Pamela Ashcraft ’01 had not thought about teaching until she enrolled for her master’s in nursing at the University of Central Arkansas.

“I just realized how that by teaching nurses you can impact so many more people, not just your patients, like the patients I would take care of on the floor, but all the patients that the students see. And I just fell in love with it,” said Ashcraft, who has been an educator in the School of Nursing since 2002.

After finishing her undergraduate degree in Tennessee, the Pine Bluff native received her master’s in nursing from UCA. She earned her doctorate in nursing from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and began her career at BTĚěĚĂas a clinical instructor. She is now associate professor and research and scholarship coordinator in the School of Nursing.

Ashcraft’s role includes instructing students, helping faculty and students prepare for presenting research at conferences, and reviewing faculty-written manuscripts. She also is the coordinator for the Honors in Nursing program and is the liaison between the School of Nursing and Conway Regional Health System’s Professional Practice and Research Functional Council. She serves on the board of directors for the Southern Nursing Research Society.

Growing up, Ashcraft was familiar with the influence a nurse can have on a life. Her grandmother was a nurse and shared stories of how she helped people in her career. After Ashcraft’s father was diagnosed with leukemia her senior year of high school, she witnessed how happy he was when in the care of nurses.

“I think for the first time in my life, I really understood what it meant to be an angel on earth,” she said.

To support students on their journey to becoming the nurse they aspire to be, Ashcraft gives back philanthropically. She and her husband, Mike ’84, have endowed two BTĚěĚĂstudent scholarships: the Riggs Ashcraft Nursing Scholarship and the Ashcraft Nursing Scholarship. Both are awarded to students who are in an underrepresented group.

“I think when you donate your time or your money to UCA, whether that’s through a student organization or through the foundation … I think that you’re really saying that, ‘This is worth it. These are my kids. These are my kids’ friends or my neighbor’s kids or my colleagues.’ It just feels like the right thing to do,” she said.

Joel Lookadoo ’13 thought he was attending a normal school assembly at Lakeside Junior High School in Springdale. In a surprise announcement before friends, family, students, colleagues and educational leaders from across the state, Lookadoo was named the 2020 Arkansas Teacher of the Year in October 2019.

“I walked in and realized, ‘There’s some cameras here, and, oh, there’s the commissioner,’” Lookadoo said. “This is actually happening. So, it was definitely a surprise.”

The Rogers native spent six years as a freshman algebra teacher at Lakeside before becoming an instructional facilitator at the Don Tyson School of Innovation in Springdale. At Lakeside, he and his wife, Chantelle ’13, created a program called Beyond, which targets students who have an interest in college but are uncertain on what steps to take. The group focuses on ACT preparation, scholarships and college applications, as well as other activities to prepare students for college life. Now in its fourth year, Beyond saw its first seven students become college freshmen in fall 2019.

“Every student has a story, and how do we build on that? It’s not about changing their story. It’s about building on it to help them be the best version of themselves,” Lookadoo said. “For teachers, how can we work together to make sure that we’re supporting them in the best way that we can?”

Lookadoo’s desire to pursue a career in education began on the basketball court. He played basketball throughout high school at Shiloh Christian School in Springdale and hoped to become a coach. While working to earn his bachelor’s in secondary mathematics education at the University of Central Arkansas, he discovered a passion for the classroom.

As Teacher of the Year, Lookadoo will spend the next academic year traveling the state meeting and speaking to Arkansas teachers to highlight best practices in education. He will also be a nonvoting member of the Arkansas State Board of Education.

“My goal was just to support students,” Lookadoo said. “That’s what I set out to do each day.”

Since beginning his studies at the University of Central Arkansas, he’s met many members of the campus community through organizations such as Intensive, Dedication, Ethics, Accomplishment and Leadership (I.D.E.A.L.), Project X and the Black Male Achievement Challenge. This past fall, Counts added an accolade to his list of bona fides that helps him further that campus connection: being named UCA’s first-ever Homecoming King.

“There’s a lot of people on this campus I’ve never met before, but after being crowned, they may have seen my face here or there. And so the first conversation may be, ‘Oh, you did this,’” he said. “I may not want to focus on that specifically but just get to know the person, but it’s always just the gateway to talk to somebody.”

The junior health administration major hails from Wichita, Kansas, and landed on BTĚěĚĂas his school of choice after experiencing the familylike atmosphere on campus during a summer visit.

“BTĚěĚĂreally just made it like a home for me. That was my biggest thing when I was coming to visit was I wanted a place that when I go home from break, I want to be like, ‘I’m ready to go back to school,’” he said.

While at school, Counts is active in the Minority Mentorship Program, where he’s a team leader; the Student Orientation Staff; Greek Elite; and the BTĚěĚĂAmbassadors Program. He is also president of the BTĚěĚĂchapter of his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi. Mentorship and leadership have strengthened his abilities to work well with other perspectives.

“Listening to everybody is my biggest thing and try to understand and always be able to compromise,” he said. “Even though it may not be an easy decision, make the hard decision sometimes when it’s best for the group as well.”

After graduation, Counts aspires to earn his master’s degree in health administration with a hope to enter pharmaceuticals or medical devices sales. His post-graduation plans are to be able to travel and, of course, network with various kinds of people.

“I love to talk to people, so that’s my biggest thing is being able to communicate with as many people as possible,” he said.

When Julia Winden Fey moved from California to Arkansas, she thought it would only be for one year.

Her husband, Jim Deitrick, had accepted a position at the University of Central Arkansas. That was more than 20 years ago.

“It went to two years, and then I was a resident master in one of the residential colleges,” Winden Fey said. “And then Sally Roden (retired BTĚěĚĂadministrator) hired me to work with undergraduate studies, and it’s just kept going.”

From University College, now the Department of Student Transitions, to enrollment management, Winden Fey has served in a number of roles across campus, but she said her focus has never wavered. She is now the director of the Office of Student Success.

“It doesn’t matter my title. I think I’ve been doing student success the whole 20 years, in and out of the classroom, and when I think about it that way, I think I’ve had quite the opportunity that I’d never expected,” Winden Fey said.

The office works with hundreds of BTĚěĚĂstudents each semester through programs and initiatives including Fail Forward Week, Unlocking College Academics Now (UCAN), the Tutoring Services Center and supplemental instruction, as well as others.

“Access was the big issue in higher education. We’ve opened up access quite a bit,” she said. “Now, finding ways to serve and empower students or enable students is the new challenge.”

Student success is a key element of the university’s strategic plan and leadership priorities. The Office of Student Success employs approximately 70 student workers who act as tutors, peer coaches and facilitators who are trained to work with other students. The office provides training in tactics such as motivational interviewing to identify strategies to help students become more successful in their education.

“We have found that one of our most effective ways of reaching students is through other students,” Winden Fey said. “They understand what it’s like to be a student, so they can relate to the student and take the trainings we’re giving them and convey it.”