Campus News

Henderson State University has been awarded more than $1.9 million in federal TRiO continuation grants by the U.S. Department of Education.

The funding, totalling $1,949,355, will support the program for the 2018-19 fiscal year.

“This support will allow Henderson to serve and assist low-income individuals, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to postbaccalaureate programs,” said Kathy Muse, TRiO program director.

Grants include support for:

• Student Support Services, with a goal of increasing college retention and graduation rates of its participants.

• Disability Resource Center, providing opportunities for academic development, and assisting students with learning and physical disabilities to complete their postsecondary education.

• Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program, which prepares participants for doctoral studies through involvement in research and other scholarly activities.

• Educational Opportunity Center,  providing counseling and information on college admissions to qualified adults who want to enter or continue a program of postsecondary education.

• Talent Search, which works to increase the number of youth who complete high school and enroll in and complete their postsecondary education.

• Upward Bound, providing opportunities for participants to succeed in their precollege performance and ultimately in their higher education pursuits. Upward Bound was recently notified of an additional $40,000 supplemental grant award from the U.S. Department of Education to provide STEM activities for Garland County students and a trip to Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

• Veterans Upward Bound recently received a new grant award to focus on South Arkansas veterans and increase the rate at which veterans enroll in and complete postsecondary education programs.

The grants will enable Henderson to serve approximately 2,186 students and adults with educational programing during the 2018-2019 school year.

“This funding helps Henderson achieve its mission of enriching the educational experience for students and adults throughout Arkansas and the surrounding states,” Muse said.

“Faith, Hope, and Love” will be the theme for Henderson State University’s choir concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9 at First United Methodist Church in Arkadelphia.

The concert will feature the University Chorale and Concert Choir under the direction of Dr. Kevin L. Coker with accompaniment by KyoungHwa Molinari on piano.

The performance, presented by the Matt Locke Ellis College Department of Music, is free and open to the public. First United Methodist Church is located at 107 North 9th St.

For more information, contact Coker at cokerk@hsu.edu.

 

Henderson State University’s Wind Ensemble will present its first concert of the fall at 4 p.m. Oct. 7 in Arkansas Hall.

The program will include works by Alton Adams, Adam Gorb, Shelley Hanson, and Karel Husa. As part of a year-long celebration of Leonard Bernstein’s music, the group will feature Ian Polster’s arrangement of Four Dances from “West Side Story.”

Admission is free. The concert can also be viewed online via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/HSUBand.

The Wind Ensemble is under the direction of Dr. Steven Knight. For more information, contact Knight at knights@hsu.edu.

More than 400 Henderson State students, faculty, staff and other volunteers completed a variety of community service projects Oct. 29 for Reddie to Serve Day. In all, 48 projects were completed.

This bi-annual event, organized by the division of External Affairs, involves primarily students; however, faculty, staff, and friends also enjoy participating.     
 
Reddie to Serve Day focuses on community people who are in need of assistance such as the disabled, senior citizens, single-parent homes and non-profit organizations. Volunteers do yard work, cleaning, and general labor projects as well as litter pick-up and small maintenance projects.  

Singer-songwriter Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster will present a free concert at 7 p.m. Oct. 9 in Arkansas Hall.

The folk/alternative folk singer from Greenwood is currently touring the western United States with Will Johnson (of Centromatic) as Marie/Lepanto. He cites the South as a major influence in his writing and songs.

Kinkel-Schuster delivers a more Southern sound with his most recent solo album, Constant Stranger, which he recorded on his own in Mississippi.

The concert is sponsored by the Department of English, Foreign Languages, and Philosophy, and the Ellis College Margin of Excellence.

For more information, contact Marck Beggs at beggsm@hsu.edu, or Tiffany Carter at cartert@hsu.edu.

Henderson State University Theatre will present five performances of Church & State by Jason Odell Williams. Performances are 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 27, 28, 29, and Oct. 1, and at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, in the Studio Theatre in Arkansas Hall. A post-show discussion led by Moms Demand Action and a reception will follow the opening performance.

It’s three days before Charles Whitmore’s Senate re-election and he has finally decided to tell the public exactly what’s on his mind — no filter. What could possibly go wrong? Church & State is a fast-paced, serious comedy about faith, politics, and “the Twitter.”

Church & State received a Best-Play nomination by the Off-Broadway Alliance, was nominated for Best Play, Best Production, and Best Lead Actor by the Ovation Awards, and was on Huffington Post’s Top Ten Productions List of 2016.

The cast of Church & State includes Brandon Curtis of West Memphis, Adrian Hinojosa of Hot Springs, Hannah Mims of Fouke, Madison Moore of Newport Beach, California, Cecil Nicholson of Clinton, Anthony Omari of Cleveland, Ohio, and Kiera Russell of Sheridan.

The play is under the direction of Claudia Beach, director of theatre. Scenic design is by Joseph Kalinowski of Searcy. Lighting design is by Douglas Gilpin, professor of theatre, with costume design by William Henshaw, professor of theatre. Beach is also sound designer. Magee-Lee Preston of The Colony, Texas, is stage manager.

The HSU Theatre Box Office in Arkansas Hall is open for advance ticket sales from 1-4 p.m. All seats are reserved. Admission is $10, or free with an HSU student ID, courtesy of the Student Activities Board.

For more information or reservations, call 870-230-5291, or e-mail theatre@hsu.edu.

Henderson State University’s School of Business has changed the pre-requisite structure for its more than 30-year-old Master of Business Administration (MBA) program with the introduction of bootcamps.

The MBA Bootcamp replaces all prerequisite courses so that a person without a business degree can begin the program quicker, and a student with undergraduate preparation in business can get “ramped up” on subject area that they may not remember well, said Dr. Lonnie Jackson, MBA director.

The most recent boot camp was held earlier this summer in Hot Springs to coincide with the start of the fall semester.

“Undergraduate students who took Introductory Accounting or Principles of Finance three or four years ago might not remember these principles,” Jackson said. “With the boot camp, we are able to ramp them back up quickly and ensure that all students are equally prepared for the rigors of graduate study.”

The School of Business also recognizes that a student with a STEM or other liberal arts degree has the analytical capability for an MBA program and the boot camp applies their knowledge to the specifics of the business world, Jackson said.

The MBA boot camp is a two-credit-hour course with online modules in accounting, finance, economics, analytics, marketing and management. Participants then meet for an intensive weekend of lectures, case study and team building exercises.

Jess Jacoby was one of the first boot camp participants.

“I found the boot camp really brought together concepts that I truly had forgotten in my undergraduate courses,” she said. “It created a team atmosphere and I got to meet all of my MBA professors and fellow students.”

The boot camp is offered at the Landmark Building in Hot Springs at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters.

For more information, contact Jackson at jacksol@hsu.edu.

Online gaming keeps growing in popularity among teens and young adults.

Henderson State University is tapping into this wave of interest with its own electronic gaming (esports) program, making Henderson the first college in Arkansas to establish an official team offering scholarships for competition.

Esports primarily features organized, multiplayer video game competitions. The most popular genres are real-time strategy, first-person shooter, fighting, and multiplayer online battle arena games.

“Collegiate esports is still in its infancy compared to the esports industry as a whole,” said John Price, assistant professor of communication and theatre arts, who will serve as esports director. “Traditional conferences such as the Big Ten and Big East have already begun to participate in esports league play, as well as host campus esports tournaments.”

An area on the second floor of the Garrison Center has been remodeled and will serve as Henderson’s esports room. It will include high-level computers, monitors, and other equipment used for competition.

“The esports room was created with the goal of having a welcoming space for students, faculty, staff, and competitors to enjoy gaming in a variety of ways,” Price said. “The glass windows were chosen to invite the public into the heart of the esports program as spectators, gamers, and for people with a general interest.”

The room will also feature multiple televisions for console gaming, as well as additional seating for spectators and gamers.

Use of the room and gaming equipment is not restricted to team members.

Price said it will be open for all students to use at various times. “Open lab hours will allow any student to visit and use the computers and equipment,” he said.

To be a team member, a student must meet a common set of academic standards to qualify for scholarships and competition, Price said. Team sizes range from 2-4 players to 5-8 depending on the game being played.

An open meeting is scheduled Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. in the Garrison Center Cabe Room. Interested students can also contact price at esports@hsu.edu. Information will be available in the gaming room during open hours.

Price said student interest sparked the idea for an esports program. Faculty from the Innovative Media department spoke to students who wanted to compete.

“That idea spread quickly from the faculty to the administration,” Price said. “The popularity of organizations such as the Legion of Nerds suggested gaming had a rising interest among Henderson students.”

Actual competition is similar to how anyone would compete in a sporting event during a typical season, Price said.

“The difference being that teams do not normally travel for competition during the season, and only in special situations during postseason play,” Price said.

Popular games include: League of Legends, Dota 2, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, Call of Duty, Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch and Starcraft II, among others.

By 2019, it is estimated that 427 million people worldwide will be watching esports.

A threat of rain has postponed Family Day activities planned for Sept. 22 at Henderson State University. Family Day events have been rescheduled for Oct. 6.

A revised schedule will be published when available.

The Showband of Arkansas’ Shadow Day for high school musicians has also been postponed and is tentatively rescheduled for Nov. 3.

The Reddies’ football game Saturday against Southwest Oklahoma State will be played as planned with kickoff at 6 p.m.

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With the theme of “Our Heart Begins with Family,” Henderson will host a variety of Family Day activities Oct. 6 before the Reddies’ football game at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.

Most of the events will be held in areas by the Duke Wells Center.

“Family Day is a tradition at Henderson State,” said Dr. Veronikha Salazar, assistant vice president for student engagement. “Parents, siblings, and other family members are welcome to attend. We hope Reddie families will spend some quality time with our students, create some lasting memories, and have lots of fun.”

The Henderson Family of the Year Award will be presented during the game. The winning family will receive a $200 gift card, a gift basket from the Reddie Bookstore, and a night’s stay at the Captain Henderson House.

Activities and games will be available. A revised schedule will be published when available.

Kickoff for the Reddies’ football game against Oklahoma Baptist University on Oct. 6 is 2 p.m.

 

Henderson State University observed Constitution Day Sept. 18 with a presentation by Dan Turner, prosecutor-elect for Clark County. The program was entitled Our Constitution: Some Things Should Never Change.

Turner is the prosecutor-elect for the 9^th East Judicial District of Arkansas. He has served as a deputy prosecuting attorney for more than 20 years in Clark, Garland, Perry and Pulaski Counties.

He is a former member of the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation, the National District Attorneys Association, and formerly served as president of the Clark County Bar Association. He is also a founding partner of the law firm Arnold, Batson, Turner & Turner handling consumer and civil cases and other matters of general practice.

Turner has been recognized in the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America by the National Trial Lawyers Association and has served as a member of the National Association of Consumer Lawyers.  

Constitution Day (or Citizenship Day) is an American federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. It is normally observed on Sept. 17, the day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia.

The event is free and open to the public, and is presented locally by Henderson State’s Social Sciences Department.