- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Nerd Night to Highlight Donaghey College of STEM

John Hill — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 15:40:06 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host Nerd Night Oct. 19 to highlight the exciting opportunities, research, and activities taking place in the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Nerd Night will take place from 5:30-7 p.m. in the Engineering and Information Technology Building and the Engineering Technology and Applied Sciences Building at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. The free event is open to the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock community and members of the public. Any prospective student who is interested in a Donaghey College of STEM program and their families are especially encouraged to attend to see all the college has to offer. “Nerds have fun too! I am excited for us to display how nerds have fun,” Dean Lawrence Whitman said. “This will be a great night to see lots of different fun things and maybe learn a little along the way. Nerds make the world go around and have fun doing it. We hope this is a long tradition on our campus.” Current and prospective DCSTEM students can learn about opportunities in the college including research opportunities, leadership programs, honors societies, careers, and student organizations. Exhibitors will showcase their opportunities with demonstrations and hands-on activities. Some of the exhibitors that will be on hand for public demonstrations include:

Internet of Science of Things Lab with Raspberry Pi demonstrations and more
Emerging Analytics Center with a Trojan Man augmented reality demo
National Society of Black Engineers with ghost rocket demonstrations
Arkansas Department of Education and Easterseals Arkansas with assistive technology gaming system demo

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Will Provide Free Summer Enrichment Program in Musical Theatre for Junior High School Students with ADE Grant

John Hill — Thu, 17 Mar 2022 12:41:32 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education will host a week-long summer enrichment program for Arkansas junior high school students who want to learn more about musical theater and stage performance. The program is provided at no cost to students who are selected to participate. MT Stage: Expressions! is designed to nurture young, aspiring performers while building self-confidence through teamwork and talent exploration. The new summer enrichment program is funded by a $15,000 Academic Enrichment for the Gifted in Summer (AEGIS) grant from the Arkansas Department of Education. The Jodie Mahony Center is accepting applications for current students in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. Those selected will participate in the week-long summer program that takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 13-17 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “I am particularly excited about Expressions! The program is designed to nurture stage presence and speaking confidence in young talent,” said Dr. Christine Deitz, associate director of the Jodie Mahony Center. “Amazing, talented adults, who are skilled at supporting budding talent, will use contemporary and classic lyrics and poetry to inspire youthful expression. MT Stage: Expressions! is a program that will truly be enjoyed by children who find themselves humming a catchy tune, thinking about lyrics, and who would like to gain confidence in working with others in a performance-based program.” During this five-day program, participants will partner with Expressions! coaches for team-building exercises and engage in workshops focused on lyric performance, stage performance, photography, and song expression. The program concludes with a cast and ensemble showcase performance featuring “Sprechgesang” (speaking lyrics), singing, rapping, and student-photographic works on June 17. From 2017 to 2019, the Jodie Mahony Center held the popular “MT Stage: The Hamilton Experience” summer program, where students produced and performed songs based on “Hamilton,” the popular hip hop Broadway musical. The musical theater summer program is now back with a new program after a two-year absence due to COVID-19. “The Mahony Center has a long history in providing programs to children and adolescents,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center. “We aim to encourage creativity, develop talents, and provide a place where our young people can try out new performance ideas together with caring adults. MT Stage: Expressions! continues our campus and community service. We are delighted to be back to face-to-face programs in 2022!” Participants may fill out an application via this link. Applications are due May 13.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Innovation Hub to Host Women in Cybersecurity Event

John Hill — Wed, 02 Mar 2022 14:22:40 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock Cyber Arena is partnering with the , with support from the Arkansas Department of Education, to host an “Empowering Women in Cybersecurity” event in celebration of International Women’s Day. The event will take place from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 8. Participants can attend virtually or in person at the Innovation Hub, 204 E 4th St., North Little Rock. “With women representing just over 10 percent of the cybersecurity workforce, events like these are so important for young women to see cybersecurity as a viable career choice,” said Sandra Leiterman, managing director of the The keynote speaker is Beth-Anne Bygum, chief security and compliance officer for Acxiom. The event will also feature a panel discussion with women who work in cybersecurity careers and a question-and-answer forum. The panelists include La’Mia Crutchfield, a senior at Bryant High School; Sarah Humphries, a sophomore at Lake Hamilton High School; Alexandria Cade of Acxiom; and Sarah Puolton of BreachBits. Girls in grades 6-12 as well as middle school and high school teachers are invited to join the night’s activities to learn more about cybersecurity careers and women in cybersecurity. Participants will also have the opportunity to choose from several hands-on activities to learn about different careers in the cybersecurity field. Participants may register for the event .

Arkansas Department of Education Awards ��Vlog��ý Little Rock $175K Grant to Create Online Teaching Academy for K-12 Teachers

John Hill — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 19:53:42 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has received a $175,000 grant from the Arkansas Department of Education that will provide funding for a new online teacher academy for K-12 teachers in Arkansas.�� The 2021-2022 Online Teacher Academy Endorsement program will provide training for K-12 teachers in the state to learn more about online teaching and course creation by taking courses through the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Learning System Technology Education program in the School of Education. During the academy, participants will earn 15 hours of graduate credit as well as an endorsement in K-12 online teaching by the Arkansas Department of Education upon completion of a state assessment. The grant will cover tuition, books, and a state assessment for 20 K-12 teachers who are participating in the online teacher academy. Dr. Daryl Tate, assistant professor in the School of Education and coordinator of the Learning System Technology Education program, will serve as the director of the online teacher academy, while Sharonda Lipscomb, instructional design coordinator, will serve as the program administrator. “Educators in the 21st century need to have certain skill sets to be effective in their classes, whether they are teaching hybrid, fully online, or face-to-face classes,” Tate said. “This grant from the Arkansas Department of Education will help us prepare K-12 teachers to deliver quality online learning to their students.” During the academy, teachers will create an online course that they can use in their schools. During the spring showcase on April 9, 2022, teachers will present the design and development elements of their course to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members for review. The participants will also have the opportunity to share ideas and receive feedback from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock eLearning instructional designers.

Sharonda Lipscomb will serve as the program administrator.

“What happened with the pandemic really got people’s attention focused on the quality of online learning,” Tate said. “Some teachers seamlessly moved over to online versions of their courses, while some were not ready for the fast transition caused by the pandemic. People want to be prepared, and teachers who complete this academy will enhance their online teaching and course development skills.” Teachers participating in the online teaching academy also have opportunities for further learning. Participants who complete the academy will earn the graduate certificate in Learning Systems Technology Education with the completion of one more course. They may also earn a master’s degree in education with the completion of six courses after the graduate certificate. For more information, contact Dr. Tate at datate@ualr.edu or visit the Learning Systems Technology Education program website.��

Hinton receives AGATE Curriculum Award for gifted and talented education unit

John Hill — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 16:20:53 +0000

A ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student has been honored for her work in creating an exceptional curriculum unit for gifted and talented education. Krista Hinton, a graduate student in gifted and talented education at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as well as the K-12 gifted and talented coordinator for Lavaca School District, received an AGATE Curriculum Award. The AGATE Curriculum Award highlights the importance of differentiated curriculum and recognizes outstanding curriculum units. An award of $500 is presented to the educator’s gifted and talented program. “The AGATE Curriculum Award, to me, is the pinnacle of academic achievement,” Hinton said. “To be recognized on a state level for an original unit is an honor that very few teachers have the privilege to experience. The award will always hold a special place in my heart.”�� Hinton developed her unit as part of the Arkansas Declaration of Learning program, a partnership between the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Reception Rooms in Washington, D.C. and the Arkansas Department of Education. The program works collaboratively with Arkansas teachers and school librarians teaching 7th-12th grade students in the fields of art, English language arts, and social studies to develop innovative curricula that bring history to life and share the importance of civic engagement with students. Hinton was given the opportunity to select objects for her unit from the Arkansas Central Library System, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms. “All created units will be distributed nationwide,” Hinton said. “Students all across the country will have the opportunity to learn about my unit and the historical objects I selected as well as learn about Arkansas’s rich history and contributions to the narrative of our country. The goal of the program and my unit was to develop lessons that would teach students the value of objects from our nation’s historical past and create civic engagement opportunities that promoted diplomacy skills and civic responsibility.” Hinton’s curriculum unit for seventh- and eighth-grade students in the Gifted Education Program took an in-depth look at the essential question, “In what ways does the term community conceal as much as it reveals about society?” The unit of study helps students understand empathy and compassion for their community members and society as a whole. Students utilized artistic impression to analyze how social media platforms have influenced the idea of community and how those influences have impacted attitudes towards age and gender. They also demonstrated understanding by creating civic-engagement projects that identify, describe, and articulate what the term community means to their lives and the lives of those around them. Additionally, they expressed how negativity in social media affected feelings and attitudes. “The ultimate goal of the unit is to provide students with the tools necessary to positively impact their home lives, classroom communities, and the district as a whole, as well as the community at large,” said Dr. Tim Smithey, director of gifted and talented education at Springdale Public Schools and AGATE Awards chair. The participating students also used surveys and data to assess the success of the project. In addition, the students made suggestions to enhance future learning on the topic. Due to the efforts of the students, Lavaca School District added two new programs to the Gifted Education Program. The “Word Worms” program pairs kindergarten students with third- and fourth-grade students to improve reading skills. Meanwhile, in the “Uplifters” program, seventh- and eighth-grade students spend one day a week working with students in the district’s Special Education Program to promote social skills and positive interactions. “My most memorable experience from the unit was watching the students brainstorm ways that they could affect changes within their school that would have a permanent impact on the Gifted and Talented program and then implement their ideas,” Hinton said. “My desire for the lessons was to empower students to make a difference where they can and understand that their voices matter to all around them.” Hinton is also looking forward to implementing the final part of the unit that had to be postponed due to COVID-19. In “The Positivity Project,” students will create a social media campaign and poster project to encourage people to take a pledge to only post positive and encouraging comments, pictures, ideas, and quotes across all forms of social media they use. The district also plans to hold a social media fair that would include discussions on the safe use of social media, mentoring, and a gaming tournament. “I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to be taught by the instructors from the Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” Hinton said. “Through the guidance of Dr. Ann Robinson and Dr. Christine Deitz, I have refined my teaching skills, learned new teaching techniques, and gained a deeper appreciation for the amazing privilege it is to be a teacher of gifted and talented students.” Hinton’s professors at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock agree that Hinton has a bright future ahead of her. “She is a natural leader in the field of gifted education,” said Deitz, assistant director of the Jodie Mahony Center. “Krista was elected to the AGATE Nominations Committee. Beginning July 1, Krista will assist the board in spotting leadership talent among Arkansas’s educators. As she is finishing her GT licensure with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, she is beginning her National Board Teacher Certification in Exceptional Needs/Gifted. I’m looking forward to working with her as she seeks this national credential.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Cyber Gym dispatched in 80+ high schools in Arkansas

John Hill — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 18:02:10 +0000

More than 450 students across over 80 high schools in Arkansas are learning about the in-demand field of cybersecurity through the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s .�� “Cybersecurity learning is incorporated as a pathway in the state’s Computer Science initiative,” said Philip Huff, assistant professor of computer science and cybersecurity. “We provide an interactive environment for students to both walk through various cyber attacks and learn how to defend systems. It serves to both engage students in what they are learning and hopefully interest them in learning more. Our student researchers are very creative, which makes the workouts even more engaging. They aren’t just looking through logs. We have monkeys, snakes, detectives, and old Rick Astley songs to make the learning a little more fun.” The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Cyber Gym, which provides cybersecurity education in the cloud, began offering a cybersecurity curriculum that is offered at no cost to schools and students. The Cyber Gym was developed this year as part of a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Office of Computer Science, the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative’s Virtual Arkansas division, and the University of Central Arkansas. “This effort directly supports the governor’s programs for computer science and cybersecurity education. We’re proud the Cyber Gym is a teaching tool that is being used so effectively by high school students in Arkansas,” said Dr. Albert Baker, interim chair of the Department of Computer Science. “The level of usage of the Cyber Gym in this initial semester of use is a reflection of the excellent quality of the cloud-based software development that has been done by Philip and his team. The launch has been about as flawless as a software system launch can be.” The curriculum supports teachers and students through the increasingly rigorous and relevant cybersecurity concepts, which will lead to more of the state’s students being prepared for industry recognized certifications and to enter post-secondary cybersecurity programs. “Teachers have been very complementary and also helpful in making the Cyber Gym better,” Huff said. “The teacher of the largest virtual class with 200 students told us her students have really become engaged in cybersecurity. We don’t interact directly with the students, but I do get feedback when I’m out and someone sees the Cyber Gym shirt. I was able to recruit a student while I was picking up dinner when they noticed Cyber Gym on my facemask.”�� The Cyber Gym is made possible through a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education and Google as well as through a grant funded by the National Science Foundation. A grant from Google for the online lab environment gives the university the ability to run 2,000 distinct classroom labs a month for the 2020-2021 school year. The Cyber Gym utilizes a safe and highly accessible cloud environment that deploys workouts for students to build their skills in cybersecurity applications.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students demonstrate the university’s cloud-based cybersecurity lab, the Cyber Gym. Photo by Ben Krain.

“While the students can learn a lot of concrete skills, such as basic cryptography or the mechanics of a DoS attack, I think the main takeaway is an enhanced awareness of cyber threats and the steps the individual can take to avoid those threats,” said Samuel Willis, a graduate student in computer science from Bryant. “With the firsthand experience offered by the workouts, we hope that students will develop a more intuitive understanding of cybersecurity principles.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student researchers are gaining valuable experience and cybersecurity skills by creating the lessons and workouts the high school students take in the Cyber Gym. “I have learned a lot by working in the Cyber Gym,” said Andrew Bomberger, a senior computer science major from Hot Springs. “Starting out, I had limited knowledge and was lacking in critical thinking skills. Since then, I’ve noticed an improvement in almost all skill sets, such as a better understanding of programming, security, and even more confidence! You’ve heard the saying, ‘Experience is the best teacher?’ I feel I am a direct testament to that.” In the Cyber Gym, Arkansas’s junior high and high school students are learning essential cybersecurity skills like programming, data analysis, cryptography, and how to defend against cyber attacks using popular tools like IDA, Autopsy, and Nessus. Following the completion of their lessons, the students put these skills to the test with workouts created by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students, which are often based on cybersecurity competitions they’ve competed in. “They can expect to experience what a ransomware or phishing attack will look like and the general safety practices to follow up to help combat these attacks,” Bomberger said. “Since almost everything is tied to a computer nowadays, it’s imperative that users of all ages know how to protect themselves. The critical thinking skills could also expand past the digital realm as well.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock holds virtual AP Summer Institute for 700 teachers

John Hill — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:33:43 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock held its first fully online Advanced Placement Summer Institute in June and July for more than 700 AP teachers.�� The virtual AP Summer Institute is a collaboration between the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock eLearning office, the Arkansas Department of Education, and College Board, an educational nonprofit organization that developed AP courses and examinations. “When we were presented with a choice to go online instead of canceling, we wanted to maintain our commitment to the Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas teachers, and students,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center. “The online environment is an opportunity to serve APSI participants innovatively with exciting, dynamic professional development.” Currently in its 26th year, the AP Summer Institute allows AP teachers to attend summer workshops in 24 areas of advancement placement. It was established in 1994 to provide AP teachers with the content-focused professional development they need to teach AP courses. Thanks to a grant from the Arkansas Department of Education, a majority of participating teachers from Arkansas attend the institute for free. “This is one of the best professional developments I’ve ever attended,” said Vera Rideout, a sixth-grade teacher at Coleman Intermediate School. “I am so thankful for this opportunity! Thank you so very much for opening this window of opportunity that I previously just gazed out.” While the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down many educational workshops and summer camps, professors and educational proponents were determined to keep the workshop going for the nearly 700 teachers who signed up. “It took a small army to move a professional development institute this far-reaching to an online environment,” Robinson said. “��Vlog��ý Little Rock has extensive experience with online courses and online professional development. The university is supported by a well-developed tech support infrastructure and a widely used online learning management system. We also had six expert course assistants who worked with the faculty members to get their course shells organized and the whole Jodie Mahony team supporting them.”�� At a time when providing quality education for students is more important than ever, Arkansas teachers were glad for the professional development experience. “Seven years ago, when I was a graduate student in secondary education at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, I had the opportunity to attend APSI as a pre-service teacher. APSI was hands-down the best training that I had to prepare me for teaching in the high school art classroom,” said Amanda Heinbockel, an AP studio art and design teacher at Central High School. “I was able to network with art teachers from around the state and country. The entire week was structured to model the student experience of an AP Studio Art course. The instructor, Trish Winnard, modeled excellent classroom management techniques that I used in my first semester teaching that fall. It was amazing to have a week of hands-on experiences so that I could understand how to create a rich, positive learning experience for my students. I have since attended three additional APSI training, and they have all consistently been excellent experiences.” In the upper right photo, staff members at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education celebrated the 25 anniversary of the Advanced Placement Summer Institute in 2019. Photo by Ben Krain.

��Vlog��ý Little to develop free cybersecurity curriculum for Arkansas high school students through new partnership with Arkansas Department of Education

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 18:28:49 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will help create a free cybersecurity curriculum for Arkansas high school students as part of a new partnership announced Dec. 9 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s College of Engineering and Information Technology.�� The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) Office of Computer Science will partner with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative’s Virtual Arkansas division, and the University of Central Arkansas to develop a three-year cybersecurity curriculum and course pathway. This curriculum, which is set to begin in the 2020-21 school year, will support teachers and students through increasingly rigorous and relevant cybersecurity concepts leading to more Arkansas students being prepared for industry recognized certifications and to enter post-secondary cybersecurity programs. To support this partnership, ADE is providing $94,500. The grant is part of Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s coding initiative, which is funded with a $2.5 million annual commitment by the Arkansas State Legislature. “Once again, Arkansas’s educational institutions are demonstrating their commitment to providing our students with high quality educational opportunities that will prepare them for the job market they will soon be entering into,” Gov. Hutchinson said. “As our state moves forward in our computer science and computing initiative, we will remain focused on preparing our students for the high paying and open career opportunities that are out there like those in cybersecurity.” Arch Ford Education Service cooperative will subgrant $25,000 to the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Computer Science and the Emerging Analytics Center to facilitate CyberGym existing module expansion and refinement and new module development as approved by the ADE Office of Computer Science.�� Vlog��ý Little Rock’s new CyberGym, an education and simulation model laboratory for cybersecurity learning hosted on the cloud, will provide educational materials for the first two years of the high school cybersecurity classes. The third-year curriculum will be provided by UCA’s Cyber Range. “The CyberGym has been developed by the faculty in computer science along with the team in the Emerging Analytics Center as a set of modules on a broad range of cybersecurity concepts that school teachers and students can then access to enhance their classroom experience,” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale said. “With our partners here today, we are providing for all Arkansas K-12 schools a curriculum pipeline in cybersecurity that will provide the skills students need to be prepared for industry recognized certifications and to be prepared to enter post-secondary cybersecurity programs. Preparing Arkansas students for the jobs of tomorrow provides unlimited pathways for their futures.”

��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members and students now work in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s CyberGym. Photo by Ben Krain.

Arch Ford will subgrant an additional $25,000 to the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Department of Computer Science and the Emerging Analytics Center to provide payments to qualified work-study students to provide technical support and content development to Arkansas educators accessing the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock CyberGym system. Dr. Albert Baker, interim chair of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Department of Computer Science, said that more cybersecurity students are needed to fill the state’s growing demand for this high-paying field. Average starting salaries for cybersecurity jobs run from $90,000 to $125,000. With nearly 5,000 cybersecurity jobs in Arkansas, there are more than 1,000 that remain unfilled, Baker said. The new cybersecurity curriculum will be comprised of at least three courses that will provide students instruction in fundamental computer science; introductory through advanced cyber security concepts; online cybersecurity CyberGym modules using the power of Google’s cloud computing services; cybersecurity analyst and specialist tools; and relevant industry identified skills and knowledge expected in the next generation of cybersecurity professionals.�� These courses will be aligned to the ADE Information Security, ADE Advanced Information Security, and National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) standards and will support the students completing the pathway in being prepared to take and pass at least one industry recognized higher level cyber security certification (I.E., CompTIA’s Networking Plus, CompTIA’s Security Plus, CompTIA CySA+) and other interim certifications (I.E., CompTIA’s A+, Microsoft Technology Associate certifications) as deemed appropriate and approved by the Arkansas Department of Education. The courses will also be aligned to the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework,a national-focused resource that categorizes and describes cybersecurity work. “The greatest cyber-threat to national security is K-12 education,” said Kevin Nolten, director of Academic Outreach for the Cyber Innovation Center and the National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center. “Our responsibility as a state and as educators is to align both standards and curricula to cyber-based workforce roles to ensure that students are graduating high school with not only an awareness of cyber but the knowledge, skills and abilities to close the workforce gap that exists in cyber.”�� The ADE Office of Computer Science will collaborate with Virtual Arkansas and an ADE Office of Computer Science approved team of curriculum writers to develop the curriculum, which will include all the resources needed for a beginning computer science teacher to appropriately instruct students in this high-quality content by Aug. 1, 2020.�� Virtual Arkansas will assign a teacher and provide all courses developed under this agreement through its digital delivery platform beginning in the 2020-21 school year. Virtual Arkansas will also provide this curriculum for all courses in “content only” format at no charge to the school, the teachers, or the students. Virtual Arkansas will update the virtually delivered and “content only” curriculum as necessary in accordance with the ADE Information Security and NICE standards.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock names interim vice chancellor of student affairs

Janea Snyder — Tue, 02 Jul 2019 20:17:11 +0000

Dr. William “Cody” Decker has been named interim vice chancellor of student affairs at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.�� Decker, 35, of Little Rock, will fill the post to be vacated by Mark Allen Poisel on Aug. 8 after a two-year tenure. Decker will serve a one-year term while the university conducts a national search for a permanent vice chancellor. In the new post, Decker will oversee all units that work with student affairs, including recruitment, admissions, financial aid, and the overall student experience.�� In addition, Decker will continue leading the Office of Institutional Research and Analytics as associate provost and chief data officer. That office facilitates the collection, analysis, and interpretation of institutional data to support planning, decision making, and regulatory reporting at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.�� “Dr. Decker has been instrumental in building data analytic capabilities at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and will bring his leadership and technical skillset to Student Affairs,” said Dr. Andrew Rogerson, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock chancellor. Decker serves on several strategic committees, including the Higher Learning Commission Accreditation Steering Team, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, University Enrollment Committee, University Retention Committee, and the Quality Initiative Task Force. He also serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Information Science.�� Decker joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock�� in 2015 as director of Institutional Research and Analytics. He was promoted in 2018 to associate provost and named the university’s first chief data officer. Prior to joining ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Decker worked as the assistant commissioner of education and chief information officer at the Arkansas Department of Education, network project manager in research and technology at Dawson Education Cooperative, and technical support manager at Environmental and Spatial Technology, Inc. (EAST).�� He has a doctorate in philosophy in integrated computing, a Master of Science degree in information quality, and a Bachelor of Science degree in information science, all from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Photo of Dr. William “Cody” Decker by Benjamin Krain

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to host ‘Hamilton’-inspired student theater showcase

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 15:00:42 +0000

There’s good news for musical theater enthusiasts who can’t get enough of the “ten-dollar-Founding-Father.”�� The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host a student showcase featuring music inspired by the breakout Broadway hit “Hamilton” on Friday, June 21. Thirty-two middle school students from across the state will show off their stage and musical theater skills by performing songs adapted from “Hamilton” at 2 p.m. June 21 in the University Theatre in the Center for Performing Arts on the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock campus. The event is free and open to the public with refreshments immediately following the performance. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Jodie Mahony Center for Gifted Education is offering the musical theatre program, “MT Stage: The Hamilton Experience,” June 17-21 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock for students in grades 7-9. During the program, students focus on performance and stagecraft and explore the historical, societal, and cultural themes behind “Hamilton.” In stagecraft, students will learn the technical aspects of a show from start to finish – including lighting, sound, and set construction. Students in the performance track will work with a musical director and choreographer. In the final showcase, students will perform selected scenes from “Hamilton” and have a talk-back session with audience members about their program experience. “Hamilton is still the hottest ticket on Broadway,” said Dr. Christine Deitz, associate director of the Jodie Mahoney Center for Gifted Education at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “It has contemporary themes that children can identify with. It has all the elements of a great performance and a message of compassion and perseverance with an overarching emphasis on citizenship.” The camp is funded by an Arkansas Department of Education Academic Enrichment for the Gifted in the Summer (AEGIS) grant. “The Mahony Center is committed to serving gifted children and youth through campus-based programming. MT Stage: The Hamilton Experience is a great example of what can be done in an ��intensive week with excited kids, inspiring teachers, and dedicated leadership,” said Dr. Ann Robinson, director of the Jodie Mahony Center. For more information, contact the Jodie Mahony Center at 501-569-3410.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to Host Nerd Night to Highlight Donaghey College of STEM

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Will Provide Free Summer Enrichment Program in Musical Theatre for Junior High School Students with ADE Grant

����Vlog��ý Little Rock, Innovation Hub to Host Women in Cybersecurity Event

Arkansas Department of Education Awards ����Vlog��ý Little Rock $175K Grant to Create Online Teaching Academy for K-12 Teachers

Hinton receives AGATE Curriculum Award for gifted and talented education unit

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Cyber Gym dispatched in 80+ high schools in Arkansas

����Vlog��ý Little Rock holds virtual AP Summer Institute for 700 teachers

����Vlog��ý Little to develop free cybersecurity curriculum for Arkansas high school students through new partnership with Arkansas Department of Education

����Vlog��ý Little Rock names interim vice chancellor of student affairs

����Vlog��ý Little Rock to host ‘Hamilton’-inspired student theater showcase