A formal presentation will take place April 16, dur-ing which a plaque with an engraved sketch of Miller will be permanently put on display at the Department of Animal Science.

Dr. Blake leads published article and presents findings for two research projects The article, “School Consolidation and Annexation in Arkansas: Navigating the Politics to Em-brace the Lessons,” in which Dr. Linda Blake was the lead author was published in the Journal of rural education policy and practice in the Winter of 2013. Co-authors included Dr. Kim-berley Davis and Judge Larry. Blake’s proposal, “The Impact of School Consolidation/An-nexation Policies on Disadvantaged Populations: A Case Study Examining Equity Issues,” was accepted at the National Academy of Public Administration Conference in Pittsburgh, Penn. on

May 28-30, 2014. She has also been invited to moderate a panel at the conference. She also presented her research, “Addressing Ethical Dilemmas in Higher Education Institutions While Maintaining Your Integri-ty,” at the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education Conference, on March 14, 2014, in Atlanta, Ga.

Dr. Bachri named president of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceDr. Abdel Bachri, associate professor of physics and chair of Engineering and Engineering-Physics, has been bestowed the honor of president the Arkansas Academy of Science for 2014-15. Bachri was inaugurated as president on April 5, 2014, at the 98th annual conference of the Academy at Harding University. The Arkansas Academy of Science was established in 1917 as a group of scientists wishing to establish regular avenues of communication with one another and promote science and the dissemination of scientific information in the state. The Academy is

a volunteer, non-profit, non-partisan, non-political, professional organization, with the objectives of promo-tion and diffusion of knowledge in the fields of science and the unification of these interests in the state of Arkansas.

research Committee funds faculty proposalsDr. Trey Berry, provost and vice president for academic affairs, approved the funding recommendations voted on by the Research Committee during its Feb. 26, 2014, meeting. The applicants and the projects sup-ported by the University research program are listed below:

James ulmer, “The Fire Doll: Creation and Placement.”

Svetlana Paulson, “Female and Male Gaze at the Height of Imperial Splendor: Americans in Imperial St. Petersburg in 1890s-1900s.”

uma Mallik, “ Exploring the Coordination Chemistry of di-2,6-(2-methyl pyridyl carbonyl) pyridine.”

Linda Tucker, “Vital Signs: Reading Civil Rights Museums as Living Memorials.”

Clayton Guiltner, “Taking the Gloves Off: Director Vs. Playwright: Collaborative Storytelling.”

John Hutchens, “Scheme-theoretic approaches to algebraic groups with involutions (lifting the field characteristic restrictions of classical results).”

Paul Babbitt, “Rethinking Orwell’s Prophecy: The End of Privacy.”

Sara Day and Brittney Schrick, “Young Adult Literature Fandom Identity Project.”

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Trout’s book on his experiences as a single dad releasing soonMark Trout, instructor of marketing in the College of Business at SAU, will have his book published, A Dad’s Journey: Moments and Memories of a Single Dad. The book, published by Raburn Publishing, is scheduled to be released at the end of May or early June.

SAu Nursing hosts MHS pre-health studentsMagnolia High School senior pre-health students recently got to watch a “childbirth” courtesy of SAU’s Wharton Nursing Simula-tion Lab. A total of 39 MHS students visited the SAU Depart-ment of Nursing during a nursing pre-health mentoring day on March 11, 2014. Students visited the simulation lab where they were shown how SAU’s lab is used to develop nursing students’ critical thinking skills and improve overall patient care. Since last year, SAU’s Department of Nursing has been working with MHS to provide potential nursing students with information about nursing careers and give them a view of college life at SAU. The Department of Nursing would like to invite other high schools in the region for similar visits, and such “nursing-mentoring days” can be scheduled through Rhonda Ray at 235-4331.

Alumni Association honors distinguished alumniThe SAU Alumni Association hosted its annual Distinguished Alumni and Lifetime Achievement Awards Dinner April 5, 2014, at the SAU Reynolds Center Grand Hall. The event was themed, “Tonight we ride in their shoes,” and highlighted the following award recipients: Distinguished Young Alumni – Nik Lewis, 2003 Distinguished Alumni – A. Lamar Smith, 1961 Distinguished Alumni – Dr. Lathan Bernard Daniels, 1962 Lifetime Achievement – Dr. Ann Keese Thomas, 1946

Honors participates in iPad pilot projectThe Honors College at Southern Arkansas University has been selected to help develop a new learning management system (LMS) by participating in an iPad pilot project. Dr. ed Kar-das, director of the SAU Honors College and professor of psy-chology, said he was approached by EmpoweredU, asking if his students would participate in the pilot program. Empower-edU is creating a new educational mobile platform application (app). The SAU Honors College is among 11 institutions nationwide participating. Other institutions include Clemson University, University of California at San Diego and the University of San Francisco.

Vasser facilitates annual MHS theatre workshopsA group of Southern Arkansas University Theatre students recently com-pleted their annual workshop series to help Magnolia High School students prepare for the high school’s upcoming play. The SAU students were escorted by Judy Vasser, assistant professor of theatre and mass commu-nication. Vasser and her students provided three choreography workshops and a makeup workshop.

Ginger Covington, coordinator of the Wharton Nursing Simulation Lab, helps MHS students take vital signs.

Help stock the Career Closet at the College of BusinessThe College of Business at Southern Arkansas University is seeking donations of contemporary, interview-appropriate clothing and accessories for their Career Closet for their students. Specific needs include pro-fessional suits and separates for men and women of all sizes; accessories like scarves, ties and belts for men and women; and shoes in all sizes for men and women. For more information about the SAU College of Business Career Closet, contact Traci Hughes at 235-4298 or TraciHughes@saumag.edu.

SAu Communications earns national marketing awardsThe SAU Communications staff recently earned seven marketing awards. Three national honors were won from both the Collegiate Advertising Awards and the Educational Advertising Awards. Included in the honors were projects relating to their “Taking the Mulerider on the Road” public relations initiative in 2013, which also was honored among the best in the competitive Institutional Identity Program cat-egory at the CASE District IV Conference. Josh Jenkins, SAU Man-ager of Web Communications and Online Marketing, won two Gold awards, for his custom website, www.SAUmag.edu/OntheRoad. The website Jenkins created is a mobile responsive, one-page modern website with advanced design features. The site also integrated dynamically with social media outlets. Communications also took home a Silver and a Bronze for the TV commercial that featured Mulerider Megan Maye and Molly Ann riding through Texarkana to promote new classes being offered in that area. Another Bronze was earned for the “Complete College Experience Stories” video. A Gold award was also given for the video tribute to Whitley Reeves Barnard, which was produced by Aaron Street and Michael Kornegay.

Communications hires another Aaron photographerAaron Wallis started April 7 as the new University Photographer/Videographer. Wallis has extensive video and social media experience from his undergraduate and graduate years working at Arkansas Tech’s communications office. See other new SAU hires at http://web.saumag.edu/human-resources/hires/.

Birth Announcement: Lincoln Blake ClarkJason and Britta Clark welcomed their first child, Lincoln Blake Clark, on Thursday, April 3. He weighed seven pounds, 18 ounces and was 21 inches long.

Birth Announcement: rhett randall KeeJosh and Rebekah Kee welcomed their second child, Rhett Randall Kee, on March 7, 2014. He weighed eight pounds, 11 ounces and was 20.25-inches long.

New nursing honor society to host first induction ceremony April 17Eight students will be the first group to be inducted into the newly formed Alpha Delta Nu National Honor Society for Associate Nursing Degree SAU Beta Epsilon chapter. The ceremony will be held in room 105 of the SAU Science Center at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17. Inductees include Justin Burton, Andreka Garner, Tawnya Hall, Theresa Harbin, Claire Lee, Tammy Miller, Whitney Pearson, and Tracy Wilson. Fac-ulty advisors are Ginger Covington and Laura Shirey. Students who meet the eligibility requirements are invited in their third semester of the nursing program. Invitees who complete a group community or recruit-ment project and maintain the academic requirements are officially inducted into the honor society during their fourth semester in the program.

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Lincoln Clark rhett Kee

Faculty and staff need to submit selfiesSAU faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to submit self portraits for what is to be a truly unique 2013-14 Mulerider yearbook. As far as we can tell, we will be the first University to engage students, faculty and staff by using camera phone technology to fill a yearbook with interesting, self-selected portraits. Kudos to Deana Taylor for being the first SAU employee to submit a selfie. Submissions are welcomed via e-mail at SAUphotos@SAUmag.edu, or on Twitter or Instagram by using the hashtag “#SAUselfie.” If we all participate, this yearbook can have the same effect as the video “Mulerider Style,” wherein current and prospective students felt like SAU was “cool” and had “cool” employees.

Spring commencement ceremonies May 9 Nursing Commencement - 10 a.m. at W.T. Watson Gymnasium (with A/C!) 9:15 a.m. students report to Auxilary Gym; faculty report at 9:30 a.m. Reception to follow in Wharton Nursing Building School of Graduate Studies Commencement - 2 p.m. at W.T. Watson Gymnasium 1:15 p.m. students report to Auxiliary Gym; faculty report at 1:30 p.m. in W.T. Watson room 106 reception for the graduate and undergraduate ceremonies 4:30-7 p.m. Reception hosted by SAU Alumni Association in the Mulerider Cafeteria undergraduate Commencement - 7 p.m. at University Mall 6 p.m. students report to Grand Hall; faculty report at Harton Theatre no later than 6:30 p.m.

The Communications Center makes every effort to include all relevant information related to the work of the faculty and staff in the Faculty/Staff Bulletin. To ensure your story is included, please submit your news using the online form at http://web.saumag.edu/news/report/. Thank you!

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