Twenty-five members of the Arkansas Tech University faculty were promoted and 11 Tech faculty members were granted tenure by the ATU Board of Trustees during its meeting on Wednesday at the Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center.
Policies and procedures regarding faculty evaluation, promotion and tenure were developed by an independent faculty committee in spring 1995 and approved by the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees on June 15, 1995.
The promotion and tenure actions taken by trustees on Wednesday will become effective at the beginning of the 2018-19 academic year.
The following individuals were promoted to professor:
*Dr. Rebecca Callaway, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
*Dr. Shelly Daily, Department of Nursing
*Dr. David Eshelman, Department of Communication and Journalism
*Dr. Terri McKown, Department of Nursing
*Dr. Cathi McMahan, Department of Parks, Recreation and Hospitality Administration
*Dr. Michael Rogers, Department of History and Political Science
*Dr. Sandra Smith, Department of Emergency Management
*Dr. Ivan Still, Department of Biological Sciences
*Dr. Jason Ulsperger, Department of Behavioral Sciences
*Dr. James Walton, Department of Management and Marketing
*Dr. Jason Warnick, Department of Behavioral Sciences
The following individuals were promoted to associate professor:
*Dr. Wanda Christie, Department of Nursing
*Dr. Pam Dixon, Center for Leadership and Learning
*Dr. Sean Reed, Department of Music
The following individuals were promoted to associate professor and granted tenure:
*Dr. Rene Couture, Department of College Student Personnel
*Dr. Mariusz Gajewski, Department of Physical Sciences
*Dr. Patrick Hagge, Department of History and Political Science
*Dr. Masanori Kuroki, Department of Accounting and Economics
*Dr. Dong Soo Lee, Department of Parks, Recreation and Hospitality Administration
*Dr. Aaron McArthur, Department of History and Political Science
*Dr. Shelly Randall, Department of Nursing
*Dr. Jeremy Schwehm, Department of Professional Studies
*Dr. Ellen Treadway, Center for Leadership and Learning
The following individuals were promoted to assistant professor:
*Nancy Cox, Department of English and World Languages
*Donna Sherrill, Department of Mathematics
The following individuals were granted tenure:
*Dr. John Freeman, Center for Leadership and Learning
*Dr. Alaric Williams, Department of College Student Personnel
Four recently retired members of the ATU faculty who gave a combined 93 years of service to the institution were granted emeritus status on Wednesday. They are: Dr. Cathy Baker, professor emeritus of geology; Dr. Theresa Herrick, professor emeritus of recreation and park administration; Dr. M. Annette Holeyfield, professor emeritus of health and physical education; and Dr. David Underwood, professor emeritus of education.
In other business on Thursday, the ATU Board of Trustees approved:
*awarding a contract in the amount of $104,415 to Ford Engineering, Inc. for the paving and striping of two ATU gravel parking lots adjacent to North Glenwood Avenue in Russellville;
*a transfer of $89,460 from the unappropriated housing fund balance to complete the demolition of Roush Residence Hall and provide for the construction of an outdoor student recreation area on that site;
*the sale of ATU off-campus student housing facility East Gate Apartments to Capaba Properties LLC at a price of $575,000 less closing costs;
*a transfer of $434,250 to fund renovations during summer 2018 to nine residence halls: Turner Hall, Tucker Hall, Paine Hall, Jones Hall, Baswell Hall, Critz Hall, Nutt Hall, Jones Hall and Caraway Hall;
*a transfer of $34,036.92 from unappropriated educational and general fund balance to complete renovations at the Administration Building;
*an amendment to the university parking regulations, effective immediately, to allow the Arkansas Tech executive council to designate maximum capacity visitor days, and that beginning at midnight the night before maximum capacity visitor days, the Chambers Cafeteria parking lots, student outdoor tabling and the designated free speech areas will be unavailable until 5 p.m., with students or student groups failing to comply subject to discipline pursuant to Article III (registered student organizations) or Article IV (students) of the ATU Student Code of Conduct;
*participation by the ATU Upward Bound programs in the Arkansas Department of Human Services (ADHS) Summer Food Service Program for eligible Upward Bound students who stay on campus during the summer months;
*deletion of the Master of Education degree in elementary education, the Master of Education degree in English, the Technical Certificate in Enology, the Technical Certificate in Viticulture and the Certificate of Proficiency in Viticulture, none of which meet the viability standards established by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board;
*ATU-Ozark to enter into negotiations to purchase the property at 901 N. 18th Street in Ozark for future use by the university;
*an application for grant funding from the Arkansas Transportation Alternative Program that would assist in improving the walking trail at ATU-Ozark;
*and letters of notification that call for the creation of an Associate of Applied Science degree in collision repair technology and an Associate of Applied Science degree in cosmetic science at ATU-Ozark while deleting the Associate of Applied Science degree in general technology that previously housed options in those two disciplines.
In personnel matters, trustees approved the employment of the following faculty members for the 2018-19 academic year:
*Leslie Bain, instructor of mathematics; Chantelle Besley, instructor of mathematics; Dr. Judy L. Cezeaux, professor of engineering and dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences; Andrea Denk, instructor of mathematics; Dr. Weijia Jia, assistant professor of statistics; Dr. Mrigendra Rajput, assistant professor of biology; and Dr. Michael Wang, assistant professor of English.
Holly Newman was hired as visiting instructor of EMT/paramedic at ATU-Ozark for the remainder of the spring 2018 semester, and Ashley Golleher was hired as director of government relations for ATU effective March 1, 2018.
Jared Haas was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Wonder Boys football program effective Feb. 1, 2018, while Jessica Brock was promoted to director of admissions effective Feb. 9, 2018.
Trustees granted a request for reassignment from Dr. Hanna Norton. She will leave her role as dean of the College of eTech effective July 1, 2018, so that she may return to full-time teaching in her role as professor of journalism.
The board accepted the following resignations:
*Jenny Butler, assistant director for campus life, effective June 29, 2018; Robert Latus, assistant database administrator, effective Feb. 2, 2018; Dr. Terry Nichols, assistant professor of educational leadership, effective May 12, 2018; Dr. Mark Reavis, assistant professor of economics and finance, effective July 5, 2018; and Dr. Chris Trombly, assistant professor of educational leadership, effective May 12, 2018.
Three members of the Tech faculty had their requests for retirement approved by trustees.
Dr. Thomas A. DeBlack, professor of history, will retire on May 12, 2018, following 23 years at ATU.
Frances Hager, librarian, gave 28 years of service to Tech before retiring on Feb. 28.
Dr. John W. Watson, distinguished professor of mathematics, will retire on Dec. 31, 2018. He has been a member of the ATU faculty since 1978 and was vice president for academic affairs at Arkansas Tech from 2008-14.
