College of Education and Health Professions Selects Superior Staff Service Award Winners

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From top left: Erica Langley, JL Jennings Jr; and Stacy Stuart; and bottom: Myra Haulmark, Shannon Magsam and Karan Baker Burnette.

The University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions recently named the 2022-23 "Superior Staff Service Award" winners.

"These awards recognize staff members who consistently go above and beyond in their service to COEHP, our students, and our community," Dean Kate Mamiseishvili said. The staff members will be recognized alongside the college's outstanding faculty award winners at the college's end-of-year meeting on Friday, May 5, in Hillside Auditorium.

"Our college is fortunate to have outstanding staff members all across our units who play a critical role in helping us achieve the mission of the caring college," Mamiseishvili said.

This year's winners are:

Service to Students: Erica Langley
As the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Program Success Coordinator, Erica Langley is the sole advisor for approximately 490 active nursing students in the traditional prelicensure track on campus. She serves on the departmental Student Affairs Committee and collaborates with other faculty to lead the holistic admissions process, including multiple informational orientations for pre-nursing students, professional expectations, and facility tours. Langley is present in all grievance proceedings as a student advocate and neutral party for clarification. She also supports senior-level students in preparation for career readiness plus university and state board applications. Langley also organized a first-semester orientation focused on how to be successful in the nursing program. Topics included mindfulness, health promotion, study techniques, and professionalism, which expanded into a wellness series for all prelicensure nursing students and faculty.

Service to Students: JL Jennings Jr.
JL Jennings Jr. serves as the director of field placement within the Office of Teacher Education, which assists education programs at the U of A. He led the development of a resource group for students in the college called DOPE: Diversifying Our Public Educators. DOPE provides students with tools and resources to navigate their degree programs and, ultimately, their K-12 careers. Teacher candidates in the DOPE resource group engage with education stakeholders in various communities to promote teacher education as an attractive career pathway for other diverse students. Jennings also led preparations for the campus visit of 22 University of Arkansas Pine Bluff School of Education faculty and students and was a part of the leadership Listening and Learning Tour to Pine Bluff in October 2022. He has been instrumental in establishing this historic partnership between the two institutions.

Service to Faculty/Staff: Stacy Stuart
Stacy Stuart, Assistant Dean for Research and Grants Administration, serves the college's faculty and staff who apply for and receive grants. In 2022, Stuart helped faculty and staff submit 65 grant proposals that approached $62.5 million in total submitted dollars and approximately $21.3 million in awarded dollars. This was a nearly 50% increase in submitted dollars and an almost 5% increase in awards from 2021. Stuart has also increased post-award services this year, including helping to lead the submission of student stipends on training grants and compiling summer research pay forms for faculty receiving summer salaries from grants. One nominator noted, "I believe that grant specialists like Stacy have are hard to come by."

Service to the College: Shannon Magsam
Shannon Magsam is the college's director of communications and is dedicated to serving the mission of the "College of Caring Professions." In her role as a communications and marketing professional, Magsam highlights the college's many outstanding people and projects, including the dean's WE CARE initiative. Magsam facilitates the creation of marketing materials and amplifies the accomplishments of the college's six departments. She launched Leading With Care magazine to showcase the college's remarkable students, faculty and alumni.

Service to the U of A: Myra Haulmark
Myra Haulmark serves as the director of licensure for all education programs at the U of A. She works with teacher candidates as they prepare for state licensure, and she provides training and support in the areas of reciprocity and teacher ethics to students during their educator preparation programs. Haulmark also assists current educators in obtaining additional licensure plans in areas such as educational leadership and school guidance counseling. She partners closely with the Arkansas Department of Education to ensure current standards and incoming changes are implemented within the college's teacher licensing programs.

Service to the Community: Karan Baker Burnette
Serving as the director of Partners for Inclusive Communities, Burnette provides exemplary leadership for her staff which translates to effective work in the community. Partners is one of 67 University Centers on Disabilities (UCEDD) in the country with the mission to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities. Burnette leads and teaches through her example and mentorship of staff, providers, self-advocates, families, and the broader community. She enhances services and support for people with disabilities in their everyday surroundings. Echoes of her service from the community can be summarized as, "Yes, you must work with Karan Burnette; she made such a positive difference in the life of my child and our entire family."

About the College of Education and Health Professions: The College of Education and Health Professions offers advanced academic degrees as well as professional development opportunities and learning communities in service to the education and health systems of Arkansas and beyond. The college provides the education and experiences for a variety of professional roles, ranging from community mental health counselors to schoolteachers and leaders. Programs in adult and higher education, along with educational technology and sport management, offer a broad range of options. In addition to education-related opportunities, the college prepares nurses, speech-language pathologists, health educators and administrators, recreation professionals, rehabilitation counselors and human performance researchers.