The awards were created by the provosts from each OVC member institution to recognize their outstanding faculty members. Each OVC member institution had the opportunity to nominate a faculty member with the rank of associate or full-time professor who has been employed at the institution for at least five years.

鈥淟ittle Rock Athletics is happy to be able to honor Dr. Joe Felan with the OVC Faculty of the Year Award,鈥� said George Lee, director of Little Rock Athletics. 鈥淒r. Felan is committed to help all students succeed in his classes. His willingness to work with students to get the best out of each and every one makes him an excellent role model for student success.

The award recipients were chosen based on impacts of students, contributions made to the department, university and curriculum development, consistent professional development, as well as community involvement and institutional service.

鈥淚t was really exciting to receive this award,鈥� Felan said. 鈥淚 really enjoyed hearing from my students how much they appreciate my teaching. I think that the coaches and their assistants push the student-athletes to make sure they attend, participate, and do well in their classes. I can count on my athletes to be productive participants in class.鈥�

Felan has been teaching student-athletes ever since he joined 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock as a professor 23 years ago. He said that many student-athletes pursue a business-related major since they have so many skills that translate well to business.

鈥淲e get a fair number of business majors that are student-athletes,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 can see that our student-athletes are highly motivated, and I think some of those skills are required in business, particularly if you want to start your own business one day. Many of these attributes also translate to the area of entrepreneurship.鈥�

Since joining 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock faculty in 2002, Felan has received two service awards and been named Who鈥檚 Who Among American Teachers. He received the Faculty Excellence Award in Public Service from the former 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock College of Business in 2020.

When working with student-athletes, Felan said he always keeps in mind that student-athletes have unusual schedules due to their athletic careers and that it鈥檚 important to be flexible.

鈥淚 am willing to work with their schedules, especially if they need to meet outside of their regular class,鈥� Felan said. 鈥淚 am very flexible with office hours and virtual meetings. If they need to meet with me in the early morning or evenings, I am happy to do that.鈥�

Felan only lives about 10 minutes away from campus, so he is able to attend many sporting events. While Felan enjoys watching basketball and baseball games, he鈥檚 also grown particularly fond of the university鈥檚 wrestling program.

鈥淚 do enjoy all sports, but I鈥檝e been particularly interested in watching the wrestling program grow over the last few years,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had many wrestlers in class over the years. This year, the coach invited me to sit on the sidelines next to the mat during the last home meet of the year.鈥�

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鈥淚 am very excited to be back,鈥� said Sweeden Dixon, who lives in Sherwood. 鈥淚 previously worked here until 2012, and that was my first job out of graduate school. has always felt like home to me, and this new position feels like coming home. I am excited to be over athletics communications and see how we can take it further. I am very happy because we have put together an amazing team, and we have one goal to promote Little Rock Athletics the best we can and get the word out about Little Rock鈥檚 teams and student-athletes.鈥�

Sweeden Dixon will lead the communications team in an evolving collegiate landscape, coordinating the marketing and media efforts for the entire athletic department as well as serving as the primary contact for several designated sports.

“I am excited to have Brandy come on board as our assistant athletic director of communications,” said Director of Athletics George Lee. “She did an outstanding job with the Little Rock Marathon before joining our staff, and I know she will be instrumental in taking our athletic department to the next level.”

Sweeden Dixon previously worked at Little Rock Athletics from 2005 to 2012, where she covered volleyball, women鈥檚 basketball, cross country, and track and field as the assistant sports information director. In her new role, she will be the primary contact for men鈥檚 basketball, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 cross country, and men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 indoor and outdoor track and field.

Little Rock Athletics has undergone some changes since Sweeden Dixon鈥檚 time with the biggest change being 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 departure from the Sun Belt Conference to join the Ohio Valley Conference in 2022.

鈥淲e鈥檝e always been a competitive school who wanted our student-athletes to succeed in the classroom and on the playing field. That鈥檚 never changed,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are Little Rock鈥檚 team, and we are excited about competing in our second year in the OVC. We will continue to grow and continue to represent the city and the university well.鈥�

Prior to joining 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock for the second time, Sweeden Dixon served as assistant manager of the Little Rock Marathon since 2021. She was responsible for planning and organizing set up, marketing and social media promotion, and overseeing volunteers, which could amount to more than 1,000 people during marathon weekends.

Sweeden Dixon has not left her love of marathons behind. In fact, she is currently training to run her first marathon at Disney World Jan. 7, 2024.

鈥淚 have gone crazy at 43 and am happily trying to run my first marathon,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f I am going to do my first marathon, it has to be Disney. There will be so many fun things to look at while I run. It will be a lot of fun.鈥�

Before her time with the Little Rock Marathon, Sweeden Dixon spent several years in the hotel and resort events and hospitality industry, which took her to Alabama before bringing her back to Little Rock in 2019 as the senior event sales manager at the Little Rock Marriott. She handled networking, marketing, and sales and event planning and executing during her two years at the Marriott.

Sweeden Dixon began her journey in the hotel events and hospitality industry with the Hilton in Little Rock after leaving the Trojan athletic department in 2012. After two years as their sales manager, she spent the next five years in central Alabama, working her way up the ladder with stops at the DoubleTree by Hilton Decatur Riverfront, Hilton Birmingham Perimeter Park, Pursell Farms, and the Hyatt Regency.

Overall, Sweeden Dixon has assisted with nearly 30 large-scale events during her extensive career, including marathons across the country as well as multiple college basketball tournaments at the conference level and national level. A two-time graduate of Henderson State University, Sweeden Dixon holds a Master of Science in Sport Administration as well as a bachelor鈥檚 degree in mass media.

Sweeden Dixon is thankful to her husband Kris Dixon and her mother Barbara Sweeden of Murfreesboro for supporting her move back to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock.

鈥淢y parents were always supportive of my career since I first studied journalism in college,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 appreciate the support of my husband because he is the one who encouraged me to get back to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. He knew how much I loved being here and being in athletics. I had some great support in getting back.鈥�

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