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Faculty and Student Spotlight
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Undergraduate students at ACU regularly join with faculty in major research projects, which provides exceptional preparation for graduate school. These are a few highlights of the awards and research projects of ACU students and faculty.
  • Dr. Dana Kennamer Hood presented with student Heather Alkire at the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference. They shared results of action research on developing primary language phonemic awareness in English language learners. Currently, nine senior Teacher Education majors are participating in
    action research as part of their student teaching experience, lead by Dr. Dana Kennamer Hood, Ms. Stephanie Talley, and Mrs. Julie Douthit.
  • Exercise science majors Jessica Boyd and Earl Starey are featured in the online magazine Faith and Fitness. Read about them at www.faithandfitness.net.
  • ACU's graduate program in speech-language pathology has been re-accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA).  The CAA met this July and approved ACU's re-accreditation for a term of eight years (2008-2015). This national accreditation ensures that the ACU graduate program prepares students for practice in the field of speech-language pathology.

  • Dr. Tanya Smith Brice, associate professor in the School of Social Work, was elected to the Board of Directors of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She will serve as branch chair of the NASW/Texas Abilene Branch for a three-year term beginning July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2010.

  • Dr. Brian Cavitt, along with three of his students, has published an article in the Journal for Coatings Technology Research. The student co=authors on this paper include ACU graduate Adam McDonough, now a medical student in Alabama; ACU graduate Corry Walker, now a pharmacy student at Texas Tech - Abilene; and Matt Mullings, a senior at ACU planning to pursue a PhD in chemistry.
  • The Family Studies undergraduate program has met the Standards and Criteria required for the Provisional Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) designation from the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR).  Graduates of ACU who complete the NCFR approved undergraduate program in Family Studies now qualify to complete an abbreviated CFLE application process.
  • Dr. Foy D. Mills Jr., professor and chair of the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Science, recently received the Award of Excellence from the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, a professional association for post-secondary educators in agriculture. The NACTA Teaching Award of Excellence is presented annually to one individual who demonstrates excellence in post-secondary instruction in agriculture.
  • Senior ACU physics major Austin Basye recently received one of only three Outstanding Student Awards for Undergraduate Research from the Society of Physics Students. This national honor recognizes Basye as one of the top three undergraduate physics researchers in the nation in 2007, and comes with a five hundred dollar honorarium, a five hundred dollar award for his SPS chapter, and a trip to present his work at the 2007 International Conference of Physics Students in London.
  • Integrated communication major Jamie Worflar was selected as a summer intern in the statewide Silver Spur Internship Program sponsored by the Texas Public Relations Association.  Worflar worked for Blue Current Public Relations in Dallas, one of three employers selected to participate in this year's TPRA Silver Spur Internship Program.  Blue Current is a division of Fleishman-Hillard, one of the nation's largest public relations firms and part of the worldwide Omnicom Group.
  • Dr. Kent Gallaher and his father, Dr. Raymond Gallaher (recently retired from the University of Florida), spent part of the summer in Honduras to harvest research plots planted at Mission Lazarus.  Various corn and bean varieties were planted in research plots seeking out productive varieties for human and animal consumption.  The corn varieties were developed by Raymond Gallaher in his breeding program.  ACU student Dylan Wann worked as a summer intern and managed the research project on-site.
  • Dr. Carley Dodd and Dr. Joe Cardot, faculty members in the Department of Communication, accompanied 19 ACU students to Honduras with the Bridges to the World Medical Missions program. The 10-day trip was arranged by the Communication Department at ACU to help students understand different cultures and values, as well learn to communicate with people whose language is not their own.
  • Dr. Ed Brokaw was elected in the spring of 2007 as president of Block and Bridle.  This professional organization serves students enrolled in animal science programs nationwide. 
  • Dr. Autumn Sutherlin, assistant professor of biochemistry, along with three ACU students and collaborators at Purdue University, had research published in Biochemistry, the premier journal in the biomedical field. Sutherlin’s research team, made up of Aaron Robison (’05), Alison Tetrick (’06), and Jeffrey Knight (’07), studied the enzyme HMG-CoA synthase, which makes components important to the cell membrane and wall in bacteria. The research on one of the key parts of HMG-CoA synthase was published in the December 2006 issue of Biochemistry.
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