Dr. Carlitta Moore, assistant professor of athletic training, clinical education coordinator, and assistant dean, was elected as the next vice president/president-elect of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE). She was inducted in Las Vegas at the organization’s annual conference.  AABHE pursues the educational and professional needs of Blacks in higher education with a focus on leadership, access, and vital issues impacting students, faculty, staff and administrators.

Dr. Shivan Haran, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is utilizing a grant from the Kays Foundation to support his project, “Baja Vehicle Design with STEM Outreach.” The $27,300 grant supports plans for A-State students to demonstrate their abilities to design, engineer and manufacture a vehicle in the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) annual collegiate design competition. A-State will participate next month in its third straight SAE Baja contest.

Dr. Stacy Walz, professor of clinical laboratory sciences, will organize and conduct a “boot camp” project for high school science teachers with support from a $10,892 grant from the Kays Foundation. The purpose is to showcase the work clinical laboratory scientists do, share helpful information for identifying and preparing prospective students for the program, and provide recruitment materials and activities they can use in their classrooms.

Dr. Angelo Brown, assistant professor of criminology, made a presentation at the annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Chicago. He discussed how modification or elimination of the laws that provide qualified immunity for law enforcement personnel have affected the profession. Brown said the policy changes were enacted to increase accountability, improve trust and community relations, and deter police misconduct.

Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Harmon, assistant professor of nursing and coordinator of the accelerated BSN option, who successfully defended his dissertation Friday to earn his Ph.D. through the nursing science graduate program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. His dissertation title was “Barriers and Facilitators to Completion of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity Conditional Release Programs.”