Learn@State, organized and sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Assessment, featured numerous excellent presentations, according to Summer Deprow, director of assessment. In addition to those listed in Inside A-State last week, faculty and staff who presented findings on student assessment were Lillie Fears, Media and Communication; Diane Gilmore, Sciences and Mathematics; John D. Hall, Gerald Strait and Craig Jones, Education and Behavioral Science; Zahid Hossain, Engineering; Sarath Nonis, Business; Melodie Philhours, Business; Robert Robinette, Dean B. Ellis Library; Jacques Singleton and Kimberley Davis, Education and Behavioral Science; and Ashley Zehel, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Dr. Shivan Haran, associate director of mechanical engineering and program director, has initiated an after-school robotics program at the elementary school level in Jonesboro.  The first school to participate is Valley View. More than 60 students are participating in the seven-week program, which is designed to introduce and expose children to basic concepts in engineering, math and programming through hands-on learning. Mechanical engineering students have volunteered to assist.

Dr. Stephen Guffey, professor of physical therapy, is lead author on four recent publications and co-author on another. The articles concern the use of various types of light therapy to treat skin infections, disinfect food products, and treat restless legs syndrome. Co-authors include Pam Towery, nutritional science; William Payne, clinical laboratory sciences; Dr. Susan Motts, physical therapy; and Deanna Barymon and Amber Wooten, medical imaging and radiation sciences.

Congratulations to Dr. Fabricio Medina-Bolivar, associate professor of biology, whose undergraduate research assistant, Jarrod Creameans, won second prize at the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division (AGFD) Undergraduate Student Research Award Symposium, which is held in conjunction with the American Chemical Society national meeting. Also, Medina-Bolivar was one of nine pianists who performed for "Doctors in Concert," a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

Congratulations to Brian Boyer, head women's basketball coach, and assistants Autumn Rademacher, Deidra Johnson and Steve Huber on leading the Red Wolves to the 2016 Sun Belt Conference championship with a 19-1 record. Boyer also was named Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year. The team competed in the National Invitational Tournament and finished the season with a record 27 total wins.