Den Day - College of Applied Science & Technology

Well, good evening, welcome to everybody that's out there at home or wherever you're at watching on line where thankful that you took time to join us. My name is Andy Johnson. I'm the director of admissions at UA, Fort Smith, and tonight we're joined by Doctor Ken Warden. Can is doctor. Warden is the Dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology.

Ann for me, I'm pretty new here, but one of the first Dean that I met and the first tour that I got was from Doctor Warden at his building and it was. It was pretty great. We'll talk about that in a little bit, but what we're going to do tonight is just ask questions and chat and you there watching online. Please do feel free at anytime to jump in at in the chat feature, you can type a question. We've got a couple of people who are watching like you and then we're trying to. I'm going to try to keep an eyeball on the screen so that we can get your question.

To either doctor Warden or get it answered, please don't feel like you're interrupting. If you've got a question, log on, type it up and jump in there. But if you don't type some, then I've got a list 'cause I got a lot of fun things to learn from Doctor Warden, so I will start us off and just say what's good about being you these days. Is it? Let me guess? Is it being called doctor all the time or is it? Is it that your Dean or is it like your reward and game warden well?

Can we were 6 foot apart? We undo the yeah we got. Did you bring out your tape measure? No, but I think this is about 3 foot arm link. You've got that, so we're at. Let's do this. OK, hopefully you guys can hear is OK. I know we are social distancing and we are being safe but and you thank you for having me. Yeah, thank you for opportunity to speak to our students and family members if they are out there. So I want to thank them for logging in as well but.

Uh, what's good about being mean? Yeah, man, I'll tell you strange times. Pandemic trying to continue learning as we go along, but I think what's good about being me is I'm blessed. My family is healthy.

Things are good on that front. I'm blessed to work in a place where people serve other people and I know that we do that top to bottom. It's the thing that we do best. Here at UA, Fort Smith and I know that you've just been on board here little while, yeah, but I know that you just from the short time we know each other services in your heart and working around a group of people, particularly faculty members who are. If I need help, I'll get it and there you can expect the same for me and working in that environment and serving students is, I think that's what's good about being me.

Yeah, at least this week at least this week. That's right. Well, maybe so yeah. Anyway, it's it's. I think it's good to be you. I you know some. I have days where I wish I was you 'cause you got you got the hair you got the accent and you got that cool building. So for those of you that out there you know if you're if you've never been on campus here at UA Fort Smith and been able to tour the Bal door building where almost all if not all of your courses and things are host most.

High percentage, it's a really great tour so early on, Doctor Warden reached out to me and gave me a tour of that building and I love it. 'cause I when I'm not dressed up in a tie and shirt sometimes I like to get my hands greasy on the engine. I drive an older car and I like that. So then you're building I love smelled like engine oil and some gas a little bit like it smelled like like my garage and you showed me all sorts of really cool equipment over there and so I'm curious if you had a chance right now tonight.

Ditch this and go work on our project in your building for fun. What piece of equipment would you fire up? Well, I'll tell you that we are very blessed. I mean, I'm I'm privileged to work and causing plugs science technology because it's it's who I am at my core. I was my first profession, was not education, it was automotive service and so I was automotive technician for a lot of years and then transitioned into education and teaching and then when I got on and got credentials and and you know a doctorate in education and.

But I look back in those days and as I worked on was automotive technician fed my family well before I could emit credentials and my heart is still intact. The technology in the applied Sciences. So as you said I hope not all of our our lab smell like bearing grease and gasoline but it's but it's here tomorrow. It's a good smell. If your automotive lab you're going to get sense of that. What I take a lot of pride in that because we do things that make and have degrees and certificates that make.

People immediately employable whether they want to spend a semester with us. Get a one year certificate. Two year associates degree or bachelors degree. We can. We can meet them where they are and one of the best things you enforcement does. If you start out intending degree and only earn want to earn a certificate and that's to get to be more employable, that's fine, but you don't have to back up to continue to a bachelors degree or on Graduate School. We do one of the one of the best universities in the nation at valuing technical work in the context of Bachelor degrees and beyond.

And so that's really fun. But to your question, what would I do tonight if I were in the lab? Well, my expertise in automotive so would probably be down there messing around on one of my one of my farm farm vehicles. You know, I do have a small farm on the side so that if you have a farm you know farm vehicles always need work. So that's where my expertise would be. But I would probably be more likely to be learning something in one of the automation or robotics labs, or in one of the three pringer virtual virtual 3D laugh so.

That's where would be the most fun for me because I do enjoy learning new things. It's just not where my expertise. Sure, yeah, no. That makes sense. I could. I could hang out in the welding. That too, though I bet you said I, I don't know how that's different kind of mask right there in the welding lab. Well, you know if you want to talk about the best place to be in a covid social distec environment, it would be welding lab because you're surrounded on three sides by concrete walls and a visual curtain on the other side and your head to toe and personal protective equipment. So an the air in our welding lab circulates.

More times and more regularly in that entire lab that does any other place on campus because of the safety issues there. And we like to have clean air and clean environment. So you want to be in the cleanest lab on campus as far as viruses are concerned, go to the welding lab because those UV arts also kill viruses as well as fun fact. Now that is that's great. see I tell you if you're out there, watch online, you don't. I'm I'm guessing like me, you probably didn't know that out there, but you know, perhaps you did. But I I sure didn't. But can you talk a little bit more so I'm new Ann and you know when you started talking to me about.

Kind of the way that those programs stair step into each other. I I think I was hitting you with questions like I'm, you know I'm thinking myself what if? OK if you just want a certificate and I get that. What types of jobs I mean could you get to get a certificate and then get a good job or decide I want to keep going. Tell me more about that. That's pretty unique, isn't it? So yeah, yeah, so we do a good job of that here and it was here before I can UFS, but there were some very forward thinking people who designed the degree path here at the University and they've been in place for some time.

And really, you know the thing about applied Sciences and technical degrees is that they are immediately.

Connected to the job that you're that you want the profession, the career that you want. If you want to be a welder in semester one, you're going to be in welding classes. If you want to be involved with unmanned aerial systems semester one, you're going to be flying unmanned aerial drones and learning about the imagery in the data analytics of that. If you want to be in a 3D design or computer graphics technology, we're going to be teaching you CAD. We're going to be teaching you animations right out of the gate CAD iterated drafting.

Sounds awesome, I thought I would have got computer. Yeah yeah, computer aided drafting so it's about 3D design and design, mechanical things, blueprints and animations and all that. So that's one thing I really like about agrees because you're immediately involved in those classes, but I don't want to. You know, we are general education classes happen.

In tandem or even after that, if you just go to a certificate. OK, so if you want a certificate and don't want to do general education out of the gate, we can get you a certificate in a semester and then start your gym head after that. But let's not devalue the general education core OK, because if you know technical skills are great, but they are best when coupled with communication and general education, things that we learn in general education courses because the way you learn to communicate is not by surrounding yourself with people who look like you act like you want to be what you want to be.

It's by being in a diverse classroom with people who don't look like you act like you want to be. What you want to be, and you embrace those skill sets. And that's where we learn to communicate. And that's what makes individuals.

And employees you know valuable in the workforce so. But there's magic. When you couple those hard, the general education core with technical skills and the road. That's that's who I am. That's that was my career path. And so I don't have any problem championing that nice. So you must. I mean, I'm, I'm going to put you on the spot. It's my whole goal here tonight is put you on the spot back. You must have had some students that you can think of that came in is like just.

K 15 minutes certificate in in whatever it was I'm getting that then I'm going to get a job. Who kind of caught the education bug and went all the way through. Can you give us an example of 1 who's kind of done that and what what it was about them that they wanted to keep? Keep doing well so I'm a little further removed from the classroom then it was at one time, but there are some students that stick out in my mind. I mean you know just like in our BS program, Doctor Kerry Tivers

do students feel crisper Van round who went on and got a Masters degree out of RV S program? Then onto a doctor recently. OK, Jessica Carr Cotner finished our program and then is now on prereqs to being a physician assistance tomorrow at the College of Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine, and they'll still scientist out there. So that's good. That's one here. Yeah, that's one right here in our legal studies program. Casey Miller. She's a recent graduate that transferred her skills to a new a new market, found some employment there.

And in Heather Carter began, as in our legal studies program, got a job as a paralegal, is now managing illegal office, so those are a couple there, and we have stories across the board. Like Despues, Johnson was a Bachelor science animation technology program who's now working for Bay City packaging up in Bentonville, doing some design work, and these stories go on and on. We've got them, you know, some of our electronics technology student that thought they wanted. Just assume technical certificate to go to work and doing some industrial maintenance. And then after 10 you those to 40 degrees in electrical engineering technology.

Just because they realize and see the opportunities because as the learning goes up as the grid time it goes up. Typically you see enhanced job opportunities and I mean it's it's a common statistic that individuals who earn a Bachelor degree over their lifetime of earning are going to earn over $1,000,000 more than someone who does not have a bachelors degree. That statistically are, you know that's I know that's that's just a million. I believe it's kind of a big deal. Yeah, that's not bad, but you know what? If you're not ready to.

To carve out a four year chunk of your life to go, do that out of the gate. There's more than one path that bachelors degree. So if you want to come get a small bite, maybe go to work. Maybe come back, get your green. Maybe there's some part time stuff.

We can meet you where you are and get you there. Yeah, if you're ready for that upset your eyes on that bachelors degree or grad school, we can help you with that to you. So it's it's. I think we're versatyle. Yeah, I love it, University said, you know, has opportunities for wherever you are and that continued. That's one. I'm glad you mentioned that 'cause one thing that I was thinking is how common would it be in your college? First do to start and then you get a certificate. Go do some work and then come back and get a little more and.

Kind of work their way through work their way up to the pay scale. That way I suppose it's possible. Yeah, we have it. Yeah, we have a lot of non traditional we call non traditional students. I'm really not traditional someone who stepped away from the from the University academic setting and then return or at a high school did not start that start there but came back to that and you know we embrace all those you know. I was a non traveler, went on to grad school and while I was raising kids and cutting the grass and coaching peewee ball and went onto to higher studies.

You know so.

We will learn andreades sure like more right that's right. Just going to cut in real quick. So if you're out there listening, you know. Listening to this and learning and stuff, do you feel free to jump in if you have a question and and hit the chat there tonight so you see me look at my phone is not because I'm bored of talking with Mr Johnson is because we are getting text with some questions and stuff that are coming in. So you have one on there that you like. No, that was actually from Doctor Tardif. Were affecting member so hey, doctorate artifact you're if you're out there. So hello, that's awesome.

Yeah, but no. Don't hesitate it if you need that. Otherwise I I can just keep right on going. Let's go. So I had. I haven't even told you this one yesterday I had a I was up in the admissions office and I've got a war over. Half my staff are on quarantine right now so working from home and Fortunately everybody's fine. Nobody, nobody, one person tested positive, but he's. He's good everywhere. But it means that I'm, you know, being pulled into frontline duty more than I'm used to. Which is I'm used to like never but so this this time I got pulled.

Pulled out front, there was a family they were talking and asking questions about. Caste your stuff and so the student is a senior Alma high School and his dad has.

And military money. She's got money was served in Air Force for number of years, and has essentially enough money to cover college tuition. So I said the sun is what do you want to study is why I want to be a welder. And then I said I said, OK, that's cool and I was like So what do you? What do you thinking about? You know certificate or full on? And he basically said I don't know if I want to go to college but my dad said it's paid for so I'm.

So you need to give him this number or this address Ken Dot Warden like a game Warden, PennDOT weren't UF s.edu yeah, and we will meet him where he is. Yep, help him expand his knowledge and welding or other technical recruiter. Pass and let you know. Let him decide. Work with him to figure out what level of degree attainment is going to work for you. Well, he's coming your way. There sure is going to come here. He's looking forward to living on campus.

Not so much.

Sit in class so but but he loves welding. So anyway, I thought I missed the first job I've been at at in higher head where a student like that I could legitimately say to them. We have a place for you. We can meet you where you're at, you're you're interested in welding your family. You've got money. Why not let me give you a very personal story that relates to that. So my youngest son Caleb.

24 got married two weeks ago Bobot in the process of buying a house.

Started out, you know, with the college come came today for Smith and thought that it wasn't going to work for him. He decided he wanted to agree. He finished an associates degree and in Welding associate applied Science degree with Constant Jim Studies. What general technology? Welding concentration?

You know Caleb's doing alright? Caleb's been out of college just a couple years now, is an associate degree path. He's already text me about a dad, you know I might want to go on to get that batch of degree. He just wasn't ready at that time. And you know when he's ready, he's ready. But he and his wife is my new daughter in law was sheltered, and they're doing great. You know, Kayla, but I don't want. He probably doesn't want to talk. Maybe talking about his salary, but he's making a over the in the in the $20.00 an hour range. OK, alright?

Yeah, and his with the position he has. He's doing welding, TIG, welding, fabrication and he has a prude. Mobility in the career path he's in. He's getting to the point now. Would I know if he doesn't know? I'm telling him? I said it's not going to be long for the next year so you're going to headhunters starting to call you because of the skill sets that you have and he's kicking anticipate this. So he's going to be earning more money and wage growth. Potential is key. Alot of the technical degrees that we have.

Start out strong, but also they have wage growth potential as you advance your skills. Yeah, so it's it's way wage growth potential through skills. And then I suppose the education never skills, certificate experience and if you couple that with high degree attainment you know it's it's a win win, yeah?

Oh I, I see some typing over there, but I can't read it. Check my phone here. Some of our people could text us and help us see what's what's in their chat. But until we will get to that. But so when I when I was super new as opposed to now when I'm just kind of new.

If you all I see, the chat is the email address for Doctor Warden, so if you're out there, he said that so now it's in the chat and you have it and he means it. I mean, if you if you email me, I will return your email and if you don't hear from me in 24 hours that I must be in the hospital because I'm usually pretty good about getting back. 48 hours is my guarantee? That's what older faculty standard do it since contact them as soon as possible, but no longer than 48 hours because some of them do have families and lives on weekends, but.

You know that's who we are and we're blessed to work in a place and be actually on the payroll to serve students. Yeah, I know. I mean, it's a bonus that we get paid to do this is, it is so yeah. So if you don't hear from me back in 48 hours, something happened, you'll hear back from us. Yeah, and I don't have all the answers, but I've got great colleagues around me and expertise and friends like you that that will get it done. That's why that's why I always say, you know if I ever hire somebody new, I tell him you don't have to know every answer, you just you know, it's OK to set. I'm not sure.

And I'll find out. But then you gotta go find out and get him back or put him in touch with with the answer. So that's that's great. So this morning you and I had a chance to meet with some some high school students in a social distance with Chamber of regional Chamber, Converse, Junior Leadership Academy, and we have students from as far away as Hackett and all the way back into Fort Smith. Sebastian County. Yeah, and you were you were you were doing great with him and telling him, kind of what you loved about being here at the University would more in general.

The power of higher education. Can you remind me a little bit about what you told told those students this morning about service and the power to change lives change world view through education. You know, I don't remember exactly what I say in it, but I will. I will. I will tell you this, that one of the things about dealing with talking with leadership groups, you know, had the opportunity to talk to leadership. Fort Smith was a group of adults last week and this week with Junior Leadership Academy and I was proud of those younger people for stepping forward into that.

Competitive opportunity to be in the leadership programs and part of those leadership programs.

Nothing happens, nothing. What makes communities great.

Is a sustained presence of strong leadership, and I think we're blessed to have had that enforcement historically. But it's those young people who are taking accepting responsibility to keep themselves informed because of responsibility of the leader is to be informed and to know what they're talking about and make decisions that are informed decisions. And both of the leadership programs in and youth, when both worked at. Yeah, an education works to do that. Yep, to empower individuals and to make sure they are informed.

And to all the all the benefits that go along with that, we know that people who are more educated generally or more healthy. They aren't a better wage in a burn, better living, more opportunities for them with their families. And embracing that is a big deal. I love that. That was what I was trying to get you to say. I didn't ask that question quite as well as I could have. 'cause I was struggling at but, but that's can. I talk about that for just a minute. That's another thing about this school, is that? Yeah, University of Arkansas Fort Smith is really a perfect size because if you want to be anonymous

you can go to class and do your thing and be anonymous. But if you want to lead opportunity, yeah you can embrace that here and you can be the biggest duck in the puddle. We've got over 100 different registered student organizations. Yeah, everything from bass fishing to chess club and everything in between. I mean, if they're all over the place, and if as soon it comes here and wants to be involved in an extra curricular program, they're going to do that. And if there's something they're interested in, but there's no program we have funds for them. If they can gather a few of their friends to show that there's a genuine interest.

For them to start a program and create something from scratch and develop those leadership skills so you know if you want to be anonymous or you want to commute in commute out, that's great, but if you want to be involved and have leadership opportunities that that show well on job applications and grad school applications, those opportunities are here are graduation our Graduate School acceptance rate that you have for Smith is very, very high. Yeah, better than our peers. That's one of the things that I loved about this University when I started learning about it. Decided to apply and.

Did the whole thing and decided to, you know, move my family and to Fort Smith and change my whole life is just the opportunities for students in a wide range. But the way that people care about them. Here I, you know, I've been a smaller schools in this and and the notion there you also had a big school faculty are going to be too busy and they're not going to care about you. And I've experienced here which is bigger than what I'm used to of course were smaller than, you know, UA, Fayetteville or whatever. Whatever they call it, you are or whatever uphill.

But we're really great size because you have all the opportunities that that provides through activities like this. But man, people here still care bout the individual student. You know, if you like you said, you could be anonymous, but man, it doesn't take a whole lot to be plugged in, plugged in, and and faculty that I've met have been, you know, genuinely interested in students being the best they can be, and that's such a great opportunity for students to study with people who want them to succeed. That's right, yeah, so.

Thanks for thanks for doing that. I know you guys hold it and I knew this was going to happen but our time is getting a closed closed up. We've got a few more minutes so if you have a question here out there and you're thinking you haven't sitting on a question, you still have a good opportunity to do that. But until I see it, I'm going to keep going. So one of the things you taught me early on is just how many business opportunities there are in Fort Smith and how many different opportunities, but for your students?

I know you've got great labs and facilities on campus, but how do you help? Do you do internships and things with local companies? We had, you know we have capstone opportunities and almost everyone of our program and our faculty members are plugged into those job markets and those business opportunities. And so we have really good opportunities. And you know what?

Research is great. We do some applied research in our costs. It's a good thing and God bless the researchers and the people that went were educated themselves just for the sake of education and research. We gotta have it.

But I went to college and got further degrees because there was better employment opportunities for me and more options for my family. And I think most people do that and our faculty understand that. So we feel obliged to once you leave our programs, help you get to that next step in the corrupt, and you want it. That's want to be. And I will tell you this.

We've got a beautiful campus at beautiful campus. You haven't been here. You need to come. We have great laughs, millions and millions of dollars of training aids in laboratories and opportunities.

But the strength in this University are those faculty members who care about students in our motto and cast college blood science technology is not to serve. Every student is to serve each student nice. And there's a subtle difference there, because we know each student brings.

The dynamic.

Their own set of resources, their own assets, and their own.

Challenges and by serving them each, we better serve them all, and so that's what we look to do. Whether it's getting them in class, making sure they are successful in noticing when they're not in classes like you sending them an email to navigate that says, hey, we notice you weren't here, get out of bed. Come to class.

Or more helping them reach that, you know, get in, get plugged into the workforce? Yeah that's great. OK, I want to curveball it here. So one of the programs that I know you guys have that is interesting to me is unmanned aerial systems. Now I've I called it a drone Munson and somebody politely told me that we don't want to call it a drone.

So under the applications like who I assume there are jobs out there, but what's the growth trajectory for unmanned aerial pilot system unmanned aerial systems? So we don't? We're not easily offended, but drones are dirty words in certain circles because it kind of takes certain things. We have unmanned aerial vehicles. Some of those things fly themselves. The technology is there to do that, but this program is not about training people to fly robots and take pictures of their neighbor on his lawn mower. That's not what we do.

OK, these technology is basically you can have remote piloted and fly things with the technologist to the point where you just don't have to understand what you're using and it flies itself based on things that you do before you ever go fly it. The strengthen that degrees understanding technology.

Gathering the data, whether it's visual photos, whether it's high definition of what it's radar, it could be lidar which is laser. It could be hyper spectral analysis, so you can do anything from from Detective. The temperature of an animal or a plant to predicting plant health to doing a predicting failures in Highline Rogers or right aways. Or measuring volumetrics, fly over a surface, mine, go back flower a week later and see how much of it's been removed and compare that to how many tons of material come out of there.

To do audits, invalidations wow so there's career opportunities all over the place and aero systems and their growing. Yeah OK, because we don't really have it really based based all the ways that this technology can be helpful. It's everywhere from survey to municipalities to utility's too, you know, filming football games, so whatever that's so is someday like Amazon going to have people flying flying my package and dropping it off. Well, there's already there.

Already testing that stuff, I know they are Walmart and they have pilots going, you know pilot pilot programs going now so some of your grad someday could be working absolutely. We've tried retails connections every day. We have said industry partnerships in those in those areas as well. So yeah.

So.

Other Nat we Oh my goodness. We have one minute left I don't know. I probably I I can just wrap it up. You have anything else. Are you thinking like you didn't ask me this? Hey Andy asked this well I do know how to do the robot but we won't do that today. Oh well, darn sure is not always.

Very hard to get right here, so it's not very pretty, but I will say this. I'll start. I will finish what we started. There are great opportunities here we are. We are pride ourselves on serving students and being where they are and whether that is a one year certificate for your degree or beyond.

Come see us, you'll be impressed with facilities, but you'll be more impressed with the faculty members and the folks that are here to serve awesome. Appreciate it. Oh, there is some typing in there now, but I think it could be some information from from one of our staff people. I think my old eyes can't see that I can't either.

Yes, but I know that we've got perhaps from Danielle or somebody. Yeah, our college are director academic success. Miss Danielle Jolie's out there in the chat chat room, so don't appreciate her being here with us. Do you have to absolutely so thank you? If you've been been watching and participating in this in any way, we thank you for your time. And again, those emails are out there, addresses and got questions him him up and will help you learn. Learn your way to UA. Fort Smith.

Have a good night. Thank you everybody. Bye bye hope so I gotta go.