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

Outstanding Women of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock: Markia Herron

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 19:16:29 +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. Markia Herron, instructional designer at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock and owner of, learned the lost art of hatmaking while working in Liberal, a remote town in southwest Kansas whose claim to fame is being the hometown of Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz.” “If you want to get away from someone, move to Liberal, Kansas. It is in the middle of nowhere,” Herron laughed. Since Herron moved to a small town without knowing anyone, she found herself with a lot of free time and turned her attention toward hats. “I think it was God’s intention that I ended up in Liberal,” she said. “I think I ended up in Liberal, Kansas, to make hats. I didn’t have any friends. Literally, I went to work, and I went home. God put hats on my mind.” Hats became one of Herron’s staple fashion pieces during hers 20s when she was going to graduate school and living life. “I had longer dreadlocks at the time, and I couldn’t find proper hat sizes,” she said. “I didn’t understand that there were quality hat sizes out there. I didn’t realize that a quality hat should cost you more than $20. I legitimately started looking at hats and realized that a good quality hat might cost you over $200 for a manufactured hat, while a handmade hat can cost $400 to $800.” Herron became obsessive about finding the secrets to hatmaking, but few seemed to be willing to share their secrets. “I have never researched as much as I have with hatmaking, not even when I was in graduate school or now as an instructional designer,” she said. “I visited a hat shop in Wichita, Kansas, and I asked for an apprenticeship. That was a no. It’s a secret trade, and hatmakers often don’t share those secrets. It’s a lost art, and I had to figure out how to make them by hand.” Herron’s hats are usually made from beaver and rabbit fur, but she is also creating a more affordable line of wool hats for people who prefer hats not made from fur. Herron believes she is the only female hatmaker in Arkansas. “It’s kind of lonely,” she lamented. “If there are any more, I would love to meet them.” When she is not making hats and running her own business, Herron works with the Scholarly Technology and Resources Instructional Design Team at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to develop and build online courses and teach faculty members about the best practices in teaching with technology. “I think that higher education gives you the flexibility to build and create in the environment you are in,” she said. “You are connected to students and have a purpose. With instructional design, we are able to still teach courses. I love higher education because we are really able to grow into our fields.” For a hatmaker from Arkansas, Herron’s hats have been drawing a lot of attention in recent years. Her hats, which run from $450-600, have been worn by celebrities like actress Danielle Brooks of “Orange Is the New Black,” comedian Cedric The Entertainer, singer Anthony Hamilton, and Lena Waithe, an actress, writer, and producer.

Markia Herron create one of her signature hats in her apartment in Little Rock.

“There are some major people speaking my name,” she said. “Tyler Perry knows about my hats. A lot of entertainers and people in the fashion business really like the hats because they are funky and it’s something they haven’t seen before. I am inspired that, being from Arkansas, you can do anything that your heart desires no matter where you are from.” Herron, who usually makes 5-10 hats a month, relies on word of mouth, fashion shows, and charity events to build her business. “Your people drive your business more than celebrities. I have a good relationship and word of mouth with the local Arkansas community. I have found so much inspiration in family since I am from the South. I have always relied on support from family and friends. I find a lot of inspiration in people who like funky hats. I get so many encouraging words that it makes me want to push forward. Building my brand around people.” For any woman who is considering starting a business, Herron would advise them to follow their passion. “For any women who want to start a business or go back to business, we always say that there are so many things that hold us back because of our responsibilities,” she said. “You are going to have to sacrifice something. I believe the best advice I can give a woman is to do it for yourself and not for anyone else. Don’t let someone talk you out of it because you have kids, or you are going to school, or because you are the only person in your family working. Not trying is the worst thing a person can do.” Herron will present her spring/summer line, at the Argenta Gallery on April 5 as well as the Designers Choice Fashion Preview Show on April 6 in Little Rock.

Grants available for faculty members using open education resources in online classes

Ajani Oyindamola — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 18:04:08 +0000

Grant applications are available for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members who are helping lower classroom costs by offering alternative textbook material for online classes. Applications for the Open Educational Resources Mini Grant are due March 30. To be considered for the grant, all materials must be uploaded to a Blackboard course shell by April 15. Open educational resources are educational materials in the public domain or introduced with an open license, meaning they can be used freely. Educational materials like textbooks, curriculum, lecture notes, syllabi, assignments, and tests would be open to the public and could be used by students and faculty without cost. Winners of the grant will adopt open educational resources for an existing or new online class. Each winner will receive a grant up to $1,000. Last year, 10 ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members were awarded a total of $9,000 in grants funded by a partnership between the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock offices of Collections and Archives, eLearning, and Scholarly Technology and Resources. They will present their use of open education resources in online learning during Open Education Week March 5-9. For more information, contact Carol Macheak, research and scholarly communications coordinator for Ottenheimer Library, at cimacheak@ualr.edu.

Drew Glover selected as president-elect of Staff Senate

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 13:17:38 +0000

Drew Glover, instructional design and blackboard user support specialist in the Scholarly Technology and Resources (STaR) office, is the president-elect of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Staff Senate. Glover will serve in an advisory capacity to Staff Senate President Richard Harper during the 2017-18 academic year, before becoming president during the 2018-19 year. “I’m nervous because it’s a big responsibility, but I am excited because there are things I want to accomplish in my time as president,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to see other leaders accomplish their goals and see the Staff Senate change and grow.” As president, Glover would like to further open the lines of communication between staff members and staff senators. “The big thing I would like to see as president is more interaction between the staff senators and the staff,” he said. “I would like to see people communicate more with the people they represent. It gives the staff members more chances to know what is going on at campus and to ask questions.” He was first elected to the Staff Senate in 2013, previously serving as secretary and on the Blood Drive, Public Outreach, and Staff Development committees. He has been active with the Helping Hands project, through which staff members donate food baskets to ��Vlog��ý Little Rock employees and families during the holiday season. In addition to the Staff Senate, Glover volunteers as a writing instructor with the university’s re-entry program, which is sponsored by the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Glover is one of many ��Vlog��ý Little Rock faculty members who teach courses to local prison inmates to prepare them for their return to society. “The course that I teach is writing, and I try to get them to do some writing that can be applied to the real world,” he said. Participating inmates write letters of apology to the people they wronged and letters to reconnect with family and friends. “It almost becomes a class where writing is therapy,” Glover said. “A lot of times people tuck away things that upset them. I feel like that’s especially true in prison, because you can’t show every emotion. They discover things that they have forgotten about or chosen to ignore.” In 2010, Glover graduated from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock with two bachelor’s degrees in history and professional and technical writing. He also earned a master’s degree in professional and technical writing in 2013. Glover, who is a composition instructor in the Department of Rhetoric and Writing, and his wife, Bendy, a fourth-grade teacher at Forest Park Elementary School, live in Little Rock.

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

Outstanding Women of ����Vlog��ý Little Rock: Markia Herron

Grants available for faculty members using open education resources in online classes

Drew Glover selected as president-elect of Staff Senate

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

Outstanding Women of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock: Markia Herron