College of Education and Health Professions Recognizes Outstanding Faculty

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From left, top: Karmen Bell, Alissa Blair, Albert Cheng and Kenda Grover. Bottom: Christine Holyfield, Rhett Hutchins and Jonathan Wai.

The U of A's College of Education and Health Professions recently named 2022-23 outstanding faculty award winners.

Each year, the college's Faculty Council review applications various awards, targeting essential aspects of scholarly life and work. Each of these recipients has shown remarkable dedication and contributions to the college.

This year's winners are:

Karmen Bell, instructor of childhood education
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Excellence Award

Bell is the inaugural recipient of the College of Education and Health Professions 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award. Her commitment to equity is strongly evident across all aspects of her academic career. Bell has been influential in guiding the Childhood and Elementary Education Program's abilities for culturally responsive practice, from providing special topic courses to leading working groups on improving curricula. In addition, Bell's scholarship and mentorship reflect her commitment to diversity and inclusion. She is dedicated to creating effective methods of research and mentoring to understand and support marginalized students through practices that challenge deficit perspectives and focus on resources, strengths and belonging. One nominating colleague wrote, "As the initial recipient, Karmen sets a high standard for the award and its potential effects for the college."

Alissa Blair, assistant professor of TESOL
Outstanding Teaching Award

Blair received of the College of Education and Health Professions Outstanding Teaching Award for going above and beyond in her teaching. In 2022, Blair demonstrated excellence in teaching through dedication to her students and their learning by offering a high level of support while challenging her students to strengthen their skills and understanding. She organized her courses to provide quality instruction by using innovative approaches to foster student engagement in online learning environments, demonstrating flexibility in her teaching and providing timely feedback. A nominating student shared, "She is approachable, responsive and dedicated to helping students succeed."

Albert Cheng, assistant professor of education reform
Rising S.T.A.R. Award

Cheng is the recipient of the Rising STAR award. He is a leading voice in the field of education policy. Cheng is well known among students and faculty colleagues for delivering engaging classes where students wrestle with complex and controversial topics in a hospitable setting. Although his standards are high, his students report feeling that he has enabled and pushed them toward academic excellence. His pioneering research on social and emotional learning demonstrates the challenges of measuring such attributes while guiding improvements in measuring social and emotional learning. In his time at the U of A, he has authored 31 peer-reviewed publications and 25 research reports, essays and book chapters. His research is theoretically and methodically rigorous, appearing in a diverse array of the nation's top-ranking education policy, educational leadership, sociology, psychology and education economics journals. Cheng has a strong record of university, local, national and international service. As a senior fellow for Cardus, a social policy think tank, he regularly provides advisement about developments in U.S. education policy and professional development for K-12 teachers nationwide. He has also served in various capacities in professional associations for education policy, regularly organizing or chairing panels for professional conferences. Notably, he was designated Reviewer of the Year by Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Internationally, he serves on the research advisory committee of the Global Home Education Exchange, which connects and equips home education communities worldwide.

Kenda Grover, associate professor of adult and lifelong learning
Outstanding Mentoring and Advising Award

Grover is the College of Education and Health Professions 2022 Outstanding Mentoring/Advising Award. As an adviser and mentor, Grover embodies the spirit of this award, seen through her dedication to students in the Adult and Lifelong Learning Program (ADLL). In addition to serving as the primary academic adviser for all 59 M.Ed. students in the ADLL program, Grover also serves as an advisory committee member on all 44 ADLL Ed.D. students. In the past academic year, Grover served as the dissertation chair of 14 Ed.D. students and a committee member on an additional 18 dissertation committees. Grover also supervises graduate students pursuing their licensure in adult education, establishing partnerships with adult education centers around Arkansas. Grover's dedication to mentees continues after graduation, as she works with previous students in a broad range of scholarly activities.

Christine Holyfield, associate professor of communication sciences and disorders
George Denny S.T.A.R. Award

Holyfield is the College of Education and Health Professions Denny S.T.A.R. award winner. During 2022, Holyfield had an impressive year for research, securing nearly $900,000 in federal funding for research, publishing three peer-reviewed manuscripts and presenting at five national and international conferences in her area of expertise. Holyfield taught three graduate-level courses in 2022, during which her students provided positive feedback on her teaching style, class design and rigorous expectations. Finally, Holyfield is active in service at the institutional and professional level, serving on the editorial board and reviewing manuscripts for several journals, as well as mentoring many honors students, chairing master's theses committees and serving on two doctoral dissertation committees.

Rhett Hutchins, associate teaching professor of educational studies
Superior Service Award

Hutchins received the College of Education and Health Professions Superior Service Award. In 2022, Hutchins served on nine departmental committees, seven college-level committees and eight university committees, including representing COEHP on the Faculty Senate. He serves the university by providing faculty support to the Razorback Hockey Club and is a faculty mentor to Razorback Baseball. Finally, as the program coordinator for Curriculum & Instruction's Educational Studies program, Hutchins manages community partnerships with educational settings around Northwest Arkansas to ensure the internship placement for his students.

Jonathan Wai, assistant professor and Endowed Chair in Education Policy
Impactful Scholarship Award

The recipient of the College of Education and Health Professions Impactful Scholarship award for 2022 is Jonathan Wai of the Department of Education Reform. Wai continues to establish himself as one of the nation's leading scholars in gifted education. Within the last two years, 13 of his articles have been published in the discipline's top-tier journals, such as Perspectives on Psychological Science and The Journal of Intelligence. His scholarship has received recognition from the academy and the broader public, as evidenced by four external research grant awards totaling nearly $2 million and several invited speaking engagements for local, state and national conferences. Policymakers and school leaders throughout Arkansas regularly draw upon Wai's scholarship and expertise to inform their decision-making about gifted education programs.