Staff Members Recognized by College of Education and Health Professions

Photo by Heidi Wells

Shari Witherspoon, from left, Kelsey Harelson, Stephanie Gragg and Jeana Carow show their staff awards last week. Hung Pham and Jennifer Williams are not pictured.

The College of Education and Health Professions recognized outstanding staff members at a meeting May 3.

The college's Professional/Personal Enhancement Program, or PEP, and the Non-Classified Administrative Council coordinated the award selection based on nominations from the college's staff and faculty members and hosted the meeting.

"These are quite simply incredible staff members," said Michael Miller, dean of the college. "We are honored that they choose to work for us. They all have a positive attitude, a belief in doing what is right, and, at their core, a commitment to helping others. They are all highly deserving of these awards."

The winners:

• Jeana Carow, assistant director for facility operations at University Recreation. She modernized operations by introducing new technology to track user counts, submit electronic work orders and introduce an app for electronic sign-in at the Donna Axum Fitness Center. She also designed a summer internship experience that resulted in the student developing projects into tools UREC is using now. A nomination letter said her dedication to her staff of more than 70 students is unprecedented.
• Stephanie Gragg, administrative specialist III in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. Through her service in the area of undergraduate advising, she assists in all aspects of student enrollment and progress toward graduation. She volunteered to serve as point of contact for the transfer student office to provide additional stability. She approaches all situations with the impact on the student foremost in her mind, a nomination letter said.
• Kelsey Harelson, facility coordinator at University Recreation. He handles all the scheduling, reservations and rentals for UREC and the HPER building, which has resulted in increased rental sales through his demeanor and work ethic. He volunteers to take on extra work and is relentless in his pursuit of professional and personal development, a nomination letter said.
• Hung Pham, director of the Center for Children and Youth in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He administers the ARTeacher Fellowship program, which includes managing community partnerships and organizing a statewide conference on teaching with art, as well as assisting with other grant projects. The boundaries of his job constantly expand and he meets the challenges in a first-class way, a nomination letter said.
• Jennifer Williams, research assistant for the Office of Innovation in Education. She manages the office with outstanding efficiency, including coordinating three successful education innovation summits, with attendance increasing from 100 to more than 450 people. She has also been instrumental in fulfilling the work requirements of a $1.3 million annual grant from the Arkansas Department of Education, a nomination letter said.
• Shari Witherspoon, administrative support supervisor, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation. She has taken on the work of multiple people for a significant period of time, with support of faculty and students as her goal. She assists with work to help make sure grant-funded projects are successful and always performs with grace and kindness, a nomination letter said.

The College of Education and Health Professions enrolled 4,043 undergraduates and 1,323 graduate students last fall.