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Submitted by: Lyn Gayfield, egayfield@uca.edu on 09/02/2026

Food | Activities | Resources | Community
Food & giveaways while supplies last

Tuesday, September 22
12:00 – 3:00 p.m.
RWSC Lawn – RWSC Ballroom Rain Location

Submitted by: Chad Hearne, chearne@uca.edu on 09/02/2026

Each fall and spring semester, the Foundation awards grants to faculty to support events or activities that enhance learning opportunities at UCA. These grants are intended to encourage creative endeavors that may serve as “seeds” for future programs or support innovative activities that enhance the reputation of UCA. The request for proposals will be valid through academic year 2027-2028. Completed applications must be submitted no later than October 16, 2026. Award decisions will be made no later than October 31, 2026 by a committee appointed by the UCA Foundation, which includes faculty and community members. Completed applications, as well as letters of support from the applicant’s Dean and Department Chair, should be submitted through the online application.

/foundation/faculty-grants/

Submitted by: Chad Lairamore, chadl@uca.edu on 09/01/2026

If CHI St. Vincent’s exit from �������� Blue Cross Blue Shield impacts your coverage, you don’t have to navigate it alone.

The UCA Community Care Clinic remains in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, offering convenient, affordable care right here on campus.
From primary care with our Family Nurse Practitioners to Mental Health, Nutrition, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy services, we’ve got your health covered. We are accepting new patients!

Give us a call at 501-470-7457 or visit us today!

TheCommunityCareClinic.org

Submitted by: Craig Seager, cseager@uca.edu on 09/01/2026

Dr. Nechele McClinton-Gates received a Top Program Award for the Southwest Association of College and University Housing Officers’ �������� Drive-In Conference hosted by UCA in July. Dr. McClinton-Gates presented a session titled “Lifting As We Climb: Evolving Avenues for Advocacy and Professional Growth of Black Women in Residence Life.”

 

Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 08/31/2026

Faculty for Successful Students – Weeks 2 & 3!

Help Students Beat the Clock ⏰

We made it through Week 1! The syllabi have been distributed, the rosters are beginning to settle, and everyone has definitely read every word of every course policy.

Right?

Moving along…

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This Week’s Faculty for Successful Students Focus: Encourage Time Management

College students have a lot of competition for their time—and first-year students are often still figuring out just how much outside-of-class time college coursework requires.

A few ways you can Reinforce Success:

• Help students estimate how much time they should plan to spend on coursework outside of class. A typical three-credit-hour course may require around six additional hours each week for reading, studying, assignments, and preparation.
• Give students a few minutes to look ahead at upcoming assignments and deadlines—especially when a larger project is approaching.
• Break major assignments into smaller milestones when appropriate so students can practice planning rather than discovering the entire project 36 hours before it is due.
• Talk explicitly about how you would approach planning for an assignment. What should students do first? How long might each step take? When should they begin?
• Remind students that time management is a skill—not something everyone magically arrives at college already knowing how to do.

Small conversations about planning can help students move from “I have plenty of time” to “Maybe I shouldn’t start this at 11:47 p.m.”

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💡 Brightspace Byte: Put the Calendar to Work

Brightspace can help students see what’s coming before “coming” becomes “due in 37 minutes.”

• Encourage students to make the Brightspace Calendar part of their regular routine. Due dates entered in Brightspace are automatically added to the calendar, giving students one place to see deadlines across their courses.
• Students can also add their own events, so they can use the Calendar to plan study sessions, project work, appointments, or other reminders alongside their course deadlines.
• One quick thing you can do this week: Show students where the Calendar is and ask them to look at what’s coming up. Even better, give them a minute in class to open it.

That tiny investment of class time may save everyone some deadline-related drama later.

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🍽️ Bear Bites: Beat the Clock – Helping Students Plan for Success

Tuesday, September 1 | 12:15–1:30 p.m.
Christian Cafeteria Executive Dining Room
Facilitator: Amy Baldwin

“I didn’t have enough time.”

If you teach, chances are good you’ve heard that sentence once. Or twice. Or 847 times.

Join us for lunch and conversation about practical ways to help students plan their time, manage priorities, estimate how long coursework will take, and make more realistic decisions about their schedules.

Bring your own ideas, hear what colleagues are doing, and pick up a few strategies you might want to try with your students.

Lunch is provided!

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🔗 Keep These Handy

Faculty for Successful Students Webpage

The Weeks 2 & 3 slide is ready to project as students arrive—or to include with your weekly messaging in an online course. And yes, we continue to believe students are reading it. We have chosen optimism.

Thank you for helping students develop habits that can make the semester a little more manageable—and their learning a lot more successful.

 

Submitted by: Vergie Jackson, vjackson7@uca.edu on 08/31/2026

Looking to take your fitness to the next level? Join the EXSS Clinical Experience 4-Week Fitness Program! Participants will receive pre- and post-fitness assessments, personalized exercise programming, weekly check-ins, and hands-on instruction throughout the program. Only 6 participants are needed, so spots are limited! The program begins September 10 and concludes October 20. Scan the QR code to get started!

 

Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 08/31/2026

You’re attending workshops. Joining faculty conversations. Trying new approaches in your courses.

Why not get recognized for it?

�䷡�մ���’s Recognition of Achievement Program allows faculty to build on the professional development they’re already doing while working intentionally toward stronger teaching and student learning.

For the Teaching Excellence track, faculty earn 20 credits during the academic year through a combination of activities such as:

• Instructional or course design consultations
• CETAL workshops and lunch programs
• Learning communities and book groups
• AI Mini-Conference attendance
• New Faculty Teaching Academy or Early Career Coaching Circle
• Facilitating a CETAL event
• Online professional development
• And more!

You don’t have to figure out your 20 credits all at once. CETAL team members are happy to help you create a plan that fits your interests, goals, and schedule.

Faculty who would like to participate in the 2026-2027 Recognition of Achievement Program should sign up by October 1. Participants who complete the program will receive campus-wide recognition from the Office of the Provost and CETAL in spring.

Ready to get started?

Learn more about the program, requirements, and available activities on the CETAL Recognition of Achievement webpage.

 

 

/cetal/recognition/

Submitted by: Charlotte Strickland, chars@uca.edu on 08/31/2026

In today’s workforce, five generations collaborate under one roof—each with unique values, communication styles, and expectations of leadership. This session explores how modern leadership isn’t about picking sides; it’s about weaving generational wisdom into adaptive, inclusive, and future-ready strategies. This interactive session reveals how to harness the lived experience of seasoned professionals and the fresh perspectives of emerging talent to shape high-performing, resilient teams. Attendees will walk away with practical tools to navigate generational friction, build psychological safety, and reframe leadership as a shared, evolving practice.
September 22, 2026 (Tuesday) 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.
Ronnie Williams Student Center #214
Presenters: Steven Shook (ShakeItUp Consulting), Charlotte Strickland (UCA HR)

Submitted by: Charlotte Strickland, chars@uca.edu on 08/31/2026

Fall 2026 Employee Book Club – register now! Registrants will be entered into a drawing for a free book, provided by UCA Bookstore
Participants are responsible for purchasing their own books.

Strong Ground by Brene Brown
Over the past six years, Brené Brown, along with a global community of coaches and facilitators, has taken more than 150,000 leaders in 45 countries through her Dare to Lead courage-building work. In Strong Ground, Brown shares the lessons from these experiences along with wisdom from other thinkers. This is a vital playbook for everyone from senior leaders developing and executing complex strategies to Gen Z-ers entering and navigating turbulent work environments. It is also an unflinching assessment of what happens when we continue to perpetuate the falsehood that performance and wholeheartedness are mutually exclusive.

ONSITE Participation
All onsite sessions are in the RWSC (Ronnie Williams Student Center) 207E – 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Sept 24, Oct 1, 8, 22, 29, Nov 5 (6 sessions)

ONLINE Participation
Zoom dates (Friday mornings 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.)
Sept 25, Oct 2, 9, 23, 30, Nov 6 (6 sessions)
Zoom link – Will be sent to registrants

Sponsored by Employee Engagement & Enrichment – HR
Questions? Contact Charlotte Strickland chars@uca.edu