Faculty/Staff

UCA Psychology Professors Among Most Cited

In an analysis of school psychology research published in School Psychology Quarterly, Liu and Oakland (2016) found that an article by 51��¥ professors, Dr. Ron Bramlett and Dr. John Murphy, was the 17th most cited article in the history of school psychology publications (1907-2014).

Bramlett and Murphy’s article analyzed a survey designed to assess school psychologists’ roles, types of referrals, consultation practices and crisis team involvement.

The citation for their article is: Bramlett, RK; Murphy, JJ; Johnson, J; Wallingsford, L; Hall, JD. (2002). Contemporary practices in school psychology: A national survey of roles and referral problems. Psychology in The Schools.

*Guest post compiled by: Mya Hyman*

UCA Hosted Earth Day Celebration

51��¥ students and faculty hosted a celebration of Earth Day on April 20, 2016.

Activities included learning to set up tents that were provided by COPA in the HPER, using GPS to navigate around the reserve and helping control nonnative invasive plants.

In addition, student organizations had exhibits on the lawn in front of the Student Center from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with seeds for planting and information on campus recycling, sustainable fiber and green energy.

Photo courtesy of

Kristin Lewis Foundation Scholarship Award To Be Hosted At UCA

The Kristin Lewis Foundation will host the second Vocal Scholarship Award Concert at the 51��¥ on Sunday, May 22, 2016.

The scholarship awards follow a two-day competition on Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22.

The Sunday Finals Concert will be held at 3:00 p.m. in the Reynolds Performance Hall. A reception and awards presentation will follow. This event is free and open to the public.

The semi-finals round will be held in the President’s Home, which houses a newly donated Steinway grand piano, on Saturday from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. The President’s Home is located at 140 Donaghey Avenue. This session is closed to the public.

Due to major grants and generous donations from patrons, this year’s scholarship awards will be in excess of $13,000 to support aspiring young vocalists in their musical pursuits.

UCA vocal students competing for scholarships this year are Veena Akama-Makia, senior vocal performance major, and Juan Garcia, junior vocal music education major.

Contestants this year represent not only vocalists from UCA, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Ouachita Baptist University, but also represent classical singers from the Manhattan School of Music, University of Houston, University of Kansas and other universities throughout the country.

UCA alumna and opera singer Kristin Lewis is the founder of the Kristin Lewis Foundation, an organization dedicated to encouraging talented musicians at all levels of performance. She began her vocal studies at UCA and is now in the midst of an opera performing career, which has taken her to nearly every major opera house in Europe, including the Vienna Staatsoper, L’Opéra de Paris and the Berlin State Opera.

During the fall of 2016, she will debut the role of Bess in “Porgy and Bess” at La Scala in Milan, Italy.

She will also come back to the U.S. next year to perform with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Lewis will perform in her house debut at Carnegie Hall in Gustav Mahler’s Symphony Number 2, “Resurrection,” with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra and Maestro Zubin Mehta as conductor.

For more information on Lewis, visit her .

Interior Design Students Featured In 501 LIFE Article

The March issue of the 501 LIFE Magazine featured an article written by Sonja Keith on the historic Rialto Theater in Searcy.

The senior interior design students from Mrs. K.C. Poole’s class worked on the theater during the fall of 2015 with the assistance of Dr. Ann Ballard Bryan’s Historic Preservation class helping with research.

We are proud of the wonderful recognition of our talented design students, Mrs. Poole and the interior design program.

You can read the article .

Chemistry Professor Named ACS Professor of the Year

Congratulations to Dr. Greg Naumiec, assistant professor of chemistry for being honored as the ACS professor of the year by the Central Arkansas Section of the American Chemical Society.

Professor Naumiec joined the UCA Department of Chemistry in summer 2015 as a professor to teach organic chemistry and organic spectroscopy. Greg and his wife Erin are both originally from upstate New York and they have a four-year old daughter named Amelia.

Following his undergraduate and graduate degrees in New York and Rhode Island, respectively, Greg worked for several years on synthesizing medical imaging agents during his postdoctoral appointment at NIH in Maryland.

Here at UCA, Dr. Naumiec and his students are researching the synthesis of drugs to treat neglected tropical diseases.

Greg’s early success in the classroom teaching organic chemistry results from his approachable nature and clear teaching style.

UCA students across many majors are directly benefiting from Dr. Naumiec’s passion and skill as a teacher in both the classroom and the lab.

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