News from the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Students Hunger for Online Degree-Completion Program

Phil Gerke uses food to describe the need for the bachelor’s degree-completion program in human resource development at the University of Arkansas. Continue reading

Former Hog, Now NBA Coach, Sees Degree Opening Doors

Darrell Walker is now a graduate of the University of Arkansas nearly 30 years after playing his final game as a Razorback. Continue reading

University's Clinic Helps Restore Hearing, Improves Speech

Evelyn Youngman has been hard of hearing all of her life. Cochlear implants changed that. Continue reading

Epleys, Parks Help Make New Facility a Reality

Two of the most in-demand programs at the University of Arkansas found a new home this year, thanks to the generosity of longtime donors to the university. Continue reading

Applications Going Home with Students for Career Coaching Program

Applications for a new career coaching program will be sent home Tuesday, Sept. 4, with students who attend 17 Northwest Arkansas high schools. Parental consent is required for students to participate in the program. Continue reading

Doctoral Student Wins National Award for Counseling

Arlis Young, a University of Arkansas doctoral student in the rehabilitation counseling program, was named counselor of the year by the Rehabilitation Counselors and Educators Association, a division of the National Rehabilitation Association, for his work with people with disabilities. Continue reading

Machines and People Can Coexist, Work Together More Productively

In Valuing People and Technology in the Workplace, Claretha Hughes proposes a framework that will allow managers to get the most out of their workers by valuing them on the same level they value technology. Continue reading

Graduate Students in Counseling Program to Coach High School Students

The College of Education and Health Professions announced the hiring of 15 graduate students in the college’s counseling program to help high school students plan for college or career-training programs. Continue reading

McDavis Says Silas Hunt's Legacy is to Lift Others Up

Roderick McDavis learned about Silas Hunt, the first African American student to enroll in the University of Arkansas in modern times, when McDavis became dean of the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas in 1989. Continue reading

Bonner Named to Rutgers Chair in Education

Fred Bonner, who earned a doctorate in higher education from the University of Arkansas in 1997, has been named the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Chair in Education at Rutgers Graduate School of Education. Continue reading

Graduate Calls on Other Alumni to Support Single Parents with Scholarships

The single parent scholarships are commonly combined with Pell grants and other tuition and book ‎scholarships, and recipients may use them at any accredited institution of higher education. Continue reading

Counselor Education Students to Assist At-Risk Students in Area High Schools

A new Northwest Arkansas Career and College Coaches Program will start as a pilot project in Benton and Washington counties next year. The program based at the University of Arkansas is modeled after Gov. Mike Beebe’s “Arkansas Works” program. Continue reading

College Staffer Fulfills Goal of Citizenship

Long before Melisa Laelan became an American citizen, she served her adopted country, ensuring that U.S. troops had the equipment they needed on the front lines. Continue reading

Higher Education Program Marks Half Century

Fifty years ago, the higher education program at the University of Arkansas awarded its first doctoral degree. Continue reading

Collier Continues Family Tradition in Education

Marta Gwyn Collier says education is the family business. Continue reading

Research Frontiers Video Features Professor's Work on Universal Design

Brent Thomas Williams, an associate professor of rehabilitation education in the College of Education and Health Professions, co-authored a book called The Universal Design Handbook published by McGraw-Hill. Continue reading

Study Examines Life Without Limbs for Women Military Veterans

Many Americans don't realize that women in the military face exactly the same dangers as men, but Janet Cater set out to change that with a groundbreaking study of six women who lost arms and legs while serving their country. Continue reading

Gymnastics Coach, Former Hog Basketball Player Earn Doctorates

Rene Cook, co-coach of the Arkansas women's gymnastics team, and Jonathon Modica, a former Razorback basketball player, each earned doctoral degrees in higher education this spring from the College of Education and Health Professions. Continue reading

University, Employer Join Forces to Help Bentonville Man Excel

Jacob Ott of Bentonville was a junior psychology major at the University of Arkansas when recovery from knee surgery kept him off campus for more than a month. Continue reading

Osceola Woman Enjoys Pace of Family, School, Work, Community Activism

If you talk with Sandra Mitchell for a little while, she'll probably use the word madness when describing her life. But there's a method to the madness; Mitchell wants to make an impact on the lives of others, particularly young people. Continue reading

Degree Program Furthers Restaurateur's Professional Goals

A resident of Houston, Joshua Paul was planning to enroll at a local university so that he could earn a bachelor's degree while he continued to work as a store manager for Chik-fil-A. Instead, he found admissions closed at the school close to home. Continue reading

Program Allows Working Adults to Advance Careers, Fulfill Dreams

The University of Arkansas human resource development bachelor's degree-completion program opens the door to more opportunities for promotion in almost any career and prepares employees for leadership positions in a wide range of companies. Continue reading

Personal Tragedies Part of Student's Strength, Motivation

Denise Myers has experienced sad events in her life that many people would not be able to imagine. Continue reading

Alumna Helps Ensure Students Engage with Professional Associations

University of Arkansas presentations made up nearly one-third of the offerings for counseling practitioners and students during a three-day state conference last fall, on topics such as self-injury, teen dating violence and dangers of technology use for adolescents. Continue reading

Rehabilitation Counseling Program Keeps Top-20 Status in U.S. News List

The rehabilitation counseling program in the College of Education and Health Professions is ranked at No. 16 in U.S. News and World Report's best graduate programs for 2012. Continue reading

Alumnus Co-Edits Book on Perspectives of African Americans at UA

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Remembrances in Black: Personal Perspectives of the African American Experience at the University of Arkansas, 1940s-2000s, edited by Charles F. Robinson and Lonnie R. Williams, has been published by the University of Arkansas Press. Continue reading

Emeritus Professor Wins Third National Award in Rehabilitation Field

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Richard T. Roessler, University Professor emeritus of rehabilitation education and research at the University of Arkansas, has been awarded the National Distinguished Service Award from the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association. Continue reading

Grant to Prepare University of Arkansas Students for Careers in Psychiatric Rehabilitation

Lynn Koch, professor of rehabilitation education and research, and Kristin Higgins, assistant professor of counselor education, were awarded a federal grant of $500,000 to prepare students to work as psychiatric vocational rehabilitation specialists. The grant will pay tuition, fees and stipends for a total of 25 master's level students. Continue reading

Rehabilitation Professor Lends Expertise to Architectural Design Field

Brent Williams has spent the past eight years training rehabilitation counselors, and he believes his work this year hits people where they live. Continue reading

Helping People with Disabilities Binds Interdisciplinary Department‎

People around the nation celebrated the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in July. Every day, the rehabilitation education and research program at the University of Arkansas helps people with disabilities improve their lives. Continue reading

CURRENTS Staff Dedicated to Training Vocational Rehabilitation Professionals‎

When Jeanne Miller decided to get a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling, she wanted to attend Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a school that serves mostly deaf students. She does not have a hearing impairment herself, but she wanted to experience what it would feel like to be in a minority group. Continue reading

Independent Living Agency, University to Sponsor Celebration of Americans with Disabilities Act

Sources for Community Independent Living Services in Fayetteville and the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas are planning a weeklong celebration July 26-30 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Continue reading

Fulbright Award to Take Student to Professor’s Home Country of Georgia

Professors are usually pretty happy when a student wants to follow in their footsteps. Ketevan Mamiseishvili was delighted to learn one of her students had decided to retrace her footsteps to work and study in the Republic of Georgia. Continue reading

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Students Honored at Award Ceremony

Tom Smith, the dean of the College of Education and Health Professions, announced the 2009-10 student award winners in the college. The students were honored at a ceremony April 14 at the Fayetteville Town Center.

Continue reading

Williams Serves Students with Spirit Fostered by African American Pioneers

Lonnie Williams' dad wanted him to attend college in nearby Southern State College (now Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia) so that he could attend school half a day and work at home the other half of the day. Continue reading

International Faculty Stand Out in Research

A quantitative study by Kate Mamiseishvili and a colleague provides a more comprehensive examination of the work roles of foreign-born faculty at U.S. research universities. Continue reading

Academic Transition Course Helps Student-Athletes

University of Arkansas counseling education faculty have developed and taught an academic transition course for freshman male student-athletes that addresses the unique challenges that such students face. Continue reading

Professors Edit Book: Students First, Athletes Second

A new book, College Student-Athletes: Challenges, Opportunities, and Policy Implications, examines a little-studied subpopulation of college students – student-athletes – and begins a discussion about student-athletes from the perspective of “students first, athletes second.” Continue reading

Higher Education Alumnus Reaches Out to Students of Color

Fred Bonner has two job titles at Texas A&M. But being a teacher and an administrator, along with conducting research and speaking around the country, isn't enough for Bonner. Continue reading

Higher Education Student Enjoys Graduate School Ambassador Role

Chase Stoudenmire, a student ambassador for the University of Arkansas Graduate School, is only one year removed from being a new graduate student at the University of Arkansas himself. Continue reading

Video: Modica Pursues Doctorate in Higher Education

Former Arkansas basketball player Jonathon Modica returns to the classroom to pursue his doctorate in higher education. Continue reading

Community Developer Puts Principles She Learned to Work

Jacinda Welch may be a perfect example of the impact the University of Arkansas hoped its human resource development bachelor's degree-completion program would have on people and communities. Continue reading

Advising Brings Honors: Personal Attention for Students Top Priority for Instructor

Advising students is more than checking boxes on a form or signing a class schedule. That's what Larry Aslin believes, and the instructor of communication disorders must be doing a lot right considering he won three awards for academic advising. Continue reading

Bilingual Counselor Helps Students Face Teen Challenges

Two boys stop at the doorway of school counselor Toni Thorn's office and she laughs heartily with them as they tell a story about trouble with a locker and a forgotten combination. A few minutes pass by and a small, slim girl with long dark hair appears, crying as she relates a disagreement with another girl. Thorn hugs her. Later, two more girls giggle as they chat with Thorn about their summer plans. Continue reading

Student Puts Rehabilitation Counseling Program's Tenets to Work at Local Church

When Lisa Westman left Fayetteville last May, she took with her a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation counseling from the University of Arkansas, but she left behind work that will continue to have an impact on the community for years to come. Continue reading

Do you have a story idea, a question or comments you would like to share? Contact us

Submit information about College of Education and Health Professions alumni to Heidi Stambuck at stambuck@uark.edu or 479-575-3138
or to the Arkansas Alumni Association at records@razorbackroad.com or P.O. Box 1070, Fayetteville, AR 72702.