UTA In The News — Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Tier One
By hitting critical benchmarks, UTA is achieving all of the required criteria to receive Texas Tier One designation and funding from the state’s National Research University Fund and would become just the fourth university in the state to do so, Mirage News reported.
Study shows decision-making process
Traci Freling and Ritesh Saini, both associate professors in the College of Business, published a new study that shows people are more likely to base decisions on anecdotal information than facts when they feel anxious and vulnerable, Forbes, Health Medicine Network and Medical Xpress reported.
Online education challenges
Brent Sasley, a UTA political science associate professor, said teaching all his classes online presents some challenges in a Dallas Observer story about how college professors are dealing with internet trolls. Sasley, who teaches Middle East and Israeli politics at UTA, said the subject matter of his classes makes him a likely target for political activist groups. He said online teaching is great in some ways but can limit classroom discussion.
Wi-Fi access needed
Kathryn Daniel, a UTA associate professor of nursing, said one of the biggest health interventions public officials could make during the COVID-19 pandemic is to increase broadband Wi-Fi access to all community members, Texas Monthly reported in a story about loneliness that people are experiencing due to the shut-in and social distancing orders. A 2016 comptroller report found that 31% of rural Texans don’t have access to high-speed internet.
Crop yield help
A UTA project is a finalist in the 2020 Syngenta Crop Challenge in Analytics aimed at addressing challenges in agriculture, DairyBusiness.com and AberdeenNews.com reported. The UTA project uses high-order math to better predict hybrid crop yields. Led by Shouyi Wang, a UTA associate professor in industrial, manufacturing and systems engineering, the project uses high-order math to better predict hybrid crop yields.
Transportation research
The University Transportation Center or UTC project awards grants to consortia of colleges and universities in the U.S. for transportation research and technology development, Department of Transportation officials said in Automotive News. UTA has a UTC in the Center for Transportation Equity, Decisions and Dollars or C-TEDD.
Online concert
Dan Cavanagh, UTA chair of the Music Department, held an online concert last night to raise money for music students, KXAS NBC 5 reported. See and hear the concert on YouTube.
State art winner
Medina High School senior Elise Milburn has been selected as a state winner for this year’s Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition, the Medina County Gazette reported. Next year, the senior will attend UTA, where she has been offered a full tuition scholarship to study architecture.
Alumni profiled
Faith Geiger, MaryAnn Means-Dufrene and Tracie Palmer were profiled in a Fort Worth Magazine story highlighting women in leadership positions in Fort Worth. All three are UTA alumni.