The expansion of the HPER Center is exactly what you would expect it to be when BT����students call the shots: impressive, gigantic and breathtaking. The sheer magnitude of the building is awe-inspiring when you first step inside. The building is massive at a total of 115,000 square feet, complete with ample outdoor activity space, modern fixtures, natural textures, pops of color and clean lines. The cavernous open-air ceilings and the plate glass windows let in sunlight, giving the new HPER Center a feeling of vastness and providing a seamless transition between outdoor and indoor spaces.

Just by walking inside, you know this is a place where students, faculty and staff can ensure that their health, fitness and wellness will thrive. The HPER Center illustrates UCA’s commitment to helping its students, faculty and staff find total physical, mental and emotional wellness. Along with the Student Health Center, the Women’s Health Center, the Counseling Center, and many other services that BT����provides, the HPER Center is an important part of the unified, holistic approach to health that BT����is dedicated to bringing to its community.

After extensive renovations and a 43,227-square-foot addition, the HPER Center reopened November 22, 2014, and when the doors parted, students poured inside to see what was new… and they were not disappointed. As they walked through the front door, they saw the impressive weight station encompassing 10,000 square feet stationed to their right, interspersed with shining new weight machines. A six-lane indoor lap pool sparkled in the newly renovated aquatics area, complete with a recreational diving board, poolside climbing wall, water volleyball court and basketball hoops.

Upstairs, the two group exercise classrooms for spinning classes, yoga, dancing and Zumba gleamed. Past the environmentally friendly hydration station, was a larger group exercise room, bathed in purple lights and surrounded by plate glass. The track had been completely revamped, with new surfacing to keep runners and walkers safe and comfortable.

The basketball court was bigger than ever, its new floors shining in the sunlight let in by the newly installed bay windows. Past the basketball courts, students found new racquetball courts next to couches and flat-screen televisions.

Chairs, couches and social areas that include games like ping pong, darts, air hockey and pool are located throughout to give students and visitors a chance to get to know one another, take a break or just take it all in and relax. The HPER Center is about wellness, and part of wellness is socialization.

The new HPER Center not only perpetuates a sense of health and forward movement, but also promotes a sense of wellness and community. The building is even LEED-certified, with its green irrigation practices, occupancy sensors, low impact development construction, and electric car charging station located out front.

How did a project of this magnitude come to be? It all started with the Student Government Association. Robert Rogers, president of the 2010 senior class, proposed a complete renovation as the SGA’s senior class project. During the next five years, everything was put into place and a lot of hard work made the new HPER Center into the magnificent place it is today.

Current SGA President Ashley Ross is very proud of the new recreation center. “It’s not just the space that’s incredible,” she said, “The equipment is new and exciting. We have the best of the best!”

President Tom Courtway agrees. “Students can go to school, go to class, study hard, but they also need physical activity, whether it’s basketball, intramurals, spin class, swimming, weightlifting or yoga. We have all kinds of classes. They need that outlet to keep their bodies and their minds functioning.” The HPER Center offers all of those outlets, and more. Personal training, swimming lessons, gaming areas and outdoor recreational equipment are just some of the amenities offered. President Courtway and his wife Melissa take advantage of the many amenities on a regular basis.

Arian Story, personal trainer and assistant director of the HPER Center, has always held fitness close to her heart. “This has no doubt been and probably will be the biggest project I will have the honor of being a part of. This is a place for our students to come together to enjoy a healthy atmosphere with state-of-the-art facilities, more activities to choose from and innovative programming,” Story said. “I hope the new HPER experience helps to build a more well-rounded campus, a campus that is focused not just on the mind and educational experience, but a campus that is focused on a healthy mind and a healthy body. It is my belief that without our health we have nothing. It is my goal that when students leave here, they not only leave with a diploma in their hand, but with the knowledge of how to lead a well-balanced and healthy existence as they travel through the journey of life.”

Having a recreation center of this significance and capacity means a lot to the students, faculty, staff and BT����community.

“I couldn’t be happier, nor could I be prouder of the student body and what they’ve accomplished,” President Courtway said. “The HPER is a student-driven, student-brainstormed idea that they seized upon because they knew how important it would be to the BT����community. They were responsible enough to lead us there with the board’s help. When I get to be a very, very old man, I will look back on the addition of this facility as one of my proudest moments here at UCA.”

College students may encounter problems like lack of sleep or balancing academics and social lives. Some students worry about maintaining their weight. Conversely, other students worry about just making it through the week with enough to eat.

Four employees came together to open a food bank on the BT����campus after recognizing that some students, as well as employees, go hungry each day. The Bear Essentials Food Pantry opened June 11 in Old Main.

“[The idea] came up during the CANstruction that BT����should have its own food pantry,” said Brian James who works as Hughes Residential College master and English instructor. BT����Residential Colleges took part in the CANstruction Challenge in February 2014. Students were challenged with collecting canned goods, then using the food to construct “life like” structures. The campus collected more than 2,500 canned goods. Most of the food was donated to local charities after the CANstruction designs were judged, but a portion of the donations from the CANstruction Challenge went toward starting the food pantry.

James had been contacted by Dr. Melissa Shock, associate professor of nutrition in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, about the possibility of starting a food pantry. Shock formerly worked at a local food bank and witnessed students receiving help.

Marvin Williams, UCAN coordinator and academic advisor, said that he recognized the need for a food pantry when he met with a student about two years ago who had very little to eat. Williams gave the student a list of nearby food pantries, but the student told him that she did not have a way to get to the locations. In response, Williams took the student to the cafeteria and paid for her meal.

Dr. Reesa Ramsahi, BT����counselor, also met with the same students. “That was the last student we wanted to see in that situation,” said Ramsahi. She has encountered traditional, non-traditional, and international students, as well as employees who had mentioned just in conversation that they had very little to eat. While students can purchase a meal plan on campus, some may not qualify for a meal plan because they do not live on campus or simply cannot afford to eat at the cafeteria or student center on a regular basis.

“It was really serendipitous that all of us happened to catch wind of each other and team up,” James said.
For now, the food pantry will be open on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. or by appointment at Main Hall 108 until there is more need.

The process of receiving assistance from the pantry is simple and confidential. A student or employee can fill out the paperwork either on the Food Bank website, uca.edu/foodbank, or in person and show BT����identification, and pick up the food.

Several BT����groups donated in order to start the food pantry. The Student Government Association helped the cause by donating approximately $3,000 to start the pantry. The Staff Senate pledged to donate $1,000 each semester to help the food pantry. The planners hope that Registered Student Organizations will lend a helping hand by organizing food drives other than the regular drives throughout the year hosted by the pantry.

Shock said, “I was amazed how fast the pantry came to be.” She is glad that students and employees now have somewhere to get nutrient-dense food even if they can’t afford it.

While the four planners had differing experiences that led to the idea of having a campus food pantry, the sentiment behind their motivation seemed to be identical: Students can’t succeed if they are hungry. Bear Necessities will make sure they are not.

Excitement is building at the University of Central Arkansas as the walls go up on the long-awaited Greek Village.

“People are really getting excited because they can see it,” said Lindsey Osborne, sorority life director.

University administration has talked about building a Greek Village for years, but those talks turned into action when the BT����Board of Trustees approved a $13.8 million bond to finance the project earlier this year. Construction started in April.

The Greek system has been at the university about 100 years, and now has 24 Greek fraternities and sororities. The first phase of Greek Village is set to open in fall 2015. This means new homes for five sororities, each with about 10,000 square feet and 32 beds, located at the intersection of College and Donaghey avenues. Greek Village will create a community space for Greek organizations with four meeting rooms for the university’s National Pan-Hellenic Council sororities. Eventually, fraternity homes will be added and more meeting areas will be added to the Community Center. Long-term plans include space for offices and a food vendor. Osborne said students are already thinking of the grand opening.

The Greek Village is one of about 40 construction and renovation projects happening at BT����according to Larry Lawrence, Physical Plant director. A newly extended Health Physical Education and Recreation Center is set to open in November. The $12.6 million project will add 43,227 square feet with about 30 parking spaces. Lawrence said another parking lot on the east side of the building allows people to park, walk up the sidewalk and cross a new bridge.

The additions to the center include an overhead door where people can check out canoes and bicycles and other equipment. The existing 28,000 square feet will also be renovated. Those projects include refinishing basketball court floors and adding expansive windows to the walking track.Other projects at the university include improving 59 apartments at Stadium Park, putting in better drainage and landscaping along Bruce Street and building restrooms for the student recreational field. Conway and Carmichael halls just received new roofs this past June. BT����also hired a contractor to polish concrete floors in the Christian Cafeteria as well as some apartments. More improvements are in the works for the Farris Center and Doyne Health Science, Lawrence said. Irby Hall will get new office spaces and a math lab. Gravel parking lots are being added on Western Avenue and South Boulevard.

A renovation project at the University of Central Arkansas will transform McCastlain Hall and restore the hall into a place where students will want to gather.

The university was awarded a Management-Stewardship grant of $800,000 by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council in May. The award came after McCastlain Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in January 2013.

Diane Newton, vice president of Finance and Administration, said BT����would match about $400,000 in funds for renovations.

Dr. Gayle Seymour, associate dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, and K.C. Poole, interior design internship instructor, wrote the grant that secured the state funding.

“It is such an important building to our campus and really to our community,” Seymour said.

Seymour said McCastlain Hall was built in 1939 with economic stimulus money during the Great Depression. The building was UCA’s first stand-alone cafeteria. The hall provided meals for 1,800 Women’s Army Corps members in 1943-1944, and even former President Jimmy Carter dined in the hall before giving a speech on campus in 1986.

Seymour said the hall has been in use for the past 75 years, but the building began to look rundown.

Immediate improvements include renovations to East Commons, food service, green room for meetings, the coatroom and a service elevator. The food service room will be renovated to help workers coordinate meals for up to 400 people who use East Commons and the Fireplace Room for gatherings.

Another major renovation among the initial projects is a classy, retro upgrade to East Commons. The room will get 1930s-styled coffered ceilings that will improve acoustics and hide audio and video wiring and equipment. The room will feature new lighting while preserving its historic look, and the pine paneling will be restored to the architect’s original design.

BT����plans to restore the Fireplace Room’s many architectural features, including twin fireplaces with flanking millwork, double doors, original plaster ceiling and pine paneling.

Renderings show new exterior doors that will replicate the original door and transom, a restored exterior entrance railing and a new emergency exit to meet safety codes.

Larry Lawrence, Physical Plant director, said workers would create a Grand Hallway in McCastlain, connecting East Commons to the Baum Gallery.

Seymour envisions a building where students and the Conway community are drawn to art exhibits, author readings, performances and musical events.

“That would be more in line with McCastlain’s original function. What started out as a building for dining and socializing will come full circle as a premier venue for campus and community events and celebrations,” Seymour said.

Newton said BT����plans to finish the first phase of projects between spring 2015 and summer 2016.

Two new high-profile head coaches joined the BT����staff for the Bears this season.

Steve Campbell took the reins of the football program, and Russ Pennell will head up the men’s basketball program. Both have proven track records as players and coaches, and they look to return the Bears to national prominence in their respective sports.

Campbell has won national championships as both a player and coach, while Pennell, a former BT����Bear who played two years under Hall of Fame coach Don Dyer, led Arizona to the Sweet 16 in 2009 as interim head coach.

Campbell began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Auburn University in 1988-89. Campbell came to BT����from a highly successful 10-year stint at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Campbell is a Pensacola, Fla. native who played at Southeastern Louisiana and Troy, winning an NCAA Division II national championship as the starting center at Troy in 1987.

Pennell, from Pittsburg, Kan., played two seasons at BT����under Hall of Fame Coach Don Dyer. Pennell played for the Bears from 1982-84 and played in 58 games. He still holds the career assist record with 341 in just two seasons. Pennell is also No. 2 in season assists with 220 during the 1983-84 season. His single-season average of 7.6 assists per game in 1983-84 is still the top average in school history. He has an impressive coaching resume that includes working with a list of coaches such as Hall of Famers Eddie Sutton and Lute Olson. He has also worked with Rob Evans at Ole Miss. Pennell was head coach at Grand Canyon University from 2009-2013, a school currently transitioning to NCAA Division I. Pennell coached the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA in 2013 and guided the team to the Western Conference finals.

While the two hires are an impressive addition to the BT����family, the success of student-athletes in the classroom and the community has been equally impressive.

The BT����football program earned the award for the top Academic Progress Rate (APR) score in the Southland Conference for the fourth consecutive year by the Football Championship Subdivision Athletic Directors Association (FCS ADA). The APR Award recognizes one institution at each of the 13 FCS conferences that has the highest APR score.

UCA’s football program had a four-year average of 949 and a yearly score of 916 for the 2012-13 school year. It was the fourth straight year that BT����topped the SLC.

BT����routinely has the most student-athletes named to the Southland Conference academic honor roll and has earned numerous SLC Student-Athlete of the Year awards in various sports.

Student-athletes are active in the community as well, participating in numerous philanthropic ventures in Conway and the surrounding area. Some of those include Samaritan’s Feet, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Wounded Warrior Project, Read to Succeed, Make-A-Wish and many more.

When the University of Central Arkansas was founded as Arkansas State Normal School in 1907, three women were among the first nine faculty members hired by the school. Shortly after its founding, the Crestomath Society for women was started with the charge to foster friendship among members and promote the fledgling institution.

Acknowledging the historic significance women have played in this university, a group of female philanthropists started a group this year to help further efforts benefiting women on this campus.

The BT����Women’s Giving Circle celebrated its charter earlier this year with a founding group of 19, which quickly grew to 27 members. The latest membership numbers show that has grown to 36.

The charter members raised a five-year pledge total of nearly $70,000 to fund grants to campus and community programs that benefit women.

Nan Snow, a member of the BT����Foundation board, helped found the group after seeing similar groups make a difference at other institutions.

“For some time, we have been watching the development of Women’s Giving Circles on other college campuses throughout the country. BT����seemed a perfect place for such a circle to thrive and grow,” Snow said. “From the time of the school’s founding, when women were included among the first faculty, women and girls have played a significant role in all areas of campus life. This, along with the growing success of women’s philanthropy, convinced us that a BT����Women’s Giving Circle would succeed.”

Snow said that although other groups have typically started with 10 founders, she thought the BT����group should aim higher.

“We decided to double that number and seek 20 members for our first year,” she said, noting that early figures almost doubled that. “It appears the idea has struck a chord with alumnae and friends of the university. Membership in the circle provides opportunities for networking, learning more about current activities at UCA, and impacting those activities through collective giving and group decision-making.”

Circle members will have sole responsibility for allocating grant awards, which encourage unique learning and leadership opportunities. The grants will be determined by the membership through an online grant selection process. No formal meetings will be held, but awards will be announced at an annual fall event. This not only creates new giving opportunities for women, but also establishes a bond among its members through their mutual philanthropic efforts.

BT����First Lady Melissa Courtway has offered to host the annual celebration event where award recipients will be announced, as well as being a spokeswoman for the group.

“I will do anything I can to encourage young women to go to college and graduate,” she said. “The Women’s Giving Circle will open opportunities to students that have a need and help fund programs at BT����to help these young women. I am honored and excited to be on the ground floor of getting this started.”

BT����First Lady Melissa Courtway

Founding members joined for a pledge of $500 annually for five years, and anyone joining in 2014 will be considered charter members. Those who join after the inaugural year will contribute an annual $1,000 membership fee.

BT����faculty and staff may participate through a $500 annual gift, which can be given via payroll deduction.

Additionally, a junior membership of $250 annually is available for new graduates 25-35 years of age.

All contributions may be set up on a monthly installment basis if desired. Credit card payments are accepted. Men may be a part of the Circle’s mission by giving honor gifts in the names of women or women’s organizations.

Grant winners will be announced at the November 10 ceremony. Interested parties can join the Circle by going to uca.edu/giving/womens-giving-circle or by contacting Jan Davis, director of planned giving, at (501) 450-3740 or jdavis@uca.edu.

A series of retirements and promotions vacated six dean positions in 2013. Appointments to each role were announced in April.

“The new deans, along with deans who have been serving UCA, will provide the institution with a solid leadership for our academic pursuits. These highly qualified persons will ensure that BT����continues its excellent academic reputation,” said BT����President Tom Courtway.

The new appointees will serve on the Council of Deans. The council comprises the deans of the six colleges, dean of the Graduate School, and the associate provosts. The council acts in an advisory capacity to the provost and reviews all academic policies, along with new courses and programs that are recommended by the General Education Council, the Undergraduate Council, and the Graduate Council. The provost chairs the council. In short, the Council of Deans is the “academic dream team” for the campus.

Dr. Steven Runge, executive vice president and provost, said, “I am very pleased to have all of our Dean positions filled and to have our team in place. The individuals we have hired are of the highest caliber and are already making positive changes in their respective units.”

Dr. Michael Hargis
College of Business Dean

Hargis earned a doctorate from Wayne State University. Before coming to BT����in 2006, Hargis was an assistant professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Hargis has served in a number of different faculty and administrative roles during his tenure at UCA, including being the EPIC Residential College rector and an associate professor in the Department of Marketing and Management. His research has been published in respected journals such as Personnel Psychology, Journal of Managerial Issues, Journal of Vocational Behavior, and Human Relations. He serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Organizational Behavior and several regional and state advisory boards focusing on entrepreneurship and economic development.

Dr. Stephanie Bellar
Graduate School Dean

Bellar served as the interim dean of the Graduate School at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She has more than 11 years of administrative experience working in graduate education and received her doctorate in political science from the University of Kentucky.

She also served as an associate dean and director of political science/master’s in public administration and a director of recruitment and retention at the graduate level. Bellar has published many articles in the area of representation of women on corporate boards in Business Perspectives, the Journal of Business Ethics, and other journals.

Dr. Jimmy H. Ishee
College of Health and Behavioral Sciences Dean

Ishee served at Texas Woman’s University (TWU) as dean of the College of Health Sciences starting in August 2005. At TWU, Ishee was involved in the development of clinical doctorates in occupational therapy and physical therapy.

Prior to TWU, Ishee served as dean of the School of Health Science at Georgia College & State University.

Ishee earned his Ph.D. from Florida State University and his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in health, physical education and recreation from Delta State University.

Dr. Stephen Addison
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean

Addison joined the Department of Physics and Astronomy at BT����in 1984 after completing a doctorate in physics at the University of Mississippi. Addison has been active in leadership of the college since 1995, first serving as assistant dean, then as associate dean from 2000 until 2003. He was chair of the physics and astronomy department in 2002 and served in this role until becoming interim dean of the college in 2012.

In addition to serving as dean, Addison will continue to serve as co-director of BT����STEMteach, a program that is changing the way in which secondary education teachers are prepared to teach science and mathematics.

Terry Wright
College of Fine Arts and Communication Dean

Wright holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theater from Morningside College, a Master of Arts in English and American Literature from the University of Arkansas, and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Bowling Green State University.

His writing has widely appeared in magazines and journals ranging from “McSweeney’s” to “Rolling Stone.” He received an Individual Artist Award in Poetry from the Arkansas Arts Council in 2002.

He has taught at BT����since 1985 in both the departments of English and writing. He taught in the BT����Honors College for 20 years, including classes in film studies, new media studies, poetry, science fiction, and horror fiction.

The project, titled “A Systematic and Integrated Approach to Recruiting, Preparing, and Retaining Highly Qualified Secondary Teachers of Mathematics and Science in Arkansas” will be funded over five years through the NSF’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship program.

The grant will provide scholarships, research opportunities, and work-study for eight students that will be selected from the physics, mathematics, chemistry, or biology departments.

“We’re going to pull them out of our freshman classes. Faculty who are teaching the freshman science and mathematics classes will recommend students out of their classes for these internships,” says Dr. Carl Frederickson, associate professor, who serves as principal investigator of the grant.

Students will begin in summer 2015 with a 10-week summer research project and internship that will introduce them to teaching as a profession. The grant pays for the summer class, as well as room and board to stay on campus for the 10-week period. During fall and spring semesters after the summer internship, students will be paid to serve as learning assistants in their individual departments.

A second focus of the grant is scholarships for six junior and senior students in the BT����STEMteach program. BT����STEMteach is a science and mathematics preparation program that models the UTeach program, which began at the University of Texas in 1997.

“The scholarships are meant to remove the financial barriers that may keep a student from completing his or her degree,” Frederickson says. “Students who receive the scholarships must commit to teach in a high-needs school district, based on the percentage of free and reduced lunches, for two years for each year of scholarship support.”

Dr. Mark Bland, assistant professor, Dr. Gary Bunn, assistant professor, Dr. Jason Martin, assistant professor, and Dr. Faith Yarberry, lecturer I, serve as co-principal investigators for the NSF grant. Dr. Andrew Mason, assistant professor, also serves as senior personnel.

“I am pleased to see that efforts we began many years ago have come to fruition. BT����is well poised to make use of these funds to prepare a robust group of secondary mathematics and science teachers to work in Arkansas schools,” says Dr. Steven Runge, executive vice president and provost.

The Lewis Science Center is finally getting a much needed and long overdue makeover. Not only is the outdated, leaking roof going to be replaced, but a 50,000-square-foot expansion will also be added to the existing building. The three-story addition will consist primarily of laboratory space and will include teaching, learning and research areas that will allow for flexibility to accommodate current and future teaching methods. “For us to stay ahead of the curve in terms of science instruction, research, and community service, we absolutely must have upgraded facilities,” said Dr. Steven Runge, executive vice president and provost. The new laboratories will offer proper floor to ceiling heights required for modern equipment, as well as significant improvements in equipment efficiency and energy utilization leading to LEED certification. A key feature of the expansion will be a new, state-of-the-art digital planetarium.

The Lewis Science Center was built in 1965 as a 53,000-square-foot, single story, flat roof structure. It houses the dean’s office, the Department of Biology, the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the university’s planetarium and observatory. A 62,000-square-foot, two-story expansion was added to the north side of the structure in 1987. The groundbreaking for the newest expansion will be in spring 2015, and it will be ready for students in January 2017.

Erstine graduated from BT����in 1979 with a degree in journalism. A native of Sheridan, Ark., he previously has served as a member and chair of the Board of Trustees, as well as vice president for Institutional Advancement. Since July 2008, Erstine had served as the chief executive officer of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina, a state trade association representing approximately 1,000 independent insurance agencies. In September, he returned to BT����as chief of staff. When asked if he noticed any major changes on campus, Erstine said, “To me what seems to be the biggest difference is that everyone is engaged, all parties, whether it be staff, faculty, students, administration, everyone seems to be more of a collaborative nature.”

As chief of staff, Erstine works under the direction of BT����President Tom Courtway. He sees his greatest responsibility as amplifying the goals set forth by the Framework for the Future, the visionary plan created by Courtway. “I think all of the different entities of the university should be focused on this. My goal will be to adhere to that task,” Erstine said.

“I love UCA,” Erstine said with a smile, “It’s a little surreal to be back. Honestly, it is surreal, but it is the right time and I’m honored to be back.”