Education Commons^™

Shepherd Returns To Ouachita With Goals For Belonging (A Q&A With Dr. Lewis Shepherd), Lewis Shepherd, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Dr. Lewis Shepherd returned to his alma mater in August as special assistant to the president. Shepherd is a double graduate of Ouachita, having earned a bachelor’s degree in religion and a master’s degree in education. He earned his doctorate in higher education from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He previously served at Ouachita for 29 years in such roles as assistant to the dean of students, director of Student Support Services, director of TRiO Programs, assistant to the president for special programs and university compliance officer.

Listening And Leading Toward Biblical Belonging, Ben Sells, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Ouachita’s progress in recent years, much of which is referenced in this Circle, reflects the input and ideas from listening to responses from two questions in regard to our future: “What shouldn’t change?” and “What should change?”

Since arriving here in April 2016, Lisa and I have listened to many Ouachitonians answer these questions. We’ll continue to do so. Those answers guide our prayers and our work.

Navigating Unprecedented Times And Other Clichés (Editor's Notes From The Winter 2021 "Ouachita Circle"), Brooke Zimny, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Due to the pandemic ... canceled until further notice … we will navigate these uncertain times ... with resilience, optimism and creativity.

These and other phrases became all too familiar in 2020. As a communicator writing on behalf of Ouachita, they have become even more top of mind for me this year. As we chose the theme for this issue of the Ouachita Circle, no words seemed sufficient. Even words that were accurate and appropriate had lost their meaning, becoming clichés in our collective consciousness. And now, in 2021, which brings its own challenges, we are weary of the pandemic, …

Staff Profile: Rob Hewell, Director Of Online Learning Initiatives & Professor Of Music, Jon Merryman, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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While many of us were home in March learning to bake homemade bread or binging Netflix, Dr. Rob Hewell was working swiftly with IT Services and other campus partners to shift every Ouachita student to remote learning. Hewell thrived not only assisting current students but also faculty and staff with moving courses to Zoom and Moodle while continuing his typical daily work with students in Ouachita’s online degree programs.

“I think there is a silver lining to this dark cloud we’ve been living under in this season, and that is that our residential faculty have had the opportunity and need …

Faculty Profile: Ruth Plymale (Holder Of The J.D. Patterson Chair Of Biology), Jon Merryman, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Ask Dr. Ruth Plymale what she loves about Ouachita, and her answer is easy – the students!

“Ouachita students are phenomenal,” Plymale shared. “They’re nice, for one, but also super hard-working. They want to do a great job, and they’re just lovely people. I’ve had students pray for me; we encourage one another. I love getting to know students – which may not have been the case if I taught at a larger university without a focus on community.”

Alumni Profile: Christa Neal ('08) Facilitating Hope And Healing, Jon Merryman, Office Of Communications & Marketing

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Alumna Christa Neal admits that talking about child abuse and maltreatment isn’t fun or joyful, but there is joy in helping children who are victims of abuse find hope and healing.

Seven years ago, Neal was named executive director of the newly established Percy and Donna Malone Child Safety Center in Arkadelphia. There wasn’t a “center” to speak of at the time, just a vision of helping children who were victims of abuse or maltreatment in the area. Soon, a location would be found, Neal would grow funding and support and families would gain much needed services.

Neal entered Ouachita …

Pandemic Profiles: Chester Mitchell, Sr., And Coleman Rogers Facilities Management Carpentry Team, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Chester Mitchell, Sr., and Coleman Rogers became work partners in Ouachita’s Facilities Management office in 2006, and they’ve been working together ever since. With nicknames like “double trouble” and “salt and pepper,” it’s not surprising that if you see one, you see the other.

Six Ouachita Students Recognized At Virtual Midwest Model United Nations, Abby Turner, Ouachita News Bureau

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Six Ouachita Baptist University student delegates attended and received recognition for their respective roles at the Midwest Model United Nations simulation, held virtually Feb. 19-21 this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All six participants received recognition this year, either through individual award or as part of a delegation; Ouachita’s delegates included Cole Alexander, Taryn Bewley, Faith Moore, Anna Roussel, Rylie Slone and Spencer Worth.

“In my 27 years at Ouachita, these were the best results achieved by our delegations,” said Dr. Kevin Brennan, professor of political science. “Five students represented Mexico, while one student represented Uruguay.”

Composing The Story Of Us, Kevin Motl, Ouachita News Bureau

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Whose story gets told, and who gets to tell it? These questions and others lie at the heart of my flagship course History of American Women, which I am fortunate to teach this semester. As an historian of women and gender, I eagerly anticipate every opportunity to teach the class – and not just because it speaks directly to my scholarly expertise.

Adapting In An Unprecedented, Challenging, Remarkable Year, Byron Eubanks

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“2020: The Worst Year Ever,” declared the Dec. 14 Time magazine cover. Even with a pandemic and contentious presidential election, that’s surely an overstatement, given the sweep of human history. In the more limited sweep of our personal histories, though, it may seem an understatement. However, thinking in terms of “worst” primes us to dwell on all that went wrong this year. Thinking of the ways 2020 is unprecedented invites us to acknowledge the negatives but to be grateful, too, for the good in this very challenging year.

As I reflect on the year at Ouachita, many negatives spring to …

Hall Wins Ouachita's 2021 Shambarger Competition For Singers, Anna Weyenberg, Ouachita News Bureau

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Danielle Hall, a senior musical theatre major from Prairie Grove, Ark., won first place in Ouachita Baptist University’s 23^rd annual Mary Shambarger Competition for Singers on Tuesday, Feb. 23. This year’s competition repertoire featured art songs.

“Everyone simply astounded me, which is why I was surprised to hear my own name called,” Hall said, reflecting on being selected as the competition winner. “I'm not sure I've ever been more impressed by the talent here at Ouachita.”

Fearful Of Going Back To School? 3 Reasons You Can Earn A Degree Online, Jessica Qualls, Ouachita News Bureau

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Every year when fall begins, my family has a tradition of watching the 1998 classic, "You've Got Mail." (If you haven't seen it, prepare your heart for delightful Meg Ryan-Tom Hanks banter, autumnal New York scenes and dial-up internet nostalgia.) One of my favorite lines in the movie comes from main character Kathleen Kelly's bookkeeper, Bertie. When Kathleen chooses to make a major career change, Bertie calls her decision, “the brave thing to do,” saying, “You are daring to imagine that you could have a different life!”

Transitioning Cell Culture Cure Labs From Campus To Online: Novel Strategies For A Novel Time, Jaime L. Sabel, Kendra Wright, Jacob J. Adler, Gary Bates, La Shall Bates, Sumali Pandey, Amanda M. Simons, Sarah J. Swerdlow, Nathan S. Reyna, Lori Hensley

Articles

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide a way for students to gain research experience in a classroom setting. Few examples of cell culture CUREs or online CUREs exist in the literature. The Cell Biology Education Consortium (CBEC) provides a network and resources for instructors working to incorporate cell-culture based research into the classroom. In this article, we provide examples from six instructors from the CBEC network on how they structure their cell-culture CUREs and how they transitioned the labs to online in the spring semester of 2020. We intend for these examples to provide instructors with ideas for strategies to …

Gene Expression And Data Analysis Pipeline Using Cancer Bioportal In The Classroom, Chassidy N. Barnes, Blake P. Johnson, Stefanie W. Leacock, Ruben M. Ceballos, Lori L. Hensley, Nathan S. Reyna

Articles

At institutions with an emphasis on authentic research experiences as an integral part of the biology curriculum, COVID created a huge challenge for course instructors whose learning objectives were designed for such experiences. Moving such laboratory experiences online when remote learning became necessary has resulted in a new model for CUREs that utilizes free online databases to provide not only a novel research experience for students, but also the opportunity to engage in big data analysis. Cancer BioPortal (cBioPortal) is an open-access collective cancer research resource for storing and exploring clinical, genomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic data. cBioPortal eliminates the computational …

Pandemic Profiles: Kristi Seals And Kristin Kesterson Ouachita’S Covid-19 Testing Center, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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For many Ouachita students, the slightest sign of COVID-19 symptoms or the realization that they have been exposed to a positive case causes anxiety, naturally. But since students returned to campus for residential learning in August 2020, they have had two on-campus “mommas” to call for guidance: Kristi Seals and Kristin Kesterson.

Hamilton Awarded $20,000 Arkansas Inbre Grant To Purchase Lyophilizer, Enhance Ouachita's School Of Natural Science Laboratories, Madison Cresswell, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Dr. Sharon Hamilton, assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded $20,000 in funding by Arkansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) to purchase a lyophilizer freeze-dryer, an instrument used to remove aqueous solvents in industry and research. The instrument will be used to enhance both course-based undergraduate research and independent research projects in Ouachita’s Patterson School of Natural Sciences as well as Henderson State University’s Ellis College of Arts and Sciences.

Why It’S Okay To Change Your Major, And How Ouachita Makes It Easy, Michaelyn Ferrell, Ouachita News Bureau

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During my senior year in high school, I thought I had to have my entire future planned out, including knowing what I would study in college. If you’re thinking the same thing, take a breath! You don’t have to know it all before going to college.

Ouachita Sports Digital Network Airs First Broadcasts From New Production Trailer, Abby Turner, Ouachita News Bureau

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A team of nine Ouachita Baptist University students in the Ouachita Sports Digital Network (OSDN) recorded and produced their first series of broadcasts the weekend of Jan. 23-24 from a new production trailer, providing coverage of Tiger swimming and basketball events to fans after a 10-month pause on Ouachita and overall NCAA Division II athletic events due to COVID-19.

OSDN launched in 2020 in response to growth and interest in the sports media emphasis within Ouachita’s communications & media major, and as a way to give students hands-on, immersive experience while still in school. This semester, the OSDN team includes …

Ouachita To Host Visual Arts Faculty Biennial Exhibit Through Feb. 26, Madison Cresswell, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Rosemary Adams Department of Visual Arts is hosting its Visual Arts Faculty Biennial Exhibit in the Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery, located in Moses-Provine Hall, through Friday, Feb. 26, 2021. The exhibit features the work of the Ouachita’s visual arts faculty members and is free and open to the public.

Faculty members featured in the exhibit include: Donnie Copeland, chair of the Department of Visual Arts and professor of visual arts; Kara Gunter, adjunct instructor of visual arts; Cary Roberson, associate professor of visual arts; Ferris Williams, associate professor of visual arts; and René Zimny, assistant professor of …

Hall And Ring To Perform Senior Musical Theatre Recitals Feb. 26, Claire Phillips, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University will host Danielle Hall and Elizabeth Ring in their senior musical theatre recitals on Friday, Feb. 26, at 11 a.m. Due to COVID-19 physical distancing guidelines, the recitals will be livestreamed for the public at livestream.com/obu, and there is limited seating for Ouachita students, faculty and staff in McBeth Recital Hall.

Ouachita To Present "The Old Man And The Old Moon" Feb. 25-March 1, 2021, Kristi Roshto, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s Department of Theatre Arts will present the play “The Old Man and The Old Moon” for its annual Muse Project beginning Thursday, Feb. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Verser Theatre. Performances will continue Feb. 26, Feb. 28 and March 1 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee performance on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 2:30 p.m. The production is open to Ouachita faculty, staff and students with limited seating to allow for social distancing, and paid streaming tickets are available to the general public at www.obu.edu/boxoffice.

Written and produced by PigPen Theatre Co. in New York City, “The …

Weyenberg Wins 2021 Ouachita's Virginia Queen Piano Competition, Lindsey Hyde, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Anna Weyenberg, a junior piano and communications & media/multimedia journalism double major from McKinney, Texas, won first place in Ouachita Baptist University’s 2021 Virginia Queen Piano Competition held on Friday, Feb. 5, in Ouachita’s McBeth Recital Hall.

Weyenberg also received a $500 cash prize for her performance of “Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 23” by Frederic Chopin and “Notturno” by Ottorino Respighi. She is a student of Dr. Mary Chung, associate professor of music at Ouachita.

International Club Presents International Food Festival, “Dorm Edition”, João Pedro Rodrigues, Ouachita News Bureau

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Studying abroad requires the ability to embrace and live a different culture every day. As an international student, you become familiar with so many aspects of a new culture that can sometimes be overwhelming. There are several new things that you learn to love and embrace about your own culture. For example, if you ask me what I miss most about my country, I will undoubtedly say the food (besides my family, of course)!

Ouachita Reports 97% Career Outcomes Rate For Graduates In The Midst Of The Pandemic, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University announced a 97% career outcomes rate for its 2020 graduating class, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The percentage exceeds this year’s national average of 86% reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Also referred to as a placement rate, career outcomes rate is the percentage of graduates who are working full or part-time or attending graduate school within six months of graduation. Of Ouachita’s 97% career outcomes rate, 30% are currently continuing their education in graduate or professional school.

Ouachita To Host "Perpetual Frindge" Exhibit By Guest Artist Brad Wreyford Through Feb. 26, 2021, Mandy Halbert, Ouachita News Bureau

Press Releases

Ouachita Baptist University’s Rosemary Adams Department of Visual Arts will host “Perpetual Frindge,” an exhibit by artist Brad Wreyford of Hot Springs, Ark., through Tuesday, Feb. 26. The exhibit will be displayed in the Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery on the first floor of Moses-Provine Hall and is free and open to the public.

Ouachita's School Of Fine Arts Announces Adjusted Spring Events, Mandy Halbert, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s School of Fine Arts has adjusted its Spring 2021 events, including concerts, theatre productions and art galleries, to allow students to continue their performance education as well as provide safe viewing for audiences following COVID-19 guidelines from the Arkansas Department of Health and Ouachita’s Health Monitoring and Action Team.

Live events for the spring semester will follow the same protocols that were introduced last semester, with attendance limited to the Ouachita campus community and reduced seating in order to follow social distancing guidelines. Most performances will be available to audiences to view for free at www.livestream.com/obu, …

Ouachita Reports Highest Total Spring Enrollment In 25 Years, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University has reported a total spring 2021 enrollment of 1,619, a 3% increase since spring 2020, and the highest spring headcount for the university in 25 years. The increase reflects strong retention of traditional undergraduate students and new programs for non-traditional students.

The increase follows Ouachita’s fourth consecutive year of fall enrollment growth – with fall 2020 enrollment being the largest in 20 years – and also reflects a strong 94.1% fall-to-spring retention for the residential freshman class, the third-highest on record for the university since 2000-2001. The freshman cohort is one of the most distinctive in Ouachita’s …

Four People You Should Get To Know (And Read) For Black History Month 2021, Autumn Mortenson, Ouachita News Bureau

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This year, as you celebrate the accomplishments and contributions African Americans have made to American society, take time to learn about the Riley-Hickingbotham Library’s four featured authors from four different genres, browse the other books on display and attend one of MORE’s programmed events.

Ouachita Announces Students Named To Fall 2020 President's List, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University has named 343 students to its Fall 2020 President’s List.

To be named to the President’s List, a student must compile a 4.0-grade point average and be classified as a full-time student, with a minimum of 12 academic hours and have no incomplete or failing grade for the semester.

Ouachita Baptist University, a private liberal arts university in Arkadelphia, Ark., is in its 134^th year as a Christ-centered learning community and is ranked the No. 2 “Regional College in the South” by U.S. News & World Report. In fall 2020, Ouachita recorded its highest enrollment …

Ouachita's School Of Fine Arts To Present Opera "Gianni Schicchi" Online Jan. 31, Madison Cresswell, Rachel Gaddis, Ouachita News Bureau

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Ouachita Baptist University’s School of Fine Arts will release an adapted version of the opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini in an online, pre-recorded format beginning Sunday, Jan. 31, which can be viewed for free at obu.edu/opera2021.

While typically a fall production, Ouachita’s opera had to be reimagined for both the cast and audiences due to COVID-19. Students and faculty began preparing in Spring 2020 and finished recording in late Fall 2020. Editing and post production then began and continued through January 2021.