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Archives for March 2026

LAST CHANCE! LEAD Applications OPEN until March 20, 2026!

Submitted by: Aleighla Webb, awebb@uca.edu on 03/13/2026

Are you a employee interested in leadership development and peer networking? The LEAD Program is your answer. Apply today for the 2026-2027 Lead Fellows Cohort!

This program brings together 25 highly motivated faculty and staff who value dynamic interactions among academic, operational, and external members and want to learn more about the university and their own leadership development. Participants will gain a different perspective on the campus community, acquire a new network of colleagues, and receive neat swag. Want to know more? Attend an interest session (not required for application process) to receive further information and ask questions. Go to the following webpages for further information:

LEAD Content Link: /hr/files/2026/02/-LEAD-Content-2026-27-PR.pdf
LEAD Q&A: /hr/files/2026/02/LEAD-Q-and-A-document-2026.pdf
LEAD Application: /hr/protectedcontent/lead-applications/

*Attention is given to representation from across campus, number of years at , role at , evidence of personal/professional development, motivation goals, campus impact, and application narrative.

Applications Deadline — Friday, March 20, 2026 at 4:30 pm

 

Spring Cultural Event: India

Submitted by: Gizachew Tiruneh, gtiruneh@uca.edu on 03/12/2026

A cultural event organized by the International Studies Club to showcase the cultural traditions of India. Short speeches, short videos, souvenir exhibition, and Indian food tasting. The event will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2026, at the Student Ballroom 205 B between 4:15 and 5:30 pm. All are invited.

 

UCA Intern of the Year – Tymera Marsh

Submitted by: Karen Shaw, kshaw3@uca.edu on 03/12/2026

UCA Internships and Cooperative Education is proud to announce Tymera Marsh as the 2025–26 Intern of the Year. Marsh, a senior majoring in Marketing major and minoring in Computer Information Systems, was nominated by Dr. Tom Snyder and earned this recognition through an exceptional internship experience at Apptegy, a Little Rock-based SaaS company specializing in school-community communication.

Marsh served as a Client Experience Intern within Apptegy’s Client Success division, where she supported more than 2,000 shared client accounts. Her responsibilities included content migration, website design improvements, data accuracy updates, and guiding clients through technical processes. However, it was her initiative beyond those assigned duties that set her apart.

Her most significant contribution came when she independently identified a gap in an existing client workflow and took complete ownership of redesigning it. Working on behalf of the client, Marsh led a multi-phase project using spreadsheets and Jira, coordinated team meetings, created instructional recordings, and strategically delegated tasks based on her teammates’ strengths. Her leadership helped meet the client’s deadline, restored client trust, and significantly improved overall client sentiment — a project that drew high praise from Apptegy’s Vice President of Client Experience, Ashley Coleman.

Coleman described Marsh as “a natural leader” who exemplified initiative, drive, and originality, noting that she stepped into a leadership role and coordinated the work of four colleagues. Impressed by her performance, Apptegy has already offered Marsh a full-time position upon her graduation.

Marsh credits her growth to Apptegy’s collaborative culture and her mentor and says the experience transformed her professional outlook entirely. She now serves as a mentor to three fellow students on campus. Marsh’s leadership and dedication are no surprise to those who know her. Throughout her four years at , she has been actively involved in multiple student organizations and has consistently served as a mentor and campus leader.

Congratulations, Tymera, on this well-deserved honor!

/career/interns-of-the-year/

SLL’s Michael Blanchard Publishes New Poetry Collection

Submitted by: Macy Cloninger, mcloninger@cub.uca.edu on 03/11/2026

On March 9, Kelsay Books released a new poetry collection from Michael Blanchard, an adjunct professor in ’s School of Language and Literature. Titled The Things of This World, the new book has been described as a celebration of and meditation on the power and fragility of the physical world that allows us to experience beauty, love, joy, and also sorrow.

In one early review, an editor of Southern Literary Review champions the collection as Blanchard’s “most powerful collection to date” and notes, “He gracefully blends the philosophical, the reflective, and the personal, all with a scholar’s eye for the telling detail and a poet’s ear for the music in language. With his precise control over form, he creates free verse rich in sensory imagery, discovery, and intellectual depth—haunting, immersive, and exacting. Rooted in Southern sensibilities, these poems frequently meditate on memory and aging but also reach further to conjure landscapes both physical and emotional.”

North Carolina poet Michael Hettich, inaugural recipient of the School’s Hudson-Fowler Prize in Poetry, adds, “Blanchard’s poems bring us into the presence of a genuinely humane person, a poet who speaks with the modesty of deep experience and well-honed craft. This poet practices what might be called a spiritual poetry, a poetry that opens our eyes and hearts to profound mysteries of being. His explorations of the transformational moments of perception and memory remind me at times of the Chinese masters and at others of the Christian mystics—but always the poems resonate with his own unique and carefully-modulated voice.”

Blanchard joined the faculty in the fall semester of 2018 as part of what was then the English Department. In addition to his teaching duties, he serves as editor of SLANT, the School of Language & Literature’s international journal of contemporary poetry. He is also an active member of the Poets’ Roundtable of Arkansas, the state’s unofficial poetry society, and was elected to the board of that group in April of 2005.

The Things of This World is Blanchard’s fifth book, beginning with his debut collection, Naming the Silence, in 2017. His poetry has also appeared in Alabama Literary Review, Quarry, Voyeur, Cave Region Review, MockingHeart Review, Stone Poetry Quarterly, and Streetlight Magazine, among others.

 

W(h)ine and Cheese

Submitted by: Teresa Burton, tlb90003@uca.edu on 03/11/2026

Staff Senate is hosting W(h)ine and Cheese on Tuesday, March 17 from 4-6 pm in Buffalo Alumni Hall.
Please join us.

 

Future-Ready Bears

Submitted by: Teresa Burton, tlb90003@uca.edu on 03/11/2026

Staff Senate is implementing a new program this Spring. Future-Ready Bears is a program
designed to assist our fellow campus staff with back-to-school supplies. The program is open to
all and Aramark employees who meet the qualification requirements. Look for the black
donation bins in Bernard Hall, Burdick Hall, and Harrin Hall. Donations are now being accepted.
Please review the attached flyer to see the supply wish list.
If you have any questions, please contact Shalia Delph (sdelph@uca.edu) or Brandy Davis
(bdavis66@uca.edu).
Thank you for supporting Staff Senate and our fellow staff members.

 

Bear Biographies Call For Books (with a story to tell)

Submitted by: Lori Hunt, vhunt1@uca.edu on 03/10/2026

The Bear Biographies planning committee is delighted to announce the 2026 Bear Biographies: A Library of Lived Experiences event will take place this year at on the second floor of Torreyson Library April 7th, 2026 from 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

We are calling on all members of the campus & local community who have a story to tell and would be interested in serving as “books” at the event. Books submit a proposed title and description of their story and sign up for a 2-hour shift during which they have a series of 20-minute conversations with participants in the Bear Biographies event. The goal of Bear Biographies is to discover more about each other and build a stronger community!

If you’re interested in telling your story, complete the book volunteer form. Not sure what to talk about, or how to phrase your title or description? Don’t worry! Complete the form and a member of the planning committee will reach out to you to assist with brainstorming. An orientation will be offered the week before the event to go over what to expect at the event.

Additional information about this year’s event and all the ways you can get involved as a book, an event volunteer, or a participant can be found on our LibGuide.