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

Donaghey Scholars leader selected for Leadership Greater Little Rock program

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 13:49:42 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock employee with a love of helping the community has been selected for the 35th class of Leadership Greater Little Rock. As the associate director of the Donaghey Scholars Program at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Dr. Jessica Scott sees the Leadership Greater Little Rock program as an opportunity to find out how she can better help the Little Rock community and as a way to make connections to provide more opportunities for the students she mentors at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock.�� Established in 1985 by the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Greater Little Rock brings together about 50 community leaders from businesses, nonprofits, and governments for a nine-month community leadership program. This program has empowered participants with a comprehensive understanding of the region’s challenges and opportunities.�� “Working with the Donaghey Scholars program, I have made it a priority to help our Scholars engage with the city more broadly and to give them more experience in the community through volunteer, internship, and job opportunities,” Scott said. “Those are the kinds of experiences that can help invest our students in the city of Little Rock, hopefully encourage them to stay here after they graduate and continue contributing to the community.”�� The 2019-20 Leadership Greater Little Rock program kicked off with a two-day retreat Oct. 6-7. Each month, the class of 54 people meets at a different central Arkansas location to explore topics through expert speakers, panelists, tours, and group presentations. The program covers a full slate of topics, including government, economy, education, social services, and more.�� Scott, a Benton native, left Central Arkansas to attend college, where she earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in anthropology and a Ph.D. in environmental dynamics from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. After returning to Little Rock in 2011 to begin her career at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, Scott became invested in helping the city.�� “Since I’ve been back in Little Rock, I have really tried to make sure I am an engaged member of the community,” she said. “After graduate school, I realized the importance of giving back to the community, and I decided I needed to be more civically engaged. We have a responsibility to the communities that we are a part of to help make them better.”�� It’s a lesson that she passes on.�� “We have a responsibility to be actively engaged in our communities, and that is something I try to teach my students,” Scott said. “One of the nice things about this leadership program is that the other members of the class represent different organizations in the area. This gives me so many opportunities to make connections that can eventually turn into opportunities for my students and potential collaborations for the university. I think that is priceless.”�� Scott’s colleague, Dr. Simon Hawkins, director of the Donaghey Scholars program, said that Scott’s work in Little Rock serves as an inspiration to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students.�� “Jessica works tirelessly not only to improve the safety of the city and to ensure equitable growth, but to build connections between the university and the larger community,” Hawkins said. “She is always looking for opportunities to make connections between the university and community groups, drawing on her impressive network of contacts to introduce interested figures in the city and the university to each other, whether that be finding mentors or potential internships to students, guest lecturers for colleagues courses, or partnerships for programs. The city and the university are stronger because of her work.”�� Scott currently serves as a board member for the Arkansas Zoological Foundation and Just Communities of Arkansas. Most recently, she has enjoyed volunteering on Little Rock Mayor Scott Frank’s subcommittee on public safety and accountability, which has given her a great opportunity to learn about how the city of Little Rock runs.�� “I want to figure out where my skills and talents can best be used in the city,” Scott said. “I think Little Rock has so much potential to grow and to really be a model Southern city. Right now, we have a lot of challenges, but I am excited about the work the mayor is doing in the community, and I want to support that.”

Snapchat Queen to kick off lecture series at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:14:41 +0000

��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduate Cyrene Quiamco, who has made a career as a social media artist, will kick off the inaugural C. Earl and Kathy Ramsey Distinguished Lecture at 6 p.m. Sept. 18 at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave. Quiamco, a graduate of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Donaghey Scholars program, is a Filipino-American social media artist, influencer, and published author whose work has been featured in Forbes, New York Magazine, Business Insider, Vanity Fair, Tech Insider, and many other publications.�� “We are thrilled to have Cyrene back in Little Rock as the first lecturer for this series,” said Simon Hawkins, director of the Donaghey Scholars program. “We are proud of her innovative career and look forward to having her share her experiences.”�� The lecture series was created in honor of Dr. Earl Ramsey, director emeritus for the Donaghey Scholars Program, and endowed by a generous gift from Earl and Cathy Ramsey in addition to many individual donations from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumni. This new lecture series will connect to the interdisciplinarity that is at the core of the Donaghey Scholars Program, bringing in speakers whose work spans multiple fields and addresses larger questions, Hawkins said.

Former ��Vlog��ý Little Rock SGA president utilizes political expertise on presidential campaign trail

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 13:29:02 +0000

A former University of Arkansas at Little Rock Student Government Association president is putting his passion for politics to work as a political organizer trying to elect the next president of the United States.�� Brian Gregory, the 2017-18 SGA president and life member of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumni Association, is now working in Iowa for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Ever since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 2018, Gregory has immersed himself in political campaigns. His first post-college stint was as campaign manager for Little Rock mayoral candidate Warwick Sabin, followed by a job as campaign field director for a mayoral campaign in Alabama. The chance to work on a presidential campaign was too good an opportunity for Gregory to pass up. “I had the chance to interview for the Warren campaign, and I jumped at the chance,” he said. “If I was good enough, I wanted to work for a presidential campaign. It was my dream. Now I’m working on this campaign, and I’ve moved to Iowa. It has been a bit of a whirlwind since graduation, but it’s a good time.” Stationed in Waterloo, Iowa, Gregory’s duties include managing campaign interns and employees, recruiting and organizing volunteers, canvassing, and getting people to the polls for the 2020 Iowa Democratic caucuses on Feb. 3, 2020. Gregory said that he has gained vast experience by working in Iowa, one of the most important political battleground states in the presidential election. “Iowa is the first state to have a primary, and it introduces the country to the major political candidates in the presidential campaign,” he said. “This is a chance for Iowa to be involved in the process, and it invigorates the states every four years when they have it. They always say that if you want to learn how to organize, Iowa is the place to go. It’s the toughest, but it’s the most rewarding place to be. Most candidates who do well in Iowa gain a lot of momentum going forward in their campaigns.”�� While talking with Iowa’s citizens, Gregory has found that the two issues voters seem to worry about the most are healthcare and jobs. “Healthcare debts and costs are rising by the minute, and a lot of people are going into debt because of that,” he said. “People just want to know that they can take care of their family members who are sick and will have a job to put food on the table. Those two issues are always Numero Uno in elections.” His time in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s SGA has been essential to building critical skills for his political career.

Brian Gregory campaigns for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa.

“I’ve tried to determine what is the most important issues to the people. I’ve always tried to remember people who were patient with me and explained things to me in SGA, because there were times when I needed a kick in the butt as a leader,” Gregory said. “I tried to sit down with my senators and executive committee as often as possible, and I’ve tried to implement that in Iowa. I’m trying to build relationships with people, so I will really be able to work well with building a volunteer base and get people connected to different issues that are important to them. Otherwise, you won’t succeed if you don’t get people interested and involved in the issues.” While Gregory may consider running for office one day, he has a lot to accomplish before in the meantime.�� “I’d like to get a graduate degree in public policy and go to law school,” Gregory said. “I would love to work on a federal campaign or state-wide race. Maybe in the future, if I’m likable enough, I’ll run for office someday, but public advocacy is where my passion lies. I want to hear people’s stories and tell their stories in a way that moves people to take action.” Dr. Rebecca Glazier, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs and Gregory’s advisor on his Donaghey Scholars final project, said Gregory was a great student with a head for politics. “As a political science major, Brian was always interested in politics, but more than other students, he cared deeply about the implications of public policies,” Glazier said. “He wanted to better understand how the policies governments implement impact real people. I think he saw the potential for making a difference there and wanted to take it.”�� Gregory said he owes his success to many people at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock: Faith Thomas, his vice president in SGA; Drs. Jessica Scott and Simon Hawkins of the Donaghey Scholars Program; and political science professors Glazier, Christopher Williams, Joseph Giammo, and Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm.�� “I want to thank all of my professors, especially those in the political science program,” Gregory said. “They taught me to think of politics in different ways. I am also very thankful for all the opportunities the Donaghey Scholars and SGA gave me to get involved in projects around the city. Drs. Scott and Hawkins really motivated me not to sell myself short. I wouldn’t be in this position without them.” In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alum Brian Gregory, right, is working on the presidential campaign of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, left, in Iowa.

To the Rescue: ��Vlog��ý Little Rock student finds passion working for animal rescue organization

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 08 Jul 2019 17:56:30 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock senior and Donaghey Scholar has found her passion working in animal rescue.�� Brittany Wood of Little Rock has loved working with animals since she was a little girl. Until last year, the anthropology and sociology double major planned for a career as a policy analyst, but life took her in an unexpected direction. “In 2017, I was working at a law firm as a bankruptcy case analyst. One of the lawyers I worked with is a case worker at CARE (Central Arkansas Rescue Effort for Animals),” Wood said. “She sent an email saying CARE needed volunteers, and I thought it would be cool to hang out with some dogs. I went there to volunteer, and my fiancé, Cameron Still, came with me. At the time, I wanted to be a policy analyst, but Cameron mentioned that I should consider working with animals.”�� Still, a May graduate of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock who met Wood in the Donaghey Scholars program, said he’s never seen his fiancée happier than when she is working with animals.�� “When she volunteered at CARE, I could just tell that this was something that made her very happy,” Still said. “When she is working with animals, that is something that makes her happier than anything I have ever seen. I thought I was a dog person before I met her, but I’ve got nothing on her.” Wood strongly considered the idea of working as a veterinarian or veterinarian technician, even going so far as to shadow a veterinarian.�� “It wasn’t for me,” Wood said. “I kept volunteering and hoped that something else would come along. Then a position opened at CARE. It was all really just luck.”�� Now Wood serves as the volunteer coordinator at CARE, where she is in charge of managing dozens of volunteers, planning weekly adoption events, managing social media events, and acting as the nonprofit’s spokeswoman.

Brittany Wood, volunteer coordinator for CARE, plays with with rescue dogs Salsa, left, a black lab, and Milo, a Beagle mix. Photo by Ben Krain.

“One thing I’ve learned is that people are geared to look at certain jobs and ignore others,” she said. “I thought working with animals meant I had to be a vet. I never really gave serious consideration to nonprofits because it’s an overlooked field. Now I’ve discovered my passion. I’m never going to be a millionaire, but it feels amazing to wake up with a job that you love, rather than a job you do just because you need a paycheck.” Wood plans to graduate at the end of the summer after the completion of her final project for the Donaghey Scholars program, where she is measuring how satisfied pet adopters are with their experience at CARE.�� “There will never be a shortage of pets who need homes, but there are only a certain amount of donations people give toward animal rescue shelters,” she said. “We need to be the place where people want to go to adopt pets. We also want to make sure we are doing the adoption process right; that the animals are going to the right home, not just the first home.” Wood and her fiancé are currently the proud pet parents of a cat, Friday, which Wood has had since age 11; a dog, Luka, that they adopted from CARE in January; and Still’s cat of many years, Muppet. One benefit of Wood’s job is that she can take Luka to work. “I think most of us want a job where we can make a difference in the world, and I think the trick is narrowing it down to how you can make the world a better place in a way that you are uniquely suited,” she said. “The first thing I ever wanted to do as a little girl was work with animals. I would encourage everyone to think about how they want to make a difference and how their skills allow them to do so.”

Graduating student plans to make difference by teaching in high-needs urban schools

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 17:39:28 +0000

When Jessica Tate, a 22-year-old native of Nashville, Arkansas, spent this summer teaching English as a second language in China, what she experienced led her to make a life-changing decision.�� “What I saw in China blew my mind,” Tate said. “I went to five different schools over the course of my internship, so I got to see the disparities in educational access. It gave me a totally new perspective.” Tate will graduate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Saturday, Dec. 15, earning two Bachelor of Arts degrees in international studies and Spanish. For many years, Tate assumed she would join the United Nations as an interpreter following her graduation, or perhaps a think tank to do research on international policies. But the internship she completed in China, a part of her requirement for her international studies degree, changed those plans. “The internship legitimately changed my life,” she said. “There was one school where we had to teach in this building that seemed so disconnected from the rest of campus. I remember being in this building that was meant to be a gym. I didn’t have access to a computer, projector, or desks. I only had a small board, and I had to squat down in order to write anything to teach. It was really that experience that opened my eyes to that I should be doing something that is fulfilling to me.” Tate applied and has been accepted to a four-year teacher residency position with the, a nonprofit organization operating in Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The mission of Urban Teachers is to prepare highly effective teachers who are committed to teaching students in school districts that need them most. In June, Tate will move to Baltimore, where she will teach secondary mathematics in high-need schools, all while earning her state teacher license and earning a Master of Science degree in education from Johns Hopkins University School of Education. After graduating high school at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts in 2014, Tate started at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock as a recipient of the Donaghey Scholars Program. The campuswide honors program includes full tuition and fees, a living stipend, financial assistance toward a study abroad program, a housing subsidy, and a new laptop computer. “I was very fortunate to have the Donaghey Scholars Program,” she said. “I get to graduate debt free, and I am very thankful for that. Meeting new people was the most enjoyable part.” Dr. Simon Hawkins, director of the Donaghey Scholars Program, described Tate as an inspiring student who always rises to the challenge. “Jessica is one of those inspiring students who takes advantage of everything ��Vlog��ý Little Rock has to offer, both in the classroom and the world,” Hawkins said. “She is the model of a well-rounded student who always seeks challenges, whether it be teaching English in Mongolia or learning photography and piano or tackling world quality research with ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty. She is driven by a desire to understand the world. Many of her experiences have been hard and have pushed her personally and intellectually, but she has always risen to the challenge.” She credits Dr. Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm and Dr. Joseph Giammo, professors in the School of Public Affairs, as two of the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock professors who helped her the most. “I have been very lucky to have some professors like Dr. Eric Wiebelhaus-Brahm and Dr. Joe Giammo. Dr. Brahm has helped me a lot to try to figure out my life. He’s been a great mentor to have, and I have learned a lot from him. He is one of the most knowledgeable people I know. He cares about his students and wants to see the best for them. Dr. Giammo was very helpful and understanding. I enjoyed his classes, and he was a good mentor.” Working with Wiebelhaus-Brahm also gave Tate amazing research experience. She completed three research projects with him. The most memorable project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a hybrid peace operation in South Sudan, a project that she presented in the university’s Student Research and Creative Works Expo and the College of Social Sciences and Communication Research Symposium. During the six months between graduation and her move to Baltimore, Tate plans to get a job and earn some money, but she also has some major life events to look forward to. As part of her graduation present, Tate and her mother will travel to the Philippines to visit her mother’s family. “My mom and I are going to the Philippines for a whole month as part of my graduation present to visit the homeland and visit my family,” Tate said. “My mom and I have been planning this for a long time. It’s part of the reason I studied so hard. I wanted to do this for my mom. I’ve never been there before, and I’m going to meet my family for the first time over there.” On May 17, 2019, Tate will marry her fiancé, Zachary Cochran, a senior economics major at the university who will graduate next May. They met at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock when Cochran was taking a Spanish class and needed a tutor, who turned out to be Tate. “I was reading a book, ‘The End of Poverty,’ she said. “He looked at the book, and said ‘I know that book.’ We talked about how much we like the Penguin publishing company. We hit it off first thing. It happens when you have two bookish people. We even have these book dates where we go to Barnes and Noble to sit down and read.” In the upper right photo, graduating senior Jessica Tate is an avid reader and origami artist. Photo by Benjamin Krain.��

��Vlog��ý Little Rock scholarship deadlines fast approaching

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 18:33:22 +0000

University of Arkansas at Little Rock students have a comprehensive selection of great scholarship choices available to help them complete their goal of earning a college degree.�� For current students, filling out just one application by March 1 puts them in the running for all general private scholarships and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumni Association scholarships. Applications for departmental scholarships in the College of Education and Health Professions and the College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences are due Feb. 1, while departmental scholarship applications in the other colleges are due March 1. �� One of the most sought-after programs is the Donaghey Scholars Program, annually available to 25 high-performing students. The scholarship provides up to $90,000 for four years of study at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, including full tuition and fees, a yearly stipend, housing subsidy, laptop, and funding for a study abroad program. Other popular scholarships for incoming freshmen include the Chancellor’s Leadership Corps, which provides up to $32,000 over four years to 225 new scholars every year; the University Science Scholars that provide up to $3,000 in funding per year for biology, chemistry, physics, or mathematics majors; and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM, which provides $3,600 in funding over two years and an additional $1,200 for participation in a summer institute to STEM majors of African-American, Hispanic American, Native American, Alaskan Native, or Native Pacific Islander ethnicity; and the Concurrent Student Scholarship, which provides a $2,ooo scholarship for students who successfully completed a ��Vlog��ý Little Rock course through the program. For transfer students from Arkansas, the Shelby Breedlove Transfer scholarship provides $8,000 to $12,000 of funding over two years to students with 45 credit hours and a minimum 3.25 GPA from an Arkansas two-year college. Funded by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduates, the Alumni Association has scholarships available for students based on academic merit and financial need. Examples include the Owen W. Parker, Sr. and Merrily Parker Endowed Scholarship, which provides two $5,000 scholarships a year, and the Diana and Paul Nolte Endowed Scholarship, which provides $1,000 a year for a student who is a single parent. The Phyllis A. Keitner Foundation for Women Scholarship provides single mothers with dependent children an incredible opportunity to overcome some of the financial hurdles of getting a college education while providing for a family. The renewable scholarship covers the cost of tuition and fees for up to 12 credit hours and up to $300 for books and supplies. For out-of-state students, the New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award pays 80-90 percent of the difference between resident and nonresident tuition for eligible new freshmen and transfer students. Students can also review the additional scholarship resources webpage to find help searching for local, state, and national scholarships outside ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. For more information, visit the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock scholarships website, call 501-569-3035, or email financialaid@ualr.edu.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock employees complete Climate Reality Leadership Corps

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 22:14:57 +0000

Two employees from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock have recently become two of only five people in the state of Arkansas to complete the Climate Reality Leadership Corps, a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 by Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore.�� The Climate Reality Leadership Corps provides training in climate science and communications to better tell the story of climate change. The training is provided by the. Dr. Jessica Scott, assistant director of the Donaghey Scholars honors program and instructor in the Anthropology Department, and Dr. Rene Shroat-Lewis, assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, attended the training with 1,300 other participants Oct. 17-19 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “Being in this group of 1,300 people who were all dedicated to the same thing was powerful,” Shroat-Lewis said. “There are a lot of people working to solve climate change. There is strength in knowing that this many people all came together.” Over the summer, Scott and Shroat-Lewis were looking for inspiration for the class they will be teaching in the spring semester, Science and Society II, to a group of 25 Donaghey Scholars. The course is inspired by the paper “Tragedy of the Commons,” by noted ecologist Garrett Hardin. Environmentalism and sustainability are a recurring theme throughout the course. When Scott and Shroat-Lewis went to the movies this summer, they thought the Climate Reality Leadership Corps shown in the film, “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power,” would provide great educational materials for their upcoming class. “One of the things we love about our course is that it is not strictly academic,” Scott said. “There is public policy and political advocacy as well. Students work in small teams to write environmental grant proposals. The Environmental Protection Agency has a fund for undergraduate students for sustainability projects on campus. We encourage our students to submit those proposals.” Scott and Shroat-Lewis are available to give public presentations on climate change and plan to work with the additional three Arkansans who have taken the training. “We saw this as an opportunity to get our involvement in this issue outside the academic realm and to engage with the wider community,” Scott said. “We want to help bring this issue to a statewide level. We are the Natural State, after all, so we should be on the forefront of this issue.”

EARTHtalk! lecture to explore climate change ��

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 15:35:14 +0000

Dr. Jessica Scott, assistant director of the Donaghey Scholars honors program and anthropology instructor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, will discuss climate change during the next EARTHtalk lecture Wednesday, Nov. 15.�� Scott’s presentation, “The Climate Reality Project: The Need for Change and the Reasons for Hope,” is targeted for non-scientists. She will present evidence of climate change and give an overview of what is known about its impact, including extreme weather events, sea level rise, decrease in crop yield and risk to global health. She also will discuss renewable energies and what policy and industry experts predict over the next few years. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology auditorium. It is free and open to the public. Scott participated in the Climate Reality Project Corps Leadership Training, led by former Vice President Al Gore, and teaches courses in dental anthropology, Egyptology, and human evolution. For more information, contact the Department of Earth Sciences at 501-569-3546 or visit the EARTHtalk! website.

Donaghey Scholar’s final project helps establish business

Jenny Lambert — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 13:30:24 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock alumnus and former Donaghey scholar used his capstone project as the foundation of his now thriving business, Safe Ice. Fred McAllen, founder and owner of Safe Ice, moved from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to Little Rock two weeks following his high school graduation in search of more opportunities. After a few casual jobs, he went to work for his dad’s refrigeration repair company. With four years in the business, McAllen learned refrigeration inside and out, eventually becoming his dad’s business partner. Hoping to take his career to the next level, McAllen decided to attend ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to pursue a premedical degree. “I was fixing refrigerators, and I thought I wanted to fix people,” he said. Although he was initially set on practicing medicine, McAllen realized his passion was elsewhere. “When I hit organic chemistry, I decided I was done with science,” McAllen said. “It was more of a hobby, so I decided I was going 100 percent into business.” While working toward his business degree, McAllen was introduced to the Donaghey Scholars Program. After applying and multiple visits to the office, he was accepted, making his experience as a nontraditional college student more meaningful. As he spent time studying abroad in Spain and making memories with his peers, McAllen was faced with an unexpected dilemma. “In 2012, my dad said he was retiring,” he explained. “He wanted to shut the business down. He was tired of emergency repairs.” As a business major with the mind of an entrepreneur, McAllen decided to start his own business. A month following his dad’s retirement, he started Excel, an emergency refrigeration repair company. As a new business owner completing as-needed services, McAllen experienced numerous days when there was no work and no pay. Eventually, McAllen used what he had learned in his business courses to devise a Plan B. “I learned that I needed a recurring service, so I started looking for opportunities for a better business that I could be passionate about,” he said. While looking for business ventures, McAllen was also in search of a final project for the Donaghey Scholars Program. Because his business seemed to consume his life, he hoped to find a way to tie the two together. Things worked out in McAllen’s favor. One morning, he received calls from a restaurant owner whose freezer had shut down and a restaurant owner whose ice machine had gone out. Following the calls, McAllen called his secretary, who was also his grandmother, to let her know they’d meet for lunch once he finished repairing both the freezer and ice machine. While working on the ice machine, he made a discovery that would take his business idea to the next level. The water level sensor was covered in mold, a fungus he learned about during a science class. “I was thinking ‘I’m going to meet my grandma in like 30 minutes here for lunch,’” he said. “‘She’s not eating this ice. Period.’” Before he left the restaurant, McAllen scheduled cleaning for the ice machine to be done the next day. “I got in there and I was really passionate about it that morning,” he said. “I tore everything apart and got all of the mold out of this thing. That’s when it dawned on me, this is a real business.” After that day, McAllen cleaned the ice machines of all the restaurants where his grandmother dined, making this duty an extension of Excel. �� Realizing he was onto something big, McAllen decided to use the ice machine cleaning as the basis for his final project. After presenting the idea to the Donaghey Scholars committee, it was approved and McAllen was ready to begin research. To craft his idea into a business plan, McAllen came up with the name Clean Ice, but quickly reverted back to what he had learned in his business courses to create a better foundation. “It’s hard to protect a name like Clean Ice, because it’s too generic,” he said. “Safe Ice has just enough difference to be brandable and protectable. It sends a clear message about what we do.” After securing a plan for his 2012 project, McAllen chose his committee of faculty advisers, and together, they worked on Safe Ice for more than a year. “My advisers helped me to make Safe Ice a real business,” he said. Focusing his efforts on his latest creation, McAllen decided to close Excel. By the time he presented his final project, Safe Ice was already profitable. Because of McAllen’s determination and skill set, Safe Ice is growing, gaining new customers steadily. McAllen hopes to see his business become the largest ice-cleaning franchise in the nation. Safe Ice now services restaurants, hotels, theaters, factories, and the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock residence halls. For more information, visit the .

��Vlog��ý Little Rock scholarship deadline March 1

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 15 Feb 2017 19:59:32 +0000

The deadline for University of Arkansas at Little Rock students to apply for scholarships is fast approaching.�� For current students, filling out just one application by March 1 puts them in the running for all general private scholarships, departmental scholarships, and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Alumni Association scholarships. Funded by ��Vlog��ý Little Rock graduates who give through the Alumni Association,��the scholarships are available for students based on academic merit and financial need. Examples include the Owen W. Parker, Sr. and Merrily Parker Endowed Scholarship, which provides two $5,000 scholarships a year, and the Diana and Paul Nolte Endowed Scholarship, which provides $1,000 a year for a student who is a single parent. There are 13 academic and merit-based scholarships available for first-time freshmen and transfer students. One of the most sought-after programs is the Donaghey Scholars Program, annually available to 25 high-performing students. The scholarship provides up to $90,000 for four years of study at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, including full tuition and fees, a yearly stipend, housing subsidy, laptop, and funding for a study abroad program. Among popular scholarships for incoming freshmen are the Chancellor’s Leadership Corps, which provides up to $32,000 over four years to 225 new scholars every year; the University Science Scholars that provide up to $3,000 in funding per year for biology, chemistry, physics, or mathematics majors; and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM, which provides $3,600 in funding over two years and an additional $1,200 for participation in a summer institute to STEM majors of African-American, Hispanic American, Native American, Alaskan Native, or Native Pacific Islander ethnicity. For transfer students from Arkansas, the Shelby Breedlove Transfer scholarship provides $8,000 to $12,000 of funding over two years to students with 45 credit hours and a minimum 3.25 GPA from an Arkansas two-year college. For out-of-state students, the New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award pays 80-90 percent of the difference between resident and nonresident tuition for eligible new freshmen and transfer students. For more information, visit the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock scholarships website, call 501.569.3035, or email financialaid@ualr.edu.

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

Donaghey Scholars leader selected for Leadership Greater Little Rock program

Snapchat Queen to kick off lecture series at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Downtown

Former ����Vlog��ý Little Rock SGA president utilizes political expertise on presidential campaign trail

To the Rescue: ����Vlog��ý Little Rock student finds passion working for animal rescue organization