Impactful Research
Advance impactful research that generates knowledge and promotes innovative solutions in education and health.
Goals & Strategies
Enhance the recruitment, retention, and support of research-productive faculty, students, and staff.
- Foster a culture of research engagement.
- Offer competitive salaries, start-up packages, summer research support, or other incentives to recruit, retain, and support research-productive faculty.
- Increase opportunities for students to engage in meaningful, collaborative, and innovative research experiences.
Improve research support structures, funding, processes, administration, and services.
- Expand the research and grant administration services in the college.
- Pursue private funding to establish endowed chairs and professorships and support research initiatives.
- Develop and enhance research-practice partnerships.
Invest in signature research priorities that maximize the strengths of the college and highlight areas of strategic importance.
- Identify and support signature research areas that lead to high-leverage research efforts and advance national prominence.
- Encourage and support interdisciplinary research that has the potential for innovation, future funding, and national recognition.
- Invest in translational research to promote evidence-based practice and improve education and health outcomes.
Key Actions
Activate
Impactful Research Committee
The Impactful Research Committee helps faculty and staff in the College of Education and Health Professions advance impactful research and contribute to a culture of research excellence by providing regular input to the Office for Research and Grant Administration on policies, practices, and professional development opportunities related to research. The committee also actively reviews and shares feedback on the impactful research priority action items.
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The Impactful Research Committee is comprised of one to two tenure-track/tenured faculty members per department (depending on size and level of research activity) and one to two research-active staff or non-tenure-track faculty. The members serve for a two-year term that can be renewed. The Associate Dean for Research, Strategy, and Outreach serves as the chair of the committee. The Assistant Dean for Research and Grant Administration serves as the ex-officio member of the committee. The committee meets two to three times per year to advance its mission.
WE CARE Speaker Series
The WE CARE Speaker Series serves to promote a culture of research excellence by hosting lectures from prominent scholars with broad appeal across education and health or focusing on a signature research area of the college. The series also includes research development meetings with faculty, classroom visits with students familiar with the speaker’s work, and networking opportunities with faculty and staff.
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Faculty, staff, or units are encouraged to submit proposals for the WE CARE Speaker Series on an ongoing basis. The goal is to bring two to three prominent scholars to campus each year. It is encouraged that in addition to a college-wide lecture, the WE CARE speaker holds networking meetings with faculty and staff, visits classes where students have read the speaker’s scholarship, and/or engages with faculty for research development.
To submit a proposal for the WE CARE Speaker Series, apply here.
‘healthy schools’ cluster hire
The College of Education and Health Professions is uniquely poised to promote collaboration across its education and health programs to maximize learning and health in schools. To this end, the college is seeking outstanding candidates for five tenure-track faculty positions who are committed to advancing research in the signature research area of ‘healthy schools’ and representing the following fields: counseling, educational leadership, nursing, exercise science, and special education. Building on existing faculty strengths, the new faculty hired as part of the ‘healthy schools’ cluster will engage in collaborative research aimed at improving education and health outcomes of children and youth.
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Improving education and health outcomes among children and youth leads to longer and healthier lives, higher educational attainment and lifetime earnings, and, ultimately, better societal and economic well-being. The College of Education and Health Professions, with its diverse range of research and academic endeavors across both fields, is uniquely situated to lead innovation in improving education and health outcomes among children. Recruiting new faculty with shared research agendas related to ‘healthy schools’ has the potential to leverage the college’s existing strengths and contribute to its national prominence.
The college’s commitment to improving education and health outcomes of children and youth is especially compelling in the Arkansas context. Arkansas often ranks at the bottom of states on health and education indicators. According to U.S. News & World Report data, Arkansas ranks #43 in education and #47 in health care (U.S. News, 2023). A recent study revealed Arkansas ranked #47 in educational attainment (WalletHub, 2023). According to the 100 Arkansans Project, for every 100 children under 18, 37 are obese or overweight, 55 are diagnosed with a mental or behavioral condition and receive treatment or counseling, and 22 currently use a vape product (Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, 2023).
The College of Education and Health Professions is uniquely poised to strengthen collaboration across its diverse programs and engage in an integrated approach to improving learning and health in schools. As early as 2014, the statement from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for a stronger collaboration between education and health – “Health and education affect individuals, society, and the economy, and as such, must work together whenever possible. Schools are a perfect setting for this collaboration” (p. 3). The ASCD and CDC developed the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) Model as a framework for aligning education and health to improve children’s cognitive, physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes. The model focuses on ten components, including physical education and physical activity, nutrition environment and services, health education, social and emotional climate, physical environment, health services, counseling, psychological and social services, employee wellness, community involvement, and family engagement.
Guided by the WSCC Model, healthy schools are places where every child feels safe, healthy, supported, engaged, and challenged and where entire schools, families, and the local community play a critical role in improving learning and health. Investing in the ‘healthy schools’ signature area has the potential to lead to impactful research and innovative educational experiences that not only improve the education and health outcomes of our children but also transform the training of future educators and health professionals.
analysis of and increased investment in signature research areas
The Office for Research and Grant Administration, together with the Impactful Research Committee, departmental leadership, and faculty, will work to identify existing and potential signature research areas. These signature research areas include both existing research strengths of the college and research areas that have the potential to boost national prominence and secure future funding.
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Early-Career Faculty Research Engagement and Mentoring Program
The Early-Career Faculty Research Engagement and Mentoring Program provides early-career tenure-track faculty with networking opportunities and targeted grant and research development support. The program includes a series of workshops, panel discussions, and roundtable conversations on issues related to identifying funding opportunities, writing successful proposals, managing start-up funds, building research teams, and planning a research-productive summer.
Post-Award Research Advancement Specialist
The post-award research advancement specialist position was created to focus on helping faculty, staff, and students successfully manage external awards. This post-award position enables researchers to focus more on the implementation of projects and studies. A post-award research advancement specialist was hired in May 2023.
Key Actions
Sustain
Team Up for Education and Health Funds
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Addressing today’s most pressing problems requires insights from multiple disciplines, and our faculty and staff work at the nexus of two important and complex issues—education and health. One of our college’s best opportunities to advance impactful research that generates new knowledge and promotes innovative solutions is through projects that leverage our unique composition.
Faculty and staff have two opportunities to apply for Team Up for Education and Health Funds: September 30 and January 31. Proposals must demonstrate the significance of the interdisciplinary nature of the proposed project. Applications for Team Up for Education and Health Funds require at least two faculty and/or staff members in the college representing diverse fields.
To submit a proposal for Team Up for Education and Health Funds, apply here.
recruitment of graduate assistants competitive for Distinguished Doctoral and Doctoral Academy Fellowships
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To maintain the continuity of GA support, the college will explore the possibility of establishing “bridge” funding when competitive doctoral applicants overlap with a soon-to-be graduating GA (i.e., within a year of graduation). As part of executing this action item, we will examine current GA/DDF/DAF numbers, funding sources, salaries, and distribution of GAs throughout departments. We will also examine compensation packages of peer institutions, especially if it is known that a student chose them instead of the University of Arkansas. The goal of this action item is to have an increased number of GA applicants competitive for DDF and DAF funding.
Faculty and academic programs can also request travel support for prospective Ph.D. graduate assistants to visit campus. To request funding for prospective Ph.D. graduate assistants to visit campus, apply here.
connections between research-active faculty and honors students
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Learn more about the Faculty Mentor Dashboard.
benchmarking analysis of salaries and start-up packages
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Summer Research Fellowships for early-career research-productive faculty
Annual Writing Retreats for faculty and graduate students
stewardship of individuals and organizations with the capacity to provide research support
Show that You Care
Help us advance our strategic priorities
Education and health are vital cornerstones of economic and societal well-being in every community. The WE CARE strategic plan serves as a catalyst for innovation across healthcare and education and an accelerator of improved education and health outcomes in Arkansas and beyond.
Contact our Director of Development, Tory Gaddy, to learn more about supporting the WE CARE strategic plan or to discuss specific priorities that are meaningful to you.
Office of the Dean
College of Education and Health Professions
324 Graduate Education Building
751 W. Maple Ave.
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
WE CARE: Wellness and Education Commitment to Arkansas Excellence
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For Faculty & Staff
Access funding information, proposal submission deadlines, etc.