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

��Vlog��ý Little Rock dean selected as new executive vice chancellor and provost

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 13:10:02 +0000

In her first appointment as chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Dr. Christina Drale has selected Dr. Ann Bain as executive vice chancellor and provost. The appointment is effective Oct. 16. Bain, who joined the university 32 years ago, most recently served as dean of the College of Education and Health Professions. She replaces Dr. Drale, who was interim executive vice chancellor and provost before being appointed chancellor in September by University of Arkansas System President Dr. Donald Bobbitt. As provost, Bain is the senior academic administrator who oversees curricular, instructional, and research affairs. “I’m honored to have been selected for this position and look forward to working with our new leader, Chancellor Drale, the leadership teams, our faculty, staff, and students,” said Bain. “I recognize that I am accepting this position at a challenging time in the history of this university, but with challenging times comes great opportunity.” In her new role, she will focus on strengthening the university’s connection to the Little Rock community and expanding community engagement and collaboration; expanding student support to enable greater student success; and helping to reshape the university to meet the needs of Little Rock and Arkansas. “Dr. Bain has a proven track record as an educational leader at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” Drale said. “She has demonstrated her ability to successfully manage a variety of units with an eye towards growth and efficiency. She has built effective student support systems in her college and has cultivated productive relationships with key community partners. Dr. Bain has also played an important role in our institutional efforts towards continuous improvement. She is highly qualified for this position, and I have every confidence that she will continue her excellent work as provost.” Bain currently serves as co-chair of the Institutional Effectiveness Committee and a member of the Higher Learning Commission Steering Committee overseeing university accreditation—two critical committees for moving the university forward. A 1972 graduate of Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock, Bain earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in nursing from the University of Central Arkansas and began her career in nursing at several hospitals in Little Rock. She joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 1987 as an assistant professor of nursing and received a doctorate in higher education administration from the university in 1998. Bain served as chair of the Department of Nursing for 16 years, until she was named interim dean of the College of Sciences in 2013. Over her tenure, Bain grew the nursing department from an associate degree program with about 100 students to a program with five degree programs enrolling about 900 students—the largest academic program at the university. Her work with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Office of Development to secure external support and grant funding has provided innovative technology and resources for the Nursing Department. She also helped establish partnerships with CHI St. Vincent Health System and Saline Memorial Hospital. In 2014, Bain became the first dean of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s newly formed College of Education and Health Professions. During her tenure, she established the college’s Advising and Support Center; implemented 2-plus-2 articulation agreements with Arkansas community colleges in middle childhood education, elementary education, and social work program; and established a partnership with Easterseals Arkansas to enable adults with disabilities to have a college and work experience through ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. Bain is active in several community and professional service organizations. She currently serves on the nomination committee for the Accrediting Commission for Education in Nursing and has previously served as secretary and vice chairperson.

Outstanding Women of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock: Christina Drale

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 12:42:47 +0000

In honor of Women’s History Month, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock is featuring stories about the “Outstanding Women of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock,” faculty, staff, students, and alumni who are serving as leaders and making a difference for the university and their communities. Now in the No. 2 leadership spot at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Dr. Christina Drale, interim executive vice chancellor and provost, often contemplates how to be a good leader. “As an academic leader, you can’t go anywhere without the faculty and staff,” Drale said. “In this position, you don’t go anywhere alone, and you can’t achieve those goals if you are the only one who has them.” Drale doesn’t have to look far for inspiration since she keeps a doll of her role model, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, on her desk. “I really look up to Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” she said. “I just recently watched the documentary ‘RGB,’ and I was very impressed with her considerable legal abilities and her mind. She is so sharp and intelligent.” Drale believes Ginsburg’s ability to conduct herself in a professional manner, a trait she tries to emulate, has been the key to her success. “I’m also impressed with the way she conducts herself,” she said. “ One of the powers of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the absolute self-control she has in an environment where everyone expects her to be less than she is, to crumble, and to get angry at the injustice and unfairness of everything she’s encountered,” she said. “Her incredible self-control is how she prevailed. When you are a woman in a man’s world, there are so many minefields, so many ways to fail. I think her ability to face down the most outrageous discrimination and unfairness without losing control is amazing.” After growing up in the Los Angeles area, Drale earned a Ph.D. in sociology, a Master of Arts in sociology, and a Bachelor of Arts in communications, all from the University of California, San Diego. “It was somewhere toward graduation where I had an opportunity to work directly with professors, and I got the research bug,” she said. “At the time, there wasn’t a graduate department in communication (at UCSD), but my department was very interdisciplinary, and I was working with a lot of social scientists. I was invited to apply for graduate school, and I picked between psychology and sociology. I felt the kind of work I was doing was more on the sociology side. I entered the sociology program and made my way through it. Once I got into that program, I had decided I would stay in higher education and pursue that career.”

Dr. Christina

She took her first academic position at Missouri State University, where she stayed for nearly 20 years and served as chair of the Department of Art and Design as well as associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters. “When I came to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, I was looking for another opportunity,” Drale said. “Angela Brenton (former dean of the College of Professional Studies) had worked at Missouri State for a year as a department chair. She called me one day and said, ‘Why don’t you come here and work for us?’ I had heard good things about ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, and there was a personal connection with several people who had already come here. Angie had a really cohesive and great set of chairs she was working with, and it seemed like a very positive environment. (Chancellor Emeritus) Joel Anderson was very welcoming, and it seemed like a very good fit.” Drale joined ��Vlog��ý Little Rock in 2006 as associate dean of the College of Professional Studies before becoming the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs in 2011. “I have most enjoyed the work I’ve done with faculty and staff groups,” she said. “Once I got into the provost’s office, we spent a lot of time on the restructuring of the colleges. It did give me an opportunity to work very closely with colleagues across the board. One of the parts I was responsible for was the operational transition. This meant that we had to rearrange budgets and staff, and we had to arrange something new that was fair to all the parties. We had to fit together a thousand puzzle pieces to make this work. It was a very positive outcome in the sense that we had a lot of involvement, and everyone tried to do what was best for the entities involved.” Drale’s immediate projects are geared toward the university’s accreditation process, the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, and recruiting and retention efforts. “I will say the accreditation process has brought together a broad array of participants and stakeholders,” she said. “I think we’ve done some very good work here. In most of the roles I’ve had at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, my role has been a supportive role. This position is the first leadership role where I have been in a position to set the agenda at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. My most immediate goal is to help the institution get through its current financial challenges to get the institution stabilized and refocused on its academic and student-based goals.” On the national level, Drale has been encouraged by the wave of women who are running and being elected to political positions. “Since this is Women’s History Month, I’ll say I’m really heartened to see all the women who have been running for public office, who have been stepping forward to lead,” Drale said. “I think that the more that women get into these environments, the more normal it will become. Right now, it’s not normal in most people’s minds. It’s like diversity. The more you mix it up and the more different kinds of people are working together, the more accepted and comfortable it will be to everyone. The sooner we can get past those artificial barriers the better.” In the upper right photo, Athletic Director Chasse Conque (right) presents a signed game ball to Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Christina Drale (left) during a men’s basketball game at the Jack Stephens Center. Photo by Benjamin Krain.

Velmer Burton named new ��Vlog��ý Little Rock provost

Shanna Fitzgerald — Fri, 19 May 2017 16:33:25 +0000

A new academic leader will soon bring the University of Arkansas at Little Rock closer to its goal of preparing students for success in the 21st century workforce. Dr. Velmer Burton Jr. is set to become ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s executive vice chancellor and provost on July 1. “We’re thrilled to have Dr. Burton join our leadership team,” said ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Chancellor Andrew Rogerson. “He is extremely well qualified to help ��Vlog��ý Little Rock grow into a transformative university that drives economic development in central Arkansas.” Burton, most recently the dean of the University of Mississippi School of Applied Sciences and a tenured professor, has nearly 30 years of faculty and administrative experience in higher education. Previously, he was a special assistant to the senior vice president for system academic administration at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Burton also has a wide-ranging leadership background that includes stints as department head, graduate dean, and small campus chancellor at a variety of universities. His experience leading student retention and graduation initiatives is a strong fit for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s goal of bolstering the regional economy by making higher education more affordable and accessible to central Arkansas students, Rogerson said. “Dr. Burton’s talents and decades of academic experience have him well positioned to serve our students and faculty who are critical to our success and mission,” Rogerson said. Burton is ready for the opportunity. “I’m delighted to accept the role of executive vice chancellor and provost at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and to join the faculty as a professor of criminal justice,” Burton said. “Chancellor Rogerson’s leadership and vision for the university convinced me of the bright future that awaits the institution. “I look forward to teaming-up with the talented faculty, academic administration and staff to equip students with the vital skills and knowledge necessary to make them successful.” Burton sees great things on the horizon for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and the region. “During my campus visit, it became clear that the university has enormous potential and is poised to advance as a premier metropolitan and research university for the city of Little Rock and the state of Arkansas,” he said. As a teacher-scholar, Burton taught courses in the areas of crime and justice, criminology, and research methods. His scholarship involves testing theories of crime and community corrections and assessing the collateral consequences and legal restrictions placed on the rights of former offenders. Burton’s findings have been published in peer-reviewed journals, including “Criminology,” “Justice Quarterly,” “Journal of Quantitative Criminology,” “Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency,” “Journal of Criminal Justice,” and “Forensic Social Work.” Burton has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Cincinnati and an Ed.D. in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania. He also earned a 2004 certificate for new presidents from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Deborah Baldwin, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock associate provost of collections and archives and director of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture, agreed to serve as the interim provost and executive vice chancellor during the spring semester until the candidate search was complete. “We appreciate Dr. Baldwin’s willingness to graciously lend her time and skills to serve a dual role during the spring semester, and we look forward to her continued excellent work with collections and archives and the Center for Arkansas History and Culture,” Rogerson said.

Deborah Baldwin will serve as interim provost of ��Vlog��ýLR

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 23:21:42 +0000

Dr. Deborah Baldwin, associate provost of collections and archives and director of the Center for Arkansas History and Culture, has been named the interim provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs for the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Baldwin will serve as the interim provost for the spring 2017 semester, following the departure of ��Vlog��ýLR Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs and Provost Dr. Zulma Toro, who will begin her tenure as president of Central Connecticut State University on Jan. 3. The university will conduct a search for a permanent provost with an anticipated start date of July 1, 2017. Baldwin has served the university in a number of positions, including six years as the chair of the Department of History and nearly 20 years as the dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Throughout her years of administrative service, Baldwin has continued to teach in the public history program and has overseen graduate student work with community organizations. Deborah holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago.

Dr. Zulma Toro leaving ��Vlog��ýLR for university president post

��Vlog��ý Little Rock — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 16:41:06 +0000

After serving as the University of Arkansas at Little Rock provost and executive vice chancellor for almost four years, Dr. Zulma Toro has been named president of . “I appreciate her efforts to move ��Vlog��ýLR forward and wish her continued success in her new role,” said ��Vlog��ýLR Chancellor Dr. Andrew Rogerson. Toro begins her new position Jan. 3. She arrived at ��Vlog��ýLR in January 2013 and led efforts to enhance academic programs and student services to make ��Vlog��ýLR a more student-centric institution. In addition, she worked to enhance the student experience and bring the institution closer to the community. “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as provost of this noble institution,” Toro said. “I will forever be grateful for the opportunities I have been afforded at ��Vlog��ýLR. I will be watching from afar how the seeds we have planted together flourish and ��Vlog��ýLR moves to a new level of recognition.” Next steps for ��Vlog��ýLR will be announced soon. Central Connecticut State University’s Oct. 20 .

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

����Vlog��ý Little Rock dean selected as new executive vice chancellor and provost

Outstanding Women of ����Vlog��ý Little Rock: Christina Drale

Velmer Burton named new ����Vlog��ý Little Rock provost