The 51��¥ Department of Occupational Therapy celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the profession with an event, “Cheers to 100 Years,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 19 at UCA Downtown.

The celebration featured music, hors d’oeuvres, and work from artists who have benefited from occupational therapy. Dr. Jennifer Moore, chair of the UCA Department of Occupational Therapy, also spoke. Attendees included occupational therapy practitioners, service providers, and educators from programs across the state, as well as UCA faculty, staff, students, alumni, members of the 51��¥ Board of Trustees and friends of the profession.

In addition to these festivities, AOTA named Dr. Letha Mosley, associate professor in the UCA Department of Occupational Therapy, and UCA occupational therapy alumnus Dr. Kenneth Ottenbacher, professor and director of the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, among the profession’s “100 Influential People in Occupational Therapy.”

Occupational therapy practitioners focus on helping clients perform everyday activities to their highest potential. Some examples include: teaching Wounded Warriors how to hold their children again after limb loss; helping babies in the neonatal intensive care unit learn to feed, breathe and swallow so they can thrive; providing recommendations for assistive technology in the vehicle or home so older adults can age in place safely; and helping stroke survivors relearn how to bathe, groom, dress and cook for themselves, among other occupations. Independent studies recently found that occupational therapy is the only therapy that reduces hospital readmissions and nursing home admissions.

“In the past 100 years, occupational therapy practitioners have facilitated function and independence by helping countless children of all abilities access education, facilitating relearning life skills lost as a result of illness or injury, supporting persons with mental illness to thrive in their communities, and helping older adults age in place,” said AOTA President Amy J. Lamb. “As we embark on our next 100 years, occupational therapy will continue to improve health care outcomes through the therapeutic use of meaningful, necessary and familiar occupations.”

Today, more than 213,000 occupational therapy practitioners nationwide help people of all ages participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations). To learn more about occupational therapy’s rich history, visit their .

For more information about these events and the Department of Occupational Therapy, visit their .

The State Science and Engineering Fair is held every spring at UCA, and is affiliated with the Society for Science and the Public’s International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The State Science and Engineering Fair is open to students in grades 9-12 who have finished in the top 4 places in their respective categories at one of Arkansas’ regional ISEF-affiliated science fairs.

The State Science Fair competition was held at the Farris Center on March 31 – April 1, 2017. The recognition banquet for State Fair attendees was at the Student Center Ballroom at 6:30 p.m., Friday, March 31. The awards ceremony was held at Ida Waldron Auditorium, Old Main Hall, on Saturday, April 1, at 3:30 p.m.

The State Science Fair is sponsored by Southwestern Energy, the Arkansas Department of Education, the UCA College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

Click HERE for a list of all science fair winners!

Girls from high schools in central Arkansas such as Conway, Vilonia, Bigelow and Mayflower attended the event that featured a keynote address from Ark. Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin.

There were six workshop sessions going on throughout the day, and each girl attended three sessions based on an interest survey that they completed prior to arrival. The sessions offered will be Geology, Genetics Counseling, Endocrinology, FBI – Evidence Recovery Team, Computer Science (afternoon only), and Nursing (nursing SIM lab in UCA nursing department). Our hope is to expose the girls to STEM careers and to encourage them to pursue jobs in STEM.

The goal of the conference was to expose the girls to STEM careers and to encourage them to pursue jobs in STEM.

Lt. Governor Tim Griffin was among the speakers to the girls attending the third annual STEM Leadership for Girls Day event.

The welcome began at 8:20 a.m., which included UCA’s very own Christina Madsen, Lt. Governor Tim Griffin, and representatives from Wal-Mart who will be speaking about Million Women Mentors.

Representatives in STEM fields from Arkansas businesses and organizations such as Acxiom, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the FBI also hosted learning sessions throughout the day.

Anna Beth Gorman, a representative for Million Women Mentors of Arkansas, spoke to the girls to kick off the day’s events.

Attendees learned more about the Million Women Mentors initiative, which supports the engagement of one million STEM mentors to increase the interest and confidence of girls and women to persist and succeed in STEM programs and careers.

For more information about the STEM Leadership for Girls, visit their website.

UCA was the primary organizer of the event, with support and participation from the Arkansas STEM Coalition and Arkansas State University.

This was the fifth year for the Arkansas STEM Posters at the State Capitol.

Students from 15 Arkansas public and private universities and colleges were stationed with their posters, which include photographs and other representations of their data, to discuss their research with state lawmakers, high school students, media and the general public.

“This event promotes the good news that is undergraduate STEM education across the state,” said Patrick Desrochers, professor and chair of the UCA Department of Chemistry and principal organizer of this event. “Opportunities for undergraduates exist at schools across Arkansas for students to become immersed in cutting edge research on open-ended, challenging, and exciting problems. Solutions to these problems help Arkansans and people around the world.”

One of the goals of the event is to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the level of complex research in natural sciences and mathematics conducted by students at Arkansas colleges and universities. Another goal is to increase enrollment and retention of students in STEM fields.

To learn more about the Arkansas STEM Posters at the State Capitol event, visit.

They recently received a grant for more than $120,000 to support STEM teachers in Arkansas.