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

Students Learn Tech Skills at Windstream Girls Code Camp

John Hill — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 13:17:11 +0000

Seventeen rising eighth- and ninth-grade students spent a week learning about coding skills to prepare them for future careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields. The girls coding camp, made possible with a sponsorship from , is a one-week annual residential camp that aims to motivate academically prepared females to enter the fields of computer science, information science, or web design. The program is free to participants and is now open to boys. This year’s participants included Axel Birdsong, Keya Choudhary, Eja Gatewood, Myah Henry, Ashlee Hill, Khylee Houston, Jalil Jeanpierre, Ava John, Mitchell Knox, Maeher Kumar, Zora McCall, India McCuien, Thomas Miller, Samidhi Mudalige, Anushka Thombre, Lilly Ye, and Brandon Zhang. During the camp, which ended July 22, the students stayed in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s on-campus housing to get a taste of what it’s like to be on a college campus. During the day, they worked with Thomas Wallace, senior instructor of information science and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s coordinator of the Web Design and Development program and information technology minor. Participants learned about three coding languages (HTML, CSS, and JavaScript) as well as web development and web design skills. They each worked throughout the week to create a hobby-based website. Eja Gatewood, a student at Herndon High School in Virginia, used her new coding skills to create a website about octopuses, one of her favorite animals. “I wanted to go to the camp because it’s got coding, and I am quite interested in coding,” Gatewood said. “Eventually I want to go into medicine or engineering, definitely something in STEM.” Myah Henry, a student at eSTEM Charter High School, said she’s interested in pursuing a career in computer science or cybersecurity. “I wanted to increase my knowledge of coding because it’s something I’ve been interested in since I was a kid,” Henry said. “My favorite activity was making the source code for HTML. I love to start with the foundation. The foundation is always the most important part of everything you do. I wanted to thank everyone who was here and helped me. They got me out of my comfort zone, and I learned a lot.” In addition to hands-on instruction, the students attend “Girl Talk” seminars featuring female professionals to learn more about opportunities available for females in computer and information science. This year they heard from Windstream employees�� Grace Ann Nordin, senior director of project management, and Brittney Shinn, senior consultant in customer experience, who spoke about their careers and what it’s like to work for a STEM-focused company. The students also took a field trip to , an advertising agency in Little Rock, to learn about careers available in digital media, computer science, and technology. Elizabeth Polk, a computer science graduate of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock who has previously served as an assistant for the coding camp, now works as a lead web developer at CJRW. She challenged the students to brainstorm innovative ideas for apps to help pet owners. “They came up with ideas like PetChart, which monitors a pet’s health, and PetPal, which monitors pets while they are home alone and sends a notification to their owner if they get sick or injured,” Polk said The students then toured each of CJRW’s departments to learn how the advertising agency would develop and launch their apps if they were clients of CJRW. “This camp gives students the opportunity to realize that there are many careers available in the creative industry,” Wallace said. “When they visited CJRW, I don’t think the kids realized what goes into developing and creating the digital products they use every day. It’s an eye-opening experience.”

Donaghey College of STEM Selects Ruhl-Whittle, Siraj, Wallace as 2022 Faculty Excellence Winners

John Hill — Wed, 30 Mar 2022 12:47:13 +0000

The ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Donaghey College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (DCSTEM) has chosen its top professors of the year. DCSTEM is honoring Dr. Laura Ruhl-Whittle, associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, for teaching, Dr. Noureen Siraj, assistant professor of chemistry, for research and creative endeavors, and Thomas Wallace, a senior instructor in the Department of Information Science, for public service. They will also be competing for the university-wide Faculty Excellence Awards that will be announced April 7. More information about the winners:

Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching

A popular teacher in the Department of Earth Sciences, Ruhl-Whittle is known as a creative and dedicated teacher who puts her career experience into action in the classroom with in-class activities, service learning, and scaffolded projects. She co-teaches two high-impact courses, Geology and Ecology of the Bahamas and Advanced Bahamian Research, that gives students the chance to learn about and conduct research in the Bahamas. Ruhl-Whittle has actively engaged high school, undergraduate, and graduate students in her research with projects ranging from hydrogeology to medical geology. In her hydrogeology and environmental geology courses, she works with local community partners to facilitate opportunities for students to become involved in solving Arkansas groundwater and environmental issues. Ruhl-Whittle is also an innovative thinker who is not afraid to take risks in her teaching. When the pandemic prevented the annual student research trip to the Bahamas, she developed a new assignment where students used Google Earth to create a virtual field trip of the island to share with their peers. “This exercise was interactive and engaging for the students and bridged the gap between visiting the island and learning about it from afar,” said Dr. René A. Shroat-Lewis, associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences. Ruhl-Whittle was one of the first volunteers to participate in the Mobile Institute on Scientific Teaching in 2019. The workshops are designed to immerse faculty in an experiential learning environment where they participate as students in a classroom for a week. She then went on to co-lead the workshop in 2021. In addition, she serves as a teaching fellow with the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence and has taught webinars on teaching during the pandemic. One of her former students, Zach Smith, described Ruhl-Whittle as one of the most impactful scientists in his academic and scientific career. ‘I would not be the scientist I am today had it not been for Dr. Ruhl’s teaching and mentoring,” Smith said. “Dr. Ruhl is an educator and scientist to admire because she is brilliant, working not just to further science, but also further scientific literacy in her students. She provides experiences that make her students competitive, no matter what path they choose to take.”

Faculty Excellence Award for Research and Creative Endeavors

Dr. Noureen Siraj

Siraj has developed a reputation as a prolific researcher in the development of nanomaterials for biomedical applications and solar cell applications. In the past five years, Siraj has received more than $570,000 in funding from federal, state, and local agencies, including a nearly $190,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for the “Synthesis, Characterization, and Application of FRET based Ionic Materials.” Over the past five years, Siraj has published 34 peer-reviewed papers, given 59 conference presentations, mentored six Ph.D. students and 18 undergraduate students, and served on eight Ph.D. committees. Her research has been cited more than 700 times since 2016. In order to promote STEM education, she begins mentoring students in middle school, at a time when some students, especially girls, begin to lose interest in the sciences. She has hosted 19 middle and high school students for their science fair projects. In 2018, Meghana Bollimpalli, one of Siraj’s mentees from Central High School, earned more than $58,000 in scholarships for her science fair project at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Meanwhile, Stuti Chaterjee, who worked in Siraj’s lab, won the 2021 Whitbeck Memorial Award, the highest award granted to a graduating student from ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “Dr. Siraj is an outstanding scientist and one of the best researchers on our campus,” said Dr. Brian Berry, vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School. “Dr. Siraj has leveraged her expertise in frozen ionic liquids to develop a very active research group. The work of this group is nationally and internationally known. Out of all the faculty members that I have observed since joining ��Vlog��ý Little Rock, she is one of the most promising.”

Faculty Excellence Award for Public Service

Wallace has actively integrated his teaching to encourage his students to become involved with the community. Since 2017, he has supervised students who intern with local organizations like First Orion, Team SI, and Arkansas Times. In the annual capstone project for information technology students, he oversees student teams who develop websites and apps for state agencies, nonprofits, and local companies. Upon deployment of the projects, Wallace works with these organizations to create a long-term maintenance strategy.

Thomas Wallace

In addition, Wallace leads a week-long annual residential coding camp at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock called “GIRL Code.” This camp attracts 16 students every summer and encourages girls in 7th-9th grade to pursue careers in STEM. Now entering its sixth year, the program has attracted the support of large technology companies like Windstream and CJRW. “As I look to the future, I hope to continue to build these bridges between the university and the community and provide more opportunities for students to build their skill set while learning to support their community,” Wallace said. “I appreciate and value the chance to shape their careers and highlight the value of using one’s abilities to build a strong community around them.” He has also served as a front-end web developer for the Center for Arkansas History and Culture since 2019, developing interface elements for a mapping renewal project funded by a National Endowment of the Humanities grant.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Web Design and Development Recognized as Great Degree Program

John Hill — Tue, 31 Aug 2021 13:53:05 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has been featured as having one of the best bachelor’s degree programs in web development in the country.�� Vlog��ý Little Rock was ranked fifth on College Rank’s list of . ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Web Design and Development Program is designed to cater to both traditional university students as well as working professionals in multiple fields. This is an interdisciplinary program designed collaboratively by faculty from the departments of Art and Design, Rhetoric and Writing, Mass Communication, Information Science, and the Information Technology Program. “The faculty and community partners instrumental to the Web Design and Development Program are proud of this recognition of the importance of the program,” said Thomas Wallace, web design and development/information technology program coordinator. “The collaboration across campus has allowed us to build a relevant and adaptive curriculum tapping into a broad range of faculty expertise. Recent graduates have found success at securing jobs in the industry, and we have built a solid foundation for the program to continue to grow and succeed in the future.” The program pairs well with another major or minor like bioinformatics or information technology. Students complete 120 credit hours divided up into core, foundation, content, information science, art, and mass communication credits, along with a six-hour cooperative experience capstone course. Sample courses include mobile web design, web technologies, introduction to media production, and usability testing and design. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock web design and development graduates often pursue careers as web designers, UX/UI designers, applications developers, and web content managers. College Rank synthesizes data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the Bureau of Labor Statics, Payscale, and the College Scorecard. Ultimately, colleges are scored based on their commitment to online education, admission rates, student satisfaction, alumni debt, and specialty in the program in question.

Study.com Recognizes Four ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Degree Programs

John Hill — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 20:23:45 +0000

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has been recognized by Study.com as having some of the top ranking bachelor’s degree programs in web design, business analytics, sociology, and journalism.�� More than 40 million visitors per month use Study.com to research potential schools, degrees, and careers. The lists of the top school rankings help Study.com users and potential students learn about excellent college programs. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock received the following 2021 rankings from Study.com:��

7th on the list of
18th on the list of
27th on the list of
36th on the list of

��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s highest ranking comes for the Web Design and Development Program, which is designed to cater to both traditional university students as well as working professionals in multiple fields. This is an interdisciplinary program designed collaboratively by faculty from the departments of Art and Design, Rhetoric and Writing, Mass Communication, Information Science, and the Information Technology Program. “We are thrilled to receive this designation, and I am very proud of the faculty and community partners that have been instrumental to our success,” said Thomas Wallace, web design and development/information technology program coordinator. “The collaboration across campus has allowed us to build a relevant and adaptive curriculum tapping into a broad range of faculty expertise. We are also very pleased with the success of our recent graduates and their ability to secure jobs within the industry. Through the efforts of both faculty and students, we have built a solid foundation for continued growth and success in the coming years.” Next, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Business Analytics Program was recognized as 18th on the list of best bachelor’s degrees in business intelligence. This program in the Department of Business Information Systems is an interdisciplinary business degree that develops the technical and analytical skills that students can apply to decision making in today’s increasingly competitive business environment. The university’s Bachelor of Arts in mass communication degree with an emphasis in journalism prepares students for careers in newspapers, magazines, radio, television or internet journalism as reporters, writers, photographers, or editors. “I think one of the things that makes us stand out is the level of experience the faculty members have as practitioners,” said Dr. Sonny Rhodes, associate professor and faculty advisor of The Forum. “We have decades of practical experience in our fields that we can share with our students. The quality of the training can be seen in the success of our graduates, who are leaders in their professions throughout the nation. For example, one of our graduates is a national board member of the Society of Professional Journalists, while another is president of the Arkansas Professional chapter of SPJ.” Mass communication majors can also focus on mass media, media production and design, motion picture, and strategic public relations. “Students and their success not only in the program after they graduate drive our program,” said Dr. Tim Edwards, interim director of the School of Mass communication. “We meet students where they are and push them to new heights. Faculty build relationships with students beyond the classroom and become their mentors. Our program strives to be cutting-edge and forward thinking to prepare students for the journalism and media jobs of today, tomorrow, and years into the future.” The final ranking comes for ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s online Bachelor of Arts in sociology degree, which is a 120-hour program dedicated to the study of the social lives of people, groups, and societies. It promotes effective communication, critical thinking, and data analysis through its broad selection of courses. Graduates of this program receive a valuable foundation for direct entry into meaningful careers or graduate study in a wide range of fields including law, education, counseling, social work, public health, and public administration. The rankings by Study.com are based on academic and career resources, the quality of education, faculty, and more.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students co-create new faculty award to honor one-of-a-kind faculty members

John Hill — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 16:00:31 +0000

The Student Government Association (SGA) at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has created a new award to show appreciation for faculty members who have positively influenced the lives of students.�� The SGA Faculty Appreciation Awards will be presented annually to one faculty member in each of the university’s colleges. The award is a one-of-a-kind, handmade glass heart created by in the colors of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. The glass hearts symbolize positive, influential support that makes a real difference in the lives of students. As students enter the university to pursue their education, faculty often play a nurturing role, guiding students through the learning process and working hard to foster an environment that best ensures success. “The SGA is excited to offer students the opportunity to formally recognize their favorite faculty members through the new We HEART Our Faculty Award,” SGA President Katie Zakrzewski said. “We know faculty work very hard to promote the success of students. This award is one way students can return the favor.”�� The winners include:

College of Social Sciences and Communication – Rebecca Glazier, associate professor in the School of Public Affairs
College of Arts, Letters, and Sciences – Mark Baillie, assistant professor of chemistry
George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology – Thomas Wallace, senior instructor of web design and development
College of Education and Health Professions – Joanna Rostad-Hall, instructor of nursing
College of Business – Casey Rockwell, assistant professor of marketing and advertising

The SGA Faculty Appreciation winners include Rebecca Glazier, Mark Baillie, Thomas Wallace, Joanna Rostad-Hall, and Casey Rockwell.

“I truly found my passion when I began teaching,” Rockwell said. “I get such joy out of watching the ‘ah ha’ moments happen in the classroom. To find out that my students have also found the same high level of joy in our classroom community is such a pleasure.” Several winners were especially touched to receive the award and found it even more meaningful to be selected directly by the students. “Student-selected awards are by far the most meaningful,” Wallace said. “Students are why we are all here and to have made an impact on their lives is the most fulfilling achievement I can think of in our profession.” “Students are really at the heart of what we do and to know that the students made this call really means the world to me,” Glazier added. “It is incredibly rewarding and just warms my heart to know that they would honor me with this award.” After teaching at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock since 2017, Rostad-Hall believes her success in teaching is down to the amazing students in the Department of Nursing. “��Vlog��ý Little Rock nursing has the most amazing nursing students, hands down,” Rostad-Hall said. “You won’t find more engaged, resilient nursing students anywhere. To be recognized by them means my passion and enthusiasm for nursing education is translating. I am blessed to get to work alongside these brilliant future nurses every day.” Baillie, who also leads the annual Mobile Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching every summer, believes in utilizing evidence-based teaching practices to provide the best instruction for his students. “The way I approach my teaching is that it is my job to help all students succeed,” Baillie said. “I utilize evidence-based teaching approaches in my classroom, which focuses on inclusive teaching practices, active learning, and alignment between assessment and what I most value students being able to do.” Provost Ann Bain said she appreciates how this SGA initiative will continue to encourage faculty to invest themselves in students. “Faculty are the heart and soul of our institution,” said Bain. “Faculty do so many things to help students succeed that most people do not recognize. I think it’s important that we can shine a light on all their accomplishments.”

Girls learn tech skills at Windstream Girl: CODE Camp

Janea Snyder — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 18:30:58 +0000

Sixteen rising eighth- and ninth-grade girls just spent a week at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock learning coding skills that will come in handy for future STEM careers. The girls coding camp, made possible with a $10,000 sponsorship from , is a one-week annual residential camp that aims to motivate academically prepared females to enter the fields of computer science, information science or web design. The program is free to participants. During the camp, which ended July 26, girls stayed in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s on-campus housing so they also got a taste of what it’s like to be on a college campus. During the day, they worked with Thomas Wallace, senior instructor of information science and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s coordinator of the Web Design and Development program and information technology minor. “Our focus has been on the web stack of three core technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript,” Wallace said. “Each day we focused on a different layer. The afternoons were for lab, and that’s where they applied the skills they learned.” The girls also took a field trip to Windstream where they learned how to provision a phone system, participated in binary coding exercises, and toured a network lab. “Working directly with these girls, watching them work together to learn how to provision phones on Windstream’s network is truly an inspirational experience,” said Sara Lary, manager of the Law Enforcement Support Center. “Seeing their excitement when the equipment works and watching them call their parents to share their experience and enthusiasm is proof that we are doing good work and making a difference. Yesterday one of our campers said ‘This is awesome, I want to do this! What do I need to do so I can do something like this with Windstream?’ We need to keep that enthusiasm going for generations and continue to work to provide more opportunities for young girls to succeed at an early age.” Lary’s daughter is a former participant of the camp. “I got to witness firsthand how her experience attending this camp sparked a level of confidence, interest and motivation in her education and career path that she didn’t have previously,” Lary recalled. “Once she was given the opportunity to learn cool, relevant things with technology in a healthy environment, she became excited about her future. We can do this for all young girls. By fostering an interest in STEM (now STEAM) topics at a young age and working on the negative connotations and barriers that girls face today, educators, parents, and mentors can work together to help girls maintain confidence and curiosity in STEAM.” This year’s participants were selected from schools statewide based on essay, grades, test scores, and recommendations. Schools represented include Forest Heights Stem Academy, Lisa Academy West, Pinnacle View Middle School, Pulaski Academy, and Quest Academy, all in Little Rock; Fulbright Junior High School in Centerton; Ruth Doyle Middle School in Conway; and St. Joseph School in Russellville. Photo, top right: Girls gathered at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to participate in a week-long coding camp, sponsored by Windstream. Photos left and above right: Girls participate in technology-based challenge activities at Windstream’s networking lab on July 25, 2019. Photos by Benjamin Krain

International STEAM delegates to visit ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Janea Snyder — Mon, 05 Nov 2018 14:46:21 +0000

An international delegation of eight women — all successful in their respective STEAM fields — will visit the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Monday, Nov. 5, as part of a “Hidden No More: Advancing Women in STEAM Fields” program. A community forum and reception talk will take place from 5-7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, in the Windgate Center for Art + Design and is free and open to the public. The women will participate in a panel discussion beginning at 5 p.m., followed by networking with international and local leaders at 6 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. The woman are part of a program inspired by the movie “Hidden Figures,” about black female mathematicians who played a vital role in NASA’s mission to the moon. The movie led the U.S. Department of State to create the last year brings women leaders who represent “hidden talent” in their home countries to the United States to explore U.S. efforts to prepare women and girls for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. The Hidden No More program, now in its second year, includes professionals in the arts as well. This year 48 female leaders from 48 different countries — all of whom work in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and math — were invited to the United States to network and explore policies promoting the interests of women in STEAM. The women first convened in Washington, D.C. and then split into smaller groups to visit six smaller cities, including Little Rock. The theme for their time here in Little Rock is “STEAM Education and Youth Engagement.” The visitors included the following:

Austria – Dr. Miriam Unterlass, group leader and lecturer, Institute Of Materials Chemistry, Technical University Vienna
Chile – Carolina Andrea Fuentes Pezoa, team lead, Big Data And Analytics, Equifax Inc.
Croatia – Maja Macinko Kovac, teacher, Eugen Kvaternik Elementary School
Honduras – Michelle Fontecha Sandoval, executive director, Honduras Stem Foundation
Kyrgyz Republic – Shirin Mukanbetova, executive director, Kyrgyz Software and Services Developers Association
Netherlands – Tamar Gans, founder And CEO, Robotwise
Portugal – Maria Lopes Goncalves De Brito Amorim, principal investigator, Cell Biology and Viral Infection Group, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia
Sri Lanka – Amali Manori Ranasinghe, project scientist, coordinating secretariat for Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry of Science, Technology and Research

Three of the women will participate in a panel discussion on Monday, along with Dr. Mary Good, founding dean of the George W. Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology; Dr. Mariya Khodakovskya, interim associate dean for research and graduate studies in University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s College of Arts, Letters and Sciences; and Dr. Yang Luo-Branch, digital marketing and GIS manager at the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. The event is hosted by Global Ties Arkansas, a nonprofit which contracts with the federal government to bring international delegates to Little Rock for professional training. The group will return to campus on Tuesday, Nov. 6, to meet with Vernard Henley, assistant dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology, and Thomas Wallace,��senior instructor of information science and web design, who teaches the Girls Coding Camp at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock each summer. On Wednesday, Nov. 7, they will tour the George W. Donaghey Emerging Analytics Center where faculty and students perform innovative research in technology, infrastructure and applications for virtual reality, visualization, and interactive technologies. Thomas Coffin, senior operating manager, will provide the tour of the virtual reality cave invented by Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, who was recently elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Anyone interested in attending the community forum is asked to RSVP to Heidi Whitman, heidi@globaltiesark.org.

Girls Coding camp teaches foundations for STEM careers

Janea Snyder — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 16:04:29 +0000

Eighteen rising eighth- and ninth-grade girls in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s Girls Coding Camp are learning skills that might come in handy for future STEM careers. The Girls Coding Camp, made possible with a $10,000 sponsorship from , is a one-week annual residential camp now in its third year that aims to motivate academically prepared females to enter the fields of computer science, information science, or web design. The camp concluded Friday, July 27, with an open house at 10 a.m. in the Engineering and Information Technology Student Services Lab on the first floor of the EIT building. This year’s participants were selected from schools statewide based on essay, grades, test scores, and recommendations. Schools represented include Forest Heights Stem Academy, Lisa Academy West, Lisa Academy Middle School, Episcopal Collegiate and Pulaski Academy, all in Little Rock; Benton Middle School; Haas Hall Rogers in Bentonville; Lincoln Junior High School in Centerton; Cotter Public Schools; Jacksonville Middle School; Perryville High School; Watson Chapel Junior High School in Pine Bluff; Sheridan Junior High School; Warren Middle School; and West Junior High School in West Memphis. For the past week, the girls have spent their mornings in the classroom with Thomas Wallace, ��senior instructor of information science and ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s coordinator of the Web Design and Development program and information technology minor. “Our focus has been on the web stack of three core technologies: HTML, CSS, and JavaScript,” Wallace said. “Each day we focus on a different layer. The afternoons are for lab, and that’s where they get to apply the skills they have learned.” The girls each chose a web project to work on this week. Lesleigh Sullivan, an eighth-grade student at Episcopal Collegiate School, has been creating a biography page for her project. She is co-captain of her school’s robotics team and will be involved with VEX Club this fall. She attend last year’s coding camp and wanted to return this summer to advance her skills. “This year, I learned about HTML, which I’ve never done before,” she said. “It was nice learning a new technology.” The girls stay in on-campus housing during the week, so they also get a taste of what it’s like to be on a college campus. Earlier this week, they took a field trip to Windstream, where they visited labs to see how networking equipment is tested. In addition to hands-on instruction, the girls attend “Girl Talk” seminars featuring female professionals to learn more about opportunities available for females in computer and information science. ��

The girls tour Windstream.

“It’s nice to know there are so many women in STEM fields who are setting the path for us so we can do something better,” said Emily Ye, an incoming eighth-grader at Forest Heights STEM Academy. One of the featured speakers was ��Vlog��ý Little Rock alumna Christina Copley, who is head of information technology systems transformation for Windstream’s Consumer and Small Business Division. Copley attended the University of Central Arkansas where she began a major in kinesiology, thinking she wanted to be a coach. Then, she took an elective course in the Information Technology program and loved it. “I thought there would be more opportunities for me there, so I switched majors,” Copley said. She started working at Alltel as a data warehousing intern and continued working for the company while she took night classes at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock to earn her MBA in 2014. The girls asked Copley all sorts of questions:��How many coding languages do you know?��When you were our age, did you think you would be a stay-at-home mom?��Do you think your job is different because you’re a woman? Then, finally, they stumped her: “Who is your favorite Chris?” (Chris Pine, Chris Evans, or Chris Hemsworth?) “They were not shy and I like that,” Copley said. “When I was in eighth grade, I didn’t know any women in IT. It wasn’t clear to me that was even a path. These STEM programs are important for girls to know there are options. Now is the age when you plant the seed.”

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