Faculty & Staff News

Dr. David Bateman, associate professor of chemistry, and Dr. Brad Rowland, assistant professor of chemistry, will attend the American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans March 18-22 with 10 Henderson State undergraduate research students and members of the HSU Chemistry Club.

The theme of the meeting is Nexus of Food, Water, and Energy with about 15,000 attendees from around the world. In addition to individual research presented by Henderson undergraduate research students, Rowland and Bateman will be giving an oral presentation entitled “Implementation and analysis of a placement exam in first year chemistry courses at Henderson State University: Results, assessments, and outlook.”

Bateman and Rowland are also co-advisors of the HSU Chemistry Club and will be accepting the ACS Outstanding Student Affiliate chapter award and the Green Chapter Award at an awards ceremony during the meeting. Henderson is one of only 52 outstanding chapters and one of 56 Green chapters chosen from more than 1,000 student chapters nationally.

The students will have the opportunity to attend talks, visit the graduate student recruiting fair, interview for jobs at the career fair, and attend the vendor exhibition. The Chemistry Club will participate in the Chemistry Demonstration Exchange to share successful demonstrations conducted at events like Family Science Night and Henderson Halloween. 

Dr. Nydia Jeffers, assistant professor of Spanish at Henderson State University, will present papers at two conferences in the next two months.

At the 2018 Southern Conference on Language Teaching in Atlanta, Georgia, March 15-17, Jeffers will present a paper to connect 10 vocabulary learning researchers with 10 tech tools to get and/or generate listening and lexical materials for the Spanish language and culture courses.

At the 2018 Southeast Coastal Conference on Language & Literatures in Savannah, Georgia, April 5-6, she will present a paper comparing the black female protagonists’  response to white supremacy and slavery in two narratives, the French novella “Ourika” (1823) by Claire Duras, and the Venezuelan short story “La Sibila de los Andes” (1840) by Fermín Toro.

This paper will be considered for possible inclusion in a peer-reviewed journal published by Georgia Southern University. 

William Henshaw and Douglas Gilpin, both professors of theatre at Henderson State University, will attend the United States Institute Of Theatre Technology 2018 National Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida March 12-18.

The USITT is the national conference for professional theatrical design and technology. There are also meetings of the sister international group OISTAT as well as sessions about world theatre. 

Gilpin will serve on the Design Expo Committee, overseeing the set up and running of the major 2018 Design Expo Exhibition, and he will also enter a scenic design in this juried invitational exhibition. 

Henshaw will help run the Queer Roundtable session, a group he cofounded, assist the costume commissioner and run for a national office in the organization.

Gilpin and Henshaw will also mentor five current Henderson students and several alumni who will also attend the conference, helping them navigate the schedule, network, and search for graduate programs. They will all have the opportunity to attend multiple workshops and sessions relevant to their fields and explore international and national design styles, design software, and the production design process.

Both Henshaw and Gilpin have attended the conference for many years.

“I return from these conferences recharged and rejuvenated as an educator and as a designer,” Gilpin said.

Dr. Patti Poblete, assistant professor of English at Henderson State University, will present a paper, “Trigger Warnings and Safe Spaces: Writing Program Administrative Work in Fostering Resilience,” at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Kansas City, Missouri in mid-March.

The focus of the paper will be on how to introduce (possibly) sensitive content to students in a way that respects their boundaries and experiences while encouraging them to find ways to productively participate in difficult conversations.

She will also be attending the Association for Teachers of Technical Writing which will also be meeting in Kansas City immediately prior. Poblete has been an active participant in both conferences, in somewhat different capacities for several years, serving on the executive committee for the Asian/Asian-American Caucus presenting a number of times at CCCC.

She acts as a social media correspondent for both CCCC and ATTW, serving as part of a team of attendees who document panels and events for folks who are not able to physically travel to the conference.

Dr. Matt Gross, assistant professor of political science at Henderson State University, will present a paper on multiple bill referral across state legislatures at the annual meeting of the Arkansas Political Science Association in Jonesboro March 2-3. Gross sits on the Executive Board of ArkPSA and has presented twice before at the conference.

Dr. Ivan Birch, assistant professor of criminal justice at Henderson State University, will present a research paper in New Orleans this week on Strain theory using group-based trajectory analysis. Birch will make his presentation at one of the largest conferences for criminal justice, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). 

In addition to having his paper accepted for presentation, Birch will chair another session and attend sessions that are methodological in nature dealing with criminal justice policy evaluation. 

David Warren, assistant professor of printmaking and art education at Henderson State University, has been named art educator of the year by the Arkansas Art Educators Association.

Warren has been a member of the Henderson faculty since 2008.

“This is a great honor that they give to different educators every year from across the state,” Warren said. “We at Henderson are proud to be connected to the association.”

The association includes teachers from K-12 and higher education.

“To be recognized by these artists and teachers is something really special and it means a lot to me and to the university,” he said.

Warren organizes professional development workshops each summer for teachers where they work with Warren and other art professors and artists. One-on-one training sessions are provided in the various art studios.

Other workshops target younger students.

With an interest in many printmaking techniques, he shares a variety of western printmaking methods including etching, lithography, and relief printing, as well as eastern techniques such as Japanese methods.

Dr. May-Tsao Lim, professor of music at Henderson State University, will perform on piano with cellist Stephen Feldman and Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Kiril Laskarov as they present Tchaikovsky Piano Trio in A Minor Jan. 29 in Little Rock.

The recital begins at 7 p.m. and will be held at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 West 17th St. Tickets are $15 at the door, but is free for active military and students with ID.

 

Dr. Haroon Khan, professor of political science at Henderson State University, has published a book entitled Globalization and the Challenges of Public Administration. The book uniquely combines research on human resources development with globalization.

“This book is an attempt to understand the challenges of globalization and governance in the public sector,” Khan said.

The book is published by Palgrave/Macmillan.

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Cathy Reynolds, nursing office coordinator at Henderson State, received the Staff Award of Excellence for the second quarter. Reynolds has been a Henderson employee for 43 years. Her co-workers in the nursing department describe her as “dependable and loyal with superb people skills.” Reynolds is eligible for the President’s Staff Excellence Award. She received several gifts and will be presented a plaque at the staff awards luncheon.