Twenty members of the Arkansas Tech University faculty were promoted and four ATU faculty members were granted tenure by the ATU Board of Trustees during its meeting on Thursday, April 18.
Policies and procedures regarding faculty evaluation, promotion and tenure were approved by the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees on May 17, 2018, following a faculty-led, three-year process of review and modification.
The promotion and tenure actions taken by trustees on April 18 will become effective at the beginning of the 2024-25 academic year.
Promotion to Professor:
- Dr. Rene Couture, Department of Emergency Management, Professional Studies and Student Affairs Administration
- Dr. Pam Dixon, Department of Teaching and Educational Leadership
- Dr. Mariusz Gajewski, Department of Physical and Earth Sciences
- Dr. Sarah Gordon, Department of Teaching and Educational Leadership
- Dr. Patrick Hagge, Department of History and Political Science
- Dr. Masanori Kuroki, School of Business
- Dr. Dong-Soo Lee, Department of Agriculture and Tourism
- Dr. Aaron McArthur, Department of History and Political Science
- Dr. Shelly Randall, Department of Nursing
- Dr. Sean Reed, Department of Music
- Dr. Jeremy Schwehm, Department of Emergency Management, Professional Studies and Student Affairs Administration
- Dr. Loretta Smith, School of Business
- Dr. Ellen Treadway, Department of Teaching and Educational Leadership
Promotion to Associate Professor and Tenure:
- Dr. Ahmed Elkassabgi, School of Business
- Dr. Randy Kelley, Department of Engineering and Computing Sciences
- Dr. John Narcum, School of Business
- Dr. Kuldeep Singh, School of Business
Promotion to University Instructor:
- Jennifer Enderlin, Department of Emergency Management, Professional Studies and Student Affairs Administration
Promotion to Senior Instructor:
- Jacob Weidenfeller, Department of Engineering and Computing Sciences
Promotion to Librarian:
- Dr. Lowell Lybarger, multimedia librarian
In other business during its meeting, the ATU Board of Trustees approved:
*election of Stephanie Duffield of Russellville to serve as ATU Board of Trustees secretary for the remainder of 2024 following the resignation of Michael Lamoureux of Russellville from the board;
*a 25 percent tuition waiver for students who apply and maintain a 2.0 grade point average to work between 20-24 hours within an appropriated position title with a designated line-item maximum amount that is listed in the annual legislatively adopted appropriation act;
*a budget authorization policy related to capital purchases establishing parameters in which a prior year’s budget authorization for a capital purchase can move to the new fiscal year’s budget authorization;
*a request to transfer five-year or older residual funds from completed grant projects into Russellville campus educational and general funds for future uses authorized by the ATU Board of Trustees;
*an internal promotion policy that will allow ATU to analyze vacancies and consider filling them with internal candidates that leverage institutional knowledge, encourage a culture of professional development for ATU staff through leadership and succession planning and maximize budgetary savings from natural attrition and turnover beginning July 1, 2024;
*$500,000 in summer facilities management and information technology projects on the Russellville campus, including a chiller rental for Doc Bryan Student Services Center, waterproofing of Browning Hall, exterior cleaning at Doc Bryan Student Services Center, exterior painting at Crabaugh Hall, repairs to L Street, event support inventory replacement, waterproofing of the ATU property at 823 N. El Paso Ave. and mower replacement;
*establishment of methods of finance with a goal of creating cost and time efficiencies on construction and renovation projects;
*a transfer of fiscal and physical management of the building that houses the campus post office and Hughes Hall from the Department of Residence Life to the Division of Administration and Finance with a goal of migrating offices and personnel currently located in the ATU property at 404 N. El Paso Ave. to Hughes Hall;
*a transfer of $161,029.02 to cover portions of December 2022 storm damage recovery costs that were not approved for reimbursement by ATU’s insurance carrier;
*a proposal to advertise a request for qualifications to identify a firm that can provide consultant and construction management services to design, propose and manage energy conservation projects at ATU;
*selection of SCM Architects as ATU’s on-call architectural services provider for job order contracting projects;
*a bond reimbursement resolution related to capital improvement projects approved by the ATU Board of Trustees in December 2023;
*a standing authorization that would allow for the transfer of up to 25 percent of increases in years of positive growth in Russellville campus educational and general fund balances toward reserves to fund projects identified in the annual capital improvement project submission, emergencies or instances whereby a piece of university property becomes dormant and unusable;
*a proposal to maintain 2023-24 tuition and mandatory fee rates on the Russellville campus with zero increase for the 2024-25 fiscal year;
*a proposal to maintain 2023-24 student housing rates on the Russellville campus with zero increase for the 2024-25 fiscal year;
*a request by ATU’s Upward Bound programs to participate in the Arkansas Department of Human Services summer food service program;
*letters of notification stating ATU’s intention to offer its Master of Arts in Teaching degree and its Master of Education in Teaching, Learning and Leadership degree online;
*continuation of provisional positions funded by external grants in the ATU Division of Academic Affairs and ATU-Ozark Campus for the 2024-25 fiscal year;
*continuation of two provisional positions — one on the nursing faculty and one in athletic training — that are funded in part by funding from St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center;
*emeritus status for retired faculty members Dr. Linda Bean, Dr. Mary B. Gunter and Dr. H. Micheal Tarver;
*an increase in ATU home basketball ticket prices to $10 for adults and $5 for children and senior citizens beginning with the 2024-25 season;
*selection of Mammoth Sports to create an athletics facilities master plan for ATU;
*and a letter of notification from ATU-Ozark Campus seeking permission to establish a Certificate of Proficiency in controls fundamentals.
In personnel matters, the ATU Board of Trustees approved hiring the following full-time employees:
*Richard Blackburn, registrar records management analyst, effective March 4, 2024; Jessica Brock, instructor of business administration, for the 2024-25 academic year; James Carter, administrative specialist III, effective March 4, 2024; Brooke Elser, administrative specialist III at ATU-Ozark Campus, effective March 1, 2024; Andrew Gillispie, computer support technician, effective March 4, 2024; Stacie Harden, director of scholarship management, effective March 11, 2024; Dr. Katelynn Hopson, assistant professor of accounting, for the 2024-25 academic year; Misty Huddleston, fiscal support specialist, effective March 1, 2024; Caleb King, computer support specialist, effective March 11, 2024; John Anthony Lowrey, skilled tradesman at ATU-Ozark, effective March 12, 2024; Dr. David Pumphrey, assistant professor of business data analytics, for the 2024-25 academic year; Dr. Katherine Rohwer, director of choral activities and assistant professor of music, for the 2024-25 academic year; Brandon Willhite, network support analyst, effective Jan. 2, 2024; and Clay Wyllia, associate director in admissions for CRM and public relations, effective May 1, 2024.
Amber Bendrick, Anthony Gamarro, Ashley Hull, Brittany Stewart and Lakisha Wood were all approved for institutional services assistant positions with start dates during the first half of March.
The following promotions were approved by the board:
*Sunday Alexander, from fiscal support specialist to fiscal support analyst, effective Dec. 11, 2023; Sean Carnahan, from infrastructure systems and services manager to assistant director for infrastructure systems, effective Jan. 1, 2024; Joseph Gordon, from computer operations coordinator and assistant help desk manager to computer support specialist and CMS coordinator, effective Jan. 1, 2024; Kevin Kilpatrick, from computer support specialist to network support specialist, effective Jan. 1, 2024; Tammy Rye, from buyer and contracts coordinator to business manager, effective March 1, 2024; Nick Schluterman, from computer support technician to computer operations coordinator and assistant help desk manager, effective Jan. 1, 2024; and Brendalyn Shockley, from executive assistant to executive assistant and assistant director of scholarship management, effective March 1, 2024.
The board accepted resignations from the following ATU employees:
*Joel Arivett, assistant director of facilities management, effective March 31, 2024; David Darr, electrician, effective March 31, 2024; Patsy Housley, institutional services assistant, effective March 15, 2024; Dr. Gina Kraft, associate professor of health and physical education, effective May 11, 2024; Dr. Carey Ellis Laffoon, professor of nursing, effective May 11, 2024; Brent Rhoades, public safety officer and training coordinator, effective March 29, 2024; Dr. Asim Shrestha, assistant professor of business data analytics, effective May 11, 2024; Makayla Walters, institutional services assistant, effective March 7, 2024; Brianna Watkins, workforce education faculty of nursing at ATU-Ozark, effective May 9, 2024; and Hanyang Zhang, visiting instructor of business data analytics, effective Feb. 9, 2024.
