The Office of the Provost and the Office for Faculty Affairs recently recognized faculty for providing outstanding mentorship to their colleagues and for completing professional development programs at the Provost's Faculty Recognition Reception held on April 10 during Faculty Appreciation Week.

"Seeking and providing quality mentorship has a profound impact on both the mentee and the mentor," said Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Anna Zajicek. "In working with others across campus, I continually hear amazing stories of how our faculty have supported each other as well as how mentorship positively affects our students."

Mentorship awards and professional development recognitions that were given to faculty include the Provost Award for Departmental Excellence in Faculty Mentoring, Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards, Bridge Program Completion Badges, Beginning Investigator Research Development Support (BIRDS) Completion Badges and Mentoring Graduate Students and Post-Docs Professional Development Workshop completion certificates.

"I was honored to recognize our faculty for participating in mentorship and professional development programs," Zajicek said. "These programs assist our faculty in commencing a successful career at the U of A and providing outstanding mentorship to their graduate students and post-docs."

Provost Award for Departmental Excellence in Faculty Mentoring

This annual award is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office for Faculty Affairs.  The award is given to the department or academic unit on campus that best displays excellence in onboarding and mentoring of early-career and mid-career faculty, including tenure track and non-tenure track faculty. The winning department receives $8,000 and a trophy.

This year's award was given to the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards

The Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award is sponsored by the Provost's Office and given to faculty who were nominated by their peers and colleagues for serving as an outstanding mentor to other U of A faculty. The following faculty received a 2024 Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award:

• Lynda Coon, Department of History
• Jason Endacott, Curriculum & Instruction Department
• Kristen Gibson, Department of Food Science
• Fionna Goggin, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
• Marcia Shobe, School of Social Work

Bridge Program Completion Badges

The Bridge Program is sponsored by the Office for Faculty Affairs and the U of A ADVANCE ENGAGE grant. This program provides mentorship and onboarding resources to new faculty through an innovative and comprehensive teams-based approach. The Bridge Program also allows new faculty to network with other faculty across departments and schools. 

The following faculty members received the Bridge Program Completion Badge:

• Christianne Corbett, Department of Sociology & Criminology
• Kathryn Norton-Smith, Department of Sociology & Criminology
• Ashley Purdy, Department of Philosophy
• Mahfuzur Rahman, Department of Food Science
• Teresa Tackett, School of Journalism & Strategic Media

Bridge Program and Beginning Investigator Research Development Support (BIRDS) Program Completion Badges

The Bridge Program is offered in the fall semester and transitions into the Beginning Investigator Research Development Support Program (BIRDS) in the spring semester. The BIRDS Program, offered by the Division of Research and Innovation, focuses on peer networking, finding funding and general grantsmanship training. Participants learn about the services that Research Development offers investigators on campus and work with the Research Development team to create personalized research and funding plans.

The following faculty completed both the Bridge Program and the BIRDS Program:

• Jenn Campbell, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Danqui Cai, School of Art
• Jenna Donohue, Department of Philosophy
• Neelakshi Majumdar, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Erin Nolen, School of Social Work
• Charles Paillard, Department of Physics
• Rowena Pedrena, School of Journalism & Strategic Media
• Lin Tan, Department of Psychological Science

Mentoring Graduate Students and Post-Docs Professional Development Workshop Completion

This workshop provides faculty with the opportunity to learn best practices in mentoring to inspire, direct and professionally develop graduate mentees and post-docs. The workshop also helps faculty develop a mentoring philosophy, experiment with various mentoring methods and discuss mentoring challenges and successes with peers.

The following faculty members completed the fall 2023 workshop:

• Jenn Campbell, Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Jiahui Chen, Department of Mathematical Sciences
• Jingyi Chen, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Terrell Jake Dionne, Department of Communications
• Martin Edwards, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Lei Guo, Department of Civil Engineering
• Renee Hearon, Department of Physics
• Julie Hill, Department of Counseling, Leadership, and Research Methods
• Nick Johnston, School of Human Environmental Sciences
• Jessica Kowalski, Department of Anthropology
• Jacob Monroe, Department of Chemical Engineering
• Jennifer Muriithi, Department of Occupational Therapy
• Anne O'Leary Kelly, Department of Management
• Kathleen Paul, Department of Anthropology
• David Reed, Department of Theatre
• Shannon Speir, Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences
• Jody Thompson, School of Art

The following faculty members completed the spring 2024 workshop:

• Shristi Bhochhibhoya, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation
• Michelle Evans-White, Department of Biological Sciences
• Sun Ferreira, Department of Food Science
• Difei Geng, Department of Economics
• Kat Gray, Department of English
• Maggie He, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Manuel Olmedo Gobante, Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures
• Samantha Robinson, Data Science Program
• Iana Shaheen, Department of Supply Chain Management

Awards recognizing teaching excellence were also given to faculty during the reception. View this Arkansas News story for information on teaching recognition.

The next Provost's Faculty Recognition Reception will be held in April 2025 to coincide with Faculty Appreciation Week, which occurs the second week of April each year. The Provost's Faculty Recognition Reception is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Office for Faculty Affairs and the U of A ADVANCE ENGAGE grant.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.