Three Faculty Members Selected for SEC Fellowship

By Kathy Johnson and Tess Perica Oct. 15, 2012

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 12, 2012) — Three University of Kentucky professors have been selected for a yearlong leadership program among Southeastern Conference universities. Pat Burkhart of the College of Nursing, Rick Honaker of the College of Engineering and Sonja Feist-Price of the College of Education will participate as fellows in the Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium (SECAC) Academic Leadership Development Program.

They are among 46 faculty and administrators from SEC universities selected for the SEC Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP), a professional development program that seeks to identify, prepare and advance academic leaders for roles within SEC institutions and beyond. It has two components: a university-level development program designed by each institution for its own participants and two, three-day, SEC-wide workshops held on specified campuses for all program participants.

This year’s workshops will be held Oct. 15-17 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and Feb. 6-8, 2013, at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

“The SEC Academic Leadership Development Program is a valuable opportunity for faculty and administrators at Southeastern Conference universities to study a wide range of topics in higher education from the leader’s perspective,” said Torie Johnson, SECU Executive Director. “We trust that the skills, techniques and knowledge they acquire this year will help prepare them for high level service in academia.”

UK's 2012-2013 ALDP Fellows are:

Sonja Feist-Price is a professor in the Department of Early Childhood, Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling in the College of Education. She has been a faculty member at UK since 1992 and currently serves as the university’s academic ombud. Feist-Price has served as the director of African American Studies and Research Program, director of Graduate Studies in the Rehabilitation Counseling Program, co-chair of the Inclusiveness Committee in the College of Education, and the chairperson of the Disaster Response Network for the Kentucky Psychological Association. She holds a doctorate in rehabilitation research and administration from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Ill., and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from UK. Feist-Price has served as principal investigator and co-PI on extramural research projects totaling over $4 million involving school- and community-based HIV, STI, and pregnancy prevention interventions targeting high-risk populations in the United States, South Africa and Ethiopia. In more recent years, she has expanded her research focus to include the provision of vocational rehabilitation services for veterans, and mental health support services for caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease.

Patricia Burkhart is an associate professor and associate dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Nursing at UK. She co-directs the Deans’ Interprofessional Healthcare Honors Colloquium at the University and directs the undergraduate nursing research internship program. Burkhart earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Science in Nursing from West Virginia University. She was the recipient of the Innovations in Professional Nursing Education Award from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in 2009 for the development of the undergraduate nursing research internship. Burkhart’s research, funded by NINR/NIH and NIOSH/CDC, focuses on interventions to promote children’s adherence to asthma self-management, health outcomes and quality of life related to asthma.

Rick Honaker is a professor and chair of the Department of Mining Engineering in the UK College of Engineering and has been a faculty member since 2000. Honaker received his bachelor's master's and doctoral degrees in mining and minerals engineering from Virginia Tech. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of coal and minerals processing and conducts research focused on fine particle processing and applied surface chemistry. His research findings have been reported in more than 140 technical publications and reports. Honaker was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration in 2010, which is a status reserved for 1.8 percent of the total membership.

Established in 2005, the SEC Academic Consortium (SECAC) is made up of the universities that comprise the Southeastern Conference, and its core mission is to advance academic excellence through collaboration. In so doing, members of the SECAC established and operate the Academic Leadership Development Program for senior-level faculty and administrators. SECAC began its first ALDP in October 2008, and each year since a new group of ALDP Fellows has been chosen.

The goal for this select group is to enrich their knowledge and understanding g of major issues and challenges facing higher education; provide them with an increased understanding of their strengths and talents as a leader in higher education; stimulate critical though about the future of higher education; and build relationships with other academic leaders within the SEC.

Following are UK faculty members and administrators who have served as ALDP Fellows in previous years.

2008-2009:

Lynda Brown Wright, College of Education

Chris Frost, College of Law

Lawrence Holloway, College of Engineering

2009-2010:

Beth Barnes, College of Communications and Information Studies

Scott W. Kelley, Gatton College of Business and Economics

Michael B. Reid, College of Medicine

Jennifer Swanberg, College of Social Work, Gatton College of Business and Economics and College of Public Health

2010-2011:

Linda A. Alexander, College of Public Health