MavWire 2015 Archive » MavWire — Thursday, May 28, 2015

Dr. Paul Wong

Wong appointed dean of College of Liberal Arts

After a highly competitive national search, Paul Wong, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University, has been appointed incoming dean of the UT Arlington College of Liberal Arts effective July 1.

Dr. Wong brings to UT Arlington a distinguished record of academic accomplishment at SDSU’s largest single college that includes 18 academic departments, 15 centers and institutes, a number of research journals, and the SDSU Press. He is director of International Partnerships at SDSU, a professor of sociology, and oversees the Social Science Research Laboratory and the Charles Hostler Institute for World Affairs. 

Under Wong’s leadership, SDSU’s College of Arts and Letters has raised almost $50 million for endowed professorships, scholarships, lectureships, and the naming of facilities and has active international programs in more than 20 countries through exchanges, research projects, and degree offerings.

“Dr. Paul Wong is an accomplished scholar and seasoned administrator who will bring a wealth of experience and success at enhancing scholarship and academic excellence, funding research, attracting significant donor support, and forging international partnerships that will enrich the experience we offer students in the College of Liberal Arts at UT Arlington,” says President Vistasp Karbhari. “The college and the University will be getting a superb administrator who will take our liberal arts education to the next level of excellence in national and international engagement for undergraduates, graduates, and post-graduates.” 

Read more about Wong's appointment.

Little Orange Book offers ideas to inspire innovative teaching strategies

Two UT Arlington faculty members are among the co-authors of a new book that aims to help both new and experienced teachers better guide and inspire college students to find their passion, expand their knowledge, and ultimately pursue their dreams. 

The University of Texas Press published The Little Orange Book: Short Lessons in Excellent Teaching in April. The book is the result of a collaborative effort among members of the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers, which includes UT Arlington’s Kenneth Roemer, professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts, and Mary Lynn Crow, professor of curriculum and instruction in the College of Education. The book provides teachers across all levels of the educational landscape with suggestions designed to fuel creativity, encourage innovation, and enhance student outcomes.

“Much has been written about the characteristics and skills required for effective teaching and learning at the K-12 level, but there is significantly less information available at the university level,” says Dr. Crow, who was inducted into the UT System Academy in 2013 and was one of the organization’s inaugural members. “This book speaks to that need and is our attempt to provide guidance and experiences in higher education to the beginning university professor in the classroom.” 

A compilation of vignettes, the book spans a wide range of topics and teaching interests, including establishing safe learning spaces, developing curriculum, modeling the best teachers, and leaving individual legacies. 

Read more about The Little Orange Book.

Social work professor given lifetime achievement award

A UT Arlington educator working to improve understanding of mental health and resilience among people of diverse races, faiths, and those in the military community has been recognized for her efforts with multiple grants and a lifetime achievement award.

Alexa Smith-Osborne, associate professor and director for the Center for Clinical Social Work at UT Arlington, has received a $200,000 grant from the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health. Her co-investigator is Rick Hoefer, professor and director for the School of Social Work’s Professional Development Program. The four-year grant supports the team’s proposal, “Recovery to Practice (RTP)-Social Work.” 

“This award is a tremendous resource and support to what we are doing academically to prepare our students, consumer leaders, and others for mental health practice,” Dr. Smith-Osborne says. “The Recovery to Practice initiative represents a significant effort to disseminate recovery-oriented—as opposed to symptom-reduction and institutionalization—mental health procedures to Texas social workers and social work education programs with direct involvement of mental health service users.” 

In addition to the Hogg Foundation grant, Smith-Osborne recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers-Tarrant County Chapter. 

Read more about her honors.

Cheering on the Mavs On Wednesday, UT Arlington fans, students, and staff helped send off members of the track and field team to the NCAA Regionals in Austin beginning today. Athletes must finish in the top 12 to advance to the nationals in Eugene, Ore., June 10-13. See the photo album and video at UTAMavs.com.

Prepare for electrical outage May 31

Plan now to accommodate an electrical outage 6 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, May 31.

Facilities Management has scheduled the outage to complete major electrical updates in Davis Hall, Fine Arts Building (Mainstage Theatre only), Central Library, Life Science Building, Physical Education Building, Preston Hall, Science Hall, Smart Hospital, Texas Hall, Trinity House, and University Hall.

For those buildings with emergency generators, power will be supplied to support egress lighting, life safety, UTA Police dispatch, and all research facilities currently connected to the generator. All buildings will remain locked during this time.

To prepare:

• Clean out all refrigerators and freezers before leaving Friday, May 29.
• Turn off all electronic equipment including computers, scanners, and copiers before leaving Friday, May 29. These items do not have to be unplugged.

If you have questions or concerns, special requirements during this time, or newly established research that must retain power, contact either Toby Buhrkuhl at 972-832-1490 or Jeff Johnson at 817-798-8456.

Physics professor receives grant for brain cancer research

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recently announced more than $89 million in grants awarded to Texas institutions and companies to advance the prevention of cancer. The awards include a $200,000 grant to support research Samarendra Mohanty, assistant professor of physics, is conducting on biomechanical profiling of migrating brain cancer genotypes in tightly confined space for drug screening. 

Read more about the grants.

Network maintenance to disrupt service early Sunday

The Office of Information Technology will perform maintenance on the UTA campus network infrastructure midnight-3 a.m. Sunday, May 31. The maintenance is expected to disrupt network communication within campus and to the Internet.

Lot 49 closed for repairs June 1-2

Lot 49 between Cooper and West streets and south of Mitchell Street will be closed for repairs Monday-Tuesday, June 1-2. Remaining vehicles may be subject to towing at the owner’s expense. 

Contact Parking and Transportation Services at parking@uta.edu or 2-3907.

Sign up your kids for summer camps

Summer camps in everything from athletics to engineering, creative writing to career exploration, and Legos to Minecraft are available at UT Arlington. Day camps are offered this summer by UTA’s academic and athletic departments.

Continuing Education hosts camps June 8-Aug. 7 for grades 1-12. Use the employee discount code UTAKID for online registration. Learn more about Kids and Teens University.

Friday, May 29

UTARI Seminar Samir Iqbal, associate professor of electrical engineering, discusses "Early Stage Cancer Diagnostics with Micro and Nanoscale Strategies." Free. Noon, boardroom, UTARI, 7300 Jack Newell Blvd. S., Fort Worth. UT Arlington Research Institute.

Wednesday, June 3

Arlington Technology Association Lecture John Promise, formerly with the North Central Texas Council of Governments, presents "Shaping the Region: Why Fort Worth Is Not Dallas (and Vice Versa)." He will describe the personalities and geographic factors influencing the cities’ development and highlight their growth challenges into the 21st century. Light breakfast provided. RSVP. Free. 7-8 a.m., Room 100, Nedderman Hall. Arlington Technology Association.

U.S. Manufacturing Symposium The symposium is a Walmart initiative to create affordable, flexible, automated solutions to bring manufacturing back to the United States. See the schedule. Admission $35, $120 for exhibitors; 25 free passes for students. UTARI, 7300 Jack Newell Blvd. S., Fort Worth. UT Arlington Research Institute.

(For an expanded list of events, see the UTA calendar.)

Clayton Vaughn

Track performers qualify for NCAA prelims

Eight men and five women will compete in individual events, and each squad will have a relay team in action at this week’s NCAA West Preliminary Round in Austin.

The highest-seeded athletes are Emil Blomberg (second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase) and Clayton Vaughn (third in the 100 meters). The men’s 4x100 relay and the women’s 4x400 relay also will compete.

The meet is set for Thursday-Saturday, May 28-30, with the top 12 finishers in each event advancing to the NCAA Championships June 10-13 in Eugene, Ore.

Read more about UTA’s preliminary NCAA track qualifiers.

Baseball season ends at Sun Belt tourney

UTA’s season ended last Friday with a 5-1 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in the Sun Belt Conference Championship in Troy, Ala.

The seventh-seeded Mavericks opened the double-elimination tournament with a 13-5 victory last Wednesday No. 2 Troy before losing the second game 10-2 to sixth-seeded Texas State on Thursday.

UTA finished the season with a 24-32 record that included three victories over ranked teams. The 2015 schedule included nine games against teams rated in the RPI top 15.

Summer intramural sports available

Team and individual intramural sports are offered this summer.

Team sports and deadlines are indoor soccer, June 10; softball, June 17; and sand volleyball, June 24. Individual sports are free and include tennis, June 10; racquetball, June 24; billiards, June 25; badminton, July 14; poker, July 23; and MavStrong competition, Aug. 6.

See the intramural sports schedule. Pick up entry forms at the Services and Information Desk of the Maverick Activities Center. For questions, call 2-3277 or email imsports@uta.edu.

Baseball players pick up additional honors

Senior infielders Levi Scott and Travis Sibley continue to earn postseason awards. 

Scott has been named to the Sun Belt Baseball All-Tournament Team, while Sibley is a Sun Belt All-Conference second-team selection by College Sports Madness.com.

Last week, the players were named to the All-Sun Belt second team as selected by the conference’s head coaches. They also landed spots on the Commissioners List, which recognizes student-athletes with at least a 3.5 GPA.

Sports Shorts

• The women’s doubles team of junior Elizabeth Thoms and sophomore Angeles de los Rios fell 6-2, 6-1 to top-ranked Alabama in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division I Doubles Tennis Championship last Thursday in Waco.

(For more sports news, go to utamavs.com, uta.edu/movinmavs, or uta.edu/campusrec.)

Ongoing

Juneteenth in Texas: 150 Years of Freedom More than 60 photographs explore issues of Texas African-Americans from Emancipation to the Civil Rights era. Hours 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Through Aug. 9. Sixth floor, Central Library. Center for Greater Southwestern Studies.

Fantasy in the Sand Internationally renowned sand sculptors have carved 3 million pounds of sand into several scenes from L. Frank Baum’s famous book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The sculptures include Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Scarecrow, the Wizard of Oz, the Flying Monkeys, and the Emerald City of Oz. The experience includes a 2,000-square-foot sandbox where kids can create their own sand sculptures while parents watch from an observation deck. Park in Lot F by Globe Life Park in Arlington. General admission tickets are $19.99 with discounts available for kids (ages 11 and under), active military, and groups. Through August 23. Fantasy in the Sand.

Special Collections: !Viva Mexico! A Comic Book History of Mexico A rare look inside the rise of comic books in 20th century Mexico, their literary, cultural, and entertainment value, and influence by the Mexican government. Hours 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, sixth floor, Central Library. Through Aug. 8. UT Arlington Libraries Special Collections.

Planetarium The summer schedule includes Texas Stargazing; Stars of the Pharaohs; One World, One Sky; Cosmic Color;  Dynamic Earth, Pink Floyd, Secret of the Cardboard Rocket, and Spacepark 360: Infinity. Planetarium.

(For an expanded list of events, see the UTA calendar.)