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

COSMOS Researchers Win Best Paper Award for Research into Dynamics of COVID-19 Misinformation Themes

John Hill — Fri, 25 Feb 2022 14:58:40 +0000

Researchers at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Collaboratorium for Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies () won the Best Paper Award for their paper studying the dynamics of COVID-19 misinformation themes using topic streams. The researchers received the award from the Seventh International Conference on held in Nice, France. The researchers used computational techniques to help reveal the dynamics of COVID-19 misinformation themes that assist in forecasting and proactive policy making. The paper’s authors include Thomas Marcoux, a doctoral student from Orléans, France, Dr. Esther Mead, who graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2020 with a Ph.D. in computer and information science and is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at COSMOS, and Dr. Nitin Agarwal, Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy endowed chair, distinguished professor of information science, and the founding director of COSMOS. “The paper proposes a methodology to visualize the evolution of misinformation narratives over time,” Marcoux said. “While it relies on public data and is not intrusive, my hope is that we can progressively reduce the need for such tools. I hope the study can shed some light on the misinformation phenomenon, and help readers get a better grasp of the complexity of online narratives.” The research is intended to help sociologists, journalists, and politicians understand the movements of online trends involving misinformation to help report information, make decisions, and set policies. “It is an honor to have been able to work alongside such great researchers on this very important work that illustrates the fact that misinformation stories can be identified on social media and tracked and visualized over time,” Mead said. “This capability can be immediately used by social media administrators, governmental organizations, other researchers, and any other collaborative effort towards stemming the misinformation problem.” The research was supported by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, National Science Foundation, Australian DSTO, Entergy, and Arkansas Research Alliance. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding organizations. The researchers gratefully acknowledge the support.

‘History Alive, Virtually’ Project Provides Online Education Materials for Arkansas’s K-12 Teachers

John Hill — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 20:32:45 +0000

Ever since COVID-19 started, schools across the country have pivoted back and forth between in-person and virtual learning, leaving educators with a need to find reliable online teaching resources for their students. The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture (CAHC) came up with a solution for this problem by launching the “!” project, a curated set of collections created especially for use by K-12 teachers in Arkansas and their students. Since the project’s launch on July 1, 2021, the website has been visited more than 3,000 times. “K-12 teachers have had to adapt quickly to technology that allows them to teach students remotely in the time of COVID-19,” said Dr. Deborah Baldwin, associate provost and CAHC director. “This project illustrates how research materials can be made accessible in a manner that allows scholars, students, and community members to explore an array of research questions and to illustrate how archives can be used to really enliven a classroom. It’s been a good experience for us, and I think a really helpful product for teachers.” The Center for Arkansas History and Culture has curated digitized primary sources and arranged them into 10 themed virtual collections, which contain educational exercises that can be used in face-to-face, virtual, or hybrid classrooms. Every exercise highlights a historical issue that is investigated through the analysis of a primary source or a small set of primary sources. The exercises are complete activities aligned with Arkansas Social Studies Standards and include short introductory sections, links to additional resources, and a set of downloadable handouts for use in the classroom. Additionally, a comprehensive list of CAHC’s digitized primary sources has been compiled and made searchable for easy reference. The project also included a workshop for educators, a contribution of additional digitized items to the public catalog, and a series of curriculum guides designed to meet state social studies frameworks. Baldwin served as the project’s principal investigator, while Laura McClellan, CAHC assistant director, served as the project manager. Additional staff who worked on the project include Dr. Marta Cieslak, a humanities scholar who curated sources and created educational activities; Elise Tanner, director of digital projects and initiatives at CAHC who designed and developed the project’s website; and Cody Besett, student success archivist, who oversaw the creation of a comprehensive list of digitized primary sources and supervised a team of student researchers. The student researchers who contributed toward the project include graduate assistants Lauren Fontaine, A.J. Box, Brittany Fugate, and Harrison Mitchell, as well as Scott Bradshaw, an undergraduate intern. Arkansas teachers were also involved in the creation of “History Alive, Virtually!” CAHC staff worked with a teacher advisory group that was involved in every step of the project – from reviewing the grant application to helping choose themes and documents for the project’s collections to testing out educational materials. “Everything was consolidated with teachers,” Cieslak said. “The most helpful feedback we received is that the teachers would take the exercises we designed into the classroom and have a test run with their students. It was wonderful to hear that the students had a positive experience with our exercises. The website offers 56 different exercises that showcase a variety of sources and address various levels of expertise ranging from history students to seasoned historians interested in deepening their knowledge.” The project is supported by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council, which is funded through the CARES Act for COVID-19 relief and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock to Hold Covid-19 Pfizer Booster Shot Clinic Oct. 19

John Hill — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 12:51:34 +0000

��Vlog��ý Little Rock will offer its first Covid-19 booster shot clinic for Pfizer’s vaccine on Tuesday, Oct. 19. In partnership with Don’s Pharmacy, the booster clinic will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Donaghey Student Center Ledbetter Hall A and B. Booster shots will be given for up to 300 people. . Clinic participants should bring a photocopy of the front of their insurance card, an immunization consent form, and the original Covid-19 vaccination card. Those who are eligible for a booster shot received a Pfizer vaccine by April 19 and are in one of the following categories: 65 years or older, 18+ with an underlying medical condition, 18+ who work in high-risk settings, or 18+ who live in high-risk settings. All ��Vlog��ý Little Rock employees meet the category of those who are 18+ and working in high-risk settings. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students should visit this website to determine their eligibility for the booster shot. People who received a Covid-19 vaccination from Moderna or Johnson & Johnson are not eligible for a booster shot during this clinic. Additional booster shot clinics will be offered in the future. Additional booster clinics will be offered in the future. You can visit the Arkansas Department of Health website to find other available locations for a Covid-19 vaccine booster shot. Visit ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Health Services for more information.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Announces Plans and Preparations for Fall

John Hill — Thu, 01 Apr 2021 14:30:44 +0000

��Vlog��ý Little Rock is preparing to return to in-person and on-campus activity for the Fall 2021 semester. “��Vlog��ý Little Rock followed the guidance of state and federal officials to operate the campus throughout the pandemic safely, and will continue to do so going forward. With the availability of vaccines and a significant reduction in the COVID-19 cases on-campus and in Arkansas, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is preparing to return to more traditional campus operations in fall 2021,” said Chancellor Christina Drale. The university is currently operating in Phase 3 of its COVID-19 Campus Guide, and will transition to Phase 4, resumption of normal campus operations, on Aug. 2, 2021. The easing of some pandemic restrictions has already started with Phase 3. Currently, university offices are open for face-to-face business, and recently, event capacities increased from 10 to 25 participants. University vice chancellors may approve larger event capacities after a review of safety protocols. Phase 4 continues with enhanced sanitation efforts but eases social distancing restrictions and removes limits on event sizes. While ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will continue to offer online and hybrid classes in the fall semester, the mix of face-to-face, online and hybrid courses will be similar to pre-pandemic offerings. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will also resume face-to-face residential life activities. Though most social distancing requirements will be removed in Phase 4, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Office of Campus Living will continue its one student per bedroom policy for fall 2021 as a service to on-campus residents. The Coronavirus Emergency Response Team and the Provost’s Academic COVID-19 Taskforce will continue to monitor the situation and help guide the university’s plans for a safe and high-quality educational experience for our students. Learn more about ��Vlog��ý Little Rock at and coronavirus plans at /coronavirus.

Crisp uses Mindful Self-Compassion to help people de-stress during the pandemic

John Hill — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 20:44:05 +0000

Dr. Catherine Crisp, an associate professor of social work at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, is using her training in mindful self-compassion to help fellow educators reduce the stress in their lives brought on by a global pandemic. Crisp, who happens to be the only mindful self-compassion trained teacher in Arkansas, has been leading a weekly meditation group for her co-workers at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock during the 2020-21 school year. Dr. Peggy Scranton, a professor of political science who is a mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher, and Dr. Dent Gitchel Jr., an associate professor of rehabilitation counseling who is a compassion cultivation training teacher, facilitate the group that meets for 30 minutes at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and usually attracts 5-10 people. “What’s been so remarkable about teaching with them is that we are each trained in a different form of meditation,” Crisp said. “We spend the first five minutes inviting people to get settled in, which for me means getting the fidgetiness out of my body and finding a place of stillness. We gently lead people into the practice of meditation. I think of it as being a slow walk toward the beach. After five minutes, we do a more formal practice that lasts about 20-25 minutes. When the meditation is over, we invite people to check in or ask how the experience was for them.” For those who aren’t familiar with the meditative style of mindful self-compassion, it’s a question that Crisp gets asked often enough. “Mindful self-compassion consists of treating yourself like a cherished friend, and there are three components,” Crisp said. “The first is mindfulness which is paying attention to the present moment without attempting to change it. The second is common humanity which is a sense of connection to other people. And the third is self-kindness, which is being kind to ourselves.” Dr. Erin Finzer, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, invited Crisp to start the group as a way to improve employee wellness. “People who work in higher education are feeling a lot of pressure to both be there for their students and be there for their families,” Crisp said. “We are having a similar experience as our students. We can’t get out in the community. A lot of relationships with family and friends have been suspended. We are also trying to be there to support our students and being asked to innovate in our classes.” As a college professor, Crisp has found that practicing mindful self-compassion has made her a better teacher who can relate more with her students. “It starts with being compassionate to myself and sending that energy out into the world,” Crisp said. “When I am kinder to myself, I am kinder to those around me. For the first time this semester, I tried something that I called ‘the seven days of grace’ for my students. Some people need a hard deadline, and some people need a soft deadline. The late penalties for my students don’t’ start until the seven days of grace have finished which is seven days after the due date.” Crisp began meditating about 12 years ago and practicing mindful self-compassion about five years ago after unexpectedly experiencing a significant hearing loss in her right ear. “Five months after my diagnosis, I went to the first workshop I’ve ever attended on mindful self-compassion, and I was led to some exercises that immediately softened my response to my hearing loss and gave me permission to grieve,” she said. Crisp said that practicing mindful self-compassion has had a huge impact on her life, leading her to live a happy and healthier life. “Mindful self-compassion had an effect on this life-changing, but not life-threatening, health issue I was experiencing,” Crisp said. “It can be applied to a lot of other things, not just the big stuff but something as simple as getting frustrated at the person in front of me in the grocery store line. I start practicing mindful self-compassion, and my body softens and I relax and suddenly the situation is not as stressful as it was.” After seeing the positive results mindful self-compassion brought to her life, Crisp undertook the training to become a teacher in the technique during a sabbatical in 2018. “This is where I will give extraordinary credit to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock since I applied to do this as my sabbatical,” Crisp said. “I drove to New Mexico to take the class, and I did the teacher training in a Boston suburb in 2018. Then I offered the class for free to a class of 12-14 women, most of whom were employed by MidSouth.” If you’d like to learn more about mindful self-compassion, Crisp is hosting an from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24, via Zoom. The workshop costs $10 for community members, $15 for those earning three hours of continuing education credits, and is free for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock social work and gerontology students. All funds raised will be donated to the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Association of Black Social Workers.

Little Rock Congregations Study shows impact of COVID-19 on religious institutions

John Hill — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 23:01:44 +0000

The results of the (LRCS), a research project based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, shows that COVID-19 had a major impact on religious institutions in Little Rock. The study is led by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors Rebecca Glazier, Gerald Driskill, and Kirk Leach, in consultation with the project’s Clergy Advisory Board, a group of eight clergy members in Little Rock who advise the Little Rock Congregations Study. The LRCS researchers, including a class of nine students, worked with 35 diverse congregations in Little Rock to survey nearly 2,300 church members in October 2020. The surveys included questions about congregation priorities, physical, mental, and spiritual health, and community issues. The Little Rock Congregations Study research team and the Clinton School of Public Service will host three facilitated dialogues this month on the issues survey participants identified as the most important: education (Feb. 11), healthcare (Feb. 18), and marriage and family (Feb. 25). The Covid-19 pandemic was the most common reason provided for why respondents had changed their attendance behavior. Most (71.88%) of the respondents are attending worship services about as often as they were a year ago before Covid-19, but 21 percent say that they are attending less often and nearly 7 percent say that they are attending more often. “Some people are attending more because the pandemic has sparked a greater need for spiritual connection, but many more people are attending less because the pandemic has reduced service times, made in-person services more difficult, or made online services the only option, which some find less appealing,” Glazier said. Churches also found creative solutions, in addition to online services, to hold worship services during the pandemic. Second Baptist Church Downtown, for example, began holding outdoor services at Lake Nixon, where the church hosts a summer camp and preschool. Meanwhile, City of Refuge Community Church held curbside communion in its parking lot, where members could drive up, receive communion and a prayer, and then drive home. “We married the sacred with safety,” Pastor Neal Scroggins said. “Using what the culture had shifted to in order to survive financially, our local churches used the same principle to survive spiritually. It’s the simple things that stand out. Driving a car to our church parking lot, while remaining physically distant, our masked and gloved servers were able to accomplish convenience, community, connection and communion.” At a time when many people are suffering from mental health issues because of the pandemic, the study also found that having a close connection with a worship community and providing service is associated with better mental health. Those congregation members with better mental health also attend worship services more often, have warmer feelings about their congregation, give more hours of service to their community, and give more hours of service to their congregation. Increased spiritually has positive benefits for congregations and also for communities. About 1/3 of the respondents are more deeply spiritual, compared to the rest of the sample. These are people who feel closer to God today than they did a year ago, who regularly feel thankful for their blessings, who regularly experience God’s love, and who often feel a deep sense of spiritual peace. “These people are significantly more likely to provide service to their congregation and to attend worship services, a finding we would expect,” Glazier said. “But their spirituality also has positive consequences for the broader community. Deeply spiritual respondents are also more likely to provide service to the community, believe they can make a difference in their community, and be engaged in talking about and helping to solve community issues.”

Race and Religion in Little Rock

Over the past eight years, race relations have increased in importance as a community issue for the clergy in Little Rock. In 2020, 88 percent of responding clergy leaders agree or strongly agree that Little Rock has a problem with racial division, but the vast majority also believes that things will get better. A lower number of congregation members, 77 percent, agree or strongly agree that Little Rock has a problem with racial division. “Talking about issues of race can be difficult, especially in a city like Little Rock, with a living history of racial injustice, but religious leaders have the moral authority to lead these difficult conversations,” Glazier said. “More than any other community issue, people believe their places of worship should be involved in helping to address the issue of race relations.” The study also showed that a majority of church members want their congregations to help solve issues within the community. The top issues that members want their congregations to solve include: race (90%), foster care (86%), marriage/family (85%), prison (81%), inequality (80.5%), health (74.5%), homelessness (67.5%), and crime (60%).

Community Engagement

Churches were found to adapt their ongoing mission work to meet the new needs of the community during COVID-19. St. James United Methodist Church, for example, shifted meals with the homeless to go-to boxes, changed the on-site food pantry to a drive-thru model, brought meals to medical staff at local hospitals, and sewed thousands of facemasks to donate. “There’s a hunger in people to find ways to make a practical difference with their faith,” Reverend Carness Vaughan said. “As our people are getting more deeply connected with Christ, they’re searching for that outlet to exhibit their faith and to live out their faith.” Likewise, the Madina Institute also started a Community Mask Campaign to financially support women who have lost jobs during the pandemic by giving them sewing machines to help stitch facemasks and donating masks to those in need. “Now we are not only helping Muslims and immigrant communities, but we are also providing face masks to several faith communities, nursing homes, and churches whose congregations primarily consist of colored, marginalized or low-income communities in Central Arkansas,” said Sophia Said, founder of the Madina Institute. Jade McCain, a senior political science major from Poplar Bluff, Missouri, was a student researcher working on the 2020 LRCS as part of a class on Religion and Community Engagement, taught by Glazier. As part of the course, Jade McCain researched the differences between religious minorities and majorities in Little Rock. Black Protestant, Muslim, and Jewish congregations are classified as religious minorities, while Mormon, Mainline Protestant, Catholic, and Evangelical congregations are classified as majorities. “Some of my major findings were that the clergy messages from religious minority congregations were focused more on political advocacy and social action, while the clergy messages from religious majority congregations were more focused on the importance of marriage and family,” McCain said. “Religious minority clergy leaders are also more focused on urging members to vote, while religious majority clergy leaders are focused on personal spiritual growth. My overall findings concluded that religious minorities in Little Rock have more progressive views like advocacy while religious majorities in Little Rock are more traditional views like family.” The Little Rock Congregations Study research team is working with a practicum team of five students from the Clinton School of Public Service this spring to host three facilitated dialogues for the community on the issues survey participants identified as the most important: education (Feb. 11), healthcare (Feb. 18), and marriage and family (Feb. 25). These dialogues will bring together congregations and nonprofits to talk about these important community issues and help make connections for collaboration. The discussions will be held virtually, and those interested can. The LRCS Facilitated Dialogue Series will take place: Thursday, Feb. 11, 6-8 p.m., Education Thursday, Feb. 18, 6-8 p.m., Healthcare Thursday, Feb. 25, 6-8 p.m., Marriage and Family For more information about the LRCS, visit or contact Glazier, at raglazier@ualr.edu. The full 2020 Little Rock Congregations Study Executive Report is available .

��Vlog��ý Little Rock waives application fees to enable more students to apply for college

John Hill — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 17:34:44 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has waived its student application fee and initiated other efforts to ease the financial burden for incoming college students and their families. “At ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, we are always looking for ways to enhance opportunity for prospective students,” Chancellor Christina Drale said. “We are easing some of the financial burden brought on by COVID-19 to help incoming students and their families more easily begin their college careers at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock will waive the $40 application fee when students apply and use the code Trojan2021 through Dec. 31. “We know that finances are always at the forefront of a student’s educational planning,” said Jonathan Coleman, interim assistant vice chancellor of enrollment management and director of financial aid and scholarships. “This is true now more than ever, and we believe in supporting our incoming undergraduate freshmen and transfer students.” ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is also reaching out to students who were admitted to ��Vlog��ý Little last fall but did not enroll, perhaps because of uncertainty. “There are many people out there who chose to delay college because of the loss of their job and other uncertainties associated with the pandemic,” Coleman said. “We’re honoring any original merit scholarships offered this past fall to students who would like to change their entrance term to next spring or fall.” For students who want to get a new start in 2021, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is offering a new need-based scholarship that will help students, especially those with financial burdens brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, pay for out-of-pocket educational expenses. “Occasionally, students have unmet financial needs even after all federal, state, and/or institutional aid has been exhausted for the semester,” Coleman said. “For the spring 2021 semester, we are excited to offer a new need-based opportunity for students who would like to begin at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. New Year, New Trojan has been designed to help offset the out-of-pocket costs a student might experience their first semester at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.” The New Year, New Trojan Scholarship program is available for incoming freshmen and transfer students arriving in the spring 2021 semester who are eligible for a PELL grant. The scholarship will cover any university charges that are not covered by the student’s federal, state, and/or institutional aid. Eligible charges include tuition, fees, on-campus room, and board, plus a small award to help with books and supplies. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock has also modified its admission requirements to underscore the increased difficulty of taking standardized tests during the pandemic. Incoming students now have two options for admissions. High school graduates, with no minimum GPA required, can be admitted with a 19 composite ACT score or a 1010 SAT score. In the second option, incoming students with a minimum high school GPA of 2.25 can be admitted with 15 ACT subscores in English, math, and reading. Freshman merit scholarships, whose amounts are usually based on a combination of ACT scores and high school GPA, are now only based on an incoming student’s high school GPA if those students have a minimum ACT composite score of 20 or 1030 SAT composite score. These renewable academic merit scholarships can provide between $2,000 and $5,000 a year for tuition and fees and between $1,000 and $5,000 a year for on-campus housing.

Care Team makes difference in lives of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students in need

John Hill — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 15:35:04 +0000

While college students across the country have faced unprecedented challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has created a new team of student advocates who have been making a difference for students in need. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock started the Care Team in January. Led by Heather Reed, director of student retention initiatives, members of the Care Team work closely with students to establish steps to reduce barriers to success. Care Team members take proactive action to support students in their pursuit of academic success, connect individuals to campus and community resources, create a supportive and caring culture for students, and establish best practices and standard protocols of response for academic referrals. “One of the biggest benefits that we’ve seen through the Care Team is the ability to triage student issues, especially in the face of the pandemic,” Reed said. “We have a better insight into the challenges students face. We knew students were struggling to find technology in the transition to online classes. Working with university leadership, we were able to purchase laptops and cameras with CARES Act funding and distribute that to the students. We wouldn’t have been able to do that a year ago. We did all that with the university leadership and Ottenheimer Library. Now, we have an ability to address these needs.” The Care Team is unique in that it provides a centralized point of contact for those who develop a concern about the welfare of a student. The Care Team can refer students to multiple resources across campus that can provide support and assistance needed to stay safe and successful at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. One of the students the Care Team helped during the spring 2020 semester is Nina Scaife, who was facing a tough time after losing her job because of the pandemic while also completing the final semester of her Master of Social Work program. “I contacted the Care Team because I was stressed due to needing to supplement my income, and I was worried about how I was going to pay my household bills,” Scaife said. “I received a $250 grant from the Care Team. The funds assisted me because I was laid off from my current employer due to Covid-19, so I was able to use those funds to supplement my mortgage payment. If it had not been for those grant funds, it would have been very challenging to support myself during those uncertain times.” Members of the Care Team include Dr. Patti Light, director of campus living; Dr. Mike Kirk, director of counseling and health services; Aresh Assadi, assistant director of counseling services; Dr. Richard Harper, dean of students; Reed Claiborne, director of the Disability Resource Center; Kimberly Bright, director of testing services; Erin Flowers, director of student services in the Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics; Jonathan Coleman, director of financial aid and scholarships; Dr. Mia Phillips, director of the Multicultural Center; Chicketta Jackson, director of student services for the College of Business, Health, and Human Services; Sarah Haughenbury, director of student services in the College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education; and Sam DeVilbiss, director of Trojan Academic Advising and Support Center. “I’m just so grateful the university has established the Care Team,” Flowers said. “I know we are helping our students in tangible ways. Plus, we’re creating a stronger network among the various support offices on campus and learning about all of the amazing work these offices do. Being part of the Care Team gets at the heart of why I work in higher education and I know that is true for the other Care Team members.” On April 1, Adrienne Gill, a senior criminal justice major, lost her job along with millions of other Americans facing hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Gill was taking two classes during the spring 2020 semester and paying for it herself since she’s reached the limit for financial aid. “I received an email from the Care Team about two weeks after the loss of my job,” Gill said. “In the email, they stated they had received some funding to help students in need during this time. I was on a payment plan as normal, but I wasn’t able to clear my balance after the semester because I just did not have the money.” With the assistance she received, Gill was able clear her school balance, pay household bills, and buy food for her children. “I wasn’t getting any assistance from the state or anything,” Gill said. “I only worked, so when I lost my job it was pretty devastating. This was pretty much the only help that I had received during that time except when we got the stimulus check from the U.S. government. I was so grateful when the Care Team accepted my application and cleared the reminder of my balance, so I could continue my efforts to graduate.” A majority of the students the Care Team assists are facing issues related to the pandemic. The Care Team resolved 443 unique student cases over the spring 2020 semester and anticipate even more during the fall semester. The Care Team had received nearly 700 referrals from students and employees by November. “More than 320 unique students requested some type of support in the first three weeks of the semester alone,” Reed said. “Dealing with the Covid has been the No. 1 issue we hear about,” Reed said. “Students need help if they or an immediate family member gets Covid-19 or if they have to quarantine. At the beginning of the pandemic, we had a lot of requests dealing with access to technology as all classes went online. Now, we are dealing with issues of study skills, classroom engagement, and mental health.” The Care Team also receives requests from students who need help after losing a family member. “I remember a student who experienced a death in the family,” Reed said. “Usually students who contact us have lost somebody in their immediate family. This young woman lost a sibling, and she became the sole provider for her parents. She wasn’t working, and now had to balance finding a job with school, grieving, and food insecurity. We worked with her, and she withdrew from one class to give herself more time to focus on her family. We were also able to award her some CARES Act money to help with food and her other expenses.” Care Team members have weekly meetings to discuss responsibilities, how to get in touch with students, success stories, and best practices. Students and employees who have submitted requests are asked to provide feedback so the team can continue to improve. After receiving assistance from the Care Team, Scaife graduated in May and now works with foster and adoptive children and their families as a LifeBASE teen coach at Immerse Arkansas. She’s hopeful that the Care Team can provide much-needed support for students who need aid. “My heart goes out to those students, especially those who were downtrodden and struggling before the pandemic,” Scaife said. “The funds should be available for each student so that they can establish themselves and not have to worry about meeting their basic needs. Each student has the right to have food security, adequate and stable shelter, and a peace of mind while pursuing a degree or continuing their educational goals.” Students who need assistance can contact the Care Team by filling out , while faculty and staff who are concerned about a student can fill out .

Math Assistance Center tutors find new ways to provide help for students during pandemic

John Hill — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 14:58:51 +0000

Tutors in the Math Assistance Center (MAC) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are finding ways to help ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students despite being in the midst of a pandemic. Denise LeGrand, director of the Math Assistance Center since 1996, even has her cell phone listed on the website so anyone can get in touch. Luckily for the MAC, they began a pilot program with online tutors for certain math classes in 2018, which helped them more easily transition to an online format once the coronavirus pandemic began. “We’ve been transitioning to more online tutors for the past year and a half, so our tutors are familiar with the technology (Zoom and Collaborate Ultra) we use for online sessions,” LeGrand said. “It’s really just like a one-on-one tutoring session, and students can schedule additional appointments through email.” All of the tutoring sessions provided by the 10 tutors in the Math Assistance Center are free. Students can visit the center’s website to join a tutoring session during regular hours or sign up for an individual appointment. Tutors cover 11 math classes, everything from Calculus 2 and below. If a student needs a tutor for a more advanced class, the Math Assistance Center will help find one. William Littlejohn, a junior mathematics major from Little Rock, said he found the transition to online tutoring to be easy, despite some initial connection and audio issues. “I wanted to become a math tutor because I gained a lot of experience leading discussions and study groups when I was participating in the civil engineering degree program at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock before I changed my major,” Littlejohn said. “I find that the students that I do get to tutor online normally are satisfied with the aid I am able to give them by means of the computer, whether it be by verbal instruction over the microphone/chat or by email. And like before the pandemic, they seem to value the help it gives them with their various classes.” Makenna Steele, a senior double majoring in Spanish and biology from Hot Springs, hasn’t let the pandemic stop her from providing her best efforts as a tutor. “With intentions of helping my fellow classmates and supporting the community, I applied to be a tutor a year ago,” Steele said. “I am blessed to work in a career field that has given me the luxury to work from home. With the new online tutoring format, I have had the pleasure of helping multiple students who otherwise I would not have been able to help during the pandemic.” Since LeGrand was aware that students were having an unpredictable schedule during the pandemic, the Math Assistance Center expanded its availability to include weekend and night hours. “I think the online tutoring is working out very well,” LeGrand said. “I received only good compliments about our tutors from students. I am very proud of how quickly they moved online during a pandemic to continue to provide tutoring services for our students. My tutors are all great and wonderful. If students need help in math, we are the place to go. Our tutors are Donaghey Scholars and are on the Dean’s and Chancellor’s Lists. Our tutors are excellent and patient, and I am blessed to have the tutors that we do.”

AEDI creates new COVID-19 Initiative to track virus’s social and economic impact on Arkansas

John Hill — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 16:29:59 +0000

The Arkansas Economic Development Institute (AEDI), based at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has developed an interactive COVID-19 data dashboard that tracks the social and economic impact of COVID-19 on Arkansas. The dashboard will provide Arkansans access to timely and relevant information on how the virus affects their employment, mental health, food security, economic security, education, and other critical indicators. “We are excited and proud to offer this unique resource to Arkansas communities struggling to cope with this unparalleled crisis,” said AEDI Director Jim Youngquist. In addition to drawing on traditional data sources, AEDI will work with communities throughout the state to develop new databases that specifically address the challenges and concerns facing Arkansas communities. “Reliable data is the key to making good decisions, and this new information will be drawn from the lived reality of thousands of Arkansans,” Youngquist noted. “We invite all Arkansans to check out the COVID Recovery Website and Dashboard at ” The COVID-19 Dashboard is part of a larger Arkansas EDA COVID-19 Recovery and Resiliency Initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration (EDA). AEDI’s two-year project will include the creation of an economic recovery plan as well as the development of a history of the economic impact of COVID-19 on the state. In addition to the new databases, AEDI and the Delta Center for Economic Development at Arkansas State University will join forces with the eight EDA Planning and Economic Development Districts in Arkansas to provide training, documentation, resources, and planning for local government, schools, small businesses, the healthcare community, and other entities affected by the pandemic.

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