College of Education and Health Professions Announces Executive Leadership Team Changes

Shannon Magsam

From left: Matthew Ganio, Ed Bengtson, Sherry Muir, Patrick Wolf, Kate Mamiseishvili, Michael Hevel, Kristin Higgins, Mary Margaret Hui Cunningham, Michelle Gray, Lewatis McNeal and Jessie Casida.

As the fall semester kicks off, the College of Education and Health Professions' executive leadership team reflects several role changes.

"I'm happy to be working with so many amazing leaders who have accepted new positions for the upcoming school year and those who are continuing to serve on our leadership team," said Kate Mamiseishvili, the college's interim dean. "We have a wonderful team of people who care deeply about our students, faculty and staff. We all look forward to the possibilities that our WE CARE initiative will bring to our college. It's going to be a great year."

Michael Hevel has been appointed interim associate dean for research, strategy and outreach. Hevel, a U of A associate professor of higher education, has been serving as head of the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders since 2017. As the associate dean, he will lead the college's strategic initiatives and provide support and direction for its research and outreach efforts.

Hevel, a faculty member in the college since 2012, had also recently served as interim department head of the Department of Education Reform. Mamiseishvili has appointed Patrick Wolf, Distinguished Professor of Education Policy and the 21st Century Endowed Chair in School Choice in the Department of Education Reform, to that position. Wolf joined the U of A in 2006 after teaching at Columbia and Georgetown University. The mission of the Department of Education Reform is to advance education and economic development by focusing on the improvement of academic achievement in elementary and secondary schools.

Mamiseishvili named Kristin Higgins to Hevel's vacated department head role in the Department of Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders. Higgins, associate professor of counselor education and supervision, joined the faculty in 2006. She has served as a program coordinator since 2016. The RHRC department houses six undergraduate and graduate programs, including adult and lifelong learning, communication sciences and disorders, counselor education and supervision, educational statistics and research methods, higher education, and human resource and workforce development.

The college also has a new nursing school leader. Jessie Casida, an internationally known nurse scientist, has been named the new executive director of the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing and the George M. and Boyce W. Billingsley Endowed Chair in Nursing. Casida joins the U of A from Johns Hopkins University.

Michelle Gray began serving as the interim department head of the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation last fall. Gray took on the role after Matthew Ganio was named interim associate dean of academic and student affairs. Gray is also a professor of exercise science whose research centers around age-related ailments to increase the quality of life among older adults. The department offers degree programs in exercise science — also known as kinesiology — public health, recreation and sport management, athletic training, and teaching K-12 physical education and health.

Ganio joined the college's faculty in 2011. Ganio oversees academic and student affairs in the associate dean's role, including facilitating changes and additions to degree plans, accreditation and assessments. He also supervises the Boyer Center for Student Services and the Office for Teacher Education. He assists departments and faculty in evaluation, promotion and tenure policies.

Lewatis McNeal, who joined the college in 2020, is continuing as associate dean for administration and diversity. Sherry Muir is in her sixth year of leading the Department of Occupational Therapy, and Ed Bengtson is continuing as head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Mary Margaret Hui Cunningham serves as the dean's chief of staff and executive assistant.

Over the summer, Mamiseishvili and the leadership team created the WE CARE initiative, which outlines the college's priorities as the new academic year begins. WE CARE stands for Wellness and Education Commitment to Arkansas Excellence. The priorities revolve around tangible ways faculty and staff can collaborate within the college and across the state to address complex challenges in education and health.

The College of Education and Health Professions enrolled 4,474 undergraduate and 1,457 graduate students for a total of 5,931 students in the 2021-22 academic year. The college continues to have the largest graduate student enrollment at the U of A and the two largest departments on campus: the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing and the Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation. The college offers advanced academic degrees, professional development opportunities and learning communities in service to the education and health systems of Arkansas and beyond.