At the Faculty Honors Convocation, several faculty members were recognized for their years of service. Six faculty members -- Dr. Mark Draganjac, chemistry, Dr. Bert Greenwalt, agricultural economics, Dr. Gail Hudson, marketing, Dr. Ernesto Lombeida, Spanish, Dr. Melodie Philhours, marketing, and Dr. Joseph Sartorelli, philosophy -- were cited for completing 30 years of service. Others were recognized at milestones of 25, 20 and 15 years. The news release lists all of those recognized. 

Congratulations to Jason Stewart, instructor in civil engineering and director of the program, who serves as adviser to the student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and its award-winning bridge-building team. The ASCE bridge builders won first place in competition with engineering students from 13 other Mid-South universities at the regional Deep South Conference at Oxford, Mississippi. The news release about the team's achievements and national competition is online.

A manuscript by Dr. Susan Snellgrove, associate professor of nursing, has been accepted for publication in The Gerontologist, a journal of the Gerontological Society of America. The article, titled "Putting Them First:  Strategies Developed by Certified Nursing Assistants to Prevent and Manage Resident-to-Resident Violence in Nursing Homes," reports the findings of a qualitative study funded by a John A. Hartford Foundation Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Scholarship.

Dr. Bill Smith, executive director of marketing and communications, participated in the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' Communications Conference for Senior Professionals in Washington, D.C., March 25.  Smith's presentation on the usage of social media in crisis communications for higher education covered A-State's methods and surveyed the activities of other universities.

After a year as president-elect, Dr. Donald Bowyer, dean of the College of Fine Arts, began a two-year term as president of the South Central Chapter of the College Music Society (CMS), an organization of college and university music professors, at the end of the group's annual conference at Northeastern State University. The chapter includes members from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Bowyer has been involved in CMS since 2003.

For another look at the Faculty Honors Convocation ceremony, a video feature is now available online. A summary of the achievement awards that were presented and a collection of photographs are published on the news page, as is the recognition of those faculty members who are retiring this year.