As Faculty Senate president, her focus on shared governance is just one example of her work to create equal representation and diversity when dealing with university issues.

“One of the things I’ve been really proud of with the senate this semester is trying really hard to share governance with both Staff Senate and [Student Government Association],” Duncan said. “So all of the senate’s subcommittees have been including students and reaching out to do research about things that impact all of us.”

Through this shared governance, the groups have co-hosted events, such as Civility Training for the senate leaders. Duncan and Staff Senate President Erica Ruble have also held office hours so that anyone on campus can discuss campus issues and goals with the two directly.

“We’re also going to try to be more intentional about reaching out to faculty that are not on tenure track — those who are lecturers or visiting professors. We’re really trying to find ways to include them more,” Duncan said.

Aside from her many responsibilities with Faculty Senate, Duncan also serves as the Gender Studies program director and associate professor for the Department of Philosophy. Duncan’s studies encourage critical theory, a school of thought that combines multiple societal and cultural factors into contemporary issues and topics.

Duncan’s class lectures even inspired a segment in a play, which was written and produced by students.

“What was so amazing and exciting about [the play], I mean, I just thought it was fantastic, and it just made me really proud. But I also loved that a student who had taken my class did such a good job explaining the theory,” Duncan said. “He had really internalized it so much that a student who had not necessarily studied it was able to put it in a play, and it was accurate, and it was right.”

Outside of the classroom, Duncan is a part the Division of Outreach and Community Engagement’s Women’s Leadership Network, through which she is able to co-mentor other women. She has also worked with Outreach to create interdisciplinary coursework.

Her work has not gone unnoticed, as Duncan won a number of awards including the Public Service Award and the Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Award.

While working in the Financial Accounting Office in 2012, she was nominated for Staff Senate.

“I was a little quiet my first year on, but by the second year I was ready to take on new roles,” Ruble said.

She became treasurer in 2015 and vice president in 2016. But her journey in Staff Senate didn’t stop there. She was elected Staff Senate president in July 2017.

Her role as Staff Senate president involves being on committees across campus, leading meetings twice a month, and meeting with the other presidents from organizations and departments every week.

“I like to hear both their successes and their trials, and to hear the more difficult things they encounter,” Ruble said.

Ruble desires Staff Senate to grow in the departments represented. She would also like to see the Professional Development Scholarship, Angel Bear, Winter Feast and Spring Picnic committees have a more day-to-day role on campus.

“I really want people across campus to know who Staff Senators are and feel like they can reach out to them to vocalize any of their opinions,” Ruble said.

Throughout her time at UCA, Ruble has accumulated an impressive collection of BT天堂memorabilia, some of which are displayed in her Wingo Hall office. Even the walls are painted purple and gray.

She first started collecting T-shirts as a student, but now her collection ranges from BT天堂blankets and bear decor to almost anything purple. When asked if she is a super fan, she claims that she is simply passionate about BT天堂and her role in this University. And she doesn’t just bleed purple and gray, she also dons a bright purple streak in her blonde hair.

“My husband and daughter always have on their BT天堂gear,” Ruble said. “My favorite thing is when we’re out in public and someone says, ‘You must work at UCA.'”

“Before I graduated, I set a goal to work in health care administration,” Bowen said. Bowen always knew he wanted to work in health care, but his senior year sparked an interest in health care administration.

BT天堂partners with Baptist Health Medical Center for nuclear medicine students. While studying there, he noticed each department or area of the hospital seemed to be its own separate business. It was here that he became “fascinated with the uniqueness of the hospital environment.”

Bowen worked at Mena Regional Health System in his hometown after graduation. While working in Mena, he received the C.E. Melville Young Administrator of the Year Award from the Arkansas Hospital Association. He also earned a Master of Business Administration at John Brown University in Siloam Springs.

After Mena, he served as president of a hospital in northeast Oklahoma. He and his family moved back to Conway in September 2017 after he was named vice president and administrator of Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway.

“The moves that we have made up to this point from starting in southwest Arkansas to Oklahoma to now coming here were all in an effort to get back here, which is where we wanted to spend the rest of our lives,” Bowen said.

As a BT天堂graduate, Bowen said the University gave him the foundation to achieve his dreams.
“You developed a relationship with your professors. For me, it was an easy transition going from high school to college because you kind of felt that support and love from the school,” Bowen said. “When employers see that name for education, they know the individual has gotten a quality education and that the individual is well prepared for the workforce.”

Since returning to Conway, Bowen and his wife, Natalie, and their son and daughter, look forward to becoming more involved with the community and UCA.

“For everybody, they have that dream job. They have that dream community,” Bowen said. “For my wife and I, we set that goal professionally and for the community.”

For instance, in her first year on Student Government Association as sophomore class president, Lallu created Speaking Spirituality, a series of lectures dedicated to learning about a variety of religions.

“So, my family is Hindu, and of course I’ve grown up around mainly Christianity,” said Lallu, who is now SGA president. “A lot of my friends are Christian, so they always have questions like, ‘What does this mean? Why do you do this? What do you do? What holidays do you celebrate?’ But they didn’t know how to ask without being rude or offensive.”

Lallu has also had involvement with the Indian Student Association and a minority mentorship program, through which she helped freshmen learn how to lead successful college careers.

“Diversity goes beyond the color of your skin,” she said. “Diversity encompasses someone who is a first-generation college student, someone who comes from a background where education has been the norm in their family and socioeconomic status.”

In her current role as SGA president, Lallu has reworked the SGA constitution and bylaws, helped bring speakers such as We End Violence director Jeffrey Bucholtz and helped several University projects receive funding.

Outside of SGA, there’s no question BT天堂has made an incalculable impact on Lallu. In 2017, she had the opportunity to attend the Arkansas Student Leadership Forum, which led to her nomination to attend the National Student Leadership Forum that same year. In February 2018, Lallu went to the National Student Leadership Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., and Student Weekend in Annapolis, Maryland.

Lallu said the prayer breakfast was an “unbelievable opportunity,” as she was in attendance with world leaders and 35,000 people from across the world, and heard remarks from President Donald Trump.

Academically, she has been able to intern with UCA’s Student Wellness and Development for her pre-occupational therapy major in the Department of Health Sciences. In spring 2018, she began a Global Health Fellowship with the United Nations Foundation that focuses on interacting with those in public office and advocating for global health issues.

After graduation in May 2018, Lallu aims to attend graduate school for occupational therapy. Her hope is that campus becomes more united and that the campus community utilizes its biggest educational resource: each other.

“It’s hard for me to imagine ever leaving UCA,” Lallu said. “I want to travel and see the world, but I just wish I could pick up BT天堂and take it with me. The people and experiences I’ve had here have really made it a home.”