Chad Whatley, assistant director of the Honors College, made a presentation at the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) conference in Seattle. In a session titled "Developing in Honors: Changing the Tone on Student Fees," he discussed development and implementation of the Honors College fee at A-State in 2015 and the success of the Honors Experience Grant (HEG), which helps support travel and other enrichment for Honors students.

Congratulations to Dr. Tanja McKay, professor of entomology, after one of her students in the master's degree program, Sofija Todorovic of Chicago, won a major award in national and international competition. Todorovic won first place in the graduate student poster competition at the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) conference in Orlando. Her entry was "Arthropod Vectors of Animal and Plant Disease."

Dr. Cherisse Jones-Branch, professor of history, presented "'Find a Way to Maintain the Home Demonstration and 4-H Work in This County': African American Home Demonstration Agents in Arkansas, 1914-1965" for the opening of the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service Circulars Digital Collection. The event, hosted by the University of Arkansas Libraries Special Collections, was part of American Archives Month.

Art and design students in the AIGA student association, which is advised by Kimberly Vickrey, professor of graphic design, visited the Yellow Shoes Creative Group, the internal agency for The Walt Disney Company. Vickrey arranged the tour through A-State alumnus Matt Stewart, senior art director, who spoke on campus last spring. Students viewed secret work and studied how Disney approaches graphic design. Details are online.

Dr. Richard Wang, associate professor of political science, has been installed as president of the Kiwanis Club.  Wang has served previously in several leadership capacities.  Kiwanis, which is dedicated to "improving the world, one child and one community at a time," sponsors the Ralph "Pop" Stricklin Pancake Day as one of its projects. The event honors the memory of a longtime A-State employee and dedicated Kiwanian.