2006 Archived Faculty & Staff Achievements
December 2006
Debra Fish, marketing representative at the Business and Industry Center. Debra and her husband, Tommy, celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary on Dec. 5. They celebrated with a weekend trip to Dallas.
Betty Raper, Chairperson of Developmental Reading, was selected to participate in The Charter School Leadership Institute. Hendrix College received a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education Charter School Office to create this intense study into seven content areas: (1) School Climate, (2) Instructional Strategies and Student Achievement, (3) Leadership/Management Strategies, (4) Curriculum Alignment, (5) Internal/External Communications, (6) Regulatory Issues, and (7) Start-up Logistics.
Rhonda Carroll, Learning Support Services Coodinator at the PTC Learning Assistance Center, was inducted into the Zeta chapter of Alpha Epsilon Lambda last Friday at UALR. AEL is an honor society for graduate students. Honorees must demonstrate high academic and leadership accomplishment, placing them among the most accomplished students on campus. No more than 1% of the campus population is inducted each year. Honorees are recommended by a professor or have exceptional GPAs.
November 2006
Bruce Cohen, Adjunct Instructor of Psychology, was named as the Master's Level Provider of the Year at the meeting of the Arkansas Psychological Association annual meeting on Oct. 26, 2006.
Sandy Longhorn was featured in the Fall 2006 issue of Arkansas English, published by the University of Arkansas Department of English Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. Longhorn, an English instructor at Pulaski Technical College since 2005, is the author of Blood Almanac, a book of poems she wrote during her third and fourth years at Fayetteville in the M.F.A. program. Her book won the 2005 Anhinga Prize for Poetry.
Angie Macri, chair of the Department of English, Division of Fine Arts and Humanities,had a book review published in Science Editor. The review is on Dave Dowling's Wrong Word Dictionary: 2000 Most Commonly Confused Words." To read the entire review, follow this link: http://www.pulaskitech.edu/content_files/wrong_word_review.pdf
Beta Zeta Omega Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa announced the results of the Favorite Faculty/Staff student survey. Johnny Dollar (history/political science/religion), Eugene Rathfon (Developmental Math) and Tammy Smith (Practical Nursing) tied for Favorite Instructor. Terri Lothery, secretary for Allied Health and Human Services, was chosen Favorite Staff Member.
Lennon Parker, Web communication specialist, has been elected to serve on the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce NEXT Generation Young Professionals Board of Directors Board for 2007.
Congratulations to Amy Bonds, creative services manager in the Public Relations and Marketing Department, on her engagement to Chad Green. They will wed June 9.
October 2006
Dr. Barry McVinney performed Oct. 19 at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock with Arkansas singer-songwriter Bob Dorough, who is renowned for this classic Schoolhouse Rock! Songs. McVinney is a music instructor in Pulaski Technical College's Fine Arts and Humanities Division.
Lennon Parker, college Webmaster, and Tracy Fox, Public Relations and Marketing secretary, took home first-place honors in this year's photography contest at Sherwood Fest. Winners were announced Saturday. Tracy won first place in two categories. A photo of her daughter was recognized as best black and white photo in the People category. Her photo of a lighthouse won for best landscape in the black and white division. Lennon's color photo of his nephew won in the People (color) category.
Kay Clowney represented Pulaski Technical College on Oct. 7 at the Women's Empowerment Conference sponsored by the Watershed Human Development Agency and D2NINE.com. Mrs. Clowney is a tutor/mentor in English composition and business for the TRiO Scholars and College Pathways programs.
September 2006
Lennon Parker, Web Communication Specialist, was asked to provide his voice for a commercial for an annual Little House on the Prairie event in Independence, Kansas in October. Parker's commercial was broadcasted through the entire state of Kansas in the month of September.
Summer Brown is on the board of the Herman Brown Foundation, a non-profit charity formed in honor of her late father. In September, the foundation hosted its annual charity golf tournament and rose over $5,000 benefiting the Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Horses for Healing.
Cathy Underwood "lectured" to the Arkansas Association of Legal Support Professionals by participating in a game of "legal squares" at their quarterly board meeting.
Tonya Willingham presented at the National Conference of the Council of Education in New York (Sept. 6-9).
August 2006
Betty Raper, chair of the Developmental Reading Department, recently completed a vocabulary textbook review for Houghton-Mifflin Company.
July 2006
David Durr, dean of information technology, passed his A + Certification.
Officers Michael Gladness and John Fenton graduated from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy.
Police Supervisor James “Jim” Taylor has completed training at Black River Community College and is a Certified Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor for the PTC Police Department.
June 2006
Cathy Underwood, paralegal instructor, was awarded honorary membership in the Greater Little Rock Legal Support Professionals in June.
Rosie Muldrew, Career Pathways employment specialist, received a master’s degree in human resource development from Webster University on June 16, 2006.
Micca Burris, administrative office supervisor for Children First Child Development Center, received a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Kaplan University. She graduated magna cum laude.
Beata Lovelace, instructor of computer information systems, has completed the certification exam for Certified Help Desk Professional. The training was offered through STI Knowledge in New York City on June 15-16, 2006.
May 2006
Amy Baldwin, distance education coordinator; Joey Cole, dean of the Fine Arts and Humanities Division; Wade Derden, instructor of history; and Angie Macri, chair of the English Department, presented "Dogs That Hunt: Using Student Publications to Promote Success on the Community College Campus" and "How Many Points for That? Transitions in Faculty Development and Evaluation at the Community College" at the 28th annual NISOD International Conference on Teaching and Leadership Excellence in Austin, Texas, on May 28-31.
During the month of May, members of the Student Government Association volunteered through the Louisiana United Methodist Storm Recovery Center in New Orleans. The group included Summer Brown, director of student life and leadership; Augusta Farver, dean of business; and students Cheniqua Reynolds, William Clay, Larry Gary, and Chasity Farver. While in New Orleans, they gutted a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina and help a 91-year-old New Orleans resident in the process. The experience was an invaluable one and one that the students and their advisers will never forget.
Janice Housley and Rebecca Ballard, full-time instructors at Saline County Adult Education Center, graduated in May with master’s degrees in adult education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Janet Wimberly, a toddler supervisor, has been approved as a trainer for the Arkansas Early Childhood Professional’s SPECTRUM Registry.
Micca Burris, administrative office supervisor for Children First C.D.C., will graduate with honors on July 1 from Kaplan University with a bachelor’s degree in information technology.
Adult education instructors Becky Ballard and Janice Housley received their master's degrees in adult education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in May. Ballard is the wife of Sam Ballard and the daughter of L.D. and Elaine Lambert of Benton. She was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. Housley is the wife of Larry Housley of Mabelvale and the daughter of Carmon and Norma Varner of Vilonia. She is a member of the Kappa Delta Phi International Honor Society. Both women graduated with 4.0 grade-point averages. They are full-time instructors at the Saline County Adult Education Center, a division of Pulaski Technical College.
April 2006
Members of the Pulaski Technical College English Department conducted creative writing workshops for area teens during the Arkansas Literary Festival in Little Rock. Faculty members included Angie Macri, Antoinette Brim, Joey Cole, and Sandy Longhorn.
Joey Cole, dean of fine arts and humanities, and Sandy Longhorn, instructor of English, also held workshops for high school students at the Arkansas Scholastic Press Association's annual convention in Hot Springs.
Sandy Longhorn, instructor of English, directed a poetry workshop for the after-school program at Fletcher Library in Little Rock and also performed a reading of her poetry for the senior Creative Writing class at Central High School in Little Rock.
March 2006
Paula Watson, adjunct instructor of Biology, has a business that was featured in an article in Rural Arkansas this month. Watson’s business is Ozark Mountain Herbs and has been selling herbs and perennials and other plants at the River Market for 8 years this year and will start selling this year on Saturday, April 15th, 2006.
Howard Nesmith, adjunct instructor in the Business Division, was awarded Buyer of the Year by the Arkansas Chapter of the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) on March 20, 2006 during the Chapter's Annual Conference. NIGP’s mission is to enhance public procurement, promote the profession and preserve the public trust by providing expertise, direction, and leadership. Candidates for the Buyer of the Year Award must be actively employed in public procurement and are selected from nominations submitted by NIGP Chapter members or professional procurement colleagues.
Jimmy Brooks, adjunct instructor of History, successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation at The Florida State University on March 27, 2006.
Cathy Underwood, instructor of Paralegal Technology, has been asked to make a VersusLaw presentation at the Arkansas Bar Association Annual Meeting in June.
Summer Brown and Augusta Farver, SGA advisors, took four members of the Student Government Association to Washington DC for the American Student Association of Community Colleges conference in March. William Clay, SGA Historian, served as the ASACC Gulf Regional Representative. During the conference, the group experienced wonderful speakers such as Ralph Nader, 2004 Presidential Candidate and America’s Leading Consumer Advocate, and Helen Thomas, Dean of the White House Press Corp, UPI. The students voted on the top three priorities facing America’s community college students including the National Tuition Endowment, Increasing Pell Grants, and the Non-Traditional Student Success Act. The Pulaski Technical College SGA delegates and their advisors visited the offices of Senator Blanche Lincoln, Senator Mark Pryor, and Representatives Vic Snyder, Marion Berry, and Mike Ross on behalf of the college and ASACC.
Antoinette Brim, instructor of English, was recently awarded a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship to attend the Summer Institute on “African American Struggles for Civil Rights in the Twentieth Century,” sponsored by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University.
Sandy Longhorn, instructor of English, was the Visiting Writer at the 2006 Westview Writers’ Festival at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She conducted classes in Advanced Poetry and Creative Writing for beginners at the university, and she was the keynote speaker at the festival. She read poetry from her forthcoming book, Blood Almanac.
Juanita Williams, Director of Children First, was honored to be nominated by Judge Phillip Whitaker and then elected to serve as Secretary of the Lonoke County Adoption Coalition helping actively recruit adoptive parents for more than 450 children who are currently waiting to be adopted in the state.
Rosie Muldrew, Career Pathways Employment Specialist, has been nominated by a former student for Who's Who Among America's Teachers.
February 2006
Antoinette Brim, instructor of English, presented her paper, “Living Behind the Numbers: A Statistic Muses,” about her Life at the National Association of African American Studies in Baton Rouge, LA in February. It will be included the NAAAS 2006 Monograph Series.
January 2006
Calvin White, A.B.D., has recently been named a Fellow of the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History. Calvin had been a fulltime instructor of history at Pulaski Technical College prior to entering Ole Miss where he is currently A.B.D. in History.
Nicki Feldman, Chair of the Mathematics, has been nominated for Who’s Who Among Executives and Professionals.
Micca Burris, Administrative Office Supervisor for Children First C.D.C., has been approved to be a Registered Trainer for the Arkansas Early Childhood Professional Development Registry. ASU Early Childhood Services processes the applications and handles the applications, approval, and training of the applicants. Micca is the second staff member of Children First C.D.C. to be approved as a registered trainer. Juanita Williams, Director of Children First, was also approved last year. Being a Registered Trainer allows them to conduct trainings for early childhood professionals around the state. Each early childhood professional is required by Child Care Licensing to have a minimum of 10 hours of development and more if the center is State Quality approved. Some of the requirements to be a trainer are as follows: have at least 50 clock hours training adults, a CDA credential or an associate degree or higher, 2 to 6 years of early childhood experience depending on education, and have at least 90 or more clock hours of education or training in the competency areas that the trainer will be leading.
Bruce Cohen, adjunct instructor of Psychology, is involved in the development and the presentation of “Catastrophic Counseling Techniques Training Phase II: What Works” workshop hosted at the Clinton Library to help teachers deal effectively with children that were Katrina evacuees. There are approximately 2,000 children in the area that will benefit from this training.
Ed Nelson, Director of Governmental Relations, was asked to serve on a new Start-Up Advisory Committee for UALR's Center for Public Conflict Solutions. The Center is one of 50 university-based conflict resolution centers around the country seeking to find different approaches to support public conflict solutions. It will use education, research, and technical assistance to help public entities find solutions to their conflicts. The Start-Up Advisory Committee will help the Center determine its priorities for programs and activities. Nelson was asked to serve because of his experience with both public policy issues in state and local government and as a Commissioner with the Arkansas Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission.
Sandy Longhorn, English Instructor, won the Anhinga Prize for Poetry, and Longhorn's book “Blood Almanac” is being published this fall by Anhinga Press. Allen Loibner, English Instructor, took Longhorn's photo for the book jacket.
>Back to Faculty & Staff Achievements