Lions of UAFS

02/19/2024

08/21/2023

Happy first day Lions! Welcome, and welcome back, to campus!
📸 Johnathan Brewer

08/16/2023

We wrap up the summer here at UAFS with a feature on Dr. Patti Conard! She is an associate professor and endowed professor for the College of Health, Education, and Human Sciences, and proud alum! Dr. Conard has traveled the world as a nurse and even became one of the first nurses to receive a doctoral degree.

As a Fort Smith native who dreamed of becoming a nurse, Conard felt comfortable at her hometown college. Little did she know that her two years as a student would become the foundation of her life today.

Her time as a student not only led to a lifelong passion for working in nursing but introduced Conard to her late husband, Rey. Later in life, things came full circle when she began working as an adjunct faculty member in 2016. With a permanent grin, she said, “I started here, and I’ll finish here.”

But before her return to Fort Smith, Conard lived a life many would dream of. She spent six years overseas living in Japan and Okinawa, traveling the world providing nursing care, continuing her education to earn a bachelor, master, and doctorate, and finding solace in assisting the men and women – and their families – who have served this nation.

Conard’s husband became a military psychiatrist, and she became one of the first 300 nurses to earn a Ph.D. from the first Ph.D. nursing program at Texas Women’s University. Saying she is proud of her accomplishments, “I got to do different types of nursing. I got different types of education. I fulfilled every degree I could get in nursing, and it has been a wonderful experience.”

In conjunction with her husband’s military work, Conard connected with servicemen and -women. Through these relationships, Conard found a personal passion that continues today.

“My research started with women veterans, and my Ph.D. dissertation was the first sentinel study on the experiences of women in war,” she explained. “On occasion, I would meet my husband for lunch at the clinic where we were stationed, and one day I was walking in, and one of the nurses was walking out crying. So, I asked what was wrong, and she said she was getting deployed to the war and had an 18-month-old baby.”

From that moment, Conard was inspired to share the obstacles women veterans face, and beyond just women veterans, the challenges all veterans and their families and caregivers face.

In the following years, Conard became a two-time winner for an article of the year – one inspired by her father, a Korean War veteran, the other on caregivers, drawing from her own experience caring for her husband.

Conard credits her return to UAFS and the university’s and department’s support for her latest research study.

“With a couple of my faculty, we looked at the experiences of homeless veterans during COVID. Everyone was affected by COVID, but we don’t realize how the homeless population was really affected,” she said. “It caused more isolation than usual, and they didn’t have the resources available.”

As her instincts to care for others kicked in, Conard and her team found a way to open doors when the world shuttered its doors. They helped set up facilities at a nearby shelter and provided computers so this vulnerable population could access telehealth.

Through her work, she hopes that “people are reading my articles and treating veterans wonderfully in the healthcare arena, and I’m hoping their healthcare is improved.”

Conard admits that her research is always at the back of her mind, but teaching the current and future generations of nurses is the “passion that keeps me going.” She laughed while reflecting on her journey to becoming a professor and said it wasn’t something she ever imagined doing. However, she said that through UAFS, she found her dream job.

Read her story 🔗 https://uafs.edu/news/2023-fv-patti-conard.php

07/30/2023

📢 Celebrate International Day of Friendship with UAFS! 🎉

Today, the world comes together to celebrate the bond that unites us all - Friendship! From students, alumni, faculty and staff, the UAFS community takes pride in helping friendships thrive.

Share your favorite memories and stories of your UAFS friends, and don't forget to tag them!

07/27/2023

We're back with another feature! Meet Mandy Keyes, UAFS director of Human Resources. Keyes first came to UAFS (then Westark Community College) thanks to a scholarship; she hasn't left 26 years later!

“I decided I didn’t want to go anywhere else; I wanted to stay, and I had fallen in love with it here. This is where I wanted to be for whatever that looked like,” Keyes said. “I wanted to do something that helped other people have that (same) great experience … I had a great experience and wanted to make sure that I got to share that with everyone else who would let me.”

Keyes took advantage of working on campus to help cover the cost of her tuition, graduating from UAFS with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Rhetoric & Writing. Over the years, she has worked in different positions on campus, such as admissions officer, director of admissions, career services coordinator, associate registrar and off-site concurrent enrollment coordinator, and eventually found herself in human resources.

“I would have never imagined I would end up in human resources, no less as Director of Human Resources,” she said with a grin.

July marks three years in her current role, and it’s a position she is happy to see the ripple effects of making an impact with and influence on every single person at UAFS.

“Every experience matters,” Keyes explained. “When I worked in enrollment management, no matter what role I was in, I was impacting a student’s experience on campus. I can still impact students here (in human resources), but what I always get to do, is impact the experience of an employee, which then impacts the experience of a student.”

Since taking on the position of Director of Human Resources in 2020, Keyes and her team have worked diligently to positively impact the employee experience in various ways. That includes a monthly mental health series that returns in the fall to encouraging her team to participate and volunteer for campus events and planning. Keyes hopes to soon add professional development opportunities for different populations of UAFS employees.

Keyes hopes she, and the department, can show that human resources are not a source of an elevated heart rate but are there for everyone’s best interest.

“I’m still just Mandy, the same Mandy I’ve been for over 20 years on this campus,” she said while promising that her door is always open and that it’s okay to talk to anyone in her department because no one bites.

Read her story 🔗: https://uafs.edu/news/2023-sv-mandy-keyes.php

07/17/2023

It's World Emoji Day! Here are a few of our favorite emojis 🦁💙🏀⚾️🎾🏐⛳️👟

Share your favorite emojis to tell us what you love about UAFS!

07/14/2023

Happy Friday 🦁! Get to know Dr. Randall Stone, our latest feature. Dr. Stone is a University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Alumni and current accounting professor for the UAFS College of Business.

Stone spent eight years taking every finance and accounting class he could at UAFS before graduating in 2009 with 146 college credit hours, just shy of the 150 he needed to sit for the Arkansas Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

But, taking it in stride, Stone now uses that time as an example to his current students as they work towards a degree. “I tell my students all the time that no one looks at how long it took you to accomplish the goal that you set out to meet. I’m very proud I’ve got two pieces of paper that say I went here: an associate degree and a Bachelor of Science degree.”

Still short four credit hours of being able to take the Arkansas CPA exam and nearly a decade into his bachelor studies, Stone reached out to his mentor and then professor, Dr. Margaret Tanner, now associate Provost for academic affairs. She encouraged Stone to pursue a graduate course in education and was accepted at the University of Central Arkansas.

He moved back to Fort Smith in 2010 after completing a year-long Master of Accountancy program at UCA, passed his CPA exam, and began working for a regional CPA firm. Then Tanner had an opening.

“She was looking for someone to teach an evening class section (part-time) of Principles of Financial Accounting, the first introduction to accounting that students have in the College of Business. So, I started as an adjunct instructor in the fall of 2011,” he said. “I did that for a semester, and I found that I enjoyed my second part-time job so much more than I did my day job.”

Following his epiphany, Stone left the corporate world and pursued teaching full-time.

Stone earned his Ph.D. from Northcentral University in California in 2019. While working on his degree, he taught accounting at Rose State College in Midwest City, OK, East Central University in Ada, OK, and as a resident master at UCA. All of this prepared him for his homecoming – a full circle moment – to UAFS as an assistant professor of accounting.

Soon to begin his fourth academic year at UAFS, Stone has started to see his students graduate and return to UAFS in search of future coworkers during the fall Meet the Firms career fair, hosted by Beta Alpha Psi. An event he calls his favorite of the year.

But it’s not just seeing the connections made outside the classroom that gives him joy as a professor.

“I have a stack of business cards with former students’ names that now have a comma CPA after their name. The last message I send out through Blackboard is, ‘don’t forget to send me your new business card.’ Once you’re a CPA, to me, that’s the mark of a professional. I love that collection and adding to it.”

🔗 Read the rest of his story: https://uafs.edu/news/2023-fv-randall-stone.php

07/14/2023

Got a story?? Be sure to share and be featured in the next Bell Tower Magazine!

Let us know what you've been doing since your time at UAFS, Westark, or Fort Smith Junior College by sending a class note for publication in The Bell Tower magazine and our electronic newsletter, Lion Lines. Tell us about your...

job, new degree, family, adventures, new business or new business venture,
or whatever you want to share! We love to get photos too, and we'll happily share them in the magazine and newsletter.

Be sure to include your name, when you attended, and your graduation year or the dates you attended.

Click the link to send us a note-https://uafs.edu/giving/advancement/alumni/class-notes.php

06/30/2023

Hey Lions! We wrap up June with our spotlight on Jordan Ruud, a collection development librarian at the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Boreham Library. Thanks to his work, students, faculty and staff can all benefit from the wide variety of books, magazines, journals, electronic content, movies, and games. Plus, he is the president of the River Valley Equality Center!

As Ruud began to sort out his future as a librarian, he earned his first master’s degree in English from the University of Tulsa in 2009 before moving to Illinois. He earned his second master’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Library and Information Science in 2012. Having familiarity with the area from his time in Tulsa, Ruud applied at UAFS, clicking with the “vibes of this being a place that truly wants to help students succeed.”

In July, Ruud will celebrate 11 years with the university.

During Ruud’s time at UAFS, he has witnessed many changes to the Boreham Library – even being behind some of those changes. Most of which come by way of which collections he has brought to UAFS.

“This fiscal year, we picked up a huge JSTOR package; that’s a huge deal,” he said. “It’s a permanent acquisition, so that’s good. It’s one of the gems in our collection at this point.”

To put into context the significance of this, JSTOR is a digital library with access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and sources, all at the fingertips of UAFS researchers. The expansion brought 3,000 titles and 15 journal collections to UAFS.

Ruud was also behind starting a DVD and games collection. “We’re trying to keep up with what people want, and we try to make our collections relevant and get stuff that people will check out.”

He believes the educational and leisure value “hit all fronts with (the) collections” he’s helped curate at UAFS. Outside of work, Ruud lives his life the same way, with academic and leisure activities.

The self-proclaimed bookworm starts every day by reading a few pages from each book in his stack ranging from a Joyce Carol Oates novel, a book about art, to a philosophy book. But his favorite is a volume of seven books by Marcel Proust titled “In Search of Lost Time” – detailing the author’s life and society.

When he isn’t learning from the pages of his books, Ruud loves watching movies. In fact, he goes to the theater once a week. He is excited to talk to other movie buffs about the upcoming films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” And his love of movies has transformed into a podcast with other UAFS faculty.

Ruud, along with Drs. Nicki Stancil and Bret Bowers work on "The Midnight Symposium," “where (they) critically analyze and sometimes screen horror movies.” No episodes are currently live, but he says the team has several recorded and is excited to share their podcast soon.

But his busy life doesn’t stop there.

Ruud is the president of the River Valley Equality Center, a nonprofit working toward LGBTQ equality. Plus, he is editing a book about censoring LGBTQ materials in programming and libraries.

“It’s really important work,” Ruud said. “If I can play my part in combating censorship, that will have been one of my proudest accomplishments.”

Whether it’s his passion for helping others, sharing his love of literature and film, or standing up for what he believes in, Ruud’s door to Boreham Library office 121 is open to making a difference in someone’s day.

Read more about Jordan here: https://uafs.edu/news/2023-fv-jordan-ruud.php

06/28/2023

We're halfway through the week Lions, and to celebrate let's meet today's - Pam Fout. She recently celebrated 43 years of service at UAFS, all with IT. Fout and her team are behind what keeps programs running!

“Once I started classes, I knew it was something that I was going to enjoy,” Fout beamed. “I always like to solve puzzles, and to me, that’s what programming is. You’ve got a problem that you’re trying to solve, so it’s just like a puzzle; you just figure out how the pieces fit together.”

From 1976 to 1978, she continued putting the pieces together for her educational puzzle. She graduated from Westark with an Associate of Applied Sciences degree – becoming the first in her family to earn a college degree. After a brief stint at Rheem, Fout returned to Westark in April of 1980 and has been here ever since.

“It just speaks to how good a place it is to work,” she said. “Pretty much anybody that knows me knows how long I’ve been here, and they know that I wouldn’t have stayed if I hadn’t liked it.”

During her four decades at UAFS, Fout has participated in two software conversions, now on the third with Workday. She remembers starting at UAFS using keypunch cards to program instructions on computers and witnessing the college become a four-year university – which she took advantage of by earning her bachelor’s degree in IT in 2004.

As she approaches retirement, Fout has turned to genealogy, a pastime she enjoys that helps her put the pieces of her family and past together. One of her most significant accomplishments was tracing her mom’s family back five generations despite the common maiden name of Smith.

She hopes to take some time to travel to the Midwest to visit where her family called home over the generations. But with a chuckle, she says it won’t be until the Workday conversion is complete.

Since 1976, UAFS has been a piece of Fout’s puzzle, and Fout a piece of the UAFS puzzle for nearly as long. She will continue to serve the workplace she loves, and when she retires, it will be with a “sense of satisfaction of accomplishing something that’s going to help somebody else on campus.”

Be sure to read her story here: https://uafs.edu/news/2023-sv-pam-fout.php

06/23/2023

Hey there, Lions! Let's dive into another incredible story that will leave you inspired and hungry for success. Meet Dr. John Bennett, an academic specialist for UAFS TRIO STEM.

From being an Army veteran to proudly representing the Choctaw Nation, Dr. Bennett defied the odds stacked against him. He embarked on his educational journey in 2013, and for a remarkable decade, he remained committed to his studies at Liberty University's online campus. Brace yourselves for this: a bachelor's in religion, a master's in executive leadership, and finally, in 2022, a doctorate in education leadership! 🎓💪

Now, here's the kicker: Dr. Bennett is one of only a few hundred Native American students nationwide to achieve a doctoral degree! Let that sink in, folks. His story will leave you astounded and inspired to chase your dreams, no matter the obstacles.

But here's where it gets really captivating: Dr. Bennett didn't start his journey envisioning a career in higher education. With a tumultuous childhood that saw him attend 23 different schools, he sought stability for himself, his family, and his sister. And became the first in his family to attend college. Education was his rock-solid answer. 🏫✨

Click the link below to dive deeper into Dr. Bennett's awe-inspiring tale of resilience and triumph. Let his story ignite the fire within you to conquer your own challenges and redefine what's possible.

🔗 Link: https://uafs.edu/news/2023-sv-john-bennett.php

06/21/2023

Hey Lions 🦁! Meet Dr. Kendra Abel, she is an education assistant professor for the UAFS School of Education and today's feature! She recently completed her fourth semester teaching at UAFS - a path which she says was anything but ordinary.

Abel had been accepted into the art therapy master’s program at Florida State University, and she deferred that to move to Massachusetts for the one-year Master of Education program at Harvard. From there, her path toward education began to take shape.

After attending Harvard, Abel’s love of teaching blossomed, and a move to Tallahassee for art therapy, she says, didn’t feel quite right. So, she returned home and applied for the doctoral program at OU in Educational Studies to continue where she left off after leaving Harvard.

She completed her required coursework and applied to Teach for America – a prestigious nonprofit organization, that accepts fewer than 15 percent of applicants, with a commitment to helping students in communities that lack resources and schools that are not equipped to meet the needs of all children.

“I taught summer school and created lesson plans and got feedback in real-time,” said Abel. “I was able to develop my skills as an educator in my pursuit of ensuring all students had access to a high-quality education.”

Combining her two passions, art and teaching, Abel became a K-12 art educator throughout Oklahoma. Additionally, she taught art appreciation online as an Oklahoma City Community College adjunct instructor. Little did she know that would prepare her for the effects of a virus that spread around the globe.

Abel was already a seasoned online teacher when the COVID-19 pandemic altered the traditional classroom landscape. She was able to use this time to retool her curriculum for the 2020-2021 academic year and prepare not only her students but herself for a safe return to the classroom.

“In 2017, I was diagnosed with a one-inch hole in my heart,” she explained. Doctors could close the hole by inserting a mesh device, but this wasn’t the only underlying health factor for Abel.

Born with Holt-Oram syndrome, a disorder that causes bone abnormalities in the arms and hands and often leads to heart problems. Not one to let it hold her back, Abel calls it “being differently abled,” which has led to a lifetime of finding ways to adapt.

Abel says she is proud of how she adapted to teaching art online while working for the community college and how that prepared her to do the same with her K-12 students amid the pandemic. Her resilient adaptability led Abel to UAFS in August of 2021.

As a Choctaw citizen, Abel has connected to more Indigenous students through the Native American Student Association and in the classroom at UAFS.

“I always try to tell them it’s not too late to invest in their culture and identity,” Abel said proudly. “It’s something I always try to support.”

UAFS has given Abel more opportunities to share that support of Indigenous people back home. “Thinking about rural communities in Oklahoma, especially those who may be underserved in having that representation of teachers to meet the same demographic of students is important to me. It’s one of the pursuits I’ll eventually take on,” said Abel.

Being a Choctaw educator is something that also connects Abel to her family. Her father worked 40 years for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, even spending some of that time teaching bachelor-level courses to prisoners, and it has become a new passion for Abel to share the stories of Choctaw elders who were previously educators.

“How you support the next generation is incredibly important,” she said. “One of my native beliefs is seven generations: What do you do today, and how is that action going to impact seven generations in the future? It’s that ripple effect to shape hundreds of lives that makes me want to give my best at all times.”

Read more about Dr. Kendra Abel here: