Congratulations and thanks to each A-State staff member who has contributed to another excellent year of outreach by Santa's Wolves, an ongoing service initiative conducted by a Staff Senate committee. According to Sheryl Puckett, Santa's Wolves assisted 15 families with groceries and presents for their 36 children during the Christmas season. The Wolves' collective efforts help A-State families meet other special needs throughout the year.

Traci Ellington, director, Office of Operational Excellence, made a presentation at the recent CoHEsion Summit held in St. Louis. In her topic, “Creating a Finance Training Program and Improving Process Documentation,” she discussed the office’s goal of improving documentation and developing a more robust training program for the finance system end users. She also led discussions on the challenges associated with documentation and training.

Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, James and Wanda Lee Vaughn Professor of History, was a featured speaker at the Southern Foodways Alliance's recent conference in Bentonville. Her comments were included in an article published in the latest edition of Scalawag magazine. Jones-Branch shared details about how rural black women in the Arkansas Delta became key players in the movement for policy reform in agriculture and politics.

Van Provence, assistant director, University Communications, and Katey Provence, assistant director, Leadership Center, served on the staff for the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year's Day. As members of the news media relations team, Van was moderator for the four official news conferences with head coaches and coordinators, and Katey coordinated digital media distribution of statistics, quotes and game notes.

A book by Dr. Justin Castro, associate professor of history and department chair, was among the items referenced by Mexico's National Institute of Public Administration in its posthumous nomination of Modesto Rolland for the Belsario Dominguez Award, the highest award given by the Mexican Senate. Although Rolland was not selected, the senators considered Castro's research on the engineer's impact on the Mexican Revolution.