Steve Dittmore, associate professor of recreation and sport management at the University of Arkansas, has been named Dean's Fellow in the College of Education and Health Professions. His assignment for the year is to assist academic departments with development of a personnel document.

The personnel document is used to evaluate faculty members for possible promotion and tenure and salary increases for merit.

Dittmore joined the faculty in 2008. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sport Communication Research Alliance and a member-at-large of the executive committee of the North American Society for Sport Management.

Dittmore is co-author, with G. Clayton Stoldt and Scott E. Branvold, of Sport Public Relations, a textbook used worldwide in sport management and public relations programs. Dittmore directed media operations for the organizing committees at the 1996 and 2002 Olympic Games.

"The purpose of the dean's fellowship program is to identify young, outstanding faculty who have an interest in serving in college leadership positions," said Tom Smith, dean of the College of Education and Health Professions. "Dr. Dittmore has proven his value to us as a faculty member through his teaching, research and service, and we are glad to have this opportunity to take advantage of his talents to assist the college as a whole."

Dittmore is meeting with each of the five academic departments in the college as they develop a personnel document that they will submit to the dean's office for approval before it is sent on to the provost for review. Each department has a committee in place that is working on the document.

"My role is to ensure that everyone meets deadlines and to help share information among the departments that could be useful as they discuss various aspects of the evaluation tool," Dittmore said. "One goal is to develop a more objective evaluation process than we had previously. I'm there to answer questions and share best practices."

Dittmore earned a doctorate in educational leadership and organizational development from the University of Louisville and a master's degree in mass communication and a bachelor's degree in news-editorial journalism, both from Drake University. He previously taught at East Stroudsburg University, the University of Louisville and Wichita State University.